Passage

Saturday morning I was warming up in preparation of our final day of recording with Tony Geballe.  I found a simple if disjointed melodic idea I played with a bit and then moved on.  Having made a mental note to remember this idea, I revisited this fragment during Monday's practice.  Then on Tuesday night, the idea began to simmer.  I came up with a quick working title as this helps to frame an idea for me, but Where Ya Goin'? did not really fit.  May have had more to do with where the melody was heading, than an actual sentiment or mood.

Yesterday I began to notate what I had of this idea to accompany the rough takes I had, in case I lose track of this over the coming busy weeks.  While capturing what I had in this way, another twist  arrived.  Later on the beach, looking at the surf, another possibility arose.  I tested this idea this morning, am unsure that it works, but strive to remain open to the inherent possibilities.  Early this morning I ran into a friend and we were talking about Transitions.  His work is helping organizations manage transitions.

In my current musical practice, I am in transition on various levels and pondered this as a working title.  Consulting the dictionary for a synonym for transitions I came upon Passage, which is currently the working title.  Noticing a word I did not know Saltation, I read the definition: discontinous movement, advance by leaps. Much closer to the quality of what is happening musically, but not sure this works as a title.  In genetics Saltation mean: a single mutation that drastically alters the phenotype.  I'm looking for that mutation that will bring this piece to life.

Taking a short break to allow the current ideas to percolate, then back to the guitar before one more dip in the Atlantic Ocean.

Photo by Nigel Howe

Transitioning the Transitions

                                     Photo by Carbon 111

A tweet by Elissa Milne about playing the C Harmonic Major Scale beginning on the 3rd scale position (E) and moving in contrary motion caught my eye this morning.  I decided to begin my practice by exploring this.  While I begin with certainty in my approach to the guitar, I find it useful to embrace the unknown as a way to disrupt habitual reactions, while also expanding my knowledge.


Moving to working with the difficult section in the tremolo piece, I am slowly bringing this up to speed.  Taking a brief break from this I picked up a folder with a print version of an older blog post - Transitions.  After reading this,  I thought about transitioning between takes of this difficult part.  I have used the AT principle of inhibition in working with this, as a way to keep my aware of my use.  Today I decided after one take of the difficult part to play the theme from Aspiration, so simple and beautiful. Pausing to direct my use via AT, I then I returned to the difficult section and after this play through I played the opening to A Journeyman's Way Home.  Again something that I can play effortlessly and also connect with positively.  I continued this moving between the difficult section interspersed with sections of pieces that I have mastered.  There seemed to be a qualitative flow from the effortless sections to the difficult section.  Between each 'playing' I paused to work with AT.  I'll continue to explore this over time.

After a break to work on this blog I returned to the guitar, and began exploring the Harmonic Major scale again.  Moving from this unknown improvisation, I then played through a different difficult section I am working with.  Then back to improvising in Harmonic Major and then returning to the difficult.  Again paying attention to my use via the Alexander Technique when my playing paused.  A different flavor from my earlier efforts, but again I stayed within my body more, and am learning from the mixing of these efforts.

Adrift

A bit adrift this morning, no better way to describe where I am. Various routines disrupted of late, most for good reasons; but those routines are in place for good reasons and the occasional reminder of their necessity in my life keeps me on track.  While checking the stats on this blog, I saw someone had read a post from July of 2009, titled Answering My Own Question, so I decided to read this also.  And there was my immediate way back in - go pick up my guitar, mindfully of course. 

Just the act of tuning began to moor me to the present moment.  Hearing my granddaughter upstairs, I played through Here We Are, a piece she inspired years ago.  I had a couple ideas of what else I wanted to look at, but then moved onto the new tremolo piece.  I began playing through it and hit a snag, after beginning again the same issue arose.  I already know this particular transition is troublesome so I decided to focus my work here.

I began from the two bars preceding this transition and played it through a three times.  Noticing that the transition derailed in different spots each time, I realized that I do not thoroughly understand what I am asking my hands to do here.  And this is a great opportunity for me to apply the Alexander Technique.  Giving myself the AT directions, I decided I would practice inhibition by just playing the two bars preceding the transition and then pausing.  Am I doing anything at this point to my head/neck relationship just before moving my left hand to the new sequence?  Beginning on an outbreath, and patiently playing these two bars and then again the pause.  My relationship with my body deepening with each pause, my breathing calming, my thinking focused.

From here I decided to play just the bass notes of the transition, while again working with allowing my body to lengthen & widen.  Pausing and directing, playing, and then again pausing & directing.  I added in the tremolo and played from the two bars and added in the next one.  Directing, playing, and watching to see if I began to misuse myself.  Continuing in this fashion, I then added in the next three bars, one at a time.   After playing through this section three times, I allowed myself to continue through the end of this piece.  I'm always pleasantly surprised how detailed work on one section, improves my performance of a piece overall.  Noticing that my left hand was a bit fatigued, I took  break to write this.

