I is for ?

Intelligence, Intermission, or Injury.

I woke this morning with stiffness in my left shoulder, just about where the weight of the guitar rests. This happens at times. Years ago I learned to relax this area as I was "lifting' this shoulder to meet the weight of the guitar. Of course I did not know I was doing this until a friend of mine from the world of dance, Bob Dunn, watched me play. I have also had irritation in the area if I turn my neck to watch my hands while I play. And perhaps I just plain old slept funny last night.

While at work I did a bit of stretching and noticed that the tendon that leads to the outside of my left wrist was also sore. I had tendinitis in this area a couple years ago so I am very aware of being gentle when noticing any pain or discomfort here. Ignoring anything out of the ordinary in this area of my body is no longer an option. My adventure with tendinitis had me seeing an orthopedist, an acupuncturist, and a practitioner of the Muscle Release Technique. MRT was great as I was taught a series of stretches to do to alleviate the situation and to keep me healthy. MRT was developed in response to the growing Repetitive Use Injuries common to people who use their hands intensively. If you live in the Washington DC area, Robert True, a certified practitioner is located in Ashton, MD and did amazing work with me.

So for tonight I will apply my intelligence and take the night off from playing. I normally do this one night a week and Monday seems to work best. As I age I had to accept that I need an intermittent break from the demands the guitar places on my body. I had my wife massage the area and apply a liniment, Zheng Gu Shui, originally recommended by my acupuncturist.

If not and I choose to "play through the pain" then I is for Idiocy and eventually for INJURY. In fact maybe while I am listening to my body, I'll get out my mp3 recorder and listen to the solo works in progress that I am currently writing and/or learning. Seems like an intelligent response to my situation, musical progress without muscle injury.

Check out my solo guitar work on Scattered Hearts.  For only $4.99 you can receive a download that will support this blog, support my musical pursuits, and warm your soul to boot. Be kind to musicians, be kind to yourself.

Addendum to this post.

If you search this blog for Alexander Technique you will find quite a few postings on this topic. I was first exposed to the Alexander Technique 21 years ago on a Guitar Craft Course. Over the years whenever I had AT done to me I always benefited, but my individual application was sporadic and consisted mainly of doing a "lie down." While doing the "lie downs" is valuable to allowing your back to lengthen & widen and your entire body to rest, AT offers so much more.

In February of 2010 I began to study AT outside of participation in courses. I describe the change as that previously I had AT done to me, now I am embracing the work for myself. Issues in my left arm and shoulder are gone. Overall my use of myself is more efficient and relaxed, my awareness deepening. Individual instruction is vital in this work but a great guide to musicians is Indirect Procedures: A Musician's Guide to the Alexander Technique (Clarendon Paperbacks)  by Pedro de Alcantara. I can not recommend this book enough for insight into your musical process.

Space

Sunday 8/9/09 11am

Space the final frontier. These are the voyages of ... Only kidding.

Began my practice with an Alexander Technique lie down for 15 minutes. I am very tired today. Difficult nights sleeping Thursday after the open mic and then again on Friday night due to noisy neighbors. Decided with Joann this morning to have a gentle day, one where I can consolidate. During the lie down I thought of beginning my practice session with my variation of the Berio exercise of playing the same note 11 different ways. There is something about working at playing the variation on the method of attack, etc 11 times that I enjoy and find that this focuses my listening efficiently.

Usually when I do this exercise I allow my fingers to choose a note and go from there. But while on the floor G# came to mind. Toyed with should this be a low or high G# and then leaned towards one on the middle register. That is until I though of a Morton Feldman interview where he said " there is a lot of space within the interval of a second." I decided to explore playing the same interval 11 different ways, 11 times each. This really became fun for me when one of the ways I choose was to slide into FG# in the 13th position from EbF in the 11th position and then hammering on the F on the second string. Subsequent variations took on a playful look at ways to play this interval with the notes being played different number of times, etc.

The other though that Feldman's quote triggered in me is that there is a lot of space between the vertebra of my spine. How to keep these free and open while playing? As I took my seat with my guitar I slowly scanned my body, making sure all joints we as open as possible, spine erect, generally relaxed. Then after the warm up exercise I removed the guitar and checked in with my body again. Was I still loose in my joints, feet on the floor, aware of my head and neck?

