Feldenkrais and Suzuki
Written December 2020
I’m honored to share with you some ideas that I feel are pertinent to our work as Suzuki teachers in bringing dignity and curiosity to the process of learning.
What is Feldenkrais®?
The Feldenkrais Method® is a sensory-motor learning process for improving health and wellness. It was developed in the 20th century by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais whose background was in physics, engineering, and judo. Many great musicians have deeply benefited from this practice of gentle, mindful movement. It’s an approach for injury prevention and recovery as well as finding ease and expressivity with one’s instrument.
Feldenkrais is taught in group classes called Awareness Through Movement® lessons and in individual hands-on sessions called Functional Integration®.
“‘Dr. Feldenkrais used to say ‘if you improve your movement you improve your life because life is movement.’ And I say: sound is movement. If you improve your movement, you improve your sound.”
- Aliza Stewart, Feldenkrais practitioner and trainer
How has Feldenkrais informed your work as a Suzuki teacher?
The Feldenkrais Method contains many principles of learning that apply to any skill. Here are a few that come to mind that have fundamentally informed my work as a Suzuki teacher:
Repetition with Variation - The brain is attracted to novelty. In both Suzuki and Feldenkrais, there is much repetition. Through the Feldenkrais training, I learned the importance of repetition with variation. Rather than aiming for the same target each time, I became more playful in terms of doing something differently -- always searching for more ease and guided by my internal image of the music. Repetition with variation is how babies learn to reach, roll over, crawl, walk. This concept allows me to connect with my students with more possibility.
Go in the direction that is easy - Given the complexity of the task of learning to play the violin, at different stages in the learning process we come up against great resistance from our students. I’ve found that first going with what’s easy for the student can be a valuable tool for progress.
One example of this is an experience I had with one of my young beginner students who is very energetic and rarely stands in one place. For many weeks, he would complain during his lessons of discomfort in his feet. I examined the situation from many angles and then one day asked him to walk and play. His brain started to engage in the learning differently and by the end of the lesson he was standing on his foot chart and playing something new.
Ask questions - As a Feldenkrais practitioner, we train to ask questions with our hands. Which direction is easier? What is moving and what’s not moving? As a violin teacher, I’ve begun to ask more questions - Did you like it? What did you notice? What would you do differently? This is a tool to direct attention and build awareness.
Learning Happens in Successive Approximations - The first time you play or teach a piece is your first approximation. Each time you return is another iteration and an opportunity for you to refine or explore further. This principle of learning has been a profound antidote to perfectionism for me.
What suggestions do you have for teaching physical movement and awareness online, i.e. without touch?
Get intimately familiar with the choreography of the physical movements. Where do you initiate the movement? What is the quality or sensation? What is the direction or pathway of the movement? What sort of variations can you play with so as to engage the brain with novelty? How can you guide their attention so they include more of themselves in the action?
If it is something that would normally involve you guiding your student with touch, how can you use your words like hands to either direct the student or -- if the student is young, direct the parent to work with the child.
Keep experimenting with different ways of describing your intention and observing the response in your student. If you’re getting stuck, let it go and give it a rest, and move your attention elsewhere. Use these questions as fodder to deepen your own exploration of teaching your instrument.
My best advice is to take Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement classes which will provide a vivid example of how one describes complex movement through words alone. As you’ll find out, physical demonstrations are rare within this modality!
What are the benefits and challenges of teaching Feldenkrais and violin/viola online?
Many of my students in both domains enjoy the ease and comfort of learning in their own home. Feeling safe is an important condition for learning.
There are some students who really don’t manage well with zoom. There is no substitute for being in another’s presence and the language of touch. We’ve all had to figure out what we’re comfortable with and then work within those constraints.