In the October half term I ran an online course for young people entitled Discover Musical Wellbeing. It was aimed at teenagers who play the piano, violin or cello, and consisted of three similar but separate courses which participants could attend depending on their instrument.
The course addressed aspects of wellbeing most relevant to musicians. These included avoiding aches and pains and playing with ease, but also the emotional side which includes dealing with performance anxiety. Despite being an online course, it focused very much on practical activities. All the understandings and techniques we looked at had to the potential to reach beyond the musical sphere and aid young people in their school and everyday lives. In that sense, the course had a holistic philosophy behind it.
Feedback from the course was really positive, and has encouraged me to run the course again in Spring 2021. You can find out about the course here. I leave you with some of the wonderful feedback from attendees below.
I would definitely recommend this course as it was easy to follow and helped guide me through techniques which brought awareness to struggles that all musicians have regarding posture and performance.
Eva, 15
I liked the analogies such as the starfish and the dinosaur tails as well as being more tree!
Sonny, 11
I found it very helpful on ways to try to free up your body and release tension which I can now take into my playing.
Daisy, 14
I found the stage fright meditations and talk most helpful as I frequently get stage fright or performance anxiety.
Maya, 13