| Hi,
Yep I think you just described one of my big faults as a player and I'm only just starting to work on it. I definitely tense up either before I know I have a difficult passage coming up or I'm sight reading a piece that is on the edge of my capabilities. In fact I tend to even go from sitting back in my chair to sitting forward, so I'm doing everything wrong!!
It came to light when I had a lesson from a visiting teacher and we decided to work on Haydn (1st movement). Although I can play above the high Eb(the Eb is at the edge of my usable range though), that note would be hit or miss on a 50/50 basis. As far as I was concerned it was the only note on the page!! He re-focused my attention to the phrase after that pointing out that this is what was musically important not the high Eb. Guess what? Get it every time now.
It is, however, a difficult nexus to break.
Regards
Trevor |