“I believe Body Mapping is the future of teaching all instruments. It should be done from the beginning of one’s instruction and not delayed until college when so many bad habits have incurred. It will greatly reduce injuries which are at an all time high.”
Benjamin Verdery, Professor of Guitar, Yale School of Music
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”Jerald Harscher’s Body Mapping is a brilliant tool not only for guitarists, but for anyone who moves. He has thought out every detail and presents the Body Mapping material in a way that anyone can understand. I learned more about a musician’s body in 60 minutes than I had in six years of college.”
Scott Tennant – Virtuoso guitarist, member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and University of Southern California music faculty. Author of “Pumping Nylon”
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“I have worked with various inspired teachers who emphasized the connection between mind and body, but I have never heard such a concise and useful – immediately useful – summary of the whole apparatus. Your system is so well thought out, the facts so compelling, that it should be a required class for every music school and conservatory.
I hope we can do it again as a Boston Classical Guitar Society event.”
Frank Wallace – Artistic Director – Boston Classical Guitar Society
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“When I contacted Jerald two months ago I had been suffering from Focal Dystonia in my right hand for 15 years. After only eight lessons I am now free of Focal Dystonia. Further, all my lessons with Jerald were done via Skype. The Body Mapping information is the key and can be communicated successfully in a variety of media.”
Donna C. – a recovered guitarist in Canada
“After only two lessons with Jerald I just had the freest and most musically joyful performance I have had in 15 years!”
R. B. – a pianist recovering from Focal Dystonia
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“In my whole life I have never felt more comfortable with the guitar.”
Student at Hartt School of Music- James Hart’s spontaneous statement during workshop
After 3 months off I went back on tour. I was on blood thinners to make sure another clot didn’t occur. The doctor said I would experience swelling in my arm pretty often. At first, I did. But as I continued to improve my body map, the swelling occurred less and less frequently. I was gaining confidence that body mapping was the key to me preventing another blood clot. When I stopped taking blood thinners after 6 months, I experienced a few more incidents of swelling initially, but after about 2 weeks, they became quite rare. My doctor did not even believe me when I told him how infrequent they were!
I have now been touring regularly, without blood thinners, for almost 5 months, and I feel amazing! While I once was very scared about another blood clot forming, I have now been able to change my technique and improve my body map so drastically that I not only no longer worry about that, but I am very confident I will be able to prevent carpal tunnel, and tendonitis as well. Additionally, studying body mapping has not only helped me prevent further injury, just as amazingly it has helped me overcome limits in my technique that I had reached before the clot! I can now play faster than before my clot! Improving my body map has helped me feel more free and in control when I play than I have ever felt before! I am finally starting to play things exactly as I hear them, and it feels exactly how I have always wanted to feel when I play, but was always working too hard and over compensating too much to achieve. I realize it may sound unbelievable; I hardly believe it myself sometimes! But the truth is that Jerald’s body mapping instruction has saved my life and music! Body mapping has helped me learn how to play in a much healthier way, AND has helped me take my playing to the next level! As crazy as it sounds, I am now thankful for the blood clot episode, for being the impetus and motivation for me to start actually listening to and understanding my body. But mostly I am EXTREMELY grateful to Jerald, for sharing the wisdom that I needed to start living and playing as I always dreamed I could.
James Cohen, drummer for the Ryan Montbleau Band
The Poised Guitarist 