Technique: Alignment and Capacity

I’m introducing a lot of technique to students right now, especially 4-mallet Stevens Technique and Marching Percussion.  I find that students can either get through this initial period and on to music making very quickly, or can get hamstrung and struggle along for months without much measurable progress.

The difference in most cases, is understanding the interaction of Alignment and Capacity.

Alignment is getting the mechanics lined up efficiently.  Because everyone is built a little differently, this is an individual exploration.  As a teacher, I emphasize how it “could” feel, rather than how it “should”, and look to remove things that are almost certainly NOT working, as way of aiming their self-discovery.

Capacity is the physical strength developed through repetition.  It is also the sensitivity to how something feels physically.

These two things feed on each other.  The better aligned technique is, the more targeted the muscle and sensitivity development is.  The more strength and sensitivity there is in the system, the faster new discoveries can be made, and the longer practice sessions can last.

To discuss Alignment, I talk with my students about “Monkeys and Coffee Cups”, a study of chimpanzees I read about a while back that mapped brain activity and physical regions of the hand in relation to a sensor object shaped like a coffee mug. The control group was given the “mugs” and tested, but the other group was given objects identical to the sensor “mugs” to play with for a month before testing.  The chimps with a month to experience and manipulate the objects displayed 30x as many discrete regions in the hands.

I teach a lot of runners and swimmers, so an easy analogy for them on Capacity is to run or swim with boots on.  The way you have to move in boots develops all the wrong muscles and movements, and the results will be less than optimal.

In my own high school experience, when I first learned traditional grip, we played the timeless classic,”8-16″ for upwards of an hour at a time.  Within a few minutes I was blistering up and miserable, like so many first-timers are, and in the first week I found a LOT of different ways to hold the stick so I could preserve what little was left of my skin.  Between that manipulation within the motion and the repetition, I quickly developed a very effective approach to playing, which I used to build the rest of my rudimental skills.

Bottom line:  Play every day that you can, and focus on improving HOW you do it.  Every day is more important than lots of hours on occasion, because the consistency is what improves strength and sensitivity.  Doing it better each time is more important than doing it a lot, because the small improvements in alignment and execution will pay off bigger over the weeks and months.

If you constantly improve your Alignment, and consistently develop your Capacity, you will succeed in developing an excellent technique.  Many people can advise you, but in the end, it is your personal journey to understand and use your own body that will bring you the most success.  Embrace yourself and your journey!