Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas Woman's University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-223). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas Woman's University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-223).

There is a growing popularity among musicians to turn to somatic approaches such as the Alexander Technique, Body Mapping and Feldenkrais Method to improve posture and movement at the instrument and to produce better tone quality. There is little scientific and objective data to support the changes that are apparently seen and heard after such training. This study examines if a single somatic session has an immediate, perceivable effect on pianists’ body usage and musical quality. In the first mode of evaluation, judges rated specific aspects of body usage and musical quality. In the second mode of evaluation, judges were asked to identify post-somatic performances. Results indicated that there are perceivable changes in body usage and musical quality although those differences are not as apparent or easily detectable as is often believed. The findings also suggest that it is easier to identify post-somatic performances through body usage than musical quality.

The Feldenkrais Method of somatic education has become popular with pianists for improving ease of motion and musculoskeletal health. This thesis contains three studies investigating motion-tracking technologies as means to objectively assess the impact of Feldenkrais training on pianist posture. The first study investigates the accuracy and reliability of Dartfish 2D motion tracking software. Results indicate that Dartfish tracking error is within +/- 0.25 centimeters. The second study uses Dartfish to track head, shoulder, and spine positions of 15 pianists during performance before and after receiving a Feldenkrais Functional Integration Lesson. Comparisons of pre- and post-test measurements indicate no group trends in posture change. However, intriguing changes to movement quality in the head and torso were observable for two participants. The third study compares tracking quality of Dartfish and the Microsoft Kinect for the head, shoulders, and arms of four pianists attending a weeklong Feldenkrais workshop. Results reveal frequent tracking errors with the Kinect sensor, making it unsuitable to measure the impact of somatic training on pianist posture.

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Title of thesis: Source analysis and comparation of Feldenkrais inspired movement and visual stimulation using sLORETA Objectives: The thesis aim is to evaluate intracerebral source activity during a simple arm movement inspired by Feldenkrais method and to compare it with a visual stimulation of the same movement presented in a clip and with an imagination of the same movement. The movement inspired by Feldenkrais method was simplified to a repeated flexion of the dominant arm. Source analysis was evaluated from EEG and processed using sLORETA program, Methods: To obtain the data, experimental group was put together containing 12 participants aged 22-60, (mean = 27.2), both genders included. Participants were subjected to one-off measurement by the EEG instrument. Feldenkrais inspired movement of a flexion of a dominant upper right arm was investigated. The experiment constisted of six parts: 1. native EEG record with eyes closed and open, 2. active flexion of the dominant upper arm with eyes closed, 3. active flexion of the dominant upper arm with eyes opened, 4. watching video presenting repeated upper arm flexion, 5. dominant upper arm flexion imagination with eyes closed. Every part lasted for two minutes. Between individuals parts was inserted a pause. Obtained EEG data were processed with...

Bibliografic identification BESTOVÁ, Zuzana. The effect of The Feldenkrais method on body schema. Prague: Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Department of rehabilitation and exercise medicine, 2012. 96 pages. Supervisor Mgr. Magdaléna Lepšíková. Abstract The diploma thesis deals with neurophysiological concept of body schema and evaluation of the effect of the Feldenkrais method (FM) on its quality. The research comprises two groups of probands without motor system disorders. The participants passed an investigation of the body schema quality by the following tests: a test of estimation of body dimensions (width of mouth, width of shoulders, width of hips and length of foot), a modification of Petrie's test, a test of proprioception and a test of graphestesia. The examination was accomplished before FM investigation and after the course. The first group (group A) comprised 13 individuals (5 males, 8 females) who participated in a semestral course of FM, the second group of probands (group B) included 17 individuals (3 males, 14 females) underwent a two days long FM program. A significant improvement (p = 0,0027) in the estimation of the length of foot was detected after FM intervention in group B. There was not a significant improvement in any of estimated body dimensions in group A....

