Just Play Naturally: An account of her study with Pablo Casals in the 1950's and her discovery of the resonance between his teaching and the principles of the Alexander Technique [Hardcover]

Vivien Mackie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 2006

"Just Play Naturally" by Vivien Mackie, in conversation with Joe Armstrong, goes very deep into the creative process by recounting the steps by which Pablo Casals taught Mackie, as a young woman, to go beyond all her formal training in order to become a real musician, and it goes on to show how an artist, in this case a performing artist, may continue going deeper all the rest of her life. 'The dialogue between Vivien the cellist and Joe the flautist, both of whom are skilled an devoted teachers of the Alexander Technique, cold profit any practitioner of the arts, but it penetrates beyond art into life itself. 'This book illustrates the evolution of a sense of rhythm, of a connection to the breath, of the ways in which the self combines the resources of the mind and the body, of motion and stillness, of pitch and meter. Even more than the above, this book tells how to change your life, how to get in touch with the reality beneath learned experience.' Peter Davison, Poet, Editor 'I find Just Play Naturally' extraordinary moving - and important account of artistic discipleship, dedication, communion - as well as a deepening revelation of the Alexander Technique.' Rosanna Warren, Poet, Professor of Comparative Literature, Boston University 'I think that this is a most valuable addition to the list of books concerning the F. Matthias Alexander Technique. It describes the experiences encountered by an accomplished musician in making practical application of the Technique, but it also reveals the extent to which one of the greatest musical artists of our time, Pablo Casals, thought and worked in accordance with the similar principles. Readers will learn much from this book about an approach to study and performance from which all students could benefit.' W.H.M. Carringon, Master Teacher of the Alexander Technique, London

Editorial Reviews

Review

...the insights into Casals' teaching...are thought-provoking and fascinating. Well worth reading for every cellist--really, for any musician. -- STRINGS, August 2002 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

From Joe Armstrong, Publisher and co-author

In 1970, toward the end of my first year of training in London London to become a teacher of the Alexander Technique, I heard that Vivien Mackie, a professional cellist who had studied extensively with Pablo Casals, was going to join the class too. Since I had come to revere and respect Casals as the greatest musician of our time, the prospect of getting to know and maybe even work closely with someone who possessed something of his understanding and approach to music was beyond anything I could have hoped for at that stage of my quest as a flutist.

So before I even met Vivien, I knew I would try to question her as much as I could on every facet of her experience with Casals. As luck would have it, we seemed to be on the same wave-length right from our first meeting, and what's more, she actually seemed to be grateful - even somewhat relieved - to have the chance to talk about her work with Casals, because, to my surprise, I was the first person she knew who was really interested in hearing about every detail of it.

Also lucky for me, Vivien turned out to be a natural raconteur, and I began taking advantage of that by roping her into many long conversations. I was struck right off by her telling me how she, like me, had lost touch with something precious in her playing by the time she'd left music school, and it had taken her intensive study with Casals to bring it back. It was soon clear that her experience with him was unique not only because of that, but also because she had worked with him longer than almost anyone else.

But I realized that however illuminating our talks might be, they were probably only scratching the surface of what she had actually learned from her three whole years with Casals; so I decided to ask her if she would consider teaching me how to play the cello--thinking that it could be the most direct way of experiencing and understanding, at least 'second-hand,' the elements of how Casals had taught her that not only brought back what she had lost but also took her to the highest professional level. She liked the idea very much, and we began 'doing cello' there together several times a week during our lunch breaks over the next year and a half or so.

I was amazed at what transpired in the lessons--esepcially compared to some instruction I'd had in a year of string class in music school. (I was actually supposed to be qualified to teach beginning strings merely by taking that course!) I'd hoped that because of this earlier experience I might be a little more receptive as a student, but I soon saw that none of that was even relevant to the way Vivien was teaching me. It was totally different from--even opposite to--what I thought most other string teachers were probably doing in their teaching, because she was getting me to experience a far broader range of expressive and kinaesthetic possibilities all over the instrument right from the start by completely bypassing the conventional dwelling for a long time on the progression of distinctly confined left-hand positiions. In a few months I was able to begin learning pieces I could never have conceived of playing at the end of my college string course. And this difference in Vivien's approach only seems to me more pronounced today, after having had the chance both to work extensively with a large number of fine string players and teachers in my many years of Alexander teaching in Boston and to watch Vivien bring these revelations to most of them in Alexander string courses we've given here together.

