Why do so many beginners, both children and adults, fail to master chosen skills? "The Elements of Skill" was inspired by--and addresses--that question with a program based on proven techniques. The book, written by a renowned practitioner of the Alexander Technique, outlines an educational system that makes the process of learning a performance or athletic skill more conscious, and therefore more successful. Its principles include breaking down a skill into manageable parts, setting realistic goals, observing mind/body processes, overcoming blocks, controlling habits, and achieving heightened awareness and self-mastery. Included are inspiring examples of people who have benefited from the method.

In this innovative book, Theodore Dimon, EdD, shows how each part of the vocal organ (breathing, larynx, throat, and so on) works as part of a larger musculoskeletal system that is often interfered with, and how identifying this larger system and understanding in a practical way how it works allows a person to train and improve the voice, whether speaking or singing. Traditional vocal training methods, says Dimon, cannot be effective without restoring the functioning of the musculature that supports the voice.
Enhanced with over 50 detailed full-color illustrations, the book discusses the fallacy of traditional breathing exercises and explains that the key to efficient breathing lies in the expansive support of the trunk and rib cage. Investigating the elements needed to produce a strong supported tone, Dimon describes the importance of voice "placement," or directing the sound to a part of the body in order to produce a fully rounded, resonant tone. He identifies harmful patterns of speech and singing, and offers helpful methods for reestablishing the natural function of the vocal mechanism. Individual chapters cover elements of the whispered "ah," producing a pure sung tone, vocal registers, the suspensory muscles of the larynx, and more.

Have you ever tried to learn anatomy from a picture book? It's like using a road map to learn geography: you can see where all the cities are but you can never retain the information. Like names on a road map, anatomical terms are impossibly hard to remember, and without understanding the meaning behind the concepts, we somehow feel we don't understand what it all means. To learn anatomy, we need more than pictures and labels; we need a way 'into' the subject, a means of making sense of what we are looking at. "Anatomy of the Moving Body" is a complete, lecture-based approach to anatomy that helps us to understand our complex anatomy by explaining the subject in down-to-earth terms.With nearly 100 3D illustrations, "Anatomy of the Moving Body" is clearly and beautifully illustrated. Over the course of 31 lectures, the author confidently guides the reader through this complex landscape and makes unfamiliar terrain become familiar. Each part of the body is explained in short, manageable sections. And the author doesn't just name the muscles and bones but explains the terminology and, in the process, helps to demystify and make sense of an otherwise intimidating subject. In this, the second edition of the book, the 95 pencil drawings (roughly half of the book) in the original edition have been completely redone, using a 3D digital model of the human anatomical form.

In 'The Body In Motion', Theodore Dimon confronts a simple yet crucial task: to make sense of our amazing design. This guide shows the functions and evolution of specific body systems, explaining how they cooperate to form an upright, intelligent, tool-making marvel, capable of great technological and artistic achievement.

In this innovative book, Theodore Dimon, EdD, shows how each part of the vocal organ (breathing, larynx, throat, and so on) works as part of a larger musculoskeletal system that is often interfered with, and how identifying this larger system and understanding in a practical way how it works allows a person to train and improve the voice, whether speaking or singing. Traditional vocal training methods, says Dimon, cannot be effective without restoring the functioning of the musculature that supports the voice. Enhanced with over 50 detailed full - color illustrations, the book discusses the fallacy of traditional breathing exercises and explains that the key to efficient breathing lies in the expansive support of the trunk and rib cage. Investigating the elements needed to produce a strong supported tone, Dimon describes the importance of voice ''placement, '' or directing the sound to a part of the body in order to produce a fully rounded, resonant tone. He identifies harmful patterns of speech and singing, and offers helpful methods for reestablishing the natural function of the vocal mechanism. Individual chapters cover elements of the whispered ''ah, '' producing a pure sung tone, vocal registers, the suspensory muscles of the larynx, and mor