corpßonore - sound // body // wellness

I am so excited to announce that corpßonore - sound // body // wellness will officially launch into the great big worldwide web on November 1st!

What is it?

Corpßonore is a performers resource comprised of an online publication, podcast, and personal/private guidance and coaching.

At corpßonore we believe that being a great musician goes beyond the music. Longevity and sustainability in a music career comes from the development and maintenance of a sound body and mind.

Our mission is to provide accessible information, tools, and support that foster balance, fulfillment, and sustainability for the performer in life and on stage.

What does corpßonore mean?

corps sonore is a term coined by John-Philippe Rameau in the early 18th century initially to discuss frequency, vibration, and tuning based on the notion that establishes the triad as the building block of harmony, and the principle of the corps sonore, which he established as the scientific basis for music theory. corps sonore translates to mean “sound body” or “resonant body” and that resonated with me because you need a sound body to make music with your body but it is also a term steeped in music history, and a concept that Rameau applied to so many aspects of nature and life in his later years.

When developing our own “sound body” we created one word from the two by using the german symbol for ss, called the Eszett or scharfes S, which depending on the font looks like this: ß. We also added “wellness” to the description to open up even more discussion opportunities.

A Little Backstory

Several years ago, while I was working on my dissertation I hatched the idea of bringing the information I was digging up in my research to a larger audience in an accessible and approachable format. I was lucky at the time to be affiliated with an institution that afforded me access to a vast library system, scholarly journals, medical publications, published dissertations, and other research. It was fantastic, but still quite difficult to navigate because research and information typically exists in isolated departments and the discoveries made in exercise science for example don’t often make it to the music building, and you don’t find performers discussing the advances in performance psychology the same way they talk about so-and-so’s new recording. It struck me that so much significant research exists in peer-reviewed journals, academia, and in arenas of life that do not often or easily overlap with “traditional” or “standard” music pedagogy or mix well with pop culture.

After doing a little digging myself, I realized that there are very few purveyors of this information to the working musicians of the world in any genre. I know so many freelance musicians, orchestral players, touring musicians, and teachers who are not affiliated with a University and therefore have to work so hard to access some of this information. This does not sit well with me.

This is a problem!

This means that most of the music teachers you see or send your child to, and the performers you cherish and celebrate onstage are missing out on some majorly effective research and information. How can you pass something on if you don’t know it exists? How can you make the best choices if you don’t know all of your options?

Facts:

• This needs to change

• Valuable and important information does not need to come in stuffy and unapealing packaging and formats.

• We believe that helpful and pertinent information is meant for every musician, from young beginning violin students and their teachers, to old and seasoned blues guitarists, to internationally celebrated singers, and everything in between.

The Partnership

I approached Madeline with my idea for this project very early on because I knew she would be the perfect partner for something like this. She was instantly taken with it.

For my readers who don’t know Madeline, she is a retired/former/ex opera singer who is a BirthFit Coach, Yoga Teacher and Therapist, and Holistic Nutritionist based in Portland, Oregon. She knows so many things that musicians should know! You can find her online at http://www.posanatherapeutics.com, and on instagram.

Madeline and I met in grad school and lived together for two years. She talked me into doing my first (and only so far) triathlon, we also ran the Hood to Coast Relay together. In the past, pre-corpßonore she helped me eat appropriately the day of or night before a big performance or audition. I would never have known or thought about some of the things she suggested.

The Details

We are working hard to creat podcast episodes that feature different musicians from all genres. Our goal is to explore the musician beyond the music. So you will hear some personal questions and responses. We have a fantastic list of guests lined up so make sure to subscribe!

Our online publication will be available at https://www.corpsonore.com starting November 1st, and will also be delivered directly to our subscribers via newsletter. Our articles cover everything from time management, to music reviews, shoulder tension releasing techniques, recipes, the negative effects of sugar, and so much more. We want this to be interesting and appealing to a wide audience.

We offer workshops, classes, lessons, coachings, masterclasses, and guidance via the internet and in person. If this is something you are interested in learning more about please leave us a message, send an email, or stay tuned for more info.

What can you do?

1. Subscribe to our website here

2. Subscribe to our podcast (more details coming soon).

3. Tell us what you want to know about (you can tell me directly via Active Violinist too)

4. What musical guests do you want to hear from on our show? Who are you curious about? We want to hear from you - it can be anyone from that street performer you walk by everyday on your way to work, to your absolute favorite DJ. It doesn’t matter, we want to talk to them!

