Proceedings, Oxford, UK (2002) - World Federation of Music Therapy

the muscle tone resulting in isometric contractions. Isometric and
isotonic contractions represent the two forms of activity of the muscle
system.
In the light of these observations, the muscle system can be seen as a
provider of information on body activity and muscle tone combinations.
According to the psycho-physiological model, resting makes the
unification of different levels possible. The possibility of materially
resting is a necessary precondition for other harmonious motor, dynamic
and relational operations.
In the light of these basic assumptions, the experimental situations
referred to above are analysed in two separate sections.
SECTION ONE: VIOLINISTS
(by Dr. Silvia Ragni)
The musician’s body, as construed later in this paper, is often absent from
music discourses, although it is a musician’s first and foremost
instrument of expression. Through his or her body, a musician gets in
touch with the musical instrument in order to produce a sound. Yet the
body is usually absent from the performer’s perception, as well as from
the teacher’s pedagogic approach. Traditionally, teaching systems tend to
selectively focus on those parts of the body which are directly involved in
the performance, — namely, fingers, hands, arms, rather than on the
body as an integrated unit. Similarly, one finds a stress on mechanical
movements rather than on psycho-physical experience. It is only over the
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