A HOLISTIC COMPARISON of KAREN TUTTLE's IDEAS with BODY MAPPING and the ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE by ERIN NAPIER BM

FOSTERING FREEDOM: A HOLISTIC COMPARISON OF KAREN TUTTLE'S IDEAS WITH BODY MAPPING AND THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE by ERIN NAPIER BM., University of Michigan, 2017 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Music String Performance and Pedagogy College of Music 2019 Thi5 fh~~•~ cn1it1cd: t·o. " · °'1 rrcC'dom: t\ HoJisti.: C'0t11p1riMn1 of K,.m::n Tulc.te·s rdc,d "'·ith Bod~, Mappm8 and the ,\l~Aam1cr Tedmiquo wrltu1 by l:d.n Napicr has ~ approved for the Culll~sc <tr Music / i \/_. ·z .r"'. .I Tbc finul ctlrY ,,r,hi:-- U>t:Sis h,,~ been t)\ami1~d by tl~ signat'1rks. and ,-.,c find thu1 b,o1h 1hc conlc1nl ood thi:: furn> m~et. acceptable Pt'(scntadon s.ta."ld.1rds of !:io:hohtrly w•~rk in tlk.: 111',o"'·t: mcntiom:tt u~iplinQ. iii ABSTRACT In the domain of music education, and particularly the field of upper string instrument pedagogy, the teaching world has seen gradually increasing depth by way of efficiency, comprehensiveness, accessibility, and communicability over the past century. With these developments, there is a notable accompanying demand for synthesis and distinction of varied ideas, which can yield, in turn, new avenues for deeper exploration by string teachers. While several other orchestral instruments have pedagogy resources that have been in existence for centuries, resources for viola pedagogy have only recently been available via text-based resources. As such, this paper highlights several fundamental parallels between the teaching philosophies of a revered viola pedagogue, Karen Tuttle, and those who work in the field of somatics, particularly the Alexander Technique and Body Mapping. Literature thus far has attempted to apply the concepts of Body Mapping and Alexander Technique to various violin pedagogies, but the author in this case gives attention to individual aspects of Tuttle's idea of "Coordination," and compares Tuttle's respective ideas and language usage with somatics research, in the hopes of uncovering some potential positive overlaps, or discrepancies, which may be useful information for shoulder-instrument string musicians in both teaching and performing contexts. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The act of completing this project has been a profound, enriching learning opportunity, and there are many individuals who I must recognize for their generous contributions and assistance throughout this process. First and foremost, I would like to thank all of the teachers and performers I had the pleasure of speaking with and learning from who all have direct connection with Karen Tuttle: including Sheila Browne, Susan Dubois, Jeffrey Irvine, Karen Ritscher, and Carol Rodland. This paper would not have been possible without their unique insights and testimony, and I cannot thank them enough for all of their time, interviews, and email correspondence. It was immensely engaging to learn about Karen Tuttle's work through hearing all of the stories and ideas of her interactions with students, and each of these teachers present compelling forms of instruction that both harken to their personal experience with Tuttle, and simultaneously form distinctive styles of teaching I would also like to thank those with whom I had the pleasure of working with at the Karen Tuttle Viola Workshop at the University of Delaware, from the 11 th to the 13 th of January, 2019, but who I did not have the chance to interview, including Michelle Lacourse and Steven Wyrczynski. At the workshop, I not only received extensive insight through observation, listening, and discussion, but also was given direct, personalized feedback on my own playing which has come to deeply inform this document. Additionally, I am incredibly indebted to those who assisted in the formation of the document from the perspective of the somatics field, and donated their time and energy to helping me clarify many of the topics discussed in this paper. Jennifer Johnson and Judy Palac were notably instrumental in this process, and having the opportunity to learn directly from these teachers during the Body Mapping Workshop at the 2019 ASTA Conference was a truly inspiring experience. Both this five-hour course and their respective interviews were integral to my conceptualization of Body Mapping in this document. I would like to make special mention of Dr. Matthew Dane, who also supported the development of this project through interview and consultation. His direct contact with Karen Tuttle and her students, along with his comprehensive dissertation, were key influences in this work. In addition to the interview process, I was very lucky to have the opportunity to work personally with Professor James Brody at the University