Arriving

I beamed with joy this morning as I played through A Journeyman's Way Home. The first piece of music that ever came through me. Playing this piece allows me to touch innocence and today as I recalled the setting where music whispered to me in  the Mansion of Claymont Court. I was in a "dorm" with too many other young males, intimidated to no end as I practiced in a walk in closet. I needed to perform a piece at lunch and I did.

I'll always love this piece and playing Journeyman today gave me perspective on how far I've come. I followed with The Call and then began working with one of the new pieces Down The Hill. This was one of the pieces I played for others on Friday and is now settling into my hands, except for the recurring hiccups in bars 29 to 32. I addressed this difficulty and smoothness in the transition is arriving. Today was the first time I played the piece through from memory.

Photo by Seiya Ishibashi

Questioning My Approach

 As I strive to introduce ease and joy into the six new pieces I am learning I arrived at a couple of useful questions today. What if this learning and practice could be easy? How am I making this harder than it needs to be?

I am grateful and fortunate to have some great music to develop and release. Plus I have the time, skills and discipline to focus on what needs doing. Expanded some mental practice with When I Am? today. Need more of this. While the mental practice is not an easy process, it does not stress my body.

My continued exploration of TheCycle practice with a team of four different Alexander Technique Teachers is also bearing much fruit in the ease of my guitar practice and life. Truly I am a fortunate man.

How Far Within My Limits?

 The human individual lives usually far within his limits; he possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use. - William James.

How far within my limits have I lived this life? What will I use today that will increase my capability to enhance our world? What might I bring to one note, then another?

Today I began learning a piece that arose recently - When I Am. If I wish to play with ease and joy - how might I apply these factors to my learning this piece? Before I began my practice today I went through the TheCycle by Mio Morales. An exercise of constructive thinking based on his work with the Alexander Technique. I have been practicing this with a group of AT teachers that I was introduced to by Peter  Legowski. 

As I worked with the first four bars of music, I would pause and invite in ease and joy using the TheCycle. When I noticed I wanted to rush to the next section, I would again pause introducing ease. What better  way to have this sense of ease and joy then to introduce them into the act of learning. If you would like to spend a few minutes in active relaxation join these AT teachers at 10 am Eastern M-F. More info is here: https://www.wholenessworkshop.com/post/it-s-hard-to-make-a-change

The Dance I Almost Missed

         Last night we were walking and as we turned east at the end of our block saw the Moon. No longer full but big and radiant nonetheless. Mars was very close. Upon awakening this morning I looked out the front door to see if the moon had set and Mars was still close by it. But last night Mars was to the left of the Moon and now to the right. A dance between them had been going on all night. And I almost missed it. I know their  will continue even when I no longer see them. How many processes go on below the level of my awareness all day long? This complex biochemical psycho-physical being, known as I, a speck in the Universe dancing with the rest of creation. Thoughts frequently introduce noise in the system; emotions push me about like strong ocean tides while my body moves about on automatic.  Until I bring some attention to what “I” am doing.  Then back in the dance, the small miracle of being alive in the moment arrives. Awe, wonder and curiosity arise augmented by being here and now. Tension in the body is eased, thoughts slow and the whispers of the Universe take the form of notes.

Reflection begins my day followed by Qi Gong and Sitting Meditation laying the foundation for the arch of freedom. As I eat my breakfast, sweep the kitchen floor or open my guitar case I might pause and briefly nourish returning to this moment easing my dance with distraction. When I am present and play a note, a subtle energy infuses the music. This energy changes me and those who are listening. But the dance of the Universe is daunting - waves of thought, emotions and miscues of an aging body arise unexpectedly to counteract the flow. Again and again I must begin.  Again and again I loose my step. And then the right causes and conditions supported by decades of practice arrive - music surges and I surf the creative wave one more time.  Dancing with dissonance, connection ebbs and flows, and we begin again. What if I'd never picked up a guitar. 

Listen. Listen now. 

Have you heard The Call? Listen Here

Photo by: Abigail Atienza

 

Gray Songs

I was listening to two pieces from  Time Remembered on the commute to work today and was struck how this music played by an acoustic guitar ensemble reminded me so much of Debussey. The gentle ambiguity that I love of Debussy so nicely summed up by Verlaine:

        Nothing is more precious than that gray song,
       Where indecision is joined to precision.

