| First published in STATNews, vol. 4, no. 18, June 1997. |
Another contribution in a musical vein to Alexander literature is the research paper presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Doctorate in Musical Arts by Carol McCullough. The teaching methods and philosophy of Paul Rolland are used as a vehicle for understanding the relationship of the Alexander Technique to string teaching, particularly violin and viola.
The paper highlights a fascinating example of the way in which the Technique can be adopted to provide the means whereby for learning precision skills. Rolland did his evaluation study of string-teaching methods during the late 1960s and early 1970s in response to a dearth of up-and-coming players in American schools. The government-sponsored Illinois Strings Project culminated in his book, The Teaching of Action in String Playing in 1974. McCullough tell us that Rolland was a proponent of the Alexander Technique and was moving towards greater incorporation of the Technique into his pedagogy at the time of his sudden death four years later. Rolland included a section on the neuro-physiology of motor control but the Alexander method provided him with the reliable, practical means for effecting desirable changes to habitual behaviour patterns he was searching for. In the concluding pages, Rolland wrote:
“The Alexander study supports the rationale of every part of this book. Until physical education will successfully teach young children the correct use of the body, the teachers of special skills (whether dancing, music or sports) should incorporate in their teaching fundamental principles that will result in the better use of the body.”
We can only speculate on how much more influential the Technique might now be in the teaching of string instruments had he lived longer.
Much of McCullough’s paper is of an introductory nature dealing with the life and work of the two men, Alexander and Rolland. The more practical “New Movement Studies Based on the Alexander Technique” (Chapter 6) is very useful taught in the context of an Alexander lesson with an emphasis on unity, inhibition and direction. For me, not enough is made of the best mental approach - the “expanding field of attention” way of thinking, as Jones described it (“The Organization of Awareness”, 1967). It is implicit in Rolland’s concept of “movement patterns”. Maybe this is taken for granted within the scope of the project. Assuming that is so, the paper is of interest and practical help to violin and viola teachers and students who have had Alexander lessons.
© Malcolm Williamson. Reproduced with permission.
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This edition © Mouritz 2005. All rights reserved. |
