Twenty-One

Twenty-one years ago today I began my Level One course with Guitar Craft in a beautiful redwood forest in Ben Lomand, California. Never would have I imagined the significance of this process in my life. I barely played guitar, possessed a love of music and the desire to be a musician. The knowledge and experiences that have been provided me in Guitar Craft have been transformative.The people that have touched me are many and they continue to challenge & inform, lead & inspire, provide example & exhibit courage in their lives.

A heartfelt thank you to one and all for kindling the flame of music within me, framing the possibilities of life, and holding me on the path.

After writing this two hours ago I went & played A Journeyman's Way Home, the first piece that ever came to me in Guitar Craft. Still takes me back. Played a few more pieces and then rested.

Becoming

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

One of the issues with illness for me is that when my body aches and is weak the mind tends to turn to negative thoughts about myself. Perhaps this is a manifestation of the mind/body complex at work.  Perhaps just a learned behavior. I tossed & turned a lot last night. Sleep was elusive. The negative thinking mounting. How to turn this seeming disadvantage to my advantage?

At times my mind was focusing on this part that need practicing in Dandelion Wish and blowing this up to my entire musical self worth, even beyond my musical life. Too huge to allow this thought path to gain momentum. For years I beat up on my self about musical ability. Did this come from coming to music relatively late in life as an adult or part of unrealistic expectations of my ego? May have even been deeper, but I'm not delving that far publicly. I watered the positive seeds in my mind but the negative had a good hold on me and continued to win out.

I decided to read at one point around 4 am. There was a copy of the Inner Game of Music given to me nearly 15 years ago that I had recently taken of the shelf . I read it back then but was not able to garner much practical use from the book at this time. Last night I opened it to the chapter on Trust. Ahh. Reading these words my focus was nudged. At some point the authors suggested drawing on positive musical experiences. I visualized some recent performance success and the good feelings and thoughts began to flow. I reminded myself that I am loved, turned off the light, and returned to sleep.

I woke later with the word - Becoming in my mind. I jotted this down and slept more. Becoming, we are always becoming what we think.

Progress Not Perfection

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

Twice I woke from sleep last night with the part of Dandelion Wish reverberating in my mind. This is not uncommon for me but the fact that this was still happening when I woke for the day is rather unique. Perhaps because I did the  visualization during the time I was awake at 4 am.

While waiting for my wife to sit with me this morning I sat in a chair and was resting on my breath. I decided to spend time with the visualization. I moved onto visualizing the entire piece. Good practice and morning time may be the best time for this but not sure how I could do this on a regular basis and still make it to work on time.

A classical guitarist Jeff Davis shared some of his efforts with visualizing via twitter last night. He alternates physical practice days and visualizing practice. He also said "I've found that there's a direct relation between the sections I have difficulty visualizing & memory slips during performance." This very good information born of experience is inspiring me to find the way to include more visualization work into my practice routine.

The bug is still with me so most of this day has been at rest. Reading Dr. Faustus and spending some time with practicing visualization. I did practice for a brief period tonight. Slowly increased the tempo for the part I am working on up to 64 bpm. Noticed a flow in my right hand motion that has not been there for this part to date. Excited I increased the tempo to 68 bpm and began thinking of what I would write in the blog. Train wreck ensued as my attention wavered with this new form of distraction. Gently quieted down again and backed off to 66 bpm. Still some issues so back to 64 bpm until I played the part well once and then I let go. Time to rest again and allow the brain to consolidate this work.

Visualizing the Solution

               http://www.flickr.com/photos/bill_horne/2067285899/

Home ill with the flu today. Second time this season. Seems like the viruses have it in for me. Is my immune system weak or is this an occupational hazard or do I drive myself too hard in general? Or a combination of all three,  perhaps even with a genetic disposition to be infected by the flu. One thing is sure I do not feel like practicing. I was sitting in a chair and attempted visualizing the trouble spots in Dandelion Wish I described in my post Getting Honest. However I  found out that I am not familiar enough with the right hand pattern to visualize the various combinations of dyads, arpeggios, strum, & artificial harmonics.

A thought emerged that perhaps in my weakened bodily state I might have an advantage over the muscle memory of my body. Combined with the desire to build off of Sundays progress and knowing that I will be weak for the next few days I decided to experiment with a brief practice to address learning the right hand functioning in order to practice visualizing this section. To the basement.

I began with a gentle run through of Gathered Hearts. Felt good to feel the vibrations of the guitar against my chest, to hear the music, to be momentarily uplifted. Then to work with the section of Dandelion Wish that I do not know well enough. Metronome was set at 56 bpm and I began the section. I immediately lost track of the metronome click, yet realized that I was executing the part well. I began again and lost the beat but again the execution was beautiful and I noticed that my breath was gentle. I found that in focusing on the right hand fingering to remember them I was drifting from the beat but this additional attention to the right hand changed my playing. This is not surprising in itself, but every time I  rediscover this is a very fresh moment for me.

A few breaths as I visualized the right hand playing it's role and then I began again. The beat was in my body, I could hear the melody, and my hand knew what to do. I played the section gently and well many times through. This was very meditative and refreshing especially considering how my body has felt all day. I let go of the playing and played through just the right hand part. Allowing this to be separated from the left hand movements. I then incorporated the sections immediately preceding & following these measures. The playing was even and confident. I was tempted to speed up the metronome but decided to remain at 56 bpm. After 20 minutes my concentration was fading so I completed my practice. Better to allow the brain to consolidate a brief but thorough playing then to begin making mistakes and confusing the body and mind.

Open Doors

Photo by Jame Landry

http://musicfromthefilm.blogspot.com/

When the door is open do I step through?

...

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.

Three Hundred & Sixty Four to go

Making New Year's resolutions has never been a real practice of mine. I am aware enough of the power of habits to know that a simple  change in the calendar does not affect change in my life. Yet I do find myself reflecting on my life perhaps a tad more at this time of the year. The increased time with family and friends highlights the importance of these loving relationships for me.

And there is a usefulness to look at where I have been and where I want to go. The recent past has been very fruitful musically. I trust that this will continue. I am ready to seek out more opportunities for performing at house concerts and to investigate live recording. The latter point was brought up on my recent Guitar Craft course in October and I trust that this will be a valid process for me. As with all processes there will be learning and growth opportunities, but as long I can remember my aim in undertaking these efforts I know the right conditions will manifest.

I still intend to develop the material and record "When the Ocean Courts a Drop." Much of the music is written and needs to be polished. One of the best ways I know to polish music is through live performance so this serves the aforementioned need to perform more.

Almost on a whim today after reading  a post by a friend I decided to begin a series of postings to my website pertaining to music. Most likely these will be brief pointers to music I am interested in or blogs related to music, or ??? Should be fun, hopefully not overwhelming. If I find that it is becoming a distraction another decision will be made. Hmmm so am I doing this or not then? Time will tell. The first one can be found here - Sufi Music of Turkey.

Happy New Year. May this be the year we find peace in the world. At least let this begin with me.