O objetivo desta pesquisa é esclarecer as várias possibilidades de chegar a um modo mais natural e equilibrado de tocar o violoncelo. Inicialmente, o panorama geral da pedagogia e técnica violoncelística foi analisado com a finalidade de determinar conclusões e opiniões a respeito de recursos pedagógicos atuais, somados aos conhecimentos próprios do autor. Em seguida, houve uma pesquisa bibliográfica e dos meios eletrônicos sobre seis técnicas de reeducação corporal, sendo que, em média, dez aulas particulares para cada técnica foram realizadas pelo autor. Foram também analisadas informações sobre o aumento da ocorrência de danos físicos no meio musical, bem como sobre o corpo dos atletas e seus cuidados. Todas as informações colhidas serviram de base para uma discussão, visando à construção e a elaboração de uma proposta de uma nova pedagogia para os violoncelistas, buscando um funcionamento mais natural do corpo e auxiliando no combate das posturas viciosas, a fim de evitar danos físicos futuros aos executantes deste instrumento. / The object of this work is to suggest various possibilities to arrive at a more natural and balanced mode of playing the violoncello. Initially, the general panorama of violoncello pedagogy and technique was analyzed in order to determine conclusions and opinions with regard to pedagogical resources today, together with the personal knowledge of the author. Next, six methods of corporal reeducation were researched, through bibliographic and electronic means, with the author participating in an average of ten private lessons in each technique. Information with regard to the increasing occurrence of physical injuries in the musical class was also analyzed, as well as that pertaining to athletes bodies and their care. All information garnered served as the basis for a discussion aimed at the construction and elaboration of a proposal of a new violoncello pedagogy that strives for a more natural functioning of the body and helps combat detrimental postures, so that future injuries to violoncellists may be avoided.

How can vibrotactile stimuli be used to create a technology-mediated somatic learning experience? This question motivates this practice-based research, which explores how the Feldenkrais Method and cognate neuroscience research can be applied to technology design. Supported by somaesthetic philosophy, soma-based design theories, and a critical acknowledgement of the socially-inflected body, the research develops a systematic method grounded in first- and third-person accounts of embodied experience to inform the creation and evaluation of design of Haplós, a wearable, user-customisable, remote-controlled technology that plays methodically composed vibrotactile patterns on the skin in order to facilitate body awareness—the major outcome of this research and a significant contribution to soma-based creative work. The research also contributes to design theory and somatic practice by developing the notion of a somatic learning affordance, which emerged during course of the research and which describes the capacity of a material object to facilitate somatic learning. Two interdisciplinary collaborations involving Haplós contribute to additional fields and disciplines. In partnership with experimental psychologists, Haplós was used in a randomised controlled study that contributes to cognitive psychology by showing that vibrotactile compositions can reduce, with statistical significance, intrusive food-related thoughts. Haplós was also used in Bisensorial, an award-winning, collaboratively developed proof-of-concept of a neuroadaptive vibroacoustic therapeutic device that uses music and vibrotactile stimuli to induce desired mental states. Finally, this research contributes to cognitive science and embodied philosophy by advancing a neuroscientific understanding of vibrotactile somaesthetics, a novel extension of somaesthetic philosophy.

O objetivo desta pesquisa é esclarecer as várias possibilidades de chegar a um modo mais natural e equilibrado de tocar o violoncelo. Inicialmente, o panorama geral da pedagogia e técnica violoncelística foi analisado com a finalidade de determinar conclusões e opiniões a respeito de recursos pedagógicos atuais, somados aos conhecimentos próprios do autor. Em seguida, houve uma pesquisa bibliográfica e dos meios eletrônicos sobre seis técnicas de reeducação corporal, sendo que, em média, dez aulas particulares para cada técnica foram realizadas pelo autor. Foram também analisadas informações sobre o aumento da ocorrência de danos físicos no meio musical, bem como sobre o corpo dos atletas e seus cuidados. Todas as informações colhidas serviram de base para uma discussão, visando à construção e a elaboração de uma proposta de uma nova pedagogia para os violoncelistas, buscando um funcionamento mais natural do corpo e auxiliando no combate das posturas viciosas, a fim de evitar danos físicos futuros aos executantes deste instrumento. / The object of this work is to suggest various possibilities to arrive at a more natural and balanced mode of playing the violoncello. Initially, the general panorama of violoncello pedagogy and technique was analyzed in order to determine conclusions and opinions with regard to pedagogical resources today, together with the personal knowledge of the author. Next, six methods of corporal reeducation were researched, through bibliographic and electronic means, with the author participating in an average of ten private lessons in each technique. Information with regard to the increasing occurrence of physical injuries in the musical class was also analyzed, as well as that pertaining to athletes bodies and their care. All information garnered served as the basis for a discussion aimed at the construction and elaboration of a proposal of a new violoncello pedagogy that strives for a more natural functioning of the body and helps combat detrimental postures, so that future injuries to violoncellists may be avoided.