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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2002)
auqtial 16, 2002 PEOPLE .............. .............. W Connections ■ homas Mark is a man who makes connec tions. Listening to him talk brings to mind that old tune that says the arm bones connected to the shoulder bone. Though Marks would be quick to point out that there is no actual shoulder bone. “Dressmakers are concerned about shoul by A ndy S imon ders,” he remarks, “and in that sense they are a real region of the body, but actu ally they are just a place where three different bones come together.” To illustrate this description, he pulls out a hinged rmxJel that shows how. when you raise your arm, all three of these bones move together. These skeletal observations come up in the context of dis cussing Marks’ approach to play ing the piano. He offers courses and workshops on body move ment training for pianists, focus ing on whole body awareness. “We make music with our Kxlies,” he observes. “Traditional piano methods do sometimes include finger exercises, because fingers come in direct contact with the piano. But they over- kx)k that fingers are connected to wrists, which are connected to arms, which are all held up by the spine." He refers to his trusty model. “See how it can support the head and the arms like a column of a building if everything is lined up. But if it’s bent like this or like this,” he says, twisting the Em otions have to be mapped as motions of the body.” Thom as M arks helps pianists make better music. Hines unmercifully back and to the side, “muscles here and here change in my posture is noticeable, and I do are going to have to be tensed to hold it up.” being videotaped to boot. seem to be moving my arms more freely. Bad habits of movement cause injuries in Marks signals me to watch myself on the pianists. O ne of the benefits of the training camera’s small video screen. “See how you sit— you’re leaning way back arks began preparing for a career as a Marks provides is that it helps them avoid concert pianist in his teen years after from the keyH>ard. A nd these muscles," he taps repetitive stress injuries. But it also results in attending an inspiring concert by Artur my shoulder and upper back, “are working very dramatically improved playing, he notes. Rubinstein at Carnegie Hall in New York. But hard to keep your arms the right height in “If muscles are tensed to hold the Hxly up, by the time he graduated from college, he had front of you.” then certain movements that involve those developed a taste for the academic life. He We return to the piano, and I sit to play. He muscles are not available to the pianist. A nd if went to graduate school at Columbia, where he that happens, the movements he or she can use pushes me gently forward. “Now this may seem earned a Ph.D. in philosophy. T hen he began to express the feeling of the music becomes like you’re leaning in at first, but sit there for a teaching college. moment and feel how you can relax your limited. Improving the quality of a pianist’s Marks began making connections and pub shoulders and still remain upright.” movement improves the quality of the music." lishing in respected philosophy journals articles I do as he says, and, in fact, it does feel dif All this sounds very theoretical. like “Philosophy of Piano Playing: Reflections ferent, less tense. I play the same piece. 1 play it on the Concept of Performance” and “O n better, fewer wrong notes. Maybe I’m just a bit sit at the piano and fumble my way through Works of Virtuosity.” less nervous. But the way it feels to play is cer a couple of choruses of a piece I know quite In the 1980s Marks left teaching to tainly changed. well. I’m a little nervous, playing for a become a full-time househusband, enabling We look at the videotape again. The stranger who is an accomplished pianist and Portland man sees the whole body in a whole piece of music I 90.7 PORTLAND N E W S , P U B L IC A F F A I R S A N D Back to his wife to attend medical school. Staying home with his two sons brought him back to the piano. He discovered a deep love for cham ber music and began developing a reper tory. He organized and played in a benefit concert for his wife’s hospital. This was work he found very fulfilling. W hen the family moved to the Oregon coast, he put together Newport Coffee Concerts, a chamber music series that continued for nine years. Marks himself was frequently featured on the program. He was a little late in making one connection, though, when in his 50s he finally correlated a lifelong fascination with men to his sexual needs and identity. He says his family is supportive; his sons are grown, and, though he remains friends with his wife, they have separated. He now lives in the Portland area and is focusing his attention on his body movement training classes and workshops, as well as on making music. His new book, W hat Every Pianist Needs to Know About the Body, will be published this year. Marks believes his coming out has aided his piano playing in much the same way that whole body awareness helps. “Emotions have to be mapped as motions of the body,” he notes. “If there’s tension in the muscles, certain motions are closed off, and that will limit the feelings the music can express. But if I’m withholding certain emotions because I’m no t ready to recognize them in myself, th en th at’s going to close off feelings in the music, too.” In the final analysis, Marks’ concept of piano playing goes beyond whole body aware ness. It’s important to know how our bones hang together, but we have to be aware that our hearts and our spirits are also connected to the fingers that press the keys that make the sounds. Perhaps “whole person awareness” is the proper name for Marks’ approach to music. J H Tom Marks' B ody M ovement T raining for P ianists can be reached at 503-680-7930 or tcm@pianomap. com. Visit his Internet site at www.pianomap.com. A ndy S imon is a philosophy professor most o f the year but a free-lance writer m the summer. Party! MUSIC THAT YOU WON'T HEAR ANYW HERE FOR E L S E . LIS TE N THIS WAY OUT AT 6 PM E V E R Y TU ESD A Y . D o you want to make a difference in schools? Attend this social and find out how you can promote change. September 2nd, 2002 i From 1 to 6pm For more information check out our website www.glsen0regon.org or call 503-525-1177 Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network 3 6 0 / 397/8098
