Opening to Inhibition

Does inhibiting, in an Alexander Technique sense, opening my guitar case, improve my playing?

Early this morning I was journaling about my AT session with David Jernigan last night.  Besides teaching AT, David is also a professional musician.  Last night was one of those sessions, which was part AT and part music lesson.  Many good questions were raised for myself to examine and take action on. 

I began my guitar practice session tonight with an AT lie-down.  Though I was not overly tired, this day has been very active, and I felt the need to tune my body first.  After rising from the floor, I approached my guitar case.  Noticing the freedom and length that was currently available to myself, I inhibited the action of opening the case.  Instead I began to play with the Critical Moment exercise, first shown to me by Frank Sheldon, and worked with and discussed again last night with David.  Keeping the AT directions going in my thinking, I instead choose to speak about opening my case, rather than actually opening the case.  I played with a few variations on this, including taking no action, all the while thinking through the directions.  When I did open the case, I removed the guitar, but before putting the guitar on my body, I simply returned it to the case.

Again practicing inhibition and giving myself the AT directions.  When I did put the guitar on and begin to play, there was a richness to my tone, that generally eludes me in my sessions with David.  But tonight I was there in an AT sense and also in a musical sense.  As I write this, I know this is what I strive for, what is needed to play music.  But this remains elusive for me.  Often in the AT sessions, I am perhaps lost in the thinking process of AT, and have yet to gain the requisite attention to keep both AT and music alive.   Tonight they came together.

Singing Gathered Hearts as I played it, I found an expressive quality that may alter my way of playing this piece.  Continuing to come back to the AT directions as I worked on two other pieces.  I then completed my session with a spirited improvisation.  Debating whether to blog or not, I reviewed the last pages of the chapter Evolution of A Technique, from F.M. Alexander's The Use of the Self.  Much more work lies ahead of me with the Alexander Technique, yet as I continue to reap the fortunes from the freedom I have achieved, I am happy to make the investment of time.  And going back to the question that is the title of this post, tonight my answer is Yes!  What is yours?
 

Bars of Freedom

Tonight I returned to the guitar after two days of no playing.  Travel, tiredness, celebration, and tasks requiring my attention took precedence.  How to reconnect in a qualitative manner?  I played a few bars of a piece and was feeling relatively free.  I paused and wondered how I might maintain this freedom?  Applying the Alexander Technique quickly came to mind.  Before I began again, I connected with my body via the AT directions.  Playing the first arpeggio of the piece I then paused again before shifting to the second chord.  Finding length & width with the AT directions, I played the second arpeggio.  Pausing again in this manner before returning to the first chord, I found my attention riveted to my use.

I proceeded through the piece in this manner.  When approaching the end, I had an urge to play an entire section, which I did.  Then I finished playing the piece one bar at a time and pausing in the described manner.  Moving on to an exercise in fourths and sixths, I simply took pleasure in these relaxed and efficient moments of playing and pausing.  Noticing my body, how I was using myself and the occasional tendency to do more than was necessary.  In these moments when, I began to use myself poorly, I found an ease of letting go, with the continued pauses.

Deciding to continue in this manner with another piece, I decided I would play a piece I know well.  I choose Livin' the Dream.  Playing a bar and pausing, I was really allowing my left hand to release the previous chord shape.  My tone was pleasing to me, and at times I found I had to play through to the next chord and rely on the knowing in my hands to find this chord shape.  At the end of this piece, I paused to write.  A gentle but thorough reconnection with my guitar and myself.  As the venerable Thich Naht Hahn has said "... freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves.

Today's Glimpse

                        Heart Open

                        Body Free

                        Mind Engaged


                        Music Flows

Exercising

Development of the body. mind, or spirit requires exercise.  Gaining proficiency in a craft is attained by exercises passed on by the Masters, and applying them in your own voice.  This morning as I began to practice, a series of notes presented themselves to me.  Hearing the music within these notes I began to follow where they led.  At first this was relatively simple, but then we were stuck.

The whisper from the muse was gone, and I began to exercise what craft I have in composition.  Slowly, a piece was taking form.  In the act of taping what I had so far, a happy accident occurred and I found my way into the next section.  Slyly the creative process had whispered to me once again.  Moving forward I once again did not know how to proceed.  Time for an AT lie down.  My back was grateful as I sunk into the floor.  Taking this time to contemplate and relax my body, distracted my mind from the task at hand.

