Testimonial by Bert Pepper

I am now seventy-five years old, and back to playing the violin again after a forty-three year hiatus. I played the instrument without a hint of back pain until thirty-five. Then my life changed, and it was parked the closet until my life changed again, and I was ready to get back to Bach. By then I was seventy-three. That was two years ago.

Lessons with a wonderful violin teacher began, but they were interrupted within a few months by Oh! My aching back! Since I found the playing fun, and not nearly as difficult as anticipated, my frustration at having to stop playing because of pain was painful!

A musician friend referred me to Holly. She explained that my body had changed in the intervening thirty-eight years, and I needed to adapt the use of myself. In a few months, by using what she taught me, I started playing again, with less and less discomfort.

I see Holly for periodic tune-ups, but now I have my own string quartet, and frequently play sonatas with pianist friends. Without the help of Holly and the Alexander technique I doubt that I’d be playing at all now. I would have given up making the music I love, while feeling sorry for myself for being too old to play.