One of the major benefits of practicing a musical instrument is the opportunity we are given to regularly practice relaxation - something just about all of us could use! Our best, most accurate, and beautifully controlled movements start from a place of grounded relaxation. And musical instruments tend to act as an antennae - picking up our tension or relaxation and broadcasting it through the music we create. So it makes sense that in order to play well (not to mention comfortably) we must master relaxation while practicing and performing.

This is going to be a relatively short post given how much could be written about this subject, but I just wanted to give musicians a starting place on this topic. At the end, you'll find a list of further recommended reading as well as possible therapies to try if you have ongoing issues.

Remember: it is generally much easier for us to believe that we are somehow "at fault" or responsible for our pain instead of being in need of help. Get help if you can't resolve your tension issues - we all need it from time to time! I am not a doctor and do not claim to be able to cure any ailments. If you are in chronic pain, I encourage you to see a doctor. However, know that muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory drugs that are commonly prescribed are a band aid and not a long-term solution.

some basic concepts

Posture

In general, your posture should be a plumb line - ears over shoulders, over ribs, over hips, over ankles. Do not adopt an “atten hut” position as this over-corrects and creates all new tension. Simply envision a puppet string attached to the top of your head gently pulling you up to find easy, erect posture.

Common posture problems are:

Shoulders rounded forward. Everything we do from texting to typing to driving is in front of our bodies, and very little attention is generally paid to strengthening the opposing muscles (trapezius, deltoid, and latissimus dorsi, to name a few). As a result, the muscles of the shoulder blades, neck, and upper back become over extended and tight, and therefore prone to injury, while the pectoral muscles tend to stay short and tight, pulling the shoulders forward.
Turtle neck. This goes hand in hand with rounded shoulders. Our heads weigh about ten pounds and are meant to be delicately balanced atop our spine, which extends up to roughly in between our ears. When our heads are extended forward, that balance is thrown off and the job of holding our heads up, instead of being done by the spine, is then performed by the trapezius and other smaller muscles in the back of the neck.
Santa belly. I see a lot of bellies sticking out past knees if knees are locked or the psoas is tight. The psoas can shorten over a lifetime of sitting, causing bums to stick out behind shoulders.

These are just a handful of the most common posture misalignments I see in my studio, but there are many more ways out bodies can be out of whack. Anything out of alignment means your body is not moving in the way it was designed to and will have counterproductive tension as a result. Not sure if you're lined up the way you should be? Get a friend to take a video of you from the side while you play. See if you can draw a relatively straight line from your ears to your heels, running through your hips. Or, try walking slowly in a circle as you play. You will feel any imbalances more acutely, and it is tougher to hold tension while moving.

Movement

When muscles and joints are being used in the ways they were designed for, our movements are healthy and you should feel a sense of ease about your playing. No one muscle group should be overly fatigued. Overplaying or gripping your instrument too tightly is tension-inducing as well. Playing with the appropriate amount of force should reduce fatigue and result in smoother tones than using more force than is necessary.

Unhealthy movements can be caused by misaligned posture, or joints not working correctly or being locked, and muscles being forced to compensate. Likewise, when muscles used for extension and contraction are fired at the same time, tension is created and playing is stiff.

Fascia

In between and around all of our muscles and organs is fascia that holds them in place. When we are injured or repeatedly use our bodies incorrectly, fascia tightens to lock down joints and muscles in order to protect us. Locked muscles and joints move in ways they were not designed to, forcing other joints and muscles to compensate. This can create patterns of tension that tend to spread throughout the body, creating new injuries over time.

Common signs of Tension while playing

Muscle ache or tightness
Headache
Toes clenched
Holding breath
Not blinking
Pursed lips
Clenched jaw
Eyebrows furrowed
Raised shoulders
Locked elbows
Pinkies sticking up (on bow, fingerboard, or keyboard)
Tongue sticking out
Stiff fingers - (white knuckles)

Body Scan

Use the following check list to explore the state of your muscle relaxation/rigidity as you play a simple etude or warm up;

explore posture from the ground up

Feet shoulder width apart if standing/both feet planted on the floor if seated (foot stool for young folks).
Wiggle your toes - are they relaxed?
Knees soft, not locked - make small, slow bounces if they tend to lock.
Core gently engaged - your core, side, and back muscles should form a light "corset" lifting you upright.
Chest open, not rounded forward. Your arms can be raised or in front of you without your shoulders hunching.
Shoulders relaxed down and away from one another - try not to force your shoulders back to open your chest. This results in the muscles between your shoulder blades becoming tense. Instead just let your shoulders melt away from your ears. In this posture, your arms can be outstretched or even raised without your shoulders raising unnecessarily.

