Body Mapping
Body mapping is a educational mind-body tool that allows an individual to evaluate, make corrections to, and refine their internal body map. It is derived from the Alexander Technique and has been adopted primarily by musicians to aid in injury prevention and improving technique.
Origins[edit]
Body mapping was developed by William Conable, an Alexander Technique instructor, cellist, and Professor Emeritus at Ohio State University. Conable drew from the work and teachings of F.M. Alexander and Alexander Technique teachers Marjorie Barstow, Frank Pierce Jones, and David Gorman. Body mapping addresses a phenomenon that Alexander refers to as “imperfect sensory appreciation,”[1] in which people kinesthetically distort the proper location or function of a body part. Conable suggests that accurate information is sent to the brain but is misinterpreted in experience, thus creating an inaccurate body map.
Body Maps[edit]
Body maps are constructed in an individual’s consciousness and includes the size, shape, and mechanics of each part of the body. A body map is not the correspondence of parts of the brain to parts of the body. The function of a body map is to interpret kinesthetic and other sensory information and can also help guide movement. Because the human body changes over a lifetime, the body map changes along with it. The body map is created from memories of one’s experiences of touch and movement and is therefore subject to inaccuracies. It also does not have to be internally consistent across body parts or when functioning for different activities. If the body map and the actual body part conflict, people will “tend to behave as if the map were true.””[1] The most common types of mismapping include size, structural mismappings of joints and other body parts, functional misconceptions such as how the forearm rotates, and vagueness, blankness, or the absence of a body part due to ignorance, imitation, or withdrawing from an injury or abuse.
Applications[edit]
Applications to Music[edit]
Body mapping was first applied to music by William and Barbara Conable. Barbara Conable is the author of How to Learn the Alexander Technique and What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body, which she adapted into a six-hour course on body mapping in 1998. The course is now taught by Andover Educators, a certified not-for-profit organization founded by Barbara Conable. Each hour covers one of the following topics: movement, senses, and attention in playing and singing; the core of the body and the places of balance; the four arm joints and how to use them; breathing and movement; how the legs move while playing; and how to work with individual instruments. Body mapping instructors provide clear, scientifically accurate anatomical information to prevent injury and enhance musical performance. Body mapping lessons are usually taught as part of a music lesson, acting class, or other functional activity so that instructors can observe the changes to the students’ body map.
Research and Publications[edit]
Several qualitative and quantitative studies involving body mapping have been conducted since 2012. In “Can experienced observers detect postural changes in professional musicians after interventions?”,[2] Cliffton Chan, Tim Driscoll, and Bronwen Ackermann of the University of Sydney examined the effects of exercise and Alexander Technique/Body Mapping on musicians’ posture. Participants reported a moderate to large improvements to their posture immediately after interventions. In “The Influence of Body Mapping on Student Musicians’ Performance Experiences,”[3] Heather J. Buchanan and Terrence Hays conducted a study of self-evaluations of undergraduate and musical faculty participants in a body mapping course. Buchanan and Hays reported that body mapping improved a majority of student participants’ ability to be musically expressive, improved specific technical elements related to their respective instruments, and improved function and concentration during performance.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Conable, William, “Origins and Theory of Body Mapping” appendix A to What Every Violinist Needs to Know About the Body, by Jennifer Johnson (Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc., 2009).
- ↑ Chan, Cliffton, Tim Driscoll, and Bronwen Ackermann. “Can experienced observers detect postural changes in professional musicians after interventions?” International Symposium on Performance Science. http://www.performancescience.org/ISPS2013/Proceedings/Rows/047Symposium_Ackermann05_Chan.pdf.
- ↑ Buchanan, H. J., & Hays, T. The influence of body mapping on student musician's performance experiences. International Journal of Education & the Arts 15, no. 7 (September 2014). http://www.ijea.org/v15n7/.
Andover Educators. “Andover EducatorsⓇ >> FAQs.” Andover Educators, http://bodymap.org/main/?p=409.
Andover Educators. ““Andover EducatorsⓇ >> The Course.” Andover Educators, http://bodymap.org/main/?p=383.
Barrett, Constance E. "What Every Musician Needs to Know about the Body: Plan for Incorporating Body Mapping in Music Instruction." American String Teacher 56, no. 4 (2006): 34-37.
Buchanan, H. J., & Hays, T. The influence of body mapping on student musician's performance experiences. International Journal of Education & the Arts 15, no. 7 (September 2014). http://www.ijea.org/v15n7/.
Chan, Cliffton, Tim Driscoll, and Bronwen Ackermann. “Can experienced observers detect postural changes in professional musicians after interventions?” International Symposium on Performance Science. http://www.performancescience.org/ISPS2013/Proceedings/Rows/047Symposium_Ackermann05_Chan.pdf.
Conable, William. “Origins and Theory of Body Mapping.” Appendix A to What Every Violinist Needs to Know About the Body. By Jennifer Johnson, 185-189. Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc., 2009.
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