THE PHILOSOPHY OF „FINE TUNING“
Noise, the pressure to rush, to achieve and to conform, lead us away from ourselves and drown out our inner voice. Many of our most precious skills wither in our input-output culture, for example:
- listening to our body
- listening to our intuition
- listening patiently and with empathy
- pausing and noticing how something is changing or affecting us
The negative influence this development has on making music is nothing new. However, making and practising music is an area full of potential to enhance awareness of disharmony within ourselves. As we listen, practise and play, we can learn to value and nurture those skills as the music and the musician begin to resonate in a process of “fine tuning”.
My teaching works through creative and concentrated practising towards convincing, assured playing which can liberate us and fire our enthusiasm. By letting the body become the true instrument of the music, we expand our powers of perception and of expression.
My philosophy “Fine Tuning” is strongly rooted in the approach outlined in Renate Wieland and Jürgen Uhde’s book Exploratory Practising (published as Forschendes Üben by Bärenreiter, 2002). I assisted in its development through discussion, proof-reading and editing.
The principles and practice of Tai Chi – often described as meditation in movement - are also important influences in my work.