Jerald Harscher

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Jerald Harscher, guitarist with a Master’s degree from Yale and a specialist in the body's relationship to the guitar, will present an introduction to Body Mapping.

What Every Guitarist Needs To Know About The Body – an introduction to Body Mapping
Instructor: Jerald Harscher (MM Classic Guitar Performance Yale University School of Music) and Andover Educator – a network of teachers saving, securing and enhancing musical careers with accurate information about the body in movement.
Fee: $25/$20 BCGS members
Class Duration: 3hrs

www.jeraldharscher.com

“Can you believe I got all the way to graduate school before I learned my thumb has three joints!?”
In this session we will use Body Mapping to explore and correct the most common misconceptions about the hands and arms, every guitarist’s most essential tools.

Body Mapping is based on the premise, now confirmed by research in neuroscience, that how we experience, perceive and conceive of our bodies dictates how we move. Inaccurate perceptions or misrepresentations of the body can result in restricted, tense and injury-producing movement that invariably lead to poor performance, whereas accurate understanding of the structure and function of the body and of its movement can secure a lifetime of free and expressive music-making.

This presentation begins with the mapping of the hands and then moves to the forearms, upper arms, then the whole back and balance throughout the body to show how whole body balance has an immediate and lasting effect on the use and functioning of the hands.

Guest students will be taught in a master class format to demonstrate the use of this information in classroom teaching. Additional classroom applications will include drawing, descriptive language, awareness and focus, developing the kinesthetic sense, and assessment. We conclude with explanations of the links of this material links to science in general, as well as the current Physical Education and Health Standards for Musicians. Participants will receive an extensive list of resources.

Presentation Content

Hour 1
Guitar and Music Training on a Secure Neurophysiological Foundation.
Training musicians’ movement by cultivating an accurate and adequate Body Map. Training sensory discernment and responsiveness. Training inclusive attention, a musician’s essential skill.

Hour 2
Mapping The Core of the Body and the Places of Balance
Mapping the source of whole body support for the arms and hands.

Hour 3
Mapping The Arm Structure
The four arm joints and how to use them.

Materials: To most effectively communicate this information, a variety of tools will be used including a powerpoint presentation, skeletal models, myofascial meridians images, movement demonstration and opportunities for experiential learning.