What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body: The Practical Application of Body Mapping & the Alexander Technique to Making Music

"Unlike many of the other reviewers, I have found this book to be an excellent introduction to body mapping and the Alexander Technique. I think the operative word is "introduction." This should not be thought of as an in-depth study of body mapping; for that, one should refer to Conable's book "How to use the Alexander technique." As both a professional singer and a voice instructor, I have found this simple book to be very useful. It is a helpful tool to introduce students to the very concept of body mapping (something that most people know nothing about...by the way, it's the study of the proper way to hold one's self and use one's body based on an accurate concept of one's physiology). It is also a helpful tool for someone who is familiar with body mapping to check yourself. If you want an in-depth study, this is not the book to use, but it is excellent to use in conjunction with other texts, especially a simple anatomy book. And, as to the cartoon-like drawings, they make it simple, and simple is a good way to start!"
~ Written on 2006-09-07

"I bought this book thinking it would at least have some explanations. But no, it just is a picture book showing pictures of the different skeletal structures in the body. Buy this book ONLY if it is required for a class that you are taking on this where a teacher is there to fill in the explanations as it is USELESS without them.

If you are a pianist who wants to self-study body mapping to prevent injury and improve your playing, take a look at the far better "What every Pianist needs to know about the body" by Thomas Mark (ISBN 1579992064) as it has very detailed descriptions on the movements that you should use and should not use (and also includes pretty much the same pictures as this book does)!"
~ Written on 2006-03-11

"This book is very cartoony and seems almost like a handout you might get at a seminar or a class. It is not necassarily bad, but it doesn't really give you detailed explanations on what you should do. It is more of an illustrated tour of various Alexander concepts. I am still searching for a good Alexander book, but I haven't found one yet so I can't recommend one, but there must be a better one out there, so try a different book."
~ Written on 2006-02-24

"I'm a serious amateur musician (singer), so I know that understanding the body and learning how to use it properly is crucial to making good music. I thought this book would teach me how to better use my body through consideration of its various parts and relationships. I was wrong. Too many of the one-page sections start and end with simplistic lead-ins and ferverinos like these: "You can learn to have a pressure-free front" or "You can learn to organize your torso around your core" and end with "You have a pressure-free front? Gloat! and "If you already, just naturally, organize around your core, huzza!" In between these statements are anatomical diagrams but nothing that tells the reader/student HOW to develop a pressure-free front or to organize the torso around the core. And so on. From the reviews this book apparently satisfies the needs of some, and that's great. But if you're a serious musician looking not only to understand the way the body should work but also tips, advice, or exercises about HOW to use your body, you'll need to look elsewhere. I am."
~ Written on 2005-07-29

"This book is an excellent resource for music teachers who recognize the need for sharing accurate information about the body with their students. It is intended as a workbook. The pages follow a certain presentational order but each can be taken alone as a "project" to be worked on during a lesson or a practice session, depending on the student's (and teacher's!) needs. I have succesfully used the book as a text in my college-level classes, and with musicians one-on-one, ranging from the professional musician to the 5-year-old beginning piano student. That is the beauty of the book: it's text and illustrations readily convey important information to any musician.

Although the book is directed towards musicians, the information would be useful to any performing artist or person seeking information about anatomy and its practical application to movement."
~ Written on 2004-02-19