5. Are you the owner of a business, teaching studio, etc.? We would love to hear from you and craft creative ways to engage with the music community through partnerships and much more.

6. Share this with your friends, family, and aqcuaintances and help us build momentum.

7. Follow us on facebook, twitter, and Instagram.

You can email me directly at hannah@activeviolinist.com or corpsonore.sbw@gmail.com with questions, queries, suggestions, support, words of wisdom, dream podcast guests, or whatever you have up your sleeve or in your cauldron.

Lastly, A massive thank you to the incredibly talented Meghan Irwin for the creation of our logo and branding. You simply MUST check out more of her work here and follow her beautiful creations on Instagram. Fun fact: Meghan and I have known eachother for over 10 years, and she also created the Active Violinist Logo AND the 100 Days of Practice charts and certificates available in my shop. I truly want corpßonore - sound // body // wellness to be successful so I can pay her what she is truly worth as an artist, collaborator, designer, and creator.

Thank you!

Fit as a Fiddle - Workshop with Pamela Frank and Howard Nelson

This post is just another reason why moving to Los Angeles is pretty awesome. I first saw Pamela Frank give a masterclass several years ago when I was a student in Minnesota and I have been a huge fan ever since. I’ve watched countless videos and masterclasses online but have not had the opportunity to attend anything in person until this Fall when she and Physical Therapist Howard Nelson began a 1-year appointment at USC where they will be teaching collaboratively: Frank coaching the musical elements, Nelson analyzing movement patterns and habits in an effort to enhance the players technical and artistic abilities through freer movement patterns, and proper physical alignment.

This presentation/workshop/masterclass was their introduction to the music school and explained their work together, what brought them together as collaborators, and the importance of this information for other performers. It was held at USC on September 24th and was open to the public.

The presentation loosely consisted of 3 components: Frank’s own case study and the steps Howard took to guide her to a more neutral set up and ease her pain, a masterclass featuring a current USC student, and an informational workshop to acquaint string players with their anatomy and potential risk factors for injury.

Frank and Nelson’s partnership grew out of Pamela’s own issues specifically while preparing for a performance at the Library of Congress in 2012.

Pamela candidly explains that she had intense pain on her left and right sides (particularly in her shoulders and arms), her lower back, and neck; she suffered from regular headaches and was in mild to strong discomfort most of the time. She spoke about the levels of discomfort she endured while preparing her performance and says she quite literally could not play afterward. She went to Howard for help and rehabilitation.

Together, they filmed and captured many of Frank's movements and posture to analyze in detail where she deviated from a neutral position. They even examined the way she walked to see where she was compromising her daily habits and patterns and found weaknesses not just in her playing position, but in her standing, walking, bowing, and sleeping positions as well.

She was shocked at how impaired her movements were, and worked hard to correct and heal some of her faulty patterns (many of which she had been repeating for decades). She changed how she sleeps, adding additional pillows for joint support, she changed her violin case, her purse (now a very swanky fanny pack), her stand height, violin set up, and even the concept of good chamber music. She said it was like becoming a whole new person; She didn't realize how much she moved her head and neck when she should be using her arms and hands (even with seemingly simple movements like putting a shirt on overhead, shampooing her hair, etc.). Frank said it was humbling to realize how some of these faulty movement patterns can define you as a person.

Frank warned the audience that you have to “check your ego at the door” for work like this as you most likely have to relearn things you have been doing incorrectly for years. Howard showed an image of Frank performing with faulty playing posture (from the Library of Congress performance), and even though it sounded terrific, it was not “good.” He was not interested in the sound, only the basic mechanics of how efficiently (anatomically speaking) she could play the violin. He notes that often, your body falls back on what is familiar even if it is a bad habit and one must unlearn these habits and relearn motions with a better setup, a different head position, various accessories, etc. to fix and correct the issues. This can take a long time, and a great deal of work.

Pamela’s “heroic” return to the stage happened at the Verbier Festival in 2014 (nearly 2 years after the Library of Congress performance) with Josh Bell, Nobuko Imai, Steven Isserlis, and Mark-Andre Hamelin playing the Franck Piano Quintet. It was a media-intense performance with cameras, Livestream, and video equipment everywhere, and especially stressful for someone trying only to apply all of the information she had worked so hard on with Howard during therapy.