Onto a look at The Etude. Slow and gentle playing of the theme and variations I have so far. Additional variations being greeted with verbal exclamations of wonderful or beautiful or interesting. These additional variations have not been written on the page by Tony Geballe but are a result of moments of inattention. I first encountered "praising mistakes' in the book Effortless Mastery by pianist Kenny Werner. I still find this somewhat 'hokey' when I do it, yet when I do praise mistakes I do not fall into a habitual spiral of negative judgements that lead to tension and feeds voraciously on itself.

A gentle play through of "Prayer From a Small Room" which I am relearning.

Time to return to practice.`

Another body scan as I prepared to play, a bit rushed this time as I was excited where this was heading. Returned to playing through "Prayer," this time as I began to play I thought of paying attention to the space between the notes. This is a slow piece with enough space between notes that does indeed need to be played. Interesting how the notion of 'space' has emerged today. Two more takes of this piece and I was satisfied that thanks to muscle memory I am well on the way to knowing it again.

I briefly removed the guitar and stretched for the floor, releasing the weight of my head from my neck. Felt a release in the upper section of my spine. Back to the stool for a slow take of Dancin' Free. I have been focusing on a couple transitions in this piece and when I do play the entire piece I do so at the tempo I have been practicing the changes. This take revealed that I can now play the piece at this slow tempo and can take it up a notch.

I removed the guitar and did some Qi Gong exercises and again stretched to the floor. Back feeling relaxed. Sat down and did a body scan. As I moved my hands to the guitar I became aware of the 'space' between the fingers of my hands. Amazing how this concept is overtaking me today. Looked up at a hanging on the wall and I remembered a great man, Scott Buckner, that I used to share space with 20 years ago. I must find him. Dancin' Free was played as freely as I have ever played it.

I moved on to look at "When Love is Taken," feels like the piece is finished now I need to learn to play it.

Put my guitar away and am ready for a refreshing walk along Sligo Creek.

Photo credit: Sharona Gott

What a week. Much happened, some documented in this, some being digested. This photo put me in a state of wonder after work today. Heard a Nino Rota soundtrack begin to roll.

Two quotes that had me coming back to them this week.

All music is what awakens from you when you are reminded by the
instruments,
It is not the violins and the cornets .... it is not the oboe nor the
beating drums-nor the notes of the baritone singer singing his
sweet romanza .... nor those of the men's chorus, nor those of
the women's chorus,
It is nearer and farther than they.

Walt Whitman Leaves of Grass
A Song for Occupations


And this line in: From A to X, A Story in Letters by John Berger

What if babies laughed after being delivered?

The Key of Healing

Composer Arthur Bloom responds to the request by wounded vets wanting probably even needing to mke music. A great op-ed piece in Tuesday's August 4th edition of the Washington Post about arehabilitative music program for injured combat veterans. Composer Arthur Bloom responding to the musical needs of wounded vets wanting to play music. So healing. Read more at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/03/AR2009080302258.html



For more details on Musicorps go to: http://www.Musicorps.net

Practice Away From the Guitar

During my Qi Gong session this morning I paid attention to my head. Afterwards I choose to do an AT lie down in lieu of my normal sitting. Followed my breath but with my back on the floor and head resting on paperbacks. The tension in my back behind my sternum was relatively minor this early in the day. Twenty minutes later I was off the floor with some stiffness in my lower back. I have noticed this stiffness before and should check in with my fave AT person.

Upon standing I became aware of the top of my head and the place inside that Sandra has pointed out to me previously. Shifting my weight over the balls of my feet, I felt odd but stable. Did this two other times while getting dressed, stunned at one point by the shear beauty of the sunlight playing on the leaves of our dieffenbachia.

At a red light I became aware of how the car seat supported me and allowed my breath to enter the region of my sternum and possibly expand this area. Throughout the morning I noticed how my chair supported me and checked in with how I was using my body. As I took this gentler approach with my body today I wondered how my body would feel when I strapped on my guitar. Now at home I am about to find out, but first a lie down.

