Unclenching your Jaw
Many of us string players clench our jaw, and we know it. There can be so much tension that builds up in this relatively small bone in our body. Yet the solution almost invariably lies in reconnecting our jaw to the rest of our body.
In this 4-class workshop, you’ll discover how your jaw fits into the functional puzzle of your entire skeleton. This will take the pressure off your jaw - literally and figuratively - and give it a positive role to play in your expression and technique.
Begin Your journey
Topics will include
- Mapping your TMJ
- Eliminating jaw clicking or teeth grinding
- Clarifying where to rest your tongue, jaw and soft palate
- Improving your sitting posture through your oral posture
- Connecting your jaw to your pelvis and spine
- Exploring how your jaw shapes your sound
Class 1
Your Inner Fish
We humans evolved from fish, and though we now walk on two legs, our fish engineering is still very much a part of how we move. Understanding how we align with and diverge from our fishy ancestors illuminates how we can better organize our jaw, neck and head.
Class 2
Hello Hyoid
Our hyoid, also known as our tongue bone, is a small floating bone that connects to no other bone directly, yet lies at the intersection of so many important highways in our body. Finding this bone and then playing with its crossroads connects our throat to our head, chest and even shoulders.
Class 3
Oral Posture
Many of us highly value, if not obsess over, our sitting or standing posture. Yet there’s another type of posture that we tend to neglect and that’s our oral posture, or how we hold our mouth at rest. Jaw open or closed? Tongue low or high? Breathing through nose or mouth? These questions profoundly impact our overall posture by connecting the tender parts of our mouth to the powerful parts of our pelvis and spine.
Class 4
Un-Jawing your Jaw
We hold so many emotions in our jaw. Once we begin to functionally connect our jaw to our whole body, then we can release that emotion into our string and ultimately music. This turns our jaw from something that can only be tight or relaxed into an expressive contributor to our artistry.
Topics will include
- Mapping your TMJ
- Eliminating jaw clicking or teeth grinding
- Clarifying where to rest your tongue, jaw and soft palate
- Improving your sitting posture through your oral posture
- Connecting your jaw to your pelvis and spine
- Exploring how your jaw shapes your sound
Begin Your journey