I returned to play through this and my granddaughter came with me.  I played through the transition seamlessly, though I did notice a tightening in my neck as I approached the end of the piece.  More work for a later time.  For now we're off to enjoy this beautiful spring day.

Transitioning to Performance Mode

A lot of my practice has centered around new material lately. But now the dates for Alive 2 or perhaps Alive Again are quickly approaching. I had a great phone conversation with Tony Geballe this morning regarding strategies and practicalities for this live recording session. Building on what was learned and assimilated in July we are now moving forward. Tony is such a great person to work with; I am truly blessed.

Checking the stats on this blog this afternoon I was pleasantly surprised that there were 50 hits in one hour this morning. I had not posted anything since Monday which made this activity even more unusual. I checked the posts that were looked at and decided to read them again myself. They were centered around my work with the Alexander Technique. Within these posts I found what I needed to guide my guitar work from this perspective for the afternoon. I also began an organization of my writings to further inform my future practices.

I had decided during last nights session to focus on particular transitions in Dancin' Free and Beneath Dark Images. Incorporating the AT principles to this practice allowed me to maintain a certain freedom of use and to notice when I was end gaining.  Again and again coming back to giving myself the directions. I also began to have a sense of "allowing my spine to release out of my pelvis," which William Conable spoke of in his workshop.

In all a good day's practice, now if only I could get around to changing my strings.  What transitions are you working on?

Transitions

               http://www.flickr.com/photos/afeng/ / CC BY 2.0

Is it true or have I made it a truth that the most difficult places to play a piece of music is the transitions? Is truth immutable or in motion & changing? No doubt about it transitions for me are tricky, demanding my attention, and in need of care.  There are different types of transitions. In performance the change in fingerings, tempo, rhythm, &  intensity can be subtle or dramatic and everything in between. Same holds true in composing, how is this piece of music going to alter it's path? Will it be different harmonies, rhythmic changes, or dramatic shifts of mood & emotion? In reality it is usually a manifestation of all of the above. Intense & jarring fortissimos giving way to peaceful & quiet pianissimos. Percolating melodies giving way to gentle meanderings. Solo voice evolving into rich choral tapestries. Transitions breath change into music and also into life.

In performance transitions breed nervousness (one of a hundred forms of fear) in me. Have I mastered the elusive fingering? Can I marshal the emotional force needing to be interjected or soften the wave of feeling already in play? Do I understand the relationships undergoing change during the transition in this piece?  In life? During the performance of my life can I accept, embrace, and allow the ambiguity of changing relationships during the sections of transition? Can I improvise the piece when I have lost my place in the score? When no score is provided?

In reality every breath is a transition and every micro-second in between. The music of changes plays on ... trust the muse; play the transitions; be available.

Getting Honest

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tearsandrain/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Thinking about live recording possibilities the past two days. If I do a live recording Dandelion Wish needs to be included and there is a section that I continue to play poorly. I had mapped out a three hour period this morning to practice and bring some order to my studio during breaks. After warming up and playing through three pieces I played Dandelion Wish and knew it was time to get to work on this part.

The area of concern involved working on my right hand artificial harmonic technique. I began working at 76 bpm  but knew I can not play it at this tempo and got honest and backed off 4 bpm. The slower I played  there more chatter in my  mind or was it that I was able to notice the chatter easier. I continued to slow down 4 bpm at a time looking for the tempo where I could play these 8 measures.

At 64 bpm I played it well once so I took a break. Did an AT lie down and visualized myself playing this part as I sang the part in my head. I returned to the guitar to find that at this tempo my performance of this part was still unreliable. As I turned down to 60 bpm I knew I was headed for 56 but attempted working this at 60 for a few minutes. My mind was quieting down and I was accepting that there was work that needed doing and now was the time. I have known for some time that when I can breath naturally through a part I can play the part well. I was noticing how I was catching my breath often throughout the process of finding the proper practice tempo.

I said that I knew I was headed for 56 and I did arrive there. I have learned more at this metronome setting about myself and my playing. One day I may just dial down to there first and get to work on whatever problem I am experiencing. At this tempo I saw the confusion in my right hand in the transtions between moving back from the artificial harmonic playing postion to my fingerpicking postion in transitioning from the end of the pattern to the beginning of the repeat. I created an exericse to work with this and had a very fruitful practice session .  I would never have honestly seen this confusion without slowing down the tempo. Now to establish the possible and move gradually to the impossible.