Practice Relaxation

Now that you know what you’re looking for in terms of correct and relaxed posture, play a simple warm-up and take note of where you feel ease and suppleness vs. tension and stiffness. If you find an area of tension, focus on releasing it. Note the difference between releasing a tense spot and engaging the opposite muscles. For example, when I’ve been working with students with stiff pinkie fingers that stick out, their normal first idea is to simply tuck the offending digit behind the neck of their violin or guitar. Whereas their extension muscles were engaged, now they want to “fix” the problem by engaging their contraction muscles. Either way, unnecessary force is exerted, making the whole hand stiff. It takes much more effort to simply not engage any pinkie muscles, but that is the way to overcome tension.

You may need to slow down even simple passages in order to play them in a relaxed manner. Keep playing your warm-up until you can do so completely at ease with no undue tension.

Then go through the body scan from the ground up again as you play to see if your tension has migrated to another spot. It is common to release one area effectively and find it pop up in another! Keep at it, eventually you will teach your body how to relax any unnecessary tension while you play. You are effectively unlearning the habit of holding unnecessary tension and learning the habit of actively seeking out ease of movement.

When you’re able to play your warm up in a relaxed manner with proper posture, try playing a musical passage. Note how your body responds when you want to “sound good.” The desire to sound good is a form of internal pressure - stress. When we undergo stress, we go back to whatever habit is most firmly ingrained. So, chances are that when you switch from etude to piece, the habit of tension will crop up again because this is your default mode… for now.

The only way to effectively break this habit and build one in which your time on your instrument is relaxing and full of ease and therefore more productive is to slow down, pay attention, and let go of the need to sound good right now. Let go of the accompanying anxiety that this is a ‘waste of time’ or that you ‘should be doing this or that’ or you ‘should be better by now.’ None of that is actually helpful to your journey. You are learning loads about your body, how to work with it, and therefore sidestepping injury and extending the length your musical career.

Don’t worry that you may not sound as good as you are used to in the short term. Your starting place does not matter nearly as much as your trajectory. When you decide to set yourself on a path of relaxation, you are removing yourself as an obstacle to your own success, therefore your gains will faster and, let’s face it, way more enjoyable!

How will I know when I’m there?

You will have mastered playing while relaxed when that is how you play everything without even thinking about it. When the most comfortable chair in your house is the one at which you sit to practice, when you end your practice sessions feeling that good kind of tired like after a workout, that’s when you’ve replaced your habit of “the ends justify the means” approach to practice with “if I’m kind to my body, I’ll get where I want to go faster and enjoy the ride.”

Why Bother?

It can be time-consuming to focus on ease of movement while playing, so why should you bother? I can hear it now: “I just want to play!” “I just want to learn this song!” “I just want to improve my music! Why should I bother focusing on such minutiae?”

For Physical Health

As musicians, we must remember that playing an instrument is a fundamentally athletic endeavor. It is incredibly physically demanding. When we have muscles tension in one area of the body, it affects all areas of the body. If we are tense, our music will sound tense. Our bows will bounce, our fingers won't move as quickly, as we waste energy on counter-productive movements and it will be audible. When no effort is wasted on clenching unneeded muscles, when our muscles and joints are allowed to move in a relaxed manner, we make the swiftest gains toward our musical goals, not to mention enjoy our hours of practice rather than endure them.

For Mental Health

The path of information between our brains and our bodies is not one-way. Just as our brains signal to our bodies what actions to take, our bodies signal to our brain about our mental state. If we hunch down, the signal to our brain is that we are stressed or in danger. If we have expansive posture and take up space in a relaxed manner, the signal to our brain is that we are safe and confident.

Being that we are going to spend hour after countless hour in practice throughout our lives, it pays to take the time to slow down and notice what is working smoothly and what needs attention to get to that place of relaxed practice and stay there. Not to mention, this will help us combat stage fright and make us better conduits for the spirit of music to move through.

Home remedies to try:

2 cups Epsom salt in bath

Fascia massager

Foam roller

Relaxed Practice - Practicing Relaxation