The Alexander Technique Approach to Classical Guitar Technique

by Ethan Kind

INTRODUCTION

Between 1971 and 1974 I attended the Royal College of Music in London, where
I studied guitar with John Williams and Carlos Bonell. I also studied the Alexander
Technique privately with Jean Gibson, who is well known for being Sally Swift’s
teacher. Ms. Swift wrote Centered Riding, which is a beautiful book on Alexander
Technique applied to dressage. In those three years I joined the technique of these
extraordinary players with Alexander Technique to heal carpal tunnel syndrome in my
left hand and have never had wrist problems since. In 1992 I became a certified
Alexander Technique teacher. What I am presenting here is everything I learned from
these wonderful guitarists and Alexander Technique, all defined by my three years of
training to become an Alexander Technique teacher.

GOAL OF THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE

The purpose of the Alexander Technique is to create freedom in movement by

teaching new movement patterns in the activities of everyday life and specialized
activities. Its objective for the performer is to produce physical responses that insure an
appropriate distribution of neuromuscular tone throughout the body. This allows the
player to be able to deal with the stress of a performance by creating physical lightness
and ease. The technique identifies and decreases neuromuscular tension that occurs
subconsciously, and it creates postural good use through the intricate and delicate
interplay of muscle coordination and movement. When the technique has been
successfully applied, body areas are lightly and easily balanced in relation to each other,
allowing increased flexibility and a sense of freedom for the performer. The goal of the
Alexander Technique is to change destructive physical habits that limit freedom and
movement and that create pain through straining and tension and poor posture.

HISTORY OF THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE

F. M. Matthias Alexander was born in Tasmania, Australia, in 1869 and died in

1955. He was an orator who aspired to being a Shakespearean actor. During his career, he
began losing his voice while performing. Although Alexander consulted with physicians,
they were unable to find anything wrong with him. Several physicians suggested a minor
operation on his throat, although they could not guarantee the success of the procedure.
He eventually stopped seeking the help of physicians and decided to observe himself
reciting in a mirror. He saw that as he recited he threw his chin upward, constricting the
muscles in the back of his neck, pulling his head backward and down compressed into his
spine, with his neck and jaw pushed forward. This stretched and depressed his larynx.
Alexander attempted to correct the error by holding his head differently. He extended his
head upwards, but found that the correction was only of temporary help, because he
began to lose his voice again. After many attempts, he realized that he was positioning

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his head incorrectly and that he had no idea how his head functioned in relationship to his
neck. He then decided to inhibit only the manner in which he positioned his head. He
focused his attention on how to not tighten his neck muscles during a recitation and to
allow his head to find its own sense of balance.
Alexander expanded his observations to total body awareness and began to share
his ideas with others. He formulated as his main principle that there is a relationship
between the head and the neck, and that if this relationship is freely maintained in
movement and at rest, there will be a beneficial effect on the functioning of the body as a
whole: if the head leads a lengthening spine upwards, the body follows with elegant
beautiful movement. Alexander called this head-to-neck relationship “Primary Control”.
He defined good Primary Control as occurring when the head is balanced freely at the
end of the spine, and the musculature is not interfered-with in its lengthening the spine to
fully support the body in activity.

ORDERS AND INHIBITION IN THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE

