Expanding

As I was completing my meditation practice this morning a "performance cue" arrived - *Play With Silence*.  Since working with the book Performance Success by Don Greene again this year I've been experimenting with various "performance cues" and "emergency cues" as prompts to nurture the mental space I will thrive within. Using Play With Silence was intriguing as I practiced over the course of a couple hours. This may be a keeper.

Solid practice today. Nourised by my new performance cue I made progress on technique issues with 4 pieces. Made good progress with refreshing my familiarity with Anchor Fence Is Gone and even got in about 10 minutes of mental practice. The latter practice is difficult but so very useful. Had an appointment in the afternoon which took a couple hours and then needed to prepare our space for our first session of MoonLight Qi Gong via Zoom. As always happens I felt great after teaching and took a walk on this cool fall night. 

Practice was also energized by participating in the Cycle Study Group with Peter Legowski, Kim Cary and two other Alexander Technique teachers this morning.

Interbeing so informed my day. One practice affecting all the others while all the practices informed the one I was currently working with.  I am truly a fortunate person.

       Image by NASA.

Can I? Will I?

 

I’ve been holding off working with Anchor Fence Is Gone. If I could answer why, an old pattern within might unravel. Yesterday I listened to a rough recording I’d made when the piece was conceived and studied the score that Brad Hogg has transcribed for me a few years ago. In my heart this piece seems vital to Fences, Frames and Alleys yet the resistance has kept me from bringing it alive again. Today I visited again. As I was playing with the opening section I wondered - Can I make this easier? Laughing out loud I said of course I can. The real question is will I make this easier? So it goes.

Photo by PinkFloydFanSince1986

The Creative Life IS Messy

 In a meeting with today the notion that the creative life is messy surfaced a few times. After this very fruitful time with this amazing group I took a walk outside to digest the experience. Returning to my practice space I looked at the following captures of ideas related to the same piece Jumping Over Fences.

The initial idea arrived on May 4 of 2020. Added to in June of that year and now again yesterday and today. Still very messy but a form is emerging. There have also been rmp3 recordings and at some video recordings to capture the feel of the piece. Fine to dwell in the mess. But I must take care to not allow the mess to trigger negative thoughts about my ideas or ability to play them as they emerge. Paying attention to where I am in this moment keeps the process productive. Unfortunately I fail to pay attention more than I care to admit. So it goes.

Decisions

Reading Seth Godin's blog today I saw the link for the free workshop on decisions but had to act quickly before the 24 hrs of “free” was up. I love free. And More! I decided to let it go. The time to do the 50 minute workshop of which I’m sure there was much value, was going to compromise my best time to practice guitar. A good use of my tendency to have strong boundaries. Music is too important to me to let those precious morning hours slip away. 

Late in the day I stumbled upon a prompt for your six word memoir. Here’s mine: Make Music that moves our world. I do not understand why the music that comes to me does, but I do  keep showing up, Today I decided I would complete the Jumping Over Fences as the energy of the opening to this must be developed for my next release. Made good progress today because I gave myself the time and space to be present with my process. Now I have time to play a little bit more and enjoy the fruits of my practice.

Photo by Rosmarie Vegetal

Music Creates the Musician

Music creates the Musician. 

Guitar Craft Aphorism

These four words encapsulate my experience.  Music also heals this Musician and for that I am grateful.  May a listener find something of value in what I play and tap the energy to carry on another day.  Some days life is hard; I feel off track.  Though I may not feel like practicing, the pull of Music is there; calling me gently, surely.  Sitting still, I tune and then caress her strings.  As the vibrations swell my heart expands and the path clears. Slowly this musician is tuned, ever so slowly; just doing nothing but playing.

An audience is also necessary for music to come into being. Many have told me that the music I receive and transmit has touched them. This always warms my heart. Still, listeners are hard to find. Will you help me find listeners by forwarding this message to friends.

Friday August 6th is another rendition of BandCamp Friday. During Covid, Bandcamp has generously chosen the first Friday of the month as a day when they waive their fees and allow all the sales proceeds to go to the musicians hosted there. This has been a vital and needed success for many musicians.

Check out the music of the California Guitar Trio, Tony Geballe and others I have supported on BandCamp. Point your friends here:

https://patricksmithguitar.bandcamp.com/music

Recently I have come across the stunning music of Harpist Jessica Gallo. Her latest release Walk to the Sun is absolutely beautiful. Have a listen, I think you’ll agree.

https://jessicagallo.bandcamp.com

Please stay well and be gentle with your good self. 

Reframe

Begin again now

From summers heat; winters cold.

Pause. Release. Reframe.

Breaking up my routine a bit with with a 30 minute guitar practice after journaling. Allowed myself to play a few pieces. Focus on calm, confidence, ease and joy. From here moved onto Qi Gong practice with my wife and sitting meditation with our expanded local Sangha. 

When I returned to my music practice I decided to continue playing through the remaining pieces to see how my recent practices have impacted them. When my judgements began arriving I paused at one point and played with a variation from the AT Cycle Practice which arose for me last night - Thoughts Far Away. Again this phrase quieted my thinking. I continued to explore using this “direction” as I practiced and even used this as a cue before playing What Is This? the most difficult piece of repertoire I am currently working with.

I decided to pick up the tempo on WIS? and play it again. Pausing to direct my thinking and free my body I recalled a practice Michael my Shiatsu Massage and Tai Chi instructor gave me a couple years ago. In playing guitar I assume an asymmetric position for long periods of time over decades of practice. This has precipitated some problems muscularly and even energetically. He suggested I play air guitar with my left hand “picking” and my right hand moving about the fretboard. I played with this for a few minutes and then ran through WIS? again. I definitely noticed a difference.

In the afternoon, I played through each piece again. Improvement was noted. Celebrated with a walk along Sligo Creek before dinner. We also offered our Qi Gong class this evening. I’m ready to delve into The Jazz of Physics by Stephon Alexander. 

Photo by Joao Cardoso

The Longest Day

The longest day of the year sure felt like it. I had to tell a group of people I’ve grown quite fond of that I am needed to move in another direction. Fortunately this was well received.

Randomized my practice again with the focus of todays work being the middle of these seven pieces. I’m certainly glad I did. The first piece was When Am I? I thought I was playing this piece well, but the middle section needed a lot of work. I was surprised by this, but then recalled how often I’ve had difficulty transitioning from the first section. All those troubled transitions have left their energy on the middle section. I added the ending of the first section and slowed everything down. Found myself holding my breath a couple times. Never useful, but happens below the level of my attention more than I am aware of.

Working with Exiled I also found myself holding my breath at times. Overall the work was tedious but valuable. Onward.