Leena | Alexander Technique to Improve Balance

 Leena had studied with other teachers for about six years, loved Broadway musicals, and had memorized an enormous amount of material. Her mother reached out to me to help Leena overcome some vocal tension that had recently begun to affect the quality of her singing. Good listening “mom!”

Experience has taught me that a young student’s natural tendency to sing out with enthusiasm – often hampered by poorly written vocal material — can harm the developing voice. So, in our first lesson together, I asked Leena a lot of questions. I got her to sing a simple song, and then did more detailed work to find out her vocal range. It became clear that she had strained her voice doing a middle school musical. I examined her part, and immediately noticed its awkward lyric setting. Once Leena knew what to look for, she could deal with this challenge more easily and not strain.

It also turned out that Leena had stopped playing the piano. Once we had talked about how useful her piano skills could be, together we expanded her lesson time to include piano as well as singing. She learnt how to play the chords and melodies to the more lyrical songs I chose for her, and now she can accompany herself.

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Shaylen | Sing-play classes for children

I first met Shaylen in a music class I taught for three- and four-year-old's at a local Montessori School. What immediately struck me about him were the sophisticated questions that he would ask during class. He was quite clear about not accepting answers that did not make sense to him — answering him was a genuine challenge I appreciated.

Several years later, when his parents asked me to teach him piano, I was thrilled. It quickly became apparent that he had perfect pitch, and that he memorized very easily which seemed to be natural gifts, along with spelling and math. He was interested in astronomy and liked Harry Potter.

We have now been working together for about eight years. His family is supportive of his music, upgrading his instrument from electronic keyboard to grand piano. He also has taken up the cello, which he plays in the local orchestra. Shaylen has become very fond of J.S. Bach; when I asked him why, he talked about the patterns that he saw in the music and how they engage and challenge him. 

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Chair Exercises Can Help Those with Stability Issues | Sing-play classes for children

Sometimes Barbara Schutzman exercises while standing. Other times she does her workout from a chair, like during Mary Beth Perfas’ Sit & Stay Fit class at Northern Dutchess Hospital Women’s View Center at the Healthy Annex in Rhinebeck.

“The fact that she’s able to address almost the entire body based on using a chair is wonderful,” said Schutzman, 75, of Rhinebeck. “It’s quite a workout.”

Exercise and physical activity, reports the National Institutes of Health’s MedlinePlus, are good for seniors and nearly everyone else, including endurance routines for better breathing and heart rate, strength exercises for stronger muscles, flexibility programs to stay limber and balance training to help prevent falls.

And yet, while fall-related injuries send more than 2 million seniors to the emergency room each year, it’s a fear of falling that causes many seniors and others with physical limitations or balance issues to avoid exercising, even while it can improve balance and overall fitness. One way to minimize worry while working out is by doing so while sitting in a chair or holding on to one.

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What happens in a music lesson? | Award Winning Music Teacher

All music making that is led by the ear, and singing has a flow and ease that is deeply rewarding to the student, as well as to the listener. This is especially true when the student is thinking of giving his music to another person, as a gift. Both of these principles are embedded in my approach to teaching music.

Each lessonorganically develops as, I adjust what they are learning based on information that I get, using many of the methods listed below.

I will typically begin by asking what types of music theylike to listen to and who their favorite singers are.I will then go and listen to them myself if I have never heard of them, which is likely as there is so much music available. I suggest new pieces of music for them to listen to, or even better to watch on YouTube and find out what they like or dislike about the songs, pieces of music.I really like my students to play music that they have a connection to and they often bring in music that they want to learn. This encourages a collaborative approach to the lessons.

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Virtual Learning | Alexander Technique for Improved Performance

Like many people in the last year, I have had to up my online game to be able to continue working. This has created challenges not only for myself, but I can also see that many of my young students have difficulties with the online learning process. While I miss seeing my students face to face and the wonderful interactions that that brings, I have found myself thinking up new ways to help make online teaching work. Once again necessity is the mother of invention.

While many people are stressed by online work and are tired of Zoom meetings, there are particular challenges presented by teaching music online. Because of the lag time on the internet, you cannot sing along with your student or accompany them. While I have invested in better quality equipment my end, I have no control over the equipment that my students may be using or how the internet may be behaving at the time of the lesson.

One of my principal ways of teaching, is making music with a student so that they have the experiences of what the music really sounds and feels like. I can modify what I am doing all the time to help increase the success of what my student is doing. This is not possible online. While I can easily schedule shorter lessons twice weekly to help students manage screen time, I have developed other new ways of helping my students continue to enjoy their music lessons. I have also noticed how my listening and observational skills have increased as I have to use them in a very detailed way for online learning. 

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Wellness | Alexander Technique to Improve Balance and Coordination

Many of the aches, pains, and stress we feel are brought on by the demands of our daily lives and too often we turn to painkillers or pharmaceuticals for relief. I am trained to teach you how to develop a wellness lifestyle that is easy to maintain on a daily basis. I use the Alexander Technique, Stretch and Breath Classes and Music-making to address the three broad areas that are embraced by a Wellness program. Body, Mind and Spirit.

Alexander Technique

The Alexander Technique is a hands-on educational method for improving physical and mental wellbeing. It teaches us how to recapture the ease, and freedom of movement that we enjoyed as young children. Developed by actor F.M.Alexander in the 1890’s, Alexander Technique is the first mind/body approach developed by a westerner – and remains one of the most powerful. Contact Judith » 

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Alexander Technique Lessons | Alexander Technique Lessons for Pain Management

Alexander Technique Lessons clear up the confusion about how you should hold yourself. Whatever your age or ability, with practice you’ll learn that you don’t need to actively hold yourself up and this will happen naturally if you change the habits that bother you.

Through Alexander Technique Lessons, you’ll learn skills that you can use anytime, anywhere, without having to stop and do exercises. All it takes is a nanosecond to switch off the patterns of tension and activate our postural mechanisms by directing.

By learning the Alexander Technique, students learn to recognize and switch off negative patterns, pulling down (slouching) which also will relieve excessive muscle tension.

Excessive tension in some areas and slouching down in others is often the source of pain and other difficulties.

Reducing or eliminating these harmful patterns will allow the postural muscles to function so we are naturally held up. This will also improve the quality of movement, posture, and breathing in all activities.

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