When I returned to the guitar, the next transition introduced themself to me and I followed along.  Close but no resolution, I took a break for coffee.  Auralizing what I had so far, I found myself humming a possible phrase.  Sure enough this worked and the piece and I continued developing.  Taping what I had and doing a rough notation, I then began tho play the piece again.  Now I found that the ending of the first phrase was being influenced by where the piece had developed to.  Again I followed, but with the changes made,  the next transition no longer worked.  Patiently finding a way to work this out, I smiled, knowing that this was one of those sessions where I was stretching my compositional abilities.  Exersing my capacity to listen and apply.  I just need to allow the process to unfold and weather this actually turns into a piece or just an extended effort is not the point.  Learning and growing as a musician requires exercising the various aspects of musicianship.  One poignant place in the process was adding in what I thought was a "wrong note."

But this "wrong note," was exactly what was needed in this point of the piece.  No need to think, just play, discover, and listen.

Beyond the Fences

Always inspiring to do Qi Gong in the surf.  Watching the endless shapes of the waves coming to shore; listening to the volume of the crashes rising & falling, and feeling the water swirling about my feet - all inviting me back to the present moment - back to freedom.  Breathing and moving, while noticing my body bask in the energy, I inhibit my desire to dive in.  With endless time, we enjoy our movements as if there was no where else to be.  Listening, moving; smiling with the sun as the cool ocean waters caress our feet.

After completing our practice with gratitude, I jump into the surf.  My warm body shivers as I dive through the first wave, exiting with a scream of joy.  Freedom ... nothing like it.  Can I extend this quality of play in the moment into my guitar playing?  An aspiration perhaps, slow progress already being made with merely thinking in this way. 

Breakfast, followed by housekeeping and I am ready to play.  Where to begin I ask myself, with the Danse Vivante or to move somewhere new? Then I notice my body and decide to begin with an AT lie down.  As my back touches the floor, I know I made the right choice.  Contemplating my body, I release and restore what is naturally true.  Relishing these moments of freedom, I am again grateful for this life and all of those who have shown me the way; grateful for all of those I meet along the way.

Gently strumming the opening chords of Danse Vivante, my wife asks me to play this for her.  I do - twice, minding the subtle shifts and an inclination to continue to explore the musical options of what has been delivered so far.  No need to fence this piece in as finished, I just allow what is there to continue to flow.  A subtle freedom, that has not always been of my nature.   Building on this freedom, I begin to improvise from an Ab major chord.  Where do I go; where might music lead me in this harmonic area outside of my regular haunt?  Remain as free as possible, I tell myself. Ignore any fence my mind may encounter or create.  Lean against or incorporate the fence, perhaps even rest in it's shade; but gently and freely move beyond the fence.

Shy Guitar

In between walking in the surf, dancing in the waves, and generally relaxing, I have continued working with Danse Vivante today.  Slowly, the piece is coming alive.  A gentle undulating quality pervades what I have so far.  Reminiscent of the womb that inspired these notes; today the piece was also being softly embraced by the ocean waves.

After exploring the notes this morning, I celebrated the Solstice, jumping through the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.  After lunch, I wrote in my journal and then took a walk in the surf.  While walking I began auralizing what I had of Danse Vivante so far.  Then I heard where the notes wanted to flow.  Auralizing from the beginning a few more times, I was drawn to where I was hearing the Danse leading me.

Back home and showered I began to play what I had heard on the beach.  Taping this new development, I then continued to explore.  Soon, the Danse felt as if complete.  One more taping and then a nap.  This evening while perusing music blogs I came upon this description of an album by Mark Kozelek  "shy guitars that played chords as if they were reciting rosaries."  Smiling as I resonated with this sentiment as to how the Danse Vivante is to be played.

Making a Brick

Circumstances and exhaustion allowed me to sleep in today.  Picking up my guitar on a rainy morning, I was searching for how to begin, how to reconnect with my guitar.  Since the Laboratory Collaboration performance on Friday night, I have not played much.  When in doubt, work on technique was my thought.  And so I did.  Beginning with using the AT directions, I then did some work on my right hand arpeggios.  Pausing frequently to check in how I was using my body, thinking length and width.

After 30 minutes of this, I began improvising in D.  Playing around with drones, and also how to move between the major and minor scales in a musical way.  Still paying attention to the AT work, I was once again feeling like a guitarist.  I then played through Livin' the Dream and Matka Boska.

Remembering the musical idea I had for a poem by Ahron Taub from the Laboratory Collaboration called Danse Vivante, I began to explore what I had.  When I presented the idea to the other musicians we were able to take off from there, yet I also had the notion that a solo piece may be contained within this nugget.  As I continued exploring this one of my favorite Oblique Strategies came to mind - " not building a wall, but making a brick."  I took the idea a little farther and made the effort to both record and notate what I had. 

The bridge back to my practice has been crossed and tomorrow, I have a place to begin work on my next brick.