Using “orders” (thoughts) to create good use is the technique that helps the
performer rediscover the natural balance of his body. There are three steps in changing
bad habits. First, the performer must become aware of the habit. Second, the performer is
taught to observe his habitual responses to particular stimuli. (An example of a poor
habitual response is the raising of the shoulders while playing the guitar. This habit
causes excessive tension in the neck, shoulders, arms, and hands.) Third, the performer is
taught to inhibit his initial habitual response and to allow the body to find a balanced
posture, using orders of allowance. (For example, if you notice that you tighten you neck
at the moment you begin to play, then stop playing, inhibit the destructive movement, and
begin again.) An example of an order of allowance is: “My neck is releasing and my
spine is lengthening as my shoulders float on my ribcage.”
Two conditions are necessary for orders of allowance to work. First, the
performer should order only movements that are not harmful and are physically possible
to accomplish. Second, the movements should be trusted to happen. If the performer does
not interfere with the musculature consciously, the body knows the most efficient way to
accomplish a movement or posture. If the performer consciously attempts to order
movement through contracting the muscles, the quality of movement will be reduced.
Movement and posture require so many variables working together that any conscious
attempt at ordering all of the musculature will block the ease of playing the guitar.
A teacher of the Alexander Technique has knowledge in the following areas to
help the performer make postural re-adjustments: a correct concept of skeletal alignment
based on anatomy and body mechanics (which is flexible to allow for differences in body
build); knowledge of the typical faults in posture; ability to locate the key areas of poor
relationships between the body areas; knowledge of where and in what direction
movement is needed to align the skeleton and to bring about postural balance; and the
ability to see a restriction of range of motion in a performer. Finally, the teacher
encourages self-examination by the performer regarding any false beliefs he may have
about posture, movement, and technique, and then to let these go.
The following principles are guidelines for good use in movement. The ordered
movement must be possible and should result in a postural or movement change that

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brings the body closer to its intrinsic sense of balance. The physical laws in an ordered
movement should be obeyed, which means to recognize that a force such as gravity is
part of movement and can either assist or hinder the coordinated action of muscles. The
spine should only be ordered into lengthening upward or downward––not pushed
forward––to create held “good” posture. Use different orders of allowance, because the
same order may, over a period of time, lose its impact in bringing about the desired
movement. Also, different orders may work better for different individuals, depending on
whether they are more artistic or mechanical in their approach to playing.

DIRECTING

To “direct” in the Alexander Technique is to give an order of allowance to the

head, neck, and spine to release and lengthen prior to movement. A traditional
Alexandrian order is, “my neck is free, and my head is moving forward and upward,
lengthening my spine”. The word “forward” in this instance means that the head is tilting
to level on the spine so that the planes of the face are vertical, and the base of the neck,
the occipital joint, is released. This does not mean, however, to push the head
horizontally forward of the torso.
Alexander came to realize that the neck releasing and the spine lengthening
precede all beautifully coordinated and effortless movement. The problem is that most
people do the opposite of this, especially in activities that are learned with an element of
fear, such as reading and writing, or learning a musical instrument. And he saw that if
people really wanted to do something extremely well, like playing the guitar, they usually
hunkered down and locked the neck in an attempt to “get it right”.
Alexander began teaching his students to use the “my neck is free” order in all
their activities so that they wouldn’t compress their spines prior to doing something.
Therefore, the first movement before playing the guitar should be to release the neck,
thus allowing the spine to lengthen. This sets the stage for consistent, elegant, and
effortless performing. To play with a lengthening spine means you play with the head,
neck, and spine flowing upwards, which is a vector of up––a direction, not a held
position.
I have one final point to make on orders of allowance and directing: Once you
have used these tools to regain the beautiful body-use so many of you had as children,
these new/old efficient habits and postures start to become second-nature again, and you
don’t have to order yourselves around so much. (Not a bad joke, huh?)

GUITAR TECHNIQUE: RIGHT HAND

If the performer is incapable of producing volume without a harsh tone, then

something is wrong with the right-hand technique. This usually happens because the
performer is hooking the strings with the middle joint of the fingers and, as more force is
applied, the strings slap against the fingerboard. The strings should be struck and not
hooked. The finger moves through the string from the main knuckle of the right hand,
aiming for the back of the palm instead of hooking the finger into itself. In this process
there is some curling in the middle joint, which helps move the finger into the palm at an
even reflexive rate. The movement needs to be executed at a naturally reflexive speed so

