Ergonomically Speaking...

As a student (and spring chicken at the age of 25!), my busy lifestyle influences how and when I practise. I’m at an age where everything I do is for ‘me’ – I cook and clean for myself, motivate myself to study, tell myself when to go to bed, when to eat, when to exercise and when to practise my singing/guitar playing. Over the past 11 years that I have been doing this activity, I have had lulls and highs in my motivation to practise and I again find myself in a period of frequent practise. I find that when my life is busy and I may have undesirable tasks to do i.e. study; this task provides me with a good excuse to stop the undesirable task – “because I need to practise for my next gig” (I tell myself). Maybe it’s just a good de-stressor.

The first thing I do when I sit down for practise is ensure I’m in my comfy clothes. I usually sit in the same position for hours on end, and jeans just don’t cut it! The environment I frequently play in is my bedroom. My bedroom allows me the pleasure of sitting on my bed with my legs splayed out in front of me and my song-book and guitar sitting on my lap. Unfortunately performance venues don’t allow for me to sit so leisurely or in my round home clothes! Not only would it be socially unacceptable, but our culture tells me that I may not get as many gigs if I don’t look the part of a folk singer.

The longer I practise, the more aware I become of my body’s ‘deficits’.  My fingers and shoulders have an uncanny ability of reminding my body that they are in an unnatural position - by becoming sore and my fingertips calloused.  My voice – temperamental at times, can also get sore if I don’t look after it with warm up exercises and warm liquids.

I have an old guitar that I use as my back up for performances if my lead guitar breaks a string. Going back to this guitar is a challenge, as the higher action (strings higher off the fret) and heavier steel strings, gives it a different feel and sound. My body feels differently when I play this guitar as my fingers struggle to push down on the thick strings and the sound it emits is harsh. I feel rather incompetent when I’m playing this guitar as I’m unable to produce a good sound, so I always ensure I only briefly practise on the old guitar, then make a quick transition back to the new (I don’t want that incompetence feeling to become ingrained….!).