Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE

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Muscle memory

Hilary Hahn

It's in your fingers, it's in your hands, it's in your legs, arms, back, neck and almost every muscle in your body. What's that I hear you ask? It's muscle memory. And we're not talking about your brain as that's in your head, but the ability for muscles to record patterns of tension in relation to one another and work together without specific conscious thought controlling them.

Let me give you an example. I enjoyed a fantastic evening of music last Friday at the Barbican Hall, London. Hilary Hahn the 26 year old virtuoso violinist was playing Mendelssohn's violin concerto No.1 in E Minor and 'The Lark Ascending' By Vaughan-Williams with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Roy Goodman. Here is a superb non-flashy serious musician who plays with the lyricism of Kreisler, with every resonant note well articulated and clear, sensitively performed with just the right nuance to let the music speak. It was wonderful.

I was so enthused by her performance that I visited Hilary Hahn's own website and read in her Journal that she'd just completed a Japanese tour which had been unthought of a month before. She had been asked to substitute for an unwell soloist. The repertoire was the Beethoven Violin Concerto that she had actually been performing just last month and she said the tour just fell into place with her own performing schedule. Also, with regards to playing the Beethoven, ...quote....."it was in my fingers." What she is referring to is the ability of her fingers to find the right notes and play with the necessary dexterity without her thinking of each note individually. Some of the passaages of music are so fast it is impossible to 'think' of every note. The patterns of muscle movement have become familiar through practice to be available to her, almost instinctively. So she may 'think' an entire passage of music and her fingers will find all the individual notes and phrasing. 'It's in her fingers.'

When we do something for the first time, we need to think clearly about every aspect of our actions, but with repetition we get the hang of it. When we're very young we are shown by our parents how to tie our shoe laces. At first it takes a lot of thought and practice. Eventually we can do this without thinking. As I type this blog, I'm thinking the words and phrases and not worrying about hitting the right keys....at least most of the time!

It's the same with almost anything involving our hands and for that matter, any group of muscles in our body. To hit a golf ball accurately over distance the whole body is involved in making this stroke. As a novice our shots will be wildly variable, but with practice we get better and more consistent. Muscle memory helps us refine our performance. For Hilary Hahn it's not just her fingers, but her whole body too is involved, from her stance and posture, to overall balance, support in her back, freedom of the wrists and arms yet with appropriate muscle tone to generate the energy and quality of sound required. She brings her whole body and mind to the performance. This 'co-ordination' gives her the ability to play the violin. The actual piece of music such as the Beethoven violin concerto is made possible by her whole co-ordination, and specifically her fingers to play those particular notes in the right order, phrasing and tempo. So there is the general set up of skill and co-ordination to play the instrument and the specific muscle memory within the fingers and arms to play any particular piece.

Repetition of any activity brings familiarity and with it habitual muscle patterns to perform the task. This also includes the simple act of walking or sitting. We use hundreds of muscles in the process and as children we practice, we become able to walk, run and jump or write a letter. Muscle memory allows us to perform tasks without the same conscious thought that was required the first time we did it. It is also the case that we can pick up unhelpful habits too in any activity. There is no greater habit that is detrimental to our walking as stooping forwards, yet many of us have picked up this tendency, possibly from our parents or friends or others. James Dean the actor has a lot to answer for! But stooping or slouching severely interferes with the muscle co-ordination required to walk and run easily with minimum effort. It's not how we did it as children! These tendencies throw us off balance so we are constantly fighting the pull of gravity to stay upright while we walk. So we use far more effort and our body is under far more strain than necessary. These are the very habits amongst many others, that the Alexander Technique addresses and which I work on with clients. The unwanted habitual tensions are 'in our muscles', just as much as in a good way, the Beethoven concerto is in Hilary's fingers.

Any repetition or practice of an activity brings familiarity and habit. So it's really important that we get the best possible examples to learn from. We should choose experts who are free of harmful habits themselves. Because if our parents tie their shoe laces with stiff neck, hunched shoulders and tight fingers while holding their breath, that is absolutely the way we are going to learn to do it too! Like father, like son.

The good news is, with this awareness we can do something about it. We can give as good an example to our children as we possibly can. When we decide to learn something new, we can choose the best possible example or expert to observe, copy and emulate. Hilary Hahn does it for me. I'll be emulating her calm, well poised and integrated approach to her instrument every time I pick up my own violin. Thanks you Hilary, for a great evening last Friday and for inpiring this blog.

Posted by Noël on July 19, 2006 7:41 AM | Permalink