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that excessive tension is not caused by trying to force the finger to go faster through the
string. You can only move as quickly as your reflexes allow, so you need to trust your
reflexes. Once the movement has been initiated and completed, allow a reflexive return to
its original position whether you do a free or a rest stroke. By returning the finger
instantly, independent of what any other finger is doing, the finger is in position to play
again. No matter the tempo, it returns before or during another finger’s execution. With
the execution and return of the stroke being reflexive, excessive tension is avoided at
high tempos and the quality of tone is clear, losing any hint of sounding labored.
Imagine the hand as a door hinge. Place the arm on a table with the hand over the
edge of the table, palm down. Let all of the fingers touch each other and be gently curved.
Allow them all to twitch into the palm from the main knuckle. Do this with each finger
imaged as an individual door hinge springing closed. Now get the guitar, and let the
fingers and thumb rest on the first four strings; thumb on the fourth, first finger on the
third, middle finger on the second, and ring finger on the first. Release each finger one at
a time away from the string, only a quarter of an inch, and allow the finger to strike
reflexively through the string like a door hinge springing effortlessly closed. Do this
repeatedly with the same finger slowly (in terms of tempo), as the thumb and other
fingers rest on the other strings. Allow the finger to twitch back to its starting place, as a
hinge returning to open via a spring.
The action of the fingertip is very important to tone production. The fingertip
needs to give backwards. If not, the sound will be harsh. Find a position that allows the
finger the freedom to strike from the main knuckle and to give at the tip. Imagine the
fingertip as a harpsichord quill. As the finger goes through the string like a door on a
hinge, allow the fingertip to give backwards like the quill of a harpsichord. Giving at the
fingertips is the mechanism behind volume control. No matter how softly the performer
plays, the speed of attack should not lessen. If the attack slows down, then the tone loses
its quality and becomes fuzzy or indistinct. Something is also lost rhythmically, because,
if the attack is slowed, then the exact point when the string is released becomes indistinct.
Since the speed of attack is not changed, then something else has to change to reduce
volume, and this should be the fingertip. I think of the fingertips as guitar picks. When I
want a louder sound, it is like using a stiffer pick, and for a softer sound, a more flexible
one. The fingertips are allowed more flexibility, backwards, as the performer produces
softer and softer sounds. If the speed of attack is maintained at a reflexive rate, then the
release of the notes is precise. Because fingertips give only so far, their release at a high
speed maintains the integrity of the note.
When using the thumb, allow it the freedom to break downward from the first
joint, and do it as reflexively as the fingers. The sound produced by the thumb bending at
the tip is a more controlled sound and closer in quality to that produced by the fingers.
Imagine the reverse of shooting marbles with the thumb. When shooting marbles, the
thumb tip pops out of the index finger to shoot the marble. Let the thumb do the reverse.
With the extra control afforded by the thumb tip, the performer can avoid the danger of
overpowering treble production with the superior strength of the thumb. If a stronger,
fuller sound is desired, then the thumb is used as a single unit whether playing free or rest
stroke.
The position of the right hand is one of compromise that needs to satisfy the
following rules:

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  Find a position that does not cause strain on the fingers, thumb, or wrist.
 The wrist needs to be high enough so that the fingers and thumb have the freedom
to curve through the strings and not hook them.
 It must also be a position where all three fingers and thumb can produce identical
high quality tones, without the hand position changing to accommodate a
particular finger or thumb.
 Do not torque or twist or push fingers sideways to create a desired quality of
sound. Let the fingers move only as released hinge joints.
 The positioning of the fingers needs to be direct enough into the strings so that the
fingers can play on the metal bass strings with scratching sounds reduced to a
minimum. This same position is used in the treble, so that the performer is not
varying the fingers to accommodate particular strings. For this to happen, the
hand's relationship to the arm changes as you move up and down the strings.
 Positioning of hand and technique of attack must allow the performer to play at a
peak volume and retain tone quality.
 The string is plucked at the same place (which may vary from finger to finger) on
the nail and flesh, so that consistent tone production is maintained.
 All movement of the hand and fingers is at a minimum, but not to the point of
constricting movement.
 A string is usually not played from a resting position on the string (with the
exception of performing successive staccato notes on the same string).
 Nails must be buffed on the edges to a glassy surface to reduce nail noise to a
minimum.
 When changing from free stroke to rest stroke, the hand position changes (wrist
moves closer to guitar). Like the free stroke position, the above ten rules still
apply to the rest stroke.

If these eleven points are satisfied, then the performer will find an elegant hand
placement and technique with which facility and high tone quality can be sustained.