If I had not known what I was listening to was written by Bill Evans I would have guessed Debussy, with progressions unresolved or incomplete, the gentle dissonances that keep moving forward like a wave. So lovely.

I then listened to my own improvisations from the Alive Again sessions. I found myself thinking this might not be the time after having just listened to the master John McLaughlin, but I needed to return to making decisions on this project. The gentle bell sounds from the audience cleared my mind and I listened through. 


I was eager to practice tonight but first had to deal with some matters with friends and family on the phone. Good stuff all in all, and great to catch up, but when I was finished I was more in the mood to curl up with a book. So I did, sort of - Harmonic Experience: Tonal Harmony from Its Natural Origins to Its Modern Expressionby W. A Mathieu, which led to picking up the guitar. I really should spend more time with that book, and with my guitar and ... but until my passive income stream becomes more active I'm with the day job. Knowing I can come home first to my loving wife and then to my guitar gives meaning to my day.


Twenty minutes of focused work on a technical issue in Steppin' Stones and then 30 minutes playing with parts of the chord progressions I found last night. Altering the rhythms and adding tones to see what might be there. One particularly Enoesque arpeggio captivated me and I returned to this a few times unsure what to do with the idea. Smiling I packed my guitar and will soon be sleeping.

Evenness & Passion

Listening, listening, more listening all the time. Currently insects singing outside over the dehumidified drone in the basement. Tonight I began transcribing the lesson I had with Tony Geballe last week addressing my right hand in Dancin' Free. As always Tony had good insight into my playing and gave me an approach for the piece and that will improve my right hand in general. Found a comfortable place to work with these exercises on the metronome and enjoyed the practice.

I have always enjoyed working on exercises, looking at technique, the subtle use of my hands. At one point I was told I was spending too much of my practice time on exercises and needed to spend more time with music. A balanced approach to my instrument. These days the emphasis is more on music, but when the music needs assistance out come the exercises. And as I said tonight I really enjoyed them. I am aiming for an evenness of sound and rhythm as I play these arpeggios in triplets at the beginning of this piece. To not rush the rests nor cut the note values of any of the notes.

Recently I have been at three outstanding musical performances. The first was Todd Rundgren performing the entire album of his epic work A Wizard, A True Star. Last Thursday I heard the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra perform Bela Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and then this past Sunday The Fry Street Quartet performed Bartok's First String Quartet. All of these performances were powerful and the music played with great passion and I was transported. My wish is that I may reliably play with power and passion. With an evenness in my approach coupled with my passion for music and the discipline to work and develop my skills - all is possible.

Juggling Priorities

Could be subtitled - A Day in the Life.

Up at 4:30 today, rested and ready. After grooming and sitting out the door at 6:15.

Good to be at work early as I am behind from my recent illness. Listened to Dancin' Free on the way to work and sang along with the notes. I really have this piece in my ear now, but the opening arpeggios are not in my hand. Went to play "air fingerstyle" with the right hand at a stoplight and realized I need to sit with this and write out the fingering. While Tony was here he helped me map out a systematic approach to mastering these arpeggios. An added benefit to have an engineer/producer who is also an accomplished guitarist.

After 9 plus hours at work home for dinner and delightful conversation with my wife. Spent 40 minutes with my guitar working on the revisions of a piece. Played this for Joann and received her feedback. Off for a 45 minute walk and played with this piece in my head. Back home to work on the menus for the upcoming Guitar Craft course in Seattle this month. Now back for another look at the new piece before retiring.

No matter how busy I am I find that hour to work with the guitar, sometimes more.

After listening to a rough take of this piece I heard where editing is in order for one section and an idea to experiment with in another section. Now I have the bridge to my practice tomorrow.

What have you done today to further that which you love?

Photo by: Sandra Prow

Trust the Abundance

Back to practicing tonight. Busy day at work and needed to put some attention into an important family matter coming to completion tomorrow. Overall I was feeling a bit overwhelmed in a funny kind of way with the abundance of musical material that has been flowing of late.