Frank says that since then she has no pain and that she used to “need” regular massage therapy but that it is no longer required in order to continue playing the violin. She also says she approaches teaching entirely differently looking at posture and playing positions in a whole new light.

I love that a violinist of Frank's caliber speaks so openly and candidly about her physical pain and the steps she took to address it, and overcome it to keep playing and teaching. It is so rare that performers at that level have the confidence to speak about their own struggles, and feel so passionate about sharing this information with other performers and teachers.

The Big Lessons

 The following are important points for everyone to learn gleaned from the workshop.

• Your daily habits can hurt you and what you do all day ADDS UP!

  •  It is not just the way you play, it is what you do all day that matters the most (sitting, standing, walking, sleeping, everything).

    • For example, people sleep for approximately 1/3 of their life. If done with poor body positioning, the body is set up for pain and stress during the day regardless of whether one plays an instrument, sits at a computer, is an athlete, etc.

•  "Don't power through.

  • just because you can, doesn’t mean you should (playing-wise)

  • don’t ignore numbness, pain, tingling, or any discomfort as this is generally an indication of a problem or issue that needs to be addressed. 

Anatomy and Risk Factors

The following are how basic anatomy (without all of the fancy terms) impacts your body and injuries. These points were mostly from the handout created for the class.

Risk Factors for injuries

Injury and pain come from the concept of "how far out of neutral" are you? You can improve symptoms by adopting a new movement pattern that is closer to "neutral."

Risk factors for “out of neutral”:

Head Position

• Side bent to the left too much and too often

• In front of the shoulders, so that your ear is forward of your shoulder

• Locked, not free

• Flexed downward

Right Shoulder and Arm (for violin and viola)

• Elbow above shoulder height

• Raising right shoulder

  • The bow arm position is inherently a position that pinches the nerves in and around the rotator cuff so extra care should be taken with the movements and placement of this arm/shoulder/side of the body

Left Shoulder and Arm (for violin and viola)

• Raising Left shoulder to secure instrument

  • this is very common in players that don’t use a shoulder rest and also happens with players who use equipment that doesn’t properly fit their body.

• Hugging the left arm into the body.

  • This was one of the major issues that Pamela Frank struggled with when addressing her pain.

  • I always teach (thanks to Michael Nicholson for this handy visual) that you should leave room for “one piece of cake” between your ribs and your left elbow.

• Bringing Left elbow across the body, while the forearm/hand is rotated outward.

• Shoulder blade tilted down and forward

Spine Positions

• Excessive Spine movement

• Tilting too much at the waist, especially to the left

• Spine collapses, or arches backward too often, too far.

Instrument Position

• For example, violin or viola points downward towards the ground too far, too often

 Risk Factors for Tension:

• Holding the breath – are you breathing well? Easily? Never hold your breath!

• Excessive facial expressions

• Tight mouth and jaw

• Excessive use of muscles, more than what is necessary for the job.

 Frank says: divorce your body from the music making! What can your HANDS do to make the music exciting NOT your body and your bad habits? The music is already exciting, all you have to do is play it on your instrument, there are no bizarre body contortions (that hinder the quality of performance) required. She lays out a beautifully simple path of music making through your body. It is so straightforward it almost shines with effortless and beauty:

eyes – brain – heart – hands – out of your body to your audience

 She also lists a few exciting musical elements that do not include inappropriate body movements. Things like:

• rhythm

• timing

• sound

• bow angle, location, speed, stroke

• internal dynamics 

• rubato

She also has a few simple moves and positions that offer relief in the middle of a practice session, or while you’re teaching, or hanging out, or if you need to check in on your levels of tension in the body while playing.

For relief – rest hands on head to prevent dangling and gravity pulling out of alignment. This helps serratus anterior

taken from violinist.com

Talk and play – keep the head straight and look in the mirror, do not hold the instrument with head, keep it free. Your head should be able to move a little bit and should NOT be rigid.

 Tips for Playing Healthy and ENJOYING a long career free of aches and pains.

• Set-Up: Customize to YOUR body. Every person’s anatomy is different and needs to specific attention. Make sure you have a shoulder rest AND chin rest that work for YOUR BODY.

•  Set Up size – fill clavicle (collarbone) to chin with support – shoulder rest + chin rest. Have the instrument meet you!

  • Howard and Pam recommend the SAS chin rest.

