Spinal Movement
The elasticity of the discs permits small movements of the vertebrae. These small movements, added up along the length of the spine, permit the spine to bend, twist, and spiral, with each disc absorbing some of the movement. Movement should not be concentrated more in one region of the spine than another; instead it should be distributed along the entire structure.Many pianists sit with the pelvis fixed. When they adjust to play in different areas on the piano, they move from the waist, as if the waist were a joint. This habit makes playing more difficult, and it can hurt.
Another destructive habit is when the head-neck unit, where the head meets the spine, seems to be frozen and the head and neck move as a unit from the base of the neck. This is due to mis-mapping. It ruins spinal flexibility, compromises collarbone and shoulder blade movement, and hampers development of an inner sense of support for the arms in playing.
The elasticity of the discs permits the vertebrae to move farther apart and then come closer together again, resulting in a measurable and perceivable lengthening and gathering of the spine. (A teacher can see it; a student can feel it or, with cultivation of the kinesthetic sense, learn to feel it.) If the lengthening and gathering of the spine is not inhibited by tension, it occurs thousands of times a day, coordinating our breathing, our running, our walking, our bending and reaching, and our more complex activities like playing the piano.
This lengthening and gathering is natural and intrinsic. It’s just the way your body works when it isn’t tensed. You naturally become greater in length as you, for instance, reach for a cup off a high shelf, and you naturally settle a bit in your spine as you put the cup on the counter, just as a cat gathers a bit to prepare to spring and lengthens a bit in the springing.
“Lengthen” in this context means “to become greater in length,” not “to make greater in length.” If you try to make yourself greater in length in playing, you’ll just end up confused and strained. If you allow yourself to become greater in length, you will feel buoyed up.
How will you know when to lengthen and when to gather? The music will tell you. (If that sounds obscure, think of it this way: when you have a conception of the sound you want, your body, if you are fully embodied without tension, will automatically respond to execute the conception.)