A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday December 19, 2009 – Season Completion, House Circle
Full company gathered at Bob and Jaxie’s place for thoughts, recapitulations and observations regarding the season just completed. As always, these meetings begin slowly and a little awkwardly, but once there is a little momentum great stuff appears. Very good and useful observations from all around the room. We took care to stay with the current season, and avoided having the meeting morph into an opening planning meeting for the next season, but much of what came up will have strong bearing on how we go about working in the rehearsal period for Season Nine.
We acknowledged the contributions Igor has made to the production, and welcomed Mary Beth to the performance team. Shortly after noon, we declared the season complete and the break begun. It will be a short break (I keep thinking of it as a “power nap”), and then we will have 9 weeks of work before many of us head to Italy for the GC completion course and OCG special project. Opening night will be shortly after our return.
I dashed home to meet my afternoon student at 1pm. At 2pm the House Circle (or triangle, as the Greg/Christina/Mary Beth trio has been dubbed) arrived. Staying with the theme from recent weeks, we worked on developing an ear for the significance of notes and note combinations through the exploration of diatonic arpeggios. Today it was seventh chords in C Major. Interestingly, this week the trio grasped and managed a certain command of this one rather quickly, and so we made it much further than I had anticipated. And again, the free circulation at the end of 90-minutes of this kind of focused work had a very marked presence of intention and musicality that was not in the opening circulation of the day.
Sounds like the House Circle will be continuing to meet through the holiday break.
My commitment to maintaining a Tuning the Air journal is completed with this post. Over the break I will make decide whether or not to recommit for the next season.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Tuning the Air 173; Closing Night 2009, part 2
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday December 17, 2009 – Tuning the Air 173; Closing Night 2009, part 2
The setlist, as recalled by the House Manager, with corrections and verifications from the team:
Tuning the Air 173
Thursday December 17, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #11
Preshow:
Thursday December 17, 2009 – Tuning the Air 173; Closing Night 2009, part 2
The setlist, as recalled by the House Manager, with corrections and verifications from the team:
Tuning the Air 173
Thursday December 17, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #11
Preshow:
Joel Palmer ImprovisationsSet:
Cultivating the Beat – preplanned
Twilight – from the Hat, called by Jaxie
Touchdown Tornado, improv – from the Hat, called by Jaxie
Brazil – called by Howard
Shostakovich Prelude XXII – from the Hat, called by Taylor
Poker Night, improv – from the Hat, called by Bob
Bus Artist – from the Hat, called by Bob
Circulation in C Harmonic Minor – requested by Bob (after Voices was pulled from the Hat)
Voices of Ancient Children – from the Hat, called by Curt
Jaxie talked
Horn Up Your Ass for Jaxie's Birthday, played standing (all except Jaxie), called by Curt
Kashmir – preplanned
Batrachomyomachy – from the Hat, called by Curt
F major – from the Hat, called by Chris (Joel's choice of Hat--mystery or repertoire)
In My Room – from the Hat (Joel's choice of Hat--mystery or repertoire)
Little Gangsters – called by Jaxie
Wig Maker with swirl circulation – Curt called "one more" from the Hat; performance team extra connection/communication was needed to make sure this began with the swirl rather than right into the Wig Maker, which in Curt's words was "really good"
La Rueda – called by Igor (just as Curt was about to say "Igor's choice")
Thrak – preplanned
Eye of the Needle – preplanned
About forty percent of the audience gave a standing ovation, then folks began to slip out, get coats . . .Encore:
None this evening
Tuning the Air 173; Closing Night 2009
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday December 17, 2009 – Tuning the Air 173; Closing Night 2009
For the record...
Tuning the Air 173
Thursday December 17, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #11
This is the completion of 5 years of work. Some notable notes and dates:
Thursday December 17, 2009 – Tuning the Air 173; Closing Night 2009
For the record...
Tuning the Air 173
Thursday December 17, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #11
This is the completion of 5 years of work. Some notable notes and dates:
- The first appearance of "something" was on Dec 12, 2004, at the closing feast of a work weekend with the Pear Tree Group and out of town guests, at Trinity.
- The first performance of what would become Tuning the Air was on Feb 21, 2005, at Trinity.
- The first performance under the name, Tuning the Air, was on Apr 11, 2005 at Trinity.
- 2005: 38 shows from Apr 11 - Dec 26, every Monday "without fail". Yes, we performed the day after Christmas.
- 2006: 42 shows from May 6 - Dec 18
- 2007: 35 shows, in 2 "seasons". The spring season was 20 shows at Trinity. Fall was 15 shows split between Trinity and CHAC
- 2008: 26 shows, Thursdays at FAAC, in 2 seasons, in the Cafe.
- 2009: 32 shows in 2 seasons. Winter/spring in the Cafe, autumn in the Great Hall.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Rehearsal at the Wilsons
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday December 14, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
Final rehearsal of the season, and a transitional moment. Except for La Rueda, which we had set aside for tonight when we were all present, we made no particular effort to practice or drill anything. Lots of circulating and improvising, and then pieces called as the spirit moved. In My Room and the Shostakovich Prelude came up, and as circulated pieces that was certainly a good and useful call, but no sense of pressure to “fix” anything. We play these pieces and we know how to play these pieces, so simply recalling them to the hands is sufficient. Some discussion about Cultivating the Beat, and how it works in the lead-off slot of the set.
Onward to closing night, a very short break, and then the future.
