The students have provided comments which show that they have grasped the idea behind AT, using phrases such as “observing my habits, “changing habits”, “become more sensitive and correct in our perception of the body, and better co-ordinate and distribute the necessary muscle tension”, “more consciously correct body balance, position and movement”, and other characteristics of AT. They note that this takes time to get used to, making comments such as “my understanding of AT has increased, but it is still difficult to achieve the correct state of consciousness on my own”, and “when I was learning the process, the first thing to do was accept that I had adopted bad physical habits. Becoming aware of and identifying these habits takes time”. The need for guidance from the AT teacher is clear to see.

When attempting to identify mannerisms and bad habits, the students point at how some of their habits had been hidden and were therefore difficult to do something about. One student writes that “taking part in the AT lessons allowed me to observe my habits which, before these lessons, seemed to be a part of me that could never change.” Another student writes that “sometimes I think that I’m able to deal with these habits while playing and sometimes not, but I feel I have improved a lot since we started. At the beginning I wasn’t aware that my habits were as ingrained as they were”.

In terms of signals from the body, potential problem areas for most musicians include the head, neck and back. Depending on the instrument, some may also suffer problems with their hands and arms, wrists and fingers, and other parts of the body. One of these students wrote: “As a harpist I have a tendency to contract my neck and create tension in my shoulders and back.” Another says that “my back is fine, but my chest and arms are tense. This obstructs my breathing and my contact with the instrument while playing”. Tension and breathing were issues that affected all the instruments involved and were raised during practically every class and one-to-one lesson.

Tension was described in a number of different ways. One writes that “I have gained a better understanding of my own instrument. Now I’m able to locate possible causes of any technical difficulties that I encounter and damaging habits that can cause strain or injury if they are not addressed”. Another states that “in the end I feel calmer because I have begun to learn how to stop when I perform movements which turned into habits that created tensions everywhere”.

A couple of students also mentioned how important it is to acquire some knowledge of anatomy and body functions in order to understand how various physical factors trigger movement. One student wrote: “After starting AT I feel that I know my body much better, and I know how to conduct myself in a more natural and appropriate way both during practice and in life in general.” The relationship between body and awareness was also commented upon, for instance by the student experiencing tension in the chest and arms: “Sometimes the problem is not a technical one to do with your instrument, nor musicality or articulation, but the tensions inside you. This is a major problem, but with AT it is possible to change or control it.”

When trying to find AT-based solutions the students broached the subject of how to adopt the notion of “direction” and using the terms “upwards”, “downwards” and “outwards” along with “extension” and “compression” in order to explore issues such as “balance between stability and mobility”. The student experiencing tension in the shoulders and neck because she was contracting her neck now feels that her “posture is much better now that I’m thinking ‹upwards› towards the sky and ‹downwards› towards my feet”. The concept of direction appears to have become embedded as a practical, useful device. It is mentioned by many of the students, including this one: “Understanding that you only have to think about a specific body part and steer it in a particular direction is a revelation, even though it may sound simple. For example, the ability to focus your attention on the shoulder and then expand the openness in that area without physical effort and reduce the level of tension in the body.”

As mentioned above, the objective is for the students to take control of their practice and music making in order to improve the quality of their playing. One student writes that “I’m very aware that my habits affect my playing in various ways”. This acknowledgement seems to be shared by all the students. The impression of improved quality in their music making is also evident in these statements: “My sound has changed completely after the AT tuition because my body is relaxed and my breathing deeper. I feel that I can create the sound I want without too much effort”, and “a better understanding of AT has improved my understanding of my instrument because I started to become more particular about the sound I was making, the musical lines that make the music breathe, etc.”. Tension and stress and the effects of tension on the students’ playing were commented on by most of them. Here is one example: “After the lesson before the weekend I felt a growing awareness of my habits along with a heightened presence. Afterwards we had a class that I hadn’t really properly prepared for, but instead of getting stressed I took a relaxed approach, and the response was that they had never heard me play that well before.”

The students unanimously describe a process in which all the four student objectives have been acknowledged and are being addressed; to adopt the thinking and main principles behind AT to allow them to identify habits that impede the co-ordination of awareness and body while practising and playing, and to limit or eliminate the effects of bad habits while practising and playing by applying solutions based on AT. All with one main goal: to influence their practice with a view to improving the quality of their playing.

At the same time, the students’ statements contain an acknowledgement that using AT is a process whereby you cannot easily “resolve” a problem or fully master a certain way of thinking; rather it is an ongoing process.