Sorting Through Possibilities

Looked at the improv I was playing with yesterday and it went nowhere fast. So I let it go. Needed to work on material for a set for Home Song 4 Life next Monday. A four song set at 3pm EST/ 8pm GMT.

Wanting to offer a different set than I did for this in December, I have been surprised at the difficulty of coming up with a four     song set. Finding how to balance tension and release was my challenge of this day. Decided to relearn Breaking Light which I have not played in over a year to for Monday. Polished up some other possibilities.

I may have a set in place. Felt good when I played it this evening. Playing it for a musician friend tomorrow for feedback.

             Photo by Tama66

Wherein Lies the Possible

 

Establish the possible and move gradually towards the impossible. - Guitar Craft Aphorism

The possible begins when I open the case.

Having been practicing pretty much daily for the past 32 years I know that every day is different. Today the energy was great. I began with A Journeyman’s Way Home the first piece I ever ‘wrote.’ Most days I begin with this as a reminder of innocence and what can happen when I present myself to the guitar.

With a blank score on the desk I improvised for a while but nothing was there. After playing Day Two, I took a few breaths and let my hands open to the guitar. I heard something that spoke to me. Following it for the next 90 minutes was an adventure. I made notes as I went along. Tomorrow I’ll revisit to access what may be there. 

From there I played through a few other pieces. The search continues.

Photo by: Fotocitizen

The Music of Life

 

“The true use of music is to become musical in one's thoughts, words and actions. One should be able to give the harmony for which the soul yearns and longs every moment. All the tragedy in the world, in the individual and in the multitude, comes from lack of harmony, and harmony is best given by producing it in one's own life.” - Hazrat Inayat Khan

Every year on the first Saturday of the month my meditation community gathers for a transmission ceremony. Always a beautiful and powerful event, this year on Zoom. Yet it was still beautiful and powerful. A bonus was that old friends who had moved away from the DC area could also join us. My heart was full of hope for our world and my body a bit tired after three hours of slowing down.

After lunch we drove to see family for a few hours taking advantage of an unseasonably warm day. To laugh and see the sparkle in one another’s eyes was much needed. Back home we enjoyed a great soup our daughter-in-law made for us. After dinner I talked with one of the most important people in my life who lost his wife in mid December. There is nothing life like death to galvanize my attention as to what is important.

No notes played on my guitar today. Instead the music of life was flowing effortlessly through and around us. And so it goes.

Image created by John Golby

The New Day

I am grateful for: 

Ability to create. 

         Beauty all around me.

     Courage to change.

I began the New Year with my ongoing morning practices of journaling, Qi Gong and Meditation which set the tone for my being. After enjoying a wonderful breakfast of cheese blintzes with an improvised pear sauce and veggie sausage, I opened my guitar case.After setting an blank score on the desk the muse responded with an idea that I think can work with an idea that arrived earlier this week. 

Moving onto playing through Day Two … and practicing the middle section of Searching. Both of these are new pieces.Thinking about the set for the Home Songs Forever gig on Jan 11th at 2pm EST. David would like the 4 piece sets to be different each time. I’ll be performing with them 5 times next year.  Should I perform Senseless Loss for the first date arose in my mind so I reviewed the piece.  

                                       Photo by John Golby

Crafting & Concerns

 The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. - Kurt Vonnegut

After breakfast I thought about which pieces I wanted to give time to learning today. The gigs are over for a while, so I can return to newer compositions. I selected Exiled and About To Be to work on. I also wanted to review of Searching and What Is This?  to prepare for recording these. First I improvised. Nothing much was happening, then a nugget. An hour later the nugget had opened and borne fruit. After a short break I played through Searching. 

Returning to the new idea, it moved further along. Amazed once again how fruitful this period has been. I’ve usually spent part of my practice time improvising, but beginning with this in the morning began during this workshop. Recently in a conversation with my guitar mentor he told us that everyday he begins with improvisation. Now I’m sold.

The piece I’m negotiating is time. With the craft of my practice I’m good at allocating time. But the composition practice occurs in it’s own time. Then the life concerns - chores, connecting and communicating with others must be addressed and always take longer than I suspect. Grateful for the comfort and joy that the practice of music brings me.  May we all grow as our world needs us.

Photo by Anncapictures

Freedom

 

This steelworkers son

forges disparate melodies

changing hearts and minds.

As we were completing our Qi Gong practice this morning I was thinking of release as the word for the day when my wife offered up Freedom. Close enough. How can I gain freedom in my practice and in the performance tomorrow?

First thing I did was to write the word freedom on paper and place it on the music stand so that I would see it occasionally. Then I’d have choice to pause. The pause could be simply a free mindful breaths, or some constructive thinking ala Alexander Technique, a walk or doing some more QG. Options available to ease the pyshco-physical being that I am and and nourish the being I wish to become. The remembering is the key to a path that works.

Played with the idea that arose around “Edges” on 11/29/20. No further development but there is something there. Focused on rehearsing the set.

Image by Sofia Cristina Córdova Valladares

Which End

As I was getting ready to tune, I noticed my copy of the Seven Habits on the shelf and thought about “Begin with the end in mind.” How did I want to be or where by the end of this practice day? In a year?  What do I want/need to learn that will facilitate my next musical release?

Gently adjusting the tuning peg listening to the low C settling in. Noticing tension in my left shoulder I let go a bit. Could I keep both instruments, guitar and body, in tune for the next couple hours. With pausing this was possible and supported the progress I made with a few pieces.

In the afternoon we had a session of the Practice Consortium, a collection of fifty or os guitarists that have been come together again for 7 weeks. Different individuals guide the practice each week based on what they are exploring. Today we were playing with chord inversions across three strings at a time. This is the one time of the week when I use a pic, and am generally challenged as the tempo is increased. During this session, I was “trying too hard” to keep up and it took a toll on my body. After a 45 minutes session, I needed to do an Alexander Technique lie down to relax my back. After 10 minutes I did some gentle stretches. With my body in tune again, I enjoyed lunch outside with my wife, then prepped for and taught our Saturday Qi Gong class. Listening to works in progress as I write this.

Need to have a conversation with my friend who said he is exploring accelerated learning. As I have a lot of respect for him, I’d like to know what he is investigating. What are you investigating?

                                 Photo by Randy von Liski