After 15 minutes I felt great, my back was much more relaxed than usual. Sat on my stool for a few minutes without the guitar to plot my evening. Very excited by the arrival of the first page of the Etude that Tony Geballe has written for me. Ready to dive in when I remember I needed to work on my right hand nails first.


A brief 10 minute warm up and I was ready to play through the first bars of The Etude. First back to the floor. What looks deceptively simple is not easy to play, but I asked for a piece that would stretch me. The piece is intriguing and I was joyful hearing these notes written for me. Excited and ready to continue I took a break after 15 minutes to stretch a bit. Back to The Etude for 25 minutes. After continually catching myself holding my breath as I played through the first measures it was back to the floor.

My back was tighter this time, most likely from my habitual response to struggling through learning new works. I felt very refreshed when I stood. I decided to let go of work on The Etude and to look at possible pieces to play an an open mic on Thursday. Really hate going to open mics but now I said it and will follow through.

Set up the amp and decided on a 3 song set list. Always jars me when I first play amplified. Most of my nights are playing/practicing acoustically. The first bars of August Born wavered. Halfway through the piece I stopped because of all my internal chatter. A few breaths and I began again. A bit more controlled, aware of my feet, energy of the piece coming through now. Onto Lost Balloon and Dandelion Wish.

Another visit to the floor. Realized I had lost track of the number of times I did a lie down today. Laughed. Up for another run through now that I had a clear decision on Thursday. Much better this time. After I put away my guitar I realized I was more relaxed at the end of my session than I have been in a long time. Of course I did not work as hard on the guitar and I am certain that my disruption of habits will prove fruitful at the right time. More joy present tonight and a lot of gratitude.

Back a bit tired as I type. Grateful that I typed half of this prior to practicing. Stay tuned.

Three Lie Down Practice

Came home tired from work today. Even though monday is my usual night off from guitar practice, I wanted and needed to play tonight. I began with my Qi Gong stretches. Tonight my focus was to be on the joy of playing, much like I ended with last night. In fact I thought it might be a good exercise for me to let go of playing this week when I noticed the joy was missing.

Once noticed I would have the opportunity to direct my attention to manifesting joy. As I write this I am cringing internally about making this public. Always a good sign to make the commitment and see where this takes me.

After warming up my hands I played through some older works. Aware that my back was tired I grabbed my books and hit the floor for a lie down. The initial tightening in my back behind my chest gave way to relaxation. After 10 minutes I was refreshed and returned to review more pieces.

A break to assist Joann with something and back to the guitar. After another 15 minutes I noticed my back was tight again. So back to the floor again. Again the tightness that seems to live in that section of my back was there and intensified only to let go. Amazing that all I need do is lie down on the floor with my head supported by paperbacks and the muscles relax.

Back to the guitar again, gently. Looking at two of the new pieces, striving to maintain a sense of my body. Aware of my head and feet. Playing with the notes, seeing where they might like to go. How gently could I "play with' the strings? Toyed with this focusing on the lightness of my playing. I knew that the way to complete my practice this evening was with a final lie down.

Some tension in my usual spot but less than the two previous times. Perhaps this will be the focus of my practice this week. I suspect that joy will support my relaxation and my relaxation will support the joy of playing.

Stay tuned!

New Strings-New Beginnings

A Guitar Craft Aphorism: We Begin Again Constantly.

Certainly true in my case, when I remember.

Today we Joann and I had change of plane. We let go of our bike ride on the C&O Canal due to rain. I decided to spend part of this time with my guitar. First order of business was to change my strings. They were dull and smelly.

I love how bright new strings are. Even with wiping them down does not take long for my oily fingers to dull them. That and the fact that everything changes, especially strings.

Did some work on transitions in Dancin' Free and When Love is Taken. Slow careful work to train the fingers to these new movements. Loved hearing the new strings.

Break for errands, nap, and dinner. Then onto the Washington Mindfulness Community for sangha activity. Returned home calm and focused. I always enjoy pickup up my guitar after an evening of practice with WMC and tonight was no exception. I decided to have fun and just play pieces that I knew well. This was delightful and important. A great beginning to the week.

Photo by Joann Malone