Thursday, August 1, 2013

Can I Hear the Whisper?



 Still working with this new piece.  Stillness remains key to my process.  When I slow down I listen. Persistent open stillness allow the whispers of the muse to be heard.  Last week when I was completing my work for the evening, I recorded what I had achieved with the piece that session.  This act is nothing new for me, but when I woke the following morning I decided to listen to this during my commute.  This was going against my habit of having the recording to refer to for ideas. I heard myself saying it is too early in the process to listen, my playing is so flawed. On I went about why to maintain this habit.

I trusted the impulse and listened three times during various parts of my drive.  During the second listening I thought I heard something but it was nebulous.  Then in the third listen, I heard the whisper of where to take the piece.  That evening I worked with the idea and was satisfied with the result.  The next morning and a few other times I have done this with this piece.  The whispers continue. 

This piece is stretching me, as is this process.  As I listened this morning I thought the introduction needed something, but I did not hear what this might be.  Tonight after a very exhausting work day, I was ready to play, when I paused.  I realized that it's been a while since I've done an AT lie down before playing. So I hit the floor and as I relaxed, I began listening to the intro in my mind.  I heard a possibility.  Of course I wanted to get up and play with it, but I choose to stay with the lie down.

The idea does have merit and I played with another part from my morning's listening that needed work.  Now I'll sacrifice myself to the gods of sleep and listen again tomorrow.

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