Biofeedback for better performance on stage

Paul Friesenbichler, MA (1983) completed his master's degree in professional concert guitar at the Vienna Conservatory with a focus on popular music and finger style. International master classes with Alvaro Pierri, David Russell, Hopkinson Smith completed his musical education. Prizes in competitions, concerts at home and abroad, and CD / DVD productions as well as TV and radio performances demonstrate the development of his artistic career. Paul Friesenbichler is not only a concert musician, but also a personal coach and founder and managing director of 'fit4music'. He now helps other professional musicians with his coaching program. 'fit4music' specializes in holistic care and preventive health care for musicians. Paul Friesenbichler also works as a lecturer at several reknown institutions such as the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Vienna Conservatory and Forum Guitar Vienna.

Combining his profession of musician and personal coach, Paul Friesenbichler has an unusual job he became interested in during his study. "During my master studies at the Vienna Conservatory in professional concert guitar, I developed my own solutions to the personal needs I had when becoming a professional musician. Appropriate offers of specialized comprehensive care concering musical studies were not available. Further training such as music kinesiology, cranio-sacral bodywork and especially 'QiTao movement and martial arts were very valuable experiences for me. This led to my founding my business 'fit4music' with my current professional activities as a coach, manager and musician. My goal is to achieve sustainable top performance of my clients. With 'fit4music' I offer musicians the necessary care so that they can freely live out their musical passion without physical or mental problems. As an active professional musician, I can use my own experience for the benefit of my clients."

In his 'fit4music' biofeedback training Paul Friesenbichler uses EMG biofeedback analysis. "I use it to visualize the activity of the most important active muscle groups that are active when musicians are playing, synchronised with high-definition video for a detailed motion analysis. The collected data allow for a detailed advise about the possibilities of optimizing playing movements, based on the visible correlations of muscle activity, movement and the produced sound."

Biofeedback gives both Paul Friesenbichler and the musicians themselves a glimpse into the inner world of the musical playing movements. "It makes it possible to develop a targeted exercise training on the instrument, which takes into account the physiology of the musician and his sense of movement. Thanks to biofeedback under professional supervision of a 'fit4music' coach, the musician trains precise motion perception, a clear idea of movement, improved co-ordination of motor activity and thus enhancing the overall quality of his playing technique. Furthermore, musicians learn to relax about the optical control of their movements and to consciously experience their movements. Biofeedback is a training tool for creating body awareness. This improves fine motor skills, prevents muscular overload and serves as lasting protection against motorial damage. "

Biofeedback has an important advantage compared to more traditional methods. "The traditional method consists of a simple optical analysis of playing the instrument by observing it with the physical eye, based on experience. This is actually the common way of assessing the playing movement on the instrument, besides the sonic criteria. This is especially true for the current teaching methods at universities and music schools. Many details of a playing movement on an instrument, however, take place at a ultra high speed, undetectable to the physical eye. Therefore, the resulting sound usually remains as the only decision criterion for exercise recommendations. And exactly these recommendations are based entirely upon the subjective movement experience about the teacher's individual physiology."

"This carries the risk that the recommendations do not always match the physiology and individuality of the musicians and therefore are not optimal. When a musician is not able to acquire the optimal technique because he can't let go of his own intuition and ignores the recommendations for movement, this can result in congestion, motorial disturbances and pain. Biofeedback allows for an exact insight into the profession of musician and is a valuable resource and training tool in the care of musicians. Thus, a targeted development with a holistic approach that respects the individuality is the logical step. Musicians can create their own opportunities for top performance and they can fortify them in an independent manner. The additional development of a suitable vital concept makes sure that professional musicians who use 'fit4music' achieve a sustainable health on the stage."

Customers are thrilled by 'fit4music' biofeedback training. "Until now I received nothing but positive feedback from my clients and the benefits of biofeedback as a modern training tool become quite clear. Every musician would like to be informed accurately about the relationship between his playing movements, in order to obtain a sustainable top performance on stage. Based on this knowledge, practising the instrument more efficiently is possible for many musicians. Saving time in daily practice and protecting themselves against motorial problems make it 'fit4music' coaching so valuable to the professional life of every musician."

Paul Friesenbichler had been studying modern biofeedback prior to the 2010 Congress of the Austrian Society for Biofeedback and Psychology, when he learned about the NeXus-10 system at a product presentation. "Thanks to the friendly advice of Mrs. Judith Hochwimmer from Hogrefe Austria, I decided for a trial period with the device. The results of the first tests for the 'fit4music' biofeedback training were technically impeccable, the usability very intuitive, so I decided to purchase the system. Thanks to superb support by Hogrefe Austria, Mind Media distribution partner, I succeeded in optimizing the system for my preferred and still pretty special working set up. I use the NeXus system with an Apple MacBook Pro with OS X, which runs the biofeedback software 'BioTrace +' in Windows 7 with Boot Camp. This is because for me, as a coach and a musician, this combination is currently the most efficient platform for all my audio, video and biofeedback applications."

For his biofeedback training Paul Friesenbichler currently uses the NeXus-10 system with BioTrace + software. "Since March 2010, this system perfectly suits all my needs for a mobile biofeedback system. My choice has fallen on the NeXus-10 system, because it's small, lightweight and completely reliable to work 'on-the-road'. The outstanding features of high technology is best suited for my use as a mobile laboratory analysis and training system. With the BioTrace + software the NeXus-10 is a very flexible system. For me, it leaves nothing to be desired for my needs in analysing and designing specific training for my clients."