of Colorado, Boulder, over the course of the past two years, and his introduction to the ideas of the Alexander Technique and Body Mapping were foundational in forming my desire to pursue this topic at the outset. As an additional reader of this document, I must acknowledge his crucial contribution to the development of this paper. Finally, I would like to thank my committee members, Erika Eckert, Dr. Margaret Berg, and Charles Wetherbee, for all of their support and guidance throughout this intensive process. This idea seemed to be a bit of a pipe dream not too long ago, and I can only say that I am V thrilled to have had the chance to learn from so many luminous educators in such a short amount of time. The act of pursuing this research has caused me to entirely reinvent my approach to both teaching and playing the viola, and I hope to continue this journey over many years to come. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Introduction ........................................................................ ...... .. ..... I l. 1 A Call to Action .......................................... 1 l.2 20th Century String Pedagogy .................. 2 l.3 Karen Tuttle ...............................................4 1.4 The Somatics Field, Alexander Technique, Andover Educators ................................... 5 l.5 Synthesis and Goals ......................................7 2. The Central Frame .. ...........................................................................9 2.1 The Body Map ............................................. 9 2.2 Places of Balance in the Body .......................... .13 2.3 The Head Region ......................................... 18 2.4 The Legs and Feet.. ...................................... 19 2.5 Automatic Postural Patterns ............................. 21 2.6 Breathing ... ................................................ 22 3. The Right. ..................................................................................... 3.1 The Right Hand .......................................... 24 3.2 The Right Arm ........................................... 26 3.3 The Down Bow ........................................... 28 3.4 The Up Bow ............................................... 33 3.5 Humeroscapular Rhythm ................................ 36 3.6 Two Families of Bowing ................................ 38 4. The Left. .........................................................................................40 4.1 Instrument Position ..................................... .40 4.2 The Left Hand and Arm ................................ .42 4.3 Finger Action ............................................ .45 4.4 Shifting and Vibrato .................................... .47 5. Inclusive Awareness ........................................................................... 50 5.1 Broadening Scope ........................................ 50 vii 5.2 Primary Control and Constructive Conscious Control.. ............... 53 5.3 Incorporating the Whole Self.. ....................... 55 5.4 Cognitive and Emotional Elements .................. 56 6. Conclusion ...................................................................................... 59 6.1 Sun11nary ................................................ 59 6.2 Call for Further Research .............................. 61 7. Appendix ........................................................................................ 63 Appendix A. Karen Tuttle's Checklist for Coordination ........ 63 Appendix B. Karen Tuttle's List of Emotions ............. 64 8. References ....................................................................................... 65 1 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 A Call to Action This paper aims to serve as an additional layer in potential avenues of further research and pedagogical insights which may come from increased interest in kinesthetic awareness in string playing, and draws particular attention to the potential synthesis of the assertions of Karen Tuttle and Body Mapping, as well as those who study and teach the ideas of Alexander Technique. As a violist, I personally have grown a fascination for the work of Karen Tuttle after having direct interactions with several of her former students, and have seen significant resultant improvements in my overall fluidity as a player. Not only have these masterful pedagogues been influential in my progress as a musician, but they have established a firm presence in the world of viola pedagogy, establishing studios in many conservatories and music schools across the globe. Hosted each year by varying combinations of several of her former students, including Sheila Browne, Susan Dubois, Jeffrey Irvine, Michelle Lacourse, Kim Kashkashian, Lynne Ramsey, Karen Ritscher, Carol Rodland, and Stephen Wyrczynski, the Karen Tuttle

Load more