As our collaboration developed and we probed further and further into the elements of musical expression, I could see that it would be very valuable to others if we could create some record of Vivien's experience with Casals and show how his great legacy can be understood and passed on--especially with the aid of the Alexander Technique, since the process of learning and teaching it involves so many of the same understandings applied to life in general that Casals brought to cello teaching and all his music making. So in 1984 I suggested we start recording some of our conversations by harking back to Vivien's initial study with him, continuing from there through her experience with the Alexander Technique, and then going on to her amalgamation of the two into her own unique way of teaching--not just cellists, but musicians of every kind--all around the world. She agreed, and this book is what came out of the project. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 188 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corporation (May 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1425708706
• ISBN-13: 978-1425708702
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,695,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brought into Being, August 12, 2002

By 

Jeffrey Mitchell (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Play Naturally (Paperback)

For most of us, Pablo Casals exists only through recordings. It's wonderful to encounter him alive through the living voice of Vivien Mackie--to imagine her in a high window-ledge in Prades as he made his magnificent recording of the Schumann Cello Concerto, to hear him regretfully but kindly telling this brilliant new student, "You do not know what you are doing," to learn how she learns his great lesson: "Do only what is necessary." Often, she found, "doing what was necessary meant doing a great deal more than I had ever done before," but sometimes it meant doing a great deal less. Her conversations with Joe Armstrong show us that "doing more" must include a patient but insistently revealing discipline that can allow the musician to "see all the colours and shades" of the music, "and all the texture, where it tightens, where it loosens and where the turning moments are,...to take time to examine it and bring it all into being." "Doing less" means "getting rid of clutter"--not just "questionable intonation,...and inadequate articulation, and any sort of doubt" in the playing, but also, and chiefly, any habitual clutter of mind and body that might prevent a release of "life and energy." The lesson applies beyond music.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a typical Alexander Technique book for musicians, August 30, 2007

By 

Jonny Mar (Sao Paulo, SP Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Play Naturally: An account of her study with Pablo Casals in the 1950's and her discovery of the resonance between his teaching and the principles of the Alexander Technique (Paperback)

I've been with the Alexander Technique with over a year now and during this period I have read many books and articles on the subject along with specific approaches on how to apply it to music playing. This book goes beyond the Technique and has very little *direct* mention of it (which I personally loved). It is based more on Vivien Mackie's experience with reconnecting herself to her instrument and a deepened, if not different, approach in HOW she learned, play and interpret music.

Some of the principles she learned from Casals *resonate* with some principles of the Alexander Technique. But as Nelly Ben-Or, pianist and AT teacher, says "in music making so many different elements have to come together and an improved, consciously directed use is but one of them". I have a DVD with a Vivien Mackie masterclass and she goes on by saying that "Through intelligent training of something other than the head and neck you can actually achieve the use, I believe". This is clearly exposed in this book. How Casals brought life back to her fingers without the head-neck-back experience of the Alexander Technique. The Technique is about removing unwanted habits that can help music playing but these bad habits usually show up because of poor music technique itself. So removing the "clutter", as Mackie puts it, does not solve technical limitations as AT teachers are not trained to give music technique. One of the things I learned from this book is the importance of how the player relates to the instrument and how much understanding of this relationship is necessary to overcome plateaus in the learning curve.

Also, one of the things I loved about the book is that it doesn't have a patronising "I am the panacea" attitude like some other AT books I have read. The ideas presented in the book were real experiences and therefore very practical and not just another theoretical "apply the AT principles contained in this book and the right thing will do itself". Some elements here have reinforced certain ideas that I read from Nelly Ben-Or in that music making goes beyond simple mechanical execution and beyond the Alexander Technique. In fact, I don't consider this book an AT book at all because it is written with very little direct mentioning of the Technique and in a language anyone can understand. This is truly a life experience in print.

20 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Natural Education, September 16, 2002

By 

alexander murray (u of Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Play Naturally (Paperback)

My problem with this book is that it contains so much. Joseph Campbell would occasionally begin a talk with"The greatest truths cannot be spoken, the lesser are always misunderstood." Before you read on, listen to the Casals recordings of Bach Suites, and if possible place yourself in the hands of a teacher of Alexander's work. In her quest for the art of "Playing Naturally" Vivien was guided by one remarkable teacher and the spirit of another. Alexander had died by the time her three years with Casals were over. Casals metaphors were drawn from Nature, Alexander found the natural "use of the self" in his search for the skill to give expression to the genius of Shakespeare.
Vivien's lesson by lesson account of her relationship with Casals is unique in biographical writings on Casals. Accounts of lessons with Alexander are available from a variety of distinguished sources. This is the first time two such important influences have been united in the sympathetic environment of a conversation between friends. It is a valuable contribution to available writing on the Alexander Work and Music.