Every Saturday afternoon, I exercise with a Pilates instructor.
And when she asks me to do something, I am often unable to do it
not because I don’t have the strength or the mobility, but
rather because I don’t know which muscles to engage. Once she
shows me, the exercise becomes possible, and I feel the benefits
almost immediately. Just like a dancer or an athlete, to move
properly, you need to know what muscles to engage. It is a real
physical intelligence. It was a surprise then to read Michael
Jones recent blog, Finding a Musical Intelligence; Chopin and
The Art of Touch, Michael says “I discovered that to master
Chopin’s language of touch involved less focus on performing
from the wrists and the forearms and instead allowing the sound
to begin in the center of my back. … This shift in orientation
from playing from the wrists to playing from the whole body
[was] not just piano technique but a way of living. It was an
orientation to the piano that allowed me to more naturally move
with the full weight of f