GUITAR TECHNIQUE: LEFT HAND

A major difficulty many guitarists have with the left hand is caused by the way
they perceive movement in position changes. When a shift occurs, it is not the hand or
elbow that makes the change of position. It is the upper arm and shoulder that moves the
hand and forearm. The more reflexive all finger and arm movements are in the left
arm/hand/shoulder, the more connected the notes. Reflexive movements facilitate playing
legato no matter how slow the tempo.
Trust the arm/hand/shoulder to get from point A to point B easily and accurately.
Do not tell the arm/hand/shoulder how to shift. Trust the body to know how to shift, and
be clear where you are going. The less control over the details of muscular movement,
the more accurate the shift will be. Effortless accuracy is a function of assumed success
through absolute trust that the body knows the best way to get the job done. If you know
what the arm is doing mechanically and what notes you want to play, and you trust the
arm to be extraordinarily accurate and guide it with orders of allowance, it will hit the

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mark. Simply, in “Alexander speak,” you let the hand lead the arm, but you KNOW the
upper arm and shoulder is moving the hand.
Another difficulty caused by not being conscious that the arm moves the hand, is
that the arm can become dead weight whenever it reaches a position. The moment the
fingers press the strings, the arm may stop supporting the hand––pulling down on the
fingers and guitar. When this occurs, shifts become difficult because the arm has to
function with an extra action: the muscles of the arm have to be activated to support the
hand to initiate a shift at the moment the strings are released; otherwise, the arm would
simply fall off the guitar. It also takes more strength to hold the fingers on the strings
caused by an over-tensed hand and an under-toned arm. Another bad side effect of the
left arm being dead weight is the weight of the arm pulls the neck down and pushes up
the right arm and shoulder. When the right arm has to hold the instrument down, the
tension that is caused will transfer into the right hand.
When shifting, completely release the thumb on the back of the neck, but still
maintain contact. The friction caused by the thumb pressing against the neck will cause a
slowdown in shifts. When pressing down notes, think of the hand as an ultra-sensitive
vice so that the thumb and finger(s) press with equal strength. This prevents pulling the
guitar into your body and causing strain in the hands, arms, and shoulders.
To avoid excessive tension in the left hand, do not press the string any harder than
needed. This is only accomplished by adding pressure up to the point of a cleanly
produced note. The performer will never know exactly how much pressure to release if
he starts by squeezing too tightly. It is much easier to add pressure than to release it.
Excessive tension in the hand transfers to the wrist, into the forearm, and all the
way into the left shoulder, causing fatigue in a short period of time. A way to test tension
in the hand and arm is to make a bar, play, and then move the instrument back and forth.
If the performer can maintain the bar with the notes continuing to sound cleanly while at
the same time allowing the wrist to release back and forth and the upper arm move at the
shoulder, then he is not pressing too hard. Thus, tension is not transferred up the arm.
Remember; never pull the guitar toward you! Allow the shoulder to be at ease as you
create clean playing with the sensitive vice of the hand.
Practice placing the fingers on the strings at the same place on each finger, except
for very awkward chords or playing in some positions past the twelfth fret. Search the
area of the fingertip (pressing the string down at different points), and discover the point
on each finger where there is a sense of maximum strength and security and balance. This
is accomplished by playing very slowly for a while. Trust your fingers to come down at
the same place on their tips each time.
The thumb generally opposes the fingers between the second and third fingers,
except when making a bar, where it will usually oppose the first finger more. Experiment
with different multiple- and single-note placements to discover the greatest sense of
strength and balance in the left hand by moving the thumb accordingly. The ideal is to
have the thumb in a place on the neck at every moment that creates control, balance,
strength, and accuracy. This means that the performer must become consciously aware of
the different patterns the hand sets up, and he must anticipate the position of greatest
balance and security between the fingers and thumb.

