auqtial 16, 2002
PEOPLE
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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