The TuneUp Program

The TuneUp program grew out of my own need to start playing again after a shoulder injury kept me away from my guitar for two years. Early in my training as a massage therapist I discovered that by learning how the body moves around we can help manage the many consequences of our often curious lifestyle choices. Crouching over a guitar for eight hours a day for two years now seemed, with the value of hindsight, a dumb thing to do although at the time I thought little of it.

My practice as a bodyworker, whether using remedial massage or acupuncture, indeed my perspective on the human condition, continues to be informed by the study of human movement. The TuneUp program is likewise premised on the relationship between how we move and how we play, on the importance of approaching our instrument so that we compromise as little as possible the essential requirements of the body to move and to maintain a sustainable posture. I've tried to learn myself to play my guitar with my body not in spite of it.

It's been over ten years since I first discovered, during tai chi practice, that I needed the same level of self awareness when I was playing as I did when I was practicing tai chi. I then deconstructed some of the more basic tai chi precepts and applied them to being a guitarist. I was surprised, although I knew I shouldn't have been, that they fit like a glove.

Since then I've studied many players and analysed my own playing way more than is probably healthy, in the development of the program. I've seen how many common postures are highly problematic and how many others that are often frowned upon can be quite easily accommodated. I've in the process progressed from a classically biased technique freak to own a more balanced perspective on the way we play. TuneUp is not about preaching a correct method, mainly because there probably isn't one, but also because I've figured it out for myself and I'd rather equip you with the tools to do the same.

TuneUp will teach you

• What your body has to do to wrap itself around your guitar
• How to relax as much as possible and maintain a comfortable, alert presence at your instrument
• The consequences of various common approaches, positions etc.
• The interdependant nature of the different joint complexes and how moving one joint has an affect on another
• Develop a heightened awareness of the way you move and apply it to fine-tune the way you contact your instrument
• How to avoid overuse injuries
• To enhance your relationship with your guitar

These are big picture goals, they cannot be spoon fed to you but require some considerable commitment on your part. You will need to take these new skills and use them to examine how YOU play and what YOU want from your instrument. If you are looking for anything less please don't register for the program, if you are serious about your playing however then you may have just found a real solution.