Paul Friesenbichler, MA (1983) completed his master's degree in professional concert guitar at the Vienna Conservatory with a focus on popular music and finger style. International master classes with Alvaro Pierri, David Russell, Hopkinson Smith completed his musical education. Prizes in competitions, concerts at home and abroad, and CD / DVD productions as well as TV and radio performances demonstrate the development of his artistic career. Paul Friesenbichler is not only a concert musician, but also a personal coach and founder and managing director of 'fit4music'. He now helps other professional musicians with his coaching program. 'fit4music' specializes in holistic care and preventive health care for musicians. Paul Friesenbichler also works as a lecturer at several reknown institutions such as the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Vienna Conservatory and Forum Guitar Vienna.

Combining his profession of musician and personal coach, Paul Friesenbichler has an unusual job he became interested in during his study."During my master studies at the Vienna Conservatory in professional concert guitar, I developed my own solutions to the personal needs I had when becoming a professional musician. Appropriate offers of specialized comprehensive care concering musical studies were not available. Further training such as music kinesiology, cranio-sacral bodywork and especially 'QiTao movement and martial arts were very valuable experiences for me. This led to my founding my business 'fit4music' with my current professional activities as a coach, manager and musician. My goal is to achieve sustainable top performance of my clients. With 'fit4music' I offer musicians the necessary care so that they can freely live out their musical passion without physical or mental problems. As an active professional musician, I can use my own experience for the benefit of my clients."

In his 'fit4music' biofeedback training Paul Friesenbichler uses EMG biofeedback analysis."I use it to visualize the activity of the most important active muscle groups that are active when musicians are playing, synchronised with high-definition video for a detailed motion analysis. The collected data allow for a detailed advise about the possibilities of optimizing playing movements, based on the visible correlations of muscle activity, movement and the produced sound."

Biofeedback gives both Paul Friesenbichler and the musicians themselves a glimpse into the inner world of the musical playing movements."It makes it possible to develop a targeted exercise training on the instrument, which takes into account the physiology of the musician and his sense of movement. Thanks to biofeedback under professional supervision of a 'fit4music' coach, the musician trains precise motion perception, a clear idea of movement, improved co-ordination of motor activity and thus enhancing the overall quality of his playing technique. Furthermore, musicians learn to relax about the optical control of their movements and to consciously experience their movements. Biofeedback is a training tool for creating body awareness. This improves fine motor skills, prevents muscular overload and serves as lasting protection against motorial damage. "

Biofeedback has an important advantage compared to more traditional methods."The traditional method consists of a simple optical analysis of playing the instrument by observing it with the physical eye, based on experience. This is actually the common way of assessing the playing movement on the instrument, besides the sonic criteria. This is especially true for the current teaching methods at universities and music schools. Many details of a playing movement on an instrument, however, take place at a ultra high speed, undetectable to the physical eye. Therefore, the resulting sound usually remains as the only decision criterion for exercise recommendations. And exactly these recommendations are based entirely upon the subjective movement experience about the teacher's individual physiology."

"This carries the risk that the recommendations do not always match the physiology and individuality of the musicians and therefore are not optimal. When a musician is not able to acquire the optimal technique because he can't let go of his own intuition and ignores the recommendations for movement, this can result in congestion, motorial disturbances and pain. Biofeedback allows for an exact insight into the profession of musician and is a valuable resource and training tool in the care of musicians. Thus, a targeted development with a holistic approach that respects the individuality is the logical step. Musicians can create their own opportunities for top performance and they can fortify them in an independent manner. The additional development of a suitable vital concept makes sure that professional musicians who use 'fit4music' achieve a sustainable health on the stage."

Customers are thrilled by 'fit4music' biofeedback training."Until now I received nothing but positive feedback from my clients and the benefits of biofeedback as a modern training tool become quite clear. Every musician would like to be informed accurately about the relationship between his playing movements, in order to obtain a sustainable top performance on stage. Based on this knowledge, practising the instrument more efficiently is possible for many musicians. Saving time in daily practice and protecting themselves against motorial problems make it 'fit4music' coaching so valuable to the professional life of every musician."

About Paul Friesenbichler

Paul Friesenbichler had been studying modern biofeedback prior to the 2010 Congress of the Austrian Society for Biofeedback and Psychology, when he learned about the NeXus-10 system at a product presentation."Thanks to the friendly advice of Mrs. Judith Hochwimmer from Hogrefe Austria, I decided for a trial period with the device. The results of the first tests for the 'fit4music' biofeedback training were technically impeccable, the usability very intuitive, so I decided to purchase the system. Thanks to superb support by Hogrefe Austria, Mind Media distribution partner, I succeeded in optimizing the system for my preferred and still pretty special working set up. I use the NeXus system with an Apple MacBook Pro with OS X, which runs the biofeedback software 'BioTrace +' in Windows 7 with Boot Camp. This is because for me, as a coach and a musician, this combination is currently the most efficient platform for all my audio, video and biofeedback applications."

For his biofeedback training Paul Friesenbichler currently uses the NeXus-10 system with BioTrace + software."Since March 2010, this system perfectly suits all my needs for a mobile biofeedback system. My choice has fallen on the NeXus-10 system, because it's small, lightweight and completely reliable to work 'on-the-road'. The outstanding features of high technology is best suited for my use as a mobile laboratory analysis and training system. With the BioTrace + software the NeXus-10 is a very flexible system. For me, it leaves nothing to be desired for my needs in analysing and designing specific training for my clients."

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