| ABOUT JOE | MUSIC-RELATED ARTICLES | ALEXANDER-RELATED ARTICLES |
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Here is a selection of my writings on the Alexander Technique and music-related subjects from 1975 to 2006, including an introductory interview, articles for teachers published by Statbooks, Statnews, and AmSAT News, my master's thesis, unpublished pieces for students, and revisions of my articles on flute vibrato and master oboist Fernand Gillet's teaching that were previously published in The Flutist Quarterly. (For a description of the Alexander Technique, see The Alexander Technique, a Talk with Joe Armstrong.)
MY MUSICAL EXPERIENCE As a flutist I hold a Master of Arts degree in music, having studied with Carl Petkoff at Illinois Wesleyan Universtiy (1962-1964), Alex Murray at the National Music Camp (1965 & 1966), and with Boston Symphony principal oboist, fernand Gillet while I attended Tufts(1973-1975). From 1966 to 1969 I played in the U.S. Army Field Band, the Pentagon's touring concert band. While in Boston I have performed in recitals and chamber music concerts with a number of the professional musicians I teach. Over the last six months I have been working on an English translation of French musicologist Andre Pirro's 1907 book,The Aesthetic of Johann Sebastian Bach,which I'm hoping to find a publisher for. I'm also planning to begin making some recordings soon for flute alone of the Bach cello suites and of arrangements of Bach arias and other works I'm transcribing for flute and guitar and for flute, violin, and guitar. Here are some samples of my playing: And here are some vibrato examples from my article on Carl Petkoff and creating expressive flute vibrato: Click here to hear the Andante of Mozart's D major flute quartet played with the Petkoff vibrato. Click here to hear the Andante of Mozart's D major flute quartet played with automatic, throat vibrato. Click here to hear the Andante of Mozart's D major flute quartet played with automatic, diaphragm vibrato. Click here to hear Debussy's Syrinx played with the Petkoff vibrato. Click here to hear Debussy's Syrinx played with automatic, throat vibrato. Click here to hear Debussy's Syrinx played with automatic, diaphragm vibrato. Click here to hear Debussy's Afternoon of a Faun played with the Petkoff vibrato. Click here to hear Debussy's Afternoon of a Faun played with the automatic, throat vibrato. Click here to hear Debussy's Afternoon of a Faun played with automatic, diaphragm vibrato. MY ALEXANDER EXPERIENCE I trained to become an Alexander teacher in London with Walter and Dilys Carrington and Peggy Williams from 1969 to 1972. Following that, I worked intensively with Frank Pierce Jones from 1973 to 1975 at Tufts University doing post-graduate research on the Alexander Technique in musical performance. For thirty-five years I specialized in teaching the Alexander Technique to musicians and other performing artists, and from 1977 to 1988 I also directed an Alexander teacher training course. In June of 2007 I retired from teaching the Alexander Technique in order to devote myself more fully to music, painting, and translating.
In addition to the writings included here, I have also done several in-depth, book-length interviews with prominent Alexander teachers: Grethe Laub, "The Alexander Technique and Child Education," published by Novis, 2006, in the collection How Are We Living Our Lives? www.novis.dk; Kitty Wielopolska, Never Ask Why: The Alexander Work and Schizophrenia, published by Novis, 2001 www.novis.dk; and Vivien Mackie, 'Just Play Naturally,' which is an account of her cello study with Pablo Casals and her discovery of the resonance between his teaching and the principles of the Alexander Technique, originally published in 2002 by Duende Editions and reprinted in 2006 by Xlibris www.xlibris.com. My prefaces to the Wielopolska and the Mackie books are also included on this site. Preface to Never Ask Why; Introduction to 'Just Play Naturally'. INVENTION ACTIVITY More recently, I completed work on a radical, new design for a violin and viola shoulder rest based on my Alexander teaching experience. Over the last twenty years, several of my professional violinist and violist students have been closely involved in the testing of it, including violinist Janet Packer, Chair of Strings at Longy School of Music; freelance violinist Moby Pearson (formerly of the Apple Hill Chamber Players and the Atlanta Chamber players); freelance violinist Mark Latham, who has also conducted various orchestras in the New England area and is currently finishing his doctorate in conducting at the University of Michigan; Julie Leven, violinist with Boston Baroque Orchestra, Handel & Haydn Society, and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra; and Boston freelance violist Jenny Shallenberger. Alice Dietrich, another former Alexander student of mine, has joined me as partner in refining and patenting the design. We are calling it the Portabene Violin and Viola Rest. We hope it will be available soon. Watch for details at www.portabene.com. Read more about the problem and the solution: The Alexander Technique and Violin/Viola Shoulder Rest Ergonomics.For more information about me, see: Biographical Notes
Special thanks to Jeff Mitchell for help in editing these articles, ****ARTICLES**** Carl Petkoff and His Technique for Creating
a Subtle and Expressive Flute Vibrato
Carl Petkoff Recital
Recordings, 1950-1960. 2 CD Set. Oboe Master Fernand Gillet's Remarkable Contributions
to Woodwind Playing
*A facsimile of Gillet's manuscript for the flute version of Exercices sur les Gammes, les Intervalles, et le Staccato is available through Charles Miller at Proofing House Press (email: cmiller@proofinghouse.com). Order Form. The full oboe version and the scale exercises section of the clarinet version are available through Alphonse Leduc. Bassoon and saxophone editions have not yet been made. The Alexander Technique and Violin/Viola Shoulder Rest
Ergonomics Effects of the Alexander Principle in Dealing With Stress in Musical Performace The Alexander Technique, a talk with Joe Armstrong INTRODUCTION By Joe Armstrong Positive and Negative Primary Control and Research An in-depth introduction, geared for students, to the central principle of the Alexander Technique. (1999) Directing and Ordering: A Discussion of Working on Yourself An examination of different concepts of "directing" and "ordering," and recommendations for working effectively on yourself. Comparisons are made between "ordering," meditation, and biofeedback. (1988) Available through AmSAT Books Just Standing, Looking and Seeing Suggestions for working on yourself by non-verbal directing. (1999) The Word Made Flesh: Developing Your Ordering Voice An exploration of effective ways to use silent verbalizing to improve you use of yourself. (2002) Alexander's Language Development Response to R. Dennis' article "Primary Control and the Crisis in Alexander Technique Theory" (AmSAT News, Summer, 1999). I give recommendations for reaching a unified definition of the concepts underlying Alexander's discoveries and suggestions for research. (2000) Alexander Hypotheses The essential claims of F.M. Alexander paraphrased for use in research and intramural defining of the Technique. (1998) Reconsidering 'Forward and Up' Challenging a common interpretation of Alexander's direction for the head as part of the sequence of directing our Primary Control of the use of ourselves most positively. Drawing on my Army basic training experience of learning to do the "low crawl" by applying principles of the Alexander Technique. (2000) 'Forward and Up' Reconsidered Sequel to previous article, Reconsidering 'Forward and Up.' (2001) Manner and Conditions of Use A neglected factor in some American orientations to the Alexander Technique, which Alexander and most of the teachers he trained considered necessary for complete teaching and teacher training. (2001) Preface by Joe Armstrong to Never Ask Why: The Life-Adventure of Kitty Wielopolska (1900-1988)" ... another remarkable Alexander story." Walter Carrington. My appreciation of Kitty and my thoughts on how the tenets of phenomenological psychiatry might explain how her extensive experience with the Alexander Work could have helped her deal with the trials of schizophrenia. Novis Publications, January 2002 (www.novis.dk). TOP Email me: joe@joearmstrong.info Last update ... January, 2008 |