When Snow and Notes Fall

I was watching a beautiful snow fall this afternoon.  Thoughts about practicing guitar arose and were countered with - I did have a good practice this morning.  True, but I was in a great place, which is always a good time to practice.  Besides I thought I could practice looking out the window as the snow fell.

And it was beautiful - watching snow without concern, while playing.  Can I release the notes as effortlessly, beautifully and uniquely as each snowflake?  Just as the snow cascades from the sky, may the notes release from my guitar with rhythm and space amongst them.  May they blanket the ears of the listener as gracefully as the snow caresses the trees and grass.  May my notes resonate after they have landed continuing to inspire, change, and add to the life of the listener.  May I be as silent as the Heavens from which the snow and music descends.

Photo by Rabiem22

The Errors of Inspiration

        A man’s errors are his portals of discovery. - James Joyce

The big mistake is to wait for inspiration. It won't come looking for you. - Brian Eno

They have me thinking, though not necessarily coherently.  Besides, coherence is not the point when I'm looking for a creative spark.  The act of stringing a few notes together and seeing If and where they take me is what matters.  I always learn something.  Sometimes the lesson(s) take years to come to fruition, sometimes not. I suspect much is missed.  But by serving the aphorism - We begin again constantly, the process moves forward. Or backwards.  Maybe inwards or obliquely.  Always somewhere.

Reminders of Freedom

Recently I've been delving into Pedro de Alcantara'a latest book Integrated Practice: Coordination, Rhythm & Sound where he further develops his ideas of applying Alexander Technique to music and a wealth of other solid musical approaches to explore.  From an AT perspective, he has me rocking on my sitz bones as I play, just sit, and/or prepare to play.  The notion behind this and other of Pedro's approaches is to have this as a "latent" potential within me, a freedom whether I am actually rocking or not.  David Jernigan reminded me of this in our lesson 2 weeks ago and I have been exploring this at while playing the guitar, working on the computer, and tonight when sitting down to dinner.  Almost immediately I have noticed an increased ease within my right leg when seated with the guitar.  Over the years, I've had a tendency to "hold on" with this leg and am slowly letting this go.

As I was "rocking" out while playing tonight, I paused and thought of freeing my neck.  This simple but vital AT practice that begins to reset my proper use.  While pausing I thought of a wonderful post I read by Trey Gunn last night titled Bias.  Drawing inspiration from Trey's words, I heard a note in my mind, found it on the guitar and then listened for the next note.  I was off to that wonderful space of allowing music to come into being.  A beautiful melody emerged which I played with.  After a while I took a short break.  During this break, the thought of inverting the melody arrived so I explored this.   Just as Trey suggested, allow the idea out, then apply theory.  Pausing at times during my playing to return to rocking, allowing freedom to enter in my body and mind.  Many thanks to all those that inform me.

Seed of Inspiration

A relatively gentle day, once I was able to begin it properly.  Qi Gong and sitting with my wife finally got me grounded this morning.  Just being with her, tending to our home, cooking, and allowing one another space was wonderful.  Two naps interspersed with watching a basketball game and even some uncharacteristic football watching, the Ravens that is, my hometown team.

I began randomly playing intervals and singing them tonight.  Thinking of my daughter-in-law and the book she is writing, I then played through Kinnara, which was inspired on one of our visits to Cambodia. I followed this with Gathered Hearts and Broken Wing.  Then I began playing the beginning I found last night.  On the first play through, a found a new approach to it.  After playing with this and recording it, I began to notate the opening theme.

And then it hit me.  Can I compose a piece of music inspired by the death of a prostitute on an episode of CSI Las Vegas?  Many of my pieces have been inspired by loss, or another personal experience, even a title from a poem.  Film and television shows are drama.  They do recount human experiences, complete with the attendant emotional cues and responses.  Yet somehow this feels very strange to me.  However that will not keep me from investigating this piece further.  Should I call the piece Nick's Song?