Book review: The Invisible Force of Music: Tapping into Your Mind and Heart Potential for Performance Music

The Invisible Force of Music: Tapping into Your Mind and Heart Potential for Performance Music

Paulina Derbez

Translation by Martin Boyd

205PP ISBN 9781990496622

AOS PUBLISHING C$22.99

This book could carry the subtitle ‘the power of positive thinking’, as it narrates the author’s Damascene conversion to a can-do attitude to violin playing. She realised she had been thinking herself into a completely negative attitude, through her inability to practise effectively and loosen the tension in her body. ‘Every technical or musical problem is resolved first at the mental level,’ she writes, and this is the foundation for her exploration of how to engage expressively with the instrument.

The point of the book is to transform teaching with a focus on addressing performance on stage. Derbez divides the book into three parts: theory and teaching principles; specific activities for the development of emotional and body strength, and the transformation of fright into artistic expression; and finally the ‘coherent concert’. Her audience is the advanced student, teachers, professionals and the public; just about anyone interested in music. As she puts it: ‘There is an invisible force in music, but to access it we need to find a mental, emotional and physical balance within ourselves as artists of sound, in order to channel and express its true power on stage.’

These are heady words, but Derbez, a teacher and performer of substantial pedigree, has garnered a wealth of testimonials attesting to the efficacy of the method. However the book is a dense read and the reader has to be prepared to work to achieve this enlightenment.

For the professional performer or demotivated student, or the amateur with time to explore, this would be an invaluable read. It is a generous sharing of the author’s thought processes and positive outcomes.

ANNE INGLIS