Work at Hand

Another beautiful beginning to the day with Qi Gong on the beach followed by a cold dip in the Atlantic Ocean. So invigorating, so wonderful to share with my beloved wife. Yesterday was the first night in a while that I was not totally exhausted when I went to bed. A bit of a rough night sleeping due to noise outside, but the moment I began Qi Gong I could feel myself coming alive.

After breakfast I dropped J. at the beach and came to practice a bit. Today we return home so there is a bit of lag in my energy. I would love to stay longer, but my responsibilities must be honored so we will leave. I did another Alexander technique lie down before picking up my guitar. I had a sense of my neck lengthening into my chest area, not just these muscles perched on top of shoulders. As this sense developed my shoulders seemed a bit wider.

I reviewed Journeyman and Gathered Hearts. Worked with the ending of Scattered Hearts a bit with the mirror. Then onto Aftermath. Reviewed the form with the metronome to move between sections but leaving out the tremolo. Did this twice to loosen my left hand. Then began working on individual sections and transitions with the tremolo. Around 12 minutes into this I began to notice my enthusiasm for practice begin to take hold. I was also sensing I need to use "inhibition" in the Alexandrian sense as I work on this piece.

For one I can 'inhibit' my urge to play the piece in it's entirety to see where I am with it. I know the transitions that are problematic and I know the left hand fatigue that sets in. How much of this fatigue results from a poor use of my self? I can build the stamina in section work and put the piece together later. If I begin running the piece while the stamina is lacking I'll begin to practice mistakes, truly a poor use of my self.

A made minor strap adjustment to allow my right arm to lengthen above where the elbow rests on the guitar. I inhibited my desire to use the right hand and eventually found the sense of my neck lengthening into my chest cavity again. When I allowed myself to slowly play the right hand tremolo pattern. I introduced the left hand to add variety of pitches and was pleasantly surprised from the tone I was producing. I continued to slowly play from the section I began on through a few sections. Then I let go. My sense is that another small shift occurred. Now to let this ruminate in myself and enjoy the beach.


     

 

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