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Papers on the Alexander Technique
"Making Life Easier: An introductory talk on the Alexander Technique", Malcolm Williamson. Talk given at staff conference, "Health and the Musician", Royal Northern College of Music, 11 September, 1997.
For Full text Making Life Easier
"Understanding and Preventing Misuse in Musical Performance by Employing the Alexander Technique", Kathleen J Ballard, Ronald Colyer and Malcolm Williamson. International Conference, Health and the Musician, York 1997 (Musicians’ Union; BAPAM).
For Full text Understanding and Preventing Misuse in Musical Performance
"Means to means: the role of the Alexander Technique in musical Training", Malcolm Williamson. Talk given at the Royal College of Music, London, 31st March 1998 to third conference for Alexander teachers working in music colleges.
For Full text Means to Means
"Making Connections", an introduction to the Alexander Technique for practitioners of performing arts medicine, Malcolm Williamson. Journal of the British Association of Performing Arts Medicine, Summer 2003.
For Full text Making Connections
“Constructive Conscious Control”, Malcolm Williamson. This article first appeared in STAT NEWS, January 1995. The title of Alexander’s second and definitive book on the Technique is called Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual. McGilchrist (2003)* writes: "The defining features of the human condition can all be traced to our ability to stand back from the world, from ourselves and from the immediacy of experience. This enables us to plan, to think flexibly and intuitively, and, in brief, to take control of the world around us rather than respond to it passively.” As Use and Functioning improve, a subtler plane of awareness, which John Dewey called “thinking in activity”, can develop.
* Iain McGilchrist, The Master and his Emissary. Yale University Press.
For Full text Constructive Conscious Control
“Knowing where to begin”, Malcolm Williamson. Talk given at the Royal Northern College of Music, Staff Conference (Musicians’ Health), 14th September 2007. From a practical point of view, the satisfactory, smooth working of the body’s mechanism for postural balance is essential to every wakeful activity. Alexander’s approach to improving Use and Functioning shows us how to discover the best way to use ourselves "starting from scratch" as Aldous Huxley put it (see Jones 1976, page 154).
Knowing Where to Begin
“The Role of the Alexander Technique in Musical Training and Performing”, M. Williamson,
N. Roberts, and A. Moorhouse. Research paper given at the International Symposium on Performance Science, Oporto in November 2007. The authors present some preliminary results from fMRI studies of brain activity during "giving directions" and improvements in singers' vocal quality and pianists' evenness of touch when playing scales following Alexander lessons. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Performance Science 2007, edited by Aaron Williamon and Daniela Coimbra, published by the European Association of Conservatoires (AEC), Utrecht, The Netherlands. ISBN 978-90-9022484-8: pp. 369-374.
For Full Text The Role of the Alexander Technique in Musical Training and Performing
The literature on the Alexander Technique is extensive. In addition to simple introductory books, there are many other books intended for special interest groups, such as musicians, actors, horse riders, runners, swimmers, etc. as well as books intended for teachers of the Technique. Papers on the Technique have been published in many journals and edited books. Some of the items on the Links Page should assist you in your search, and most provide further links.
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