"Practising in Flow": A Holistic, Body-Oriented Method of Practise
Impulse - Exchange - Practise


Second international training course or teachers from European music schools: “Practising in Flow”
26th to the 30th of April 2004
International Academy for Music Schools at Schloss Kapfenburg (Germany)

The international training course “Practising in Flow” at Schloss Kapfenburg was designed to give 20 teachers of music schools from different European countries ideas and methods to make the daily practise of the instrument easier and more successful. The course was organised by the International Academy for Music Schools and the European Union of Music Schools (EMU). Practising and theory with Andreas Burzik (Germany) and Andrea Holzer-Rhomberg (Austria) were as well part of the course-schedule as interesting lectures with Dr. Gerhard Huhn (Germany), another expert in the field of “flow” and the “high performance mind”.

“Flow” - every musician knows this blissful feeling of being totally lost to the world while being absorbed, highly engaged and yet effortlessly involved with ones instrument. All steps of the activity run seamlessly into each other, all sensation of time goes. There is no time for day to day worries; everything is replaced by a deep feeling of will being and harmony. “Flow” is the term for those extraordinary experiences that are the expression of a holistic mode of operation of the brain that adjusts consciousness and enables a process by which complex activities are carried out with a sensation of intense enjoyment and ease.

“Practising in Flow” is a holistic and body-oriented method of daily instrumental practice that is experienced by musicians as being highly satisfying physically as well as emotionally. It was a major concern of Andreas Burzik to teach this particular method to the participants by using a practical approach. Dr. Gerhard Huhn added more scientific explanations for “flow” and explained to the importance of “flow-experiences” for learning and motivation. Andrea Holzer-Rhomberg gave essential input to the course by showing methods that enable teachers to create flow-oriented lessons for children.

Dipl.-Psych. Andreas Burzik
Andreas Burzik has a Master’s degree in psychology. He is a qualified violinist and has been teaching the violin for the past 20 years. He developed the method "Practising in Flow" for all classical instruments. Publications referring to this method have already been published in the "Neuen Musik Zeitung", "news & views", "Musicos Barai", "Stringendo", "The Strad Magazine" and other international professional journals. Burzik is also the author of a scientific study on “Flow-Experiences of Professional Orchestral Musicians” published in Das Orchester (January 2002).

Andrea Holzer-Rhomberg
Andrea Holzer-Rhomberg has been leading a class for violin and viola at the music school Feldkirch since 1988. In the course of this activity she deals with early instrumental education very intensely. A focal point of her work was the project "motion transfer in beginning string education". Besides that she developed a preschool for young string players which works with an integral plan. Andrea Holzer-Rhomberger sets up her priority in learning string movements according to the approach of motion transfer - which means children learn the movements without the instrument and as soon as they know the sequence of movements, they start to transfer the patterns to the instrument.

Dr. Gerhard Huhn
Dr. Gerhard Huhn is a consultant and management trainer. He works at the topic of the flow-experience as a key to learning, growth and motivation.