    • I’m definitely going to try one of these. After the class I tried my setup and realized that I have to drop my head quite substantially to keep my violin supported. My shoulder rest feels great so I am going to explore some more chin rest options.

•  Preventative: have a good, healthy workstation (proper stand height, lighting, etc.)

  • Music Stand – Have it at the highest height possible that still allows you to see other player/the conductor. At home, the stand MUST be at eye level. Do NOT let your stand height be too low, especially in the playing environment you are in the most (private practice).

  • Chairs/Sitting – a chair should fit your body, so you have the option to use the backrest. Feet should be firmly planted on the floor (not tucked underneath, out in front, crossed at the ankles, etc.)

    • This reminded me of the Starker quote my teacher Sally O’Reilly, always used to say about our sitting posture: you should sit in a way that if suddenly your chair burst into flames you could easily stand up and walk away.

•  Self-Videotaping: Helps look for a neutral position. Important to playback without sound so you can see your body mechanics with an unbiased eye. Also playback without looking to see if you can HEAR the difference between 2 different ways of playing (posture specific).

  • Interestingly, Nelson and Frank found that most performers prefer the way a good set up sounds when comparing blind recordings.

Pamela Frank working with a viola student at USC to find better alignment. The entire class agreed that when his setup was more efficient his sound was even more gorgeous.

 Preventative Measures

 The following are things you can do to avoid pain.

• Warm up – get the heart rate moving to improve circulation in the body before playing. Ex: jumping jacks, light calisthenics, stair climbing, fast walking, etc.

•  Exercises: Periodically stretch to the opposite directions that you play, Arm raises, daily walking without distraction

•  Breaks - Begin with 1 minute of good movement for every 20 minutes of bad movement. Ex 1 min of stretching for every 20 or 30 minutes of practicing. Do the same for time spent at the computer. Stretch to opposite side that you play.  

  • I do this using the Pomodoro Method of setting a timer for 25 minutes of practice, followed by 5 minutes of rest. During my 5 minutes of rest, I often stretch and move my body in opposite ways to holding the violin. I find that by inserting well timed and regular breaks in my practice sessions, I can practice more consistently and my endurance throughout the week improves (meaning I can more easily practice 4+ hours per day every day rather than being so fatigued I have to take more days off or extended periods of rest). 

•  In Rests – put the instrument down (on knee, lap, floor)

•  Carrying your instrument – Use the lightest case possible. Do not keep additional music in your case.

• If you use a backpack case, hold the straps in front so there’s less weight directly on your shoulders.

• If your case has one strap, switch shoulders periodically.

• Avoid static standing with your instrument. Put it down if caught in conversation with a friend/colleague/foe.

 When Practicing

• “Less is More” Don’t repeat anything without changing something. Practice with 100% expression.

  • Ex. Think of scales like long beautiful phrases; if you practice them like this, the Beethoven concerto is no longer intimidating, it is merely an extension of what you practice daily.

• Simulate performance.

  • “You get what you train for” – train for freedom of movement in performance by creating stressful situations to get comfortable with the feeling of being on stage or in the high-stress performance environment.

    • Pro tip: create a nervous situation (at home) to get comfortable with that performance environment so you can learn to let it (the tension) go and feel more free on stage/in the performance.

• During Practice, work on what you DON'T do well, for efficiency there is no need to go over the things you already do well just to play them.

And….ACCEPT NERVES AND “MISTAKES” AS PART OF THE PERFORMANCE. THEY HAPPEN TO EVERYONE – PLAYING CAREFULLY AND TRYING TO AVOID MISTAKES CAUSES TENSION

• playing carefully is a desire for Control, which creates tension which leads to problems and pain

 and finally: EMBRACE RISK.

 All information listed here was gathered at the class in September through my own notes, from the handout they created specifically for this event and from referencing the post Laurie Niles created for violinist.com which you can read here.

 You can find out more about the collaboration between Pamela Frank and Howard Nelson on their website www.fitasafiddle.nyc

100 Days

What can you achieve in 100 days?

According to www.the100dayproject.com, "Creativity is a skill.  The more we practice, the more skilled we become.  Practice takes time.  Practice takes commitment.  Practice is a radical act in this speeded up world. Through practice, we develop a creative habit. Through habit, we reconnect with and know ourselves again as a creative being."