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 The fingers should have a natural curve and allowed be close to the fingerboard at
all times so that they are not articulated in a haphazard way. Accuracy is a result of how
well the music is memorized, how balanced and released the performer is on the guitar,
how well the performer lets go of self-doubt, and how close the fingers are to the strings.
The fingers of both hands never need to be more than a quarter of an inch from the strings
when not being used. The exception is the follow-through of the right-hand fingers when
playing forte, but otherwise stay as close to the strings as possible. Gradually, through the
inhibiting of old habits and the relearning process, the hands will develop a feeling of
released, curved closeness to the strings, and speed and accuracy will improve
enormously.
The left hand sustains the note values on the instrument solely, since the right
hand has no more contact with the string once it has been plucked. Therefore, to maintain
clean playing and legato, the left-hand fingers need to be quick, smooth, and accurate, as
if playing a slur. There needs to be a reflexive action of “hammering” down on the string,
followed by a reflexive release of the string.
For descending slurs and trills, make sure that the finger being slurred or trilled
down to is stable and is not pulled down when the slur is executed. When slurring or
trilling, the finger that moves reflexively comes down off of the string stopping against
the adjacent string and reflexively returns over the string previously played. To prevent
the string that the finger stops against from being heard, allow the stable finger at times to
touch the string, especially in a trill. Imagine the trilling finger to be like a bull’s hoof as
the bull is preparing to charge. The bull hits his front hoof to the ground, draws it along
the ground, arcs it back in front and repeats the same movement, describing a half moon.
The muscles within the palm and back of the hand should not be rigid to conform
to a position parallel to the underside of the neck. Generally, the hand is (or is almost)
parallel to the neck, but, to avoid straining for some notes, the hand needs to be allowed
to form a lateral curl across the back of the hand. This enables the little finger to reach the
desired position without forcing the hand and/or the arm into an awkward and tense
position. Feel the back of the hand as being very soft, so that the little finger can reach
any string with a released palm.
One final point concerns the release of the bar. The bar requires more strength and
pressure on the strings than any other left-hand movement, and this raises the tension
level in the hand during its execution. At the bar’s release, be sure to allow the hand to
return to its former level of minimal dynamic strength needed to perform its other
movements.

POSTURE

Posture will determine how balanced, solid, and comfortable the performer feels
with the instrument while playing. If you feel off-balance while playing, then this
transfers into the hands, and your ability to play well becomes unpredictable. The body
over-compensates to hold itself in the chair, and to maintain the guitar in position with
the hands on the instrument. The hands and arms lose their freedom of movement and
they become part of the over-compensated support the body requires when gravity is
pulling at it unevenly. At this point, excessive tension is distributed throughout the whole
body and playing becomes an effort.

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 Allow yourself to be balanced upright with the upper body completed by the
pelvis. In the Alexander Technique the torso includes the “sit bones” as the bottom of the
back. The spine is not held rigid, but it is allowed its natural S curves with a comfortable
sense of tone throughout the upper body. Do not lean continuously to one side during
playing. The exception to this rule is when playing above the twelfth position, where you
may have to lean over the instrument to reach the notes. Also, there is no problem in
allowing yourself be fully upright with your upper body moving with a lengthening spine.
This is an expanded expressive version of the “sitting dance,” a recognition that an
upright body is always in movement and never immobile.
The shoulders float on the ribcage, but are not held level. Do not depress them
into a level position or hold them up. Because the spine supports the upper body, then the
only weight the right arm places on the instrument is its own weight. The instrument is
not used to hold the body up! If the right side of the body is allowed to become dead
weight on the instrument, then tension is transferred down the arm to the hand, and
playing becomes strained.
The shoulders should float/move on a constantly expanding and contracting
ribcage. If you never hold your breath, then the shoulder girdle is never immobilized,
even during a difficult passage (which is where most performers hold their breath and
hunker down). Does this detract from accuracy? No. Accuracy is a function of faith, and
is never kindly attained from trying to minimize movement by being careful. Simply, a
guitarist never needs to hold his breath.
When changing the right-hand position for tone color, the arm moves horizontally
across the instrument. A metallic sound is not accomplished by raising the shoulder to
move the hand. Also in conjunction with right- and left-hand position changes, never pull
the shoulder blades together to move. Allow the arms to move freely in the shoulder
sockets with the shoulder blades totally free following the arms’ lead in movement.
Allow the head the freedom to tilt and pivot form the upper vertebrae, instead of
hunching over the instrument with the neck forward. The head, held forward or rigid,
transfers tension very quickly into the shoulders and arms and into the hands. (This was a
major cause of my carpal tunnel problems.)
The left hand and arm are extended to the neck of the guitar. When playing in the
first position of the instrument, do not lean into the guitar. An arm lengthening away
from the body from a supported shoulder on an upright torso is much more powerful than
an arm the torso is collapsing towards. This forces the body out of balance, and makes
shifting a major body movement instead of a released arm movement.
Finger movement can be imagined/perceived as a lengthening or pushing rather
than a pulling of the fingers through the string or into the string. If the performer thinks of
the muscles on top of the fingers and upper forearm as lengthening to push the fingers
through the strings or pressing the strings, then a much smoother motion occurs. People
are taught to think of movement as shortening one muscle group and allowing the
lengthening opposing muscle group to passively give way. This belief causes the
lengthening muscles to act as a drag on movement––which is especially harmful in
something as sophisticated as playing a musical instrument. Allow momentum to help.
The performer should use no more muscular effort than is necessary. When a finger is in
motion or the left arm is shifting, allow momentum to assist in the movement. It should

