Mutiple Practices Supporting One Another

We had a wonderful Qi Gong session with Master Nianzu Li on the banks of Sligo Creek this morning.  The gentle energizing movements inviting me to be long & wide from a different perspective.  Between movements in Qi Gong there is a pause, an opportunity to practice what Master Li refers as Triple Regulation.  During this time we check in with our body, mind and breath and relax or engage what is needed.  Frequently I use this pause as an opportunity to direct my thinking via the Alexander Technique.  Allowing the directions to release my neck, back and limbs.  This correlates with me with an ancient Chinese aphorism Ei Dao, Qi Dao - where the mind goes, the Qi goes.


After breakfast I did 30 minutes of organizing and then began my guitar practice.  I love the opportunity to practice in the early morning, especially after such an energizing Qi practice.  I began improvising simple melodies and playing with where they took me.  After this I decided to play through a piece I know well as a warm up, but to play it louder than I normally would.  The twist here being that I wanted to pay attention to my use as I played loud.  Pausing to direct via the Alexander Technique,  I began to play loud.  Why did my right elbow tense as I played loud?  Then I noticed unnecessary tension in my right shoulder, most likely arising from within my neck.  All because of playing loud?  Does loud really require that much force?  Was part of this some type of emotional blockage arising?

When the piece was over, I thought it was good to direct via the Alexander Technique again and let go.  Moving onto working with a tremolo piece - Senseless Loss.  I worked up to where I can play this at a tempo of 76 accurately.  I played through it once and then moved the metronome up to 80 and just played the  last few bars.  Then I put the metronome at 84 and played the same few bars without success.  I back off to a setting of 82 and then recalled an exercise from Pedro de Alcantara's wonderful book  Indirect Procedures: A Musician's Guide to the Alexander Technique (Clarendon Paperbacks).  On the second beat of each measure you insert a rest.  I began working with the ending in this manner for the next 20 minutes until I could successfully play the ending.  I took a break and then resumed this work but added in a few more bars.  When this was successful I went back to a tempo of 80 and played the entire piece.  I smiled at how easy this happened.  By tackling the ending first the rest fell in place effortlessly.

After this I did a 15 minute Alexander Technique lie down.  I noticed just a little bit of tension around the middle of my spine and back.  Slowly the muscles released as did this discomfort.  Back to the guitar.  I turned on the tape machine to play through 3 pieces I've been working with.  Midway through the second piece I lost my focus and turned off the recorder.  Pausing and directing once again, I again turned on the machine.  Does turning on the tape machine turn on my internal chatter or do I just notice the chatter more?  Though not flawless I did make it through this time. 

I am grateful that I have these wonderful practices of music, Qi Gong, Meditation, and the Alexander Technique that all support one another and me.  Life is very very good.

Sanctify the Space

Often I begin my time with my guitar by playing the first piece of music that ever came to me - A Journeyman's Way Home. I had been challenged to perform at each meal of a particular Guitar Craft Course in March of 1989. I could not play guitar at this time and thinking of my favorite person in the world then and now, Joann,  a simple beautiful piece emerged. This morning I was reading Pedro De Alcantara's excellent Indirect Procedures: A Musician's Guide to the Alexander Technique and he mentions that Pablo Casals would begin his practice sessions by playing Bach as this "sanctified the house."

A wonderfully appealing notion that fits and supports my own practice. So today I played Journeyman's as a beginning; recalling and reclaiming the innocence, enthusiasm, and wonder of that first magical moment when music whispered in my ear. From this space, I moved to playing with a scale - C hijaz. I made this musical, not just a mechanical training of my fingers. I was also using a plectrum from having played Journeyman's and was delighted to what is available to me with this right hand method that I rarely employ anymore. I switched to a finger style exploration of the scale and noted the differences in timbre, speed, and accuracy. Drawing from my recent Alexander Technique lesson I allowed space beneath my arm pits.

I have come to this area of my use frequently since my last session with David. To one that is not versed in AT this may seem trivial and unrelated to guitar playing. Yet allowing awareness to this space around my arms in general has offered me freedom lately. I moved onto working with the harmonics in Dandelion Wish using an exercise I garnered from Pedro's Indirect Procedures. Recently I have applied this particular exercise to Matka Boska and  Stepping Stones and am finding it t be very useful.

The exercise is to introduce a rest on the second beat of a measure. Then play the rest of the measure and the first beat of the following measure. Continue through the section you are working with or an entire piece in this manner. I have found this to be challenging and fruitful. I have to really know the piece to keep introducing these rests and in doing so I find my awareness of what I am doing in the moment deepening. The rest also disrupts what habits I have built into my execution of the music and allows for a moment to direct my use.

Working with Dandelion Wish in this manner was not only fun but freeing. With the exception of the added rest, I worked to play the rest of the phrase in tempo and an intensity consistent with which how I would perform the piece. Thus working with my use in a musical manner. The results as with my work on Matka and  Stepping Stones has been worthwhile.

So back to practice, then to rest. I am still recovering from my second procedure this time on my right leg for varicose veins.

Forty minutes later.

From this space I returned to working with Dandelion and played around with the use of my hands as I approach the guitar and also with the rhythm & phrasing of this section. Progress continues. I moved onto look at Broken Wing the new piece emerging in memory of my dear friend Jay Bott. From this space of fun and exploration I played with the beginning of the piece and am allowing the piece to grow and flow. His Memorial Service is later today, so now I must introduce a rest for myself and let go of practice so that I can attend to this properly. As I shared last night - Enjoy what you are doing right now. This moment is all that matters, ever.