Think about that one thing you have always want to improve or the GOOD (or bad, I guess) habit you want to strengthen. What would your life look like if you committed to it for 100 days in a row? The following is a quote from www.lifehacker.com that I think sums up the whole point of a 100-day challenge:

Consistency transforms behaviors into habits. Adopting good daily habits can only happen if you consistently engage in those habits every day. One strategy to make good habits stick... is something called the 100 Day Challenge. Here’s how it works: for 100 days, focus on engaging in one activity for 100 days in a row. By the end of the 100 days that daily activity will become a daily habit. Engaging in an activity for 100 days helps create the neural network infrastructure necessary to forge a habit.

100 days is approximately 3 months. Have you ever consciously committed to doing something every single day for three months (or 100 days)? The 100 days challenge can be applied to so many different habit-forming activities. The use of this concept is wide-ranging and applicable to almost any facet of your life. What if you decided to make dinner at home every night for 100 days? What about if you put a little bit of money in savings every day for 100 days? What if you turned into a bike commuter for 100 days? What if you committed time to reading every single day for 100 days in a row? How would this change your daily life? What about your habits? What type of discipline would it take to follow through with your commitment?

#100daysofpractice

In 2017, violinist Hilary Hahn took on the 100 Days Challenge as an exercise in practicing her instrument. She posted her progress and work on Instagram every single day. It was fascinating! Granted, Hilary Hahn is a top notch, best in the world violinist but what was so interesting was the type of work she documented. It wasn't just flashy passagework. It was thoughtful, careful, and full of personal reflection. She shared her thoughts in Strings Magazine and you can read that article here. The following is an excerpt from that article:

 “The concept of the project was to show your process,” Hahn says. “You don’t have to worry about the result; it doesn’t have to be in great shape. You can show working on the same piece of art—you do a little bit of coloring one day, you spend 100 days on the same thing, or you could do sketches every day.” She wondered if there was something she could do for 100 days that would reveal something about her own artistic process. “So it just occurred to me: What do I do every day anyway? I practice.”

Her personal challenge set off a ripple effect in the music community and I found more and more musicians capturing scenes from their own practice and sharing them on social media. Hahn most appreciates how this project builds community in the music world. She notes that practice is often isolating and posting these videos on Instagram really engaged the community in unexpected ways. For those who want to take on the 100 Day Challenge her has a few words of advice:

"...Hahn advises starting as early in the day as possible; embracing the attitude that this project is about process, not perfection; and being ready to accept that 100 days won’t work for everyone, and there’s still value in a shorter period of time. “Things get in the way,” she says. “You do your best as an artist regardless of the circumstances and you just keep moving forward.”

After following Hahn's progress and process I decided to adopt this as a studio-wide challenge that will culminate with our Spring Recital. I am participating in this challenge too (it began for us on February 1st) and will be documenting some of my work on Youtube (yeah, I have a rarely used channel on there just search for Active Violinist) and on this blog. I will also be sharing some images and videos of my students too, so they can see their hard work paying off!

I have a few goals for this project: Improve my orchestra excerpts, learn some new shorter pieces, expand my technique, and conquer my solo Bach anxiety. 

Charts and Certificates

I am a visual person. I like to see and document my progress, so I collaborated with my dear friend, the wildly talented artist, Meghan Irwin to devise a 100 Days of Practice chart for me, my students, your students, fellow teachers, habit formers, and fellow goal crushers to log their practice days. If you're not familiar with Meghan's work I suggest you check it out ASAP! What better place to look than her own website: www.meghanirwin.com

Doesn't this make you want to practice?????

Following Hahn's "warning" that life happens, Meghan also created a set of gorgeous certificates celebrating 30-days, 60-days and 100-days of practice. I cannot stop staring at them. They are perfect and worth all of the effort it takes to earn them.

Certificates are a great way to reward progress along the way, and at the very end. I encourage you to buy the certificates as a set because they are beautiful, but also conquering 1 month, 2 months and 3+ months of work deserves some rewards along the way. If you are a teacher looking for ways to motivate your students I cannot recommend this challenge enough. All of my students are excited, and motivated by different elements of the challenge. Some of them want to beat me, some of them really want to "win," and some can't wait to finish their current music and move on to new songs.

All of these products are available in the Shop on my website. If you are a teacher, or wish to purchase in bulk (5 or more charts, or sets of certificates) drop me a line and I can offer you a better rate. 

Happy Practicing!