Laurel Black Music

Anxious me had a list of ways that pregnancy would completely mess with my playing and thus my self , proof that I expected the worst as the reason for the lack of photographic evidence of others performing while expecting.  Doesn't mean they didn't, but wondering about it did fuel my fears of the journey into motherhood.  (And explains why I intentionally posted videos of performances with a baby belly! Proof!!) I figured I'd have a belly that bumped bars from time to time, fingers that would be bigger than normal, and a back that would ache.  Spoiler alert: I did.  There was nothing to do but laugh and go with it as little boy decided to take up core real estate. 1. Bumper Belly This one I saw coming. It took about 7 months, but it definitely happened. Goodbye, accidentals; hello, surprise muffling of bars. But it was a great way to break awkward tension in lessons. So there's that.   2. Bye, Bye Balance They tell you that things like r...

As we gear up for fall and the concert season ahead, whether as a student, professor, or touring artist, it's a good time to reflect on our technical habits.  For those that took time off over the summer, there's the process of re-integrating hours of practice. For those that are preparing entire new programs (ehhem...yours truly), there's the challenge of not rushing through the learning process, mentally and physically.  Throughout my time writing the Marimba Body series, folks have approached me with different questions of "do you have anything about ___?"  Coming up a few times is the issue of elbow pain - what it is, how we get it, and how to heal and then prevent it.  Here's what I've learned, experienced, and found. Three Common Pain Areas Most commonly, percussionists experience elbow pain: - on the outside of the elbow (lateral epicondylitis, aka: tennis elbow) - on the inside of the elbow (medial epicondylitis, aka: golfer's elb...

Thumbs. Without them who knows how we'd play our instruments. Interest in the relationship between the hand, wrist, and thumb began a few years ago when I took piano lessons to refine my technique. (As similar as piano and percussion are in theory , there's much less crossover than I mistakenly thought and hoped.)   Anyway, something my mentor said was when the thumb isn't being used it should relax towards the rest of the hand and fingers.  Sure, may sound obvious, but in the throes of playing - piano or percussion - it's easy to forget little things like this.  Brain: Play a broken 13 over 7, across 6 surfaces...crescendo...oh, right. THUMB. End Scene Thumbs that are mis-mapped, working more than they should, or working when they don't need to contribute to funny aches, pains, and numbness that can get mistaken for carpal tunnel.   Just like all other subjects in the Marimba Body series, how we relate to the structure and movement desi...

One of my most inspiring teachers, actress Carol Mayo Jenkins, would be pleasantly [un]surprised to learn that one of her adages has been confirmed time and time again by science.  I'll never forget the class when she said to us (and I paraphrase):  Feel this. Do you know a body of joy cannot hold despair, and a body of despair cannot hold joy.  She told us to stand tall, arms outstretched, face towards the ceiling; from there, we were to find the emotion of despair. One by one we each collapsed and closed slowly, unable to maintain such an upright, celebratory, and open position. That day was important; it was the day I realized that my kinesthetic awareness could affect how I experience my life. ---    Those of us that identify as artistic, creative types often deal with levels of anxiety and depression, sometimes very mild, sometimes more severe.  We Millennials, Gen X-ers, Baby Boomers, and Boomlets aren't the first to deal with t...

If you attended my class last year at PASIC, you may recall beginning with a simple exercise.  I asked everyone to find something to grasp - in most cases it was mallets or sticks, but some used a water bottle or wallet. Then, we all grasped those items tightly.  While gripping, I asked everyone to "check in" with their jaw.  Laughs and chortles filled the room as we all realized that they were tight as well. Further examination showed that the neck, shoulders, elbows, and wrists were tightening as a result. It's tempting to investigate why this tandem tightness occurs, but what's more important is simply that it does , regardless of the reason. A loose jaw is a shortcut to relaxation.  Free it and you will automatically feel relief along the arm. Temporal-mandibular Joint It's easier to free the jaw if we know exactly what area should receive focus.  To that end, here's a little info about the skeletal and muscular structures of the jaw. sourc...

Tendons are like a muscle's alter ego: a superhero that manages to somehow make sure every scenario ends up ok, regardless of villainous plots.  They have undeniable strength, can hold on to just about anything, and save just about anyone. Like Superman and Clark Kent, tendons aren't separate from muscles. They are simply two kinds of soft tissue, gently converging to form one shape.  In a way, one without the other is functionless. Both are needed to form a cohesive whole. Any time a muscle attaches to a bone, a tendon forms the literal connection. Take a look at the diagram below. There's a tendon - drawn here in white - at each end of the bicep and tricep. Though it might be oversimplified to the MD's and DO's out there, each muscle in the body has a tendon at each end to anchor it to the skeleton. What is exceptional about the wrist is the number of highly active tendons running through such a small space.  Not only are there tendons for the wrist,...

Injuries occur from overuse and misuse.  Overuse is a depressing notion for percussionists, as it implies that we will eventually "hit our quota" in terms of how many strokes we get to play in our lifetime.  But hear the good news, brothers and sisters! - injury happens most often from habitual misuse of a joint, not overuse.  Hallelujah! In the words of a dear friend, "Praise Jesus and pass the biscuits!" Mismap = Misuse circle vs ellipse Misuse requires a mismapping of the body's structure.  It means repetitive motion of the body in a way that is incongruent with its design.  For example, if you think your wrist is a ball and socket joint (movable in 360 degrees) instead of a flexible hinge - technically, an ellipsoid joint - you will eventually injure yourself.  Why?  Because you'll be forcing the joint to overextend from an ellipse to a circle, resulting in tendonitis.  The anatomical difference is that a ball and sock...

Wrists intimidate the be-Jesus out of me. They're an unbelievably complex joint - an area where so many small moving parts converge into one tiny space. Not only that, but as percussionists wrists receive an overwhelming amount of attention, so there's a certain gravity to any information presented on them.  Hence why the wrist is a multi-part series of posts. There's much to say and even more to learn about this joint, but I thought that perhaps one of the most useful ways to begin would be to view some diagrams. Perhaps in viewing the joint from the many layers on the inside, we can rethink how we perceive its movement on the outside. source From the Inside, Out Skeletal Structure Just like other joints, the wrist is not a bone but a place of movement.  The diagram below shows the right arm if you turn your palm towards you, bend the elbow, and move your forearm in front of your body.  The wrist occurs in the space between the ends of the radius and u...