Several new pieces have emerged since coming home from the course on Raft Island. They are not committed to memory, and are in various stages of documentation. Some notation and rough recordings of various takes of each exist. I need to trust the process that allows these gifts to come forth. When a new idea is there I will continue to follow. This is actually a problem of luxury. Perhaps I am a bit nervous as I committed to a recording date in late September.

I've had a name for the next release for over a year and now I think I have another one. One that has a wider berth and a different flavor that I am finding nourishing. Hmmm may have just clearly made a decision with that last sentence. One of the reasons it is good for me to write about my experiences.

Most important is that I continue picking up the guitar. This is a given actually. I'll bring order and completion to the notation and learning of the pieces as time permits. I just need to keep trusting the abundance and myself. More will follow.

Stay tuned!

Gentle Persistence

Throughout my life many have told me that I am persistent. In good times and difficult times this trait has been vital. Gentleness has slowly manifested as I have allowed.

In my guitar practice I have had to learn and am still exploring ways to be gentle. A nasty case of tendinitis a couple years back slowly ground my playing to a halt. Lack of understanding led to efforts when rest was in order. Eventually I succumbed. During this time I had my first exposure to the practice of acupuncture. I had already been exposed to Qi Gong and when I learned that my acupuncturist, Nianzu Li,was also a Qi Gong master I began taking classes with him.

My relationship with my body and my mind has deepened as I practice various Qi Gong forms and exercises daily. My sense of my hands evolves and widens. Slowly my body changes. Doing Qi Gong before my mindfulness mediation practice enhances this time. Interpenetration of these related disciplines becoming one discipline. Breathing, playing, sensing ... life.

I am learning that gentleness needs to inform the demands and expectations I place on my guitar practice. Music unveils herself to me at her pace. I can only be available. As I learn to be quieter I can here her whisper with more clarity. As I relax her energy informs mine.

Tonight after playing a while I sensed tightness in my back. I was pushing the new piece, pushing myself. Stuck, I took to the floor for an AT lie down. As my back relaxed I thought I might allow my new gift " When Love is Taken" to rest and move on to some other work. After all I have focused on this piece extensively and nearly exclusively since last week. While on the floor I began playing a flowing style of "air guitar" with my arms floating over my chest as I heard part of the piece.

The Qi began moving and I imagined myself playing with this quality. Could the fret board be another form of air for my fingers to caress? Can I allow the vibrations of the strings to be felt in my whole body? Can I be free? Or at the very least gentle ...
After all I know I'll persist.

Close to Perfect Sunday

Noon

Began warming up improvising with the scale that whispered to me yesterday. At one point I noticed how slumped over the guitar I was. Just a slight release and improvement of my posture and when I began to play again I could hear the improved quality of my tone. How many times do I need to learn this same lesson? I have been exposed to the Alexander Technique for 20 years. Application is another story.

All comes back to the same basic principles which when applied reinforce one another. Improved posture led to better tone and the combination of the two improved my listening which led to ...

12:30 pm EDT

Spent 15 minutes working on notation for August Born when a new chord caught my ear. Played with this briefly and recorded the 5 chords. Time for lunch.

9:40 pm EDT
Enjoyed a perfect summer day with a picnic and walking around Great Falls with the four people I love the most. Totally relished a succulent peach when I returned home. Spoke with Tony Geballe about recording and producing the next release. What an amazing person he is, I am so privledged to work with a man of his qualities.

A brief look at the new chords that showed up today and soon to rest.

Honor Thy Mistake

One of Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies is to " honor thy mistake as a hidden intention." When I worked with Steve Geest in FingerPaint we applied this successfully on many occasions. Tonight while looking for a binder containing scores and other information related to Scattered Hearts I came across another binder. This other binder has been in my possession for years and contains information on South Indian Classical Music. This was given to me by a guitarist I played with briefly and I have not done much with the material.

Tonight I opened to a page containing melodies in the Raga: Mayamalwagaula. I was intriuged by the scale being used which is ABb C#D EF G#A. Thinking of Eno and the potential hidden intention I decided to let go of my original idea for my practice time tonight. I began warming up by playing with this scale.

I'll revisit this again, but for now I have some other guitar work to tend to.