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Concentration and tension

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Martin Gellrich  and
Richard Parncutt
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Extract

Relaxation clearly plays an important role in music practice and performance. However complete relaxation is neither possible nor musically appropriate. A certain degree of tension is always necessary to enable a suitable level of concentration and musical expression.

Concentration inevitably produces muscular reactions in different parts of the body. These cause problems when they occur in mutually opposing combinations. Common locations for such tension knots or blocks in music practice are the back of the neck, the wrists, and the hands (grasping reflex). Causes include overconcentration, emotional involvement in the music, fear of making mistakes in difficult passages, and insufficiently practised playing movements. The described effects are illustrated by reference to the practice and performance of a piece of piano music.

The article is based on two lectures given in 1987, one at an ESTA conference in Germany, and the other at an EPTA conference in Yugoslavia.

Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Music Education , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , July 1991 , pp. 167 - 179
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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