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not be made a muscle shortening/tightening process, in which the performer tries
unnecessarily to muscularly control every second of motion.
Feet are placed fully on the ground, whether a footstool is used or not. Experiment
with the positioning of the feet and legs, because most positions of the feet cause a loss of
balance in the entire body. There is no positioning of any section of the body that does
not have an effect on the overall structure. Do not think just of hands or arms. Playing the
guitar is an awareness of the whole body’s relationship to the instrument and sound
production. There must be an overall consciousness of how you are put together from
head to toe if a sense of total coordination is to be found and allowed. For a guitarist, the
most obvious motion is in the upper body. The lower body’s musculature is allowed to
flow and balance as the legs and sit bones contact the chair and floor. This centered base
allows the performer to feel and play with security.
Lastly, watch for facial tension. This does not mean facial expressions that show
emotion while performing, but rather the expressions created by straining to do your best.
Alexander Technique teachers have a saying: “Don't try, do.” When playing, allow the
face to express the joy of performance in the total piece, not be the place where you
demonstrate your distrust of your technique or attack yourself for making a mistake. The
total relationship of the body to the instrument is a compromise situation in which the
performer satisfies the requirements of balance, shifting, comfort, strength, tone
production, and dynamics.

BIOGRAPHY

Ethan Kind, formerly Charles Stein, trained as an Alexander Technique teacher at

the American Center for the Alexander Technique in New York and has been teaching
since 1992. He also has a M.M. degree in classical guitar and was a concert guitarist for
ten years. Mr. Kind’s writing (as Charles Stein and Ethan Kind) has been published in the
United States, Great Britain and Australia. He lives in Nashville, TN, where he has a
private practice. He can be reached at 615-353-9915 or ethankind@hushmail.com.

FURTHER READING

Alcantara, Pedro de. Indirect Procedures. New York, NY: Oxford University Press,
Inc., 1997.

Alexander, F.M. Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual. E. P. Dutton and Co.,
Inc., 1923 (Longbeach, CA: Centerline Press, 1985).

Alexander, F.M. Man’s Supreme Inheritance. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1942 (Long
beach, CA: Centerline Press, 1988).

Alexander, F.M. The Universal Constant of Living. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1941
(Long beach CA: Centerline Press, 1986).

Alexander, F.M. The Use of the Self. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1932 (Long beach, CA:
Centerline Press, 1984).

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Bonpensiere, Luigi. New Pathways to Piano Technique. New York, NY: Philosophical
Library, 1953.

Caplan, Deborah. Back Trouble. Gainesville, FL: Triad Publishing Company, 1987.

Conable, Barbara. What Every Musician Needs To Know About The Body. Portland,
OR: Andover Press, 2000.

Gelb, Michael. Body Learning. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, 1987.

Kind, Ethan. Inspiring Musical Performance. AmSAT News, Issue No. 76, 2008.

Kind, Ethan. The Hurting Musician. American Music Teacher, Vol. 56, No. 6 June/July,
2007.

Ortmann, O. The Physiological Mechanics of Piano Technique. New York, NY: E. P.

Dutton and Co., Inc., 1929.

Stein, Charles. To Schlep or Not to Schlep: Guidelines for Music Performance Teachers.
American Music Teacher, Vol. 45, No. 5, April/May, 1996.