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Body Mapping for String Players - What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body
Helping Prevent Performance-Related Injuries, Unleashing Artistic Expression

Diane is the first certified string player in Europe to be a qualified teacher of Body Mapping for Musicians.

Body Mapping is a somatic method that trains musicians to move according to the true anatomical design of their body.  Exploring the structures involved in playing an instrument, it enhances performance by increasing freedom and facility, reducing the likelihood of injury. 

Diane has designed the 6 session course ‘What Every Musician Needs to know about the Body’ specifically for string players to be delivered online through a 9 hour training programme. 

For those who wish to train further, taking this course forms part of the certification process.

Participants learn about the body, develop awareness, and apply this to their own music practice and teaching.

Body Mapping allows us to identify why there may be a lack of freedom and ease when playing, and to understand the causes of tension and pain in the body.  

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What is a body map?

A body map is what neuroscientists call the internal representation in the brain of the body. It provides information on the structure, function & size, and this map changes as we grow. If the map is accurate, movement will be fluid and flexible, if it is inaccurate, movement will be stiff and possibly injury producing. By consciously correcting the body map based on the reality of the body's design, a musician can rediscover flexibility and ease, and prevent injury.

What you will learn in each 90 minute session:

 

  1. Movement, Your Senses, and Attention in Playing and Singing - training musicians' movement by cultivating an accurate & adequate body map. Developing Inclusive Awareness which can transform experiences of performance anxiety.

  2. The Core of the Body and the Places of Dynamic Balance - exploring the places of balance in the body, from the arches in the feet to the top of the spine, and using this dynamic balance to play with ease and fluidity. 

  3. Arm Joints and how to move them - the four arm joints, the organisation from the tip of the little finger to the tip of the shoulder blade, how to bow with maximum ease while projecting your dream sound, and allowing your left arm to feel free.

  4. The Movement of Breathing - mapping the structures of breathing and the movement of breathing, including a dynamic gathering and lengthening core. 

  5. Your Legs and how they move when you play - the three leg joints, the organisation of the musculature, support for leg movement and how this affects how we play.

  6. How to - individual masterclass sessions.

Further info on the course is available at https://www.bodymap.org/course.

Contact Diane to find out more

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