'Just Play Naturally'

by Vivien Mackie, Joe Armstrong

An account of British cellist and Alexander Teacher Vivien Mackie's three-year cello study with Pablo Casals in the 1950's and her discovery of the resonance between his teaching and the principles of the Alexander Technique.

Genres: Music, Musicians

184 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book quite by accident, and, as someone who is not a cellist and had no previous interest or awareness of the Alexander technique, it is not a book that should have interested me. Yet, from the very first page I found myself drawn into the easy, conversational tone - the book is written as a dialogue between Vivien Mackie and Joe Armstrong - and the concepts within the book emerged naturally through the stories of Vivien's playing with Pedro Casales. Truly a delight to read.

[Robyn Hart]

This wasn’t what I expected, very chatty and doesn’t really get to the point quickly. Interesting nevertheless

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, compelling reading -- for everyone, seriously. A great narrative of one person's experience studying under the master of their chosen field. A lot of discussion about the Alexander technique, too.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every classical musician should read this book! It contains a lot of interesting info from Casals regarding how we practice, how we approach the instrument, and how we view our own potential.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Valuable info about Casals' teaching.