The saxophone is so human.
Its tendency is to be rowdy, edgy, talk too loud,
bump into people, say the wrong words at
the wrong time, but then, you take a breath
all the way from the center of the earth and blow.
All that heartache is forgiven.
All that love we humans carry makes
a sweet, deep sound, and we fly a little.
— Joy Harjo
Steve Duke was a trainee in the Somathematics Feldenkrais training when I met him. This program broke new ground by relying on something other than the two years of videos from the last course Moshe Feldenkrais taught as the mainstay of the curriculum. I was so intrigued by how Dennis Leri, Elizabeth Beringer, and their faculty would teach that I attended as much as possible.
From our first meeting, Steve impressed me as a sincere and engaged student. He was delighted by what he was learning and excited by the connections and applications to his work as a musician and teacher. He was one of those people you meet, and you can’t help but wonder where they will take Moshe’s method.
Over the years, we met up at conferences. Steve attended some of my courses. I know that he’s played with some of the jazz greats and recorded albums.
I am also familiar with the paper he wrote as a Distinguished Research Professor at Northern Illinois University, Application of The Feldenkrais Method in Learning Music Performance 1 (The Saxophone Symposium, 1991). In it, he pointed out the central challenge to learning any skill: “The student is expected to learn to execute a sequence of nonverbal acts but is hindered by acquired habits.” Approaching this wicked problem from an explicitly Feldenkraisian perspective, Steve offers his experience with a student as a case study and presents the Awareness Through Movement (ATM) he used to help the young musician move past his predicament. [If you would like to read this illuminating paper, you will find a link to it on the Body Awareness page Steve’s website. You will also find several full length ATM lesson videos there.]
However, it wasn’t until he sent the links to the insightful and informative videos about Habitual Playing created for his excellent website, www.saxcoach.org/, that I truly appreciated just how well he has integrated Moshe’s methodology into his approach to teaching. Rather than recycling the broad generalities about the method, Steve presents remarkably relevant examples of what our embodied practice offers saxophone players, other musicians, and the rest of us.
Whether you’re an experienced teacher, a curious student, or someone new to somatic learning, I encourage you to check out Steve’s soft-spoken, engaging videos.
The photo at the top of today’s post is a screenshot from one of the abovementioned videos.
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Responses:
stephen-duke -September 22, 2023
Hi Larry, You have been in my thoughts since our last conversation. Thank you for this wonderful post. Best, Steve
Larry Goldfarb -September 23, 2023
That's right, Ann! I don't play the sax either.eneralities disappear in the midst of vagueness or rigidify into rules. There's something in the specificity of the examples Steve draws upon and the case studies he presents that speaks to me. This follows one of the unspoken guidelins of Moshe's methdologys: learning to goes from the specific to the general.
Larry Goldfarb -September 23, 2023
Hello Steve - Likewise! It's a hearfelt honor to let our community know about the wonderful work you're doing. Your videos an excellent example of how the specifics of applying Moshe's methodology bring it life, making it meaningful and relevqant.
Ann Guhman -September 22, 2023
Any of his presentations I have been present for have been excellent. I don’t play the saxophone, but there was always something I could apply to my own life.
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