Eloise Ristad deals here with complex problems which torment and cripple
so many of our most creative and talented people, and she does
so with compassion, wisdom, and wit. The problem of stage fright,
for instance, is a suffering of epidemic proportions in our society,
and involves modalities of thought and projections that rob spontaneity
and enthusiasm in artistic performance.
Those interested in creative education have long felt that an
entirely new, holistic and nurturing process of allowing individuals
to discover and express themselves is needed if our educational
system is to avoid the neuroses and creative blocks of the past
generation. This book illuminates through its conversational style
the destructive inhibitions, fears, and guilt experienced by all
of us as we fail to break through to creativity. This story is
told to me day after day in conservatories and college campuses
around the world. Indeed I felt at times that she was telling
of my own most petty and debilitating fears.
But what is important, A Soprano on Her Head supplies answers
and methods for overcoming these universal psychological blocks
- methods that have not only been proven in her own studio, but
which trace back through history to the oldest and wisest systems
of understanding the integration of mind and body. The work bears
scrutiny both scientifically and holistically.
This is a wonderful book. Read it. You are not alone.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Introduction
- Meet the Soprano
- The Book of Judges
- Shall We Dance?
- Inner Clowns
- "Sure, I Had Lessons"
- Someone Bumped the Checkerboard
- Journey With a View
- None of the Old Words Seem to Work
- Meadowlarks, Minds, Muscles, and Music
- Drink Your Milk; Don't Drink Your Milk
- Maybe I Should Just Keep Bees!
- Maybe I Like My Problems
- Clammy Hands and Shaky Knees
- "So You Were a Flop!"
- "Who Me? Did I Play That?"
- Soprano on Her Feet
- Afterword
FORWARD
by
Lorin Hollander, concert pianist
Eloise Ristad deals here with complex problems which torment and cripple so
many of our most creative and talented people, and she does so with compassion,
wisdom, and wit. The problem of stage fright, for instance, is a suffering
of epidemic proportions in our society, and involves modalities of thought
and projections that rob spontaneity and enthusiasm in artistic performance.
Those interested in creative education have long felt that an entirely new,
holistic and nurturing process of allowing individuals to discover and express
themselves is needed if our educational system is to avoid the neuroses and
creative blocks of the past generation. This book illuminates through its conversational
style the destructive inhibitions, fears, and guilt experienced by all of us
as we fail to break through to creativity. This story is told to me day after
day in conservatories and college campuses around the world. Indeed I felt
at times that she was telling of my own most petty and debilitating fears.
But what is important, A Soprano on Her Head supplies answers and methods for
overcoming these universal psychological blocks--methods that have not only
been proven in her own studio, but which trace back through history to the
oldest and wisest systems of understanding the integration of mind and body.
The work bears scrutiny both scientifically and holistically.
This is a wonderful book. Read it. You are not alone.
EXCERPT:
Eric Jacobson, a talented high school student who had recently won a national
award in composition, was working on a set of pieces for woodwind quintet while
studying with me. Five of the pieces had almost written themselves, with Eric
coasting on the ego boost from his recent award. Not over-endowed with patience,
he struggled for a couple of weeks trying to manufacture clever ideas for the
last two pieces. He came in discouraged and tired of his unproductive efforts.
We talked a bit about the qualities of each of the first five pieces he had
already written. One was frantic, one was playful, and so on. Together we brainstormed
a list of adjectives that might stimulate ideas for the remaining two. It was
great fun, but did not spark his composing skills the following week.
Eric was unwilling to settle for five pieces in the suite and go on to a new
project, so something needed to happen to end the deadlock. This was near the
time that I discovered the value of visualizing in my skiing, and I had an
inspiration. Why limit this to skiing? Why not apply it to composing?
"Close your eyes," I told Eric. "Put yourself in a concert hall and imagine that
your set of pieces is being performed.
Together we created imaginary details about the musicians in his woodwind quintet--a
freckled bassoonist with red hair, an oversized oboist who made the oboe look
like a toy, an undersized flutist with blond hair piled on top of her head,
a box-shouldered horn player with a lavender tie, and a fastidious-looking
clarinetist. Eric chuckled as he watched his characters walk onstage and heard
them play the pieces he had already composed.
"Hang on," I said. "The clarinetist is checking his reed and the horn player
is dumping the moisture out of his horn. Okay, they're all set, ready to start
number six. Are you ready?" Number six, of course, was not yet composed.
Eric listened intently, then opened his eyes and grabbed a pencil. "Unbelievable!
I could really hear them playing it. What a great piece!" He scribbled down
some quick ideas, then went back to his imaginary concert hall to see if his
quintet would produce a finale to his suite. They obliged, and he grabbed his
pencil again.
I was as excited as Eric--perhaps even more so--because the implications
of what had happened were far-reaching. When I visualized a ski turn,
I also felt the turn in my whole body. The term "visualize" is inadequate,
of course, because it implies only seeing, while the sense of actual
muscular impulses was stronger and more important than my visual image.
When Eric visualized his quintet, his imaging again involved more than
sight; in this case the sense of hearing was the key factor. While
my image of the ski turn produced muscular sensations, his image of
his quintet produced auditory sensations. In either case, we could
follow the image with action.
REVIEWS:
"Reading this book, rereading it, trying it out, living with it--these are musts
for every musician." -The American Music Teacher
"Eloise Ristad is a splendid musician and one of the best, and most successful,
teachers I've met. I predict that few will come away from her book unchanged.
Although she is writing specifically abut music, she is really writing more generally
about human beings who are involved in, and excited about, learning something
important to them." -Tony Kallet, Ph.D. psychology, musician, editor of Outlook
"As a professional dancer and singer, it is indeed encouraging to see these important
concepts so clearly and passionately articulated. I was particularly interested
in the universal meaning and cross-disciplinary application of concepts that
are crucial to unlocking and freeing the creative process--a wonderful guide
for all of us, musicians as well as non-musicians." -Paul Oertel, Nancy Spanier
Dance Theatre
"This is a fascinating work. Eloise Ristad discusses the problems of nervousness
and/or nervous energy with a physiological understanding of human behavior under
stress, imaginative and original psychological insight, and just plain good common
sense. The valuable solutions she suggests for the problems of musical performance
can be applied just as readily to the vast gamut of physical and intellectual
actions and reactions any individual is confronted with in daily living." -Samuel
Sanders, Concert Pianist, professor, Juilliard School of Music
"This book turns traditional music teaching on its head. Control by letting go--excellence
by not trying--learning by simple awareness. The principles are true; their expression
lyrical, readable, and helpful." -Timothy Gallwey, author of The Inner Game of
Tennis