Monday December 14, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
Final rehearsal of the season, and a transitional moment. Except for La Rueda, which we had set aside for tonight when we were all present, we made no particular effort to practice or drill anything. Lots of circulating and improvising, and then pieces called as the spirit moved. In My Room and the Shostakovich Prelude came up, and as circulated pieces that was certainly a good and useful call, but no sense of pressure to “fix” anything. We play these pieces and we know how to play these pieces, so simply recalling them to the hands is sufficient. Some discussion about Cultivating the Beat, and how it works in the lead-off slot of the set.
Onward to closing night, a very short break, and then the future.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Sitting, Meeting, Rehearsal, House Circle
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday December 12, 2009 – Sitting, Meeting, Rehearsal, House Circle
Saturday morning is effectively my morning to “sleep in”. Even though there is a group sitting at my place, it is 90 minutes later than the weekday sittings, so I get to indulge myself. The cat, however, does not recognize the difference between weekdays and weekends, so sleeping in is really more of a pipe dream than a reality.
After a coffee break, we took the first 30 minutes of what would normally be rehearsal time to meet with the full company and work out the logistics of next Thursday; what will we load out of the Abbey after the show, where will it go, how will it get there? Those decisions made, we moved on to more important questions, like how many and what kind of pizza to order for the after show, end of season, bash at my place. Finally, a quick decision about the schedule for the completion meeting for the season, and that was that.
Rehearsal was without Travis, who is in Oregon this weekend on family business, and Bob who was home on family business. We circulated a bit and then continued the practice of running everything that is in the Hat of Repertoire (as well as a few things that are not) in order to ensure that anything called during performance is indeed performance ready. We stopped to iron out one or two rough spots, and skipped over a couple of pieces that really need the full group, putting them off until Monday night. We are not diving into anything new at this stage. The work for next season will involve a great deal of that, as well as reevaluation of current repertoire. For this season, now only one gig to go, playing what we play as well as it can be played is the plan. We wrapped things up a little early, which gave me the opportunity to grab a little lunch before the House Circle met.
Three for the HC meeting; Mary Beth, Christina and Greg. The key of the day was C Harmonic Minor, and I had them begin with a free circulation in that key, “the notes of your choice, the direction of your choice.”
For the balance of the 90-minute meeting we worked through a sequence of arpeggios in this key, moving through diatonic triads in all inversions. It was a 4-note figure played by 3 people, played in 6/8, which meant there was a discontinuity between the musical form and the “feel” which ended up being the primary grist for today’s mill. Somehow, we never take these things quite as far as I originally imagine will be possible in and hour and a half, but there is a substantial track record for hitting the mark on exactly what needs to be worked on.
Before calling it a day, I again called C Harmonic Minor to be circulated with “the notes of your choice, the direction of your choice.” The difference in the quality of this circulation in contrast to the opening one was striking. Living in a key for 90 minutes, the notes begin to take on significance, even if we don’t have the vocabulary to articulate how it works. It never fails to move me.
At the House Circle, I sit outside of the circle, generally without my guitar unless there is something that needs to be demonstrated. I direct the action, unfolding the complete exercise I have in mind as logically as I can without resorting to more than a few words. It is a very valuable exercise for me, although energetically taxing. I suspect the team sometimes thinks I am just tormenting them; as soon as they begin to get it, I tend to up the ante, and the pattern is so well established that at this point they can generally anticipate what the next iteration is going to involve – although they often leap a few steps ahead to something we may or may not actually get to.
What is so challenging for me, and the reason I am generally exhausted when it is over, is that the “deal” I have made with myself is that I will play every note myself, in visualization. I don’t ask anyone to play something I can’t play myself, and so I play everything in my head. I fail with regularity, but for the most part I can tell them what note they are playing and where it can be found on the guitar and on what beat or part of the beat it should fall, at any time. This takes a pretty major effort, which is sustained for the entire 90 minutes.
This is a practice/technique/strategy I found/fell into on Saturday September 9, 2000. It was in Lebanon, NJ. The Level One course was completed and the beginners were on their way home, but the Level Two+ course was extended out another day and a half. It was late morning in the gymnasium we used as a ballroom. The L2’s had been given the challenge of circulating a 4-octave C Major scale up and down without making a mistake – in this exercise when anyone hits a wrong note, the group begins again, with the person who made the mistake initiating the new beginning. The instruction is not to leave the room until the task has been successfully completed, and has been known to take many hours. With this group it took about 2 hours – as I recall they were a little late for lunch, but did not miss it entirely. I was sitting outside of the circle, without a guitar, observing and lending my attention and support. I think Tony and Bill were doing the same, although I cannot be certain of my memory in this. Sitting still, maintaining a part of my attention in my body, and following the progress of the exercise, I began to “play” every note in my head in the form of a very focused visualization. I also said the name of the note, internally, the scale degree and the solfege syllable. I did this with every note. If the next note was to be middle C, I would see my finger on the note on the fretboard, see it on the staff, hear the word “C”, hear the word “1”, and hear the word “Do”, all simultaneously. And since it took so long and so many attempts, I was able to “see” the note played in every conceivable location: there are 3 places that middle C can be played.
When I walked into the room that day, I had a journeyman’s command of C Major. That is, I knew it exactly as well as the demands on me required me to know it. I could get around gaps in my knowledge by sticking to my comfort zones. It was a completely workable and functional “knowledge”. When I walked out of the room, I was profoundly exhausted, but I could say “I know C Major on the guitar in New Standard Tuning.” It was a remarkable leap, accomplished without every laying my hands on an instrument.
Since then, it has been one of my primary learning tools.
Saturday December 12, 2009 – Sitting, Meeting, Rehearsal, House Circle
Saturday morning is effectively my morning to “sleep in”. Even though there is a group sitting at my place, it is 90 minutes later than the weekday sittings, so I get to indulge myself. The cat, however, does not recognize the difference between weekdays and weekends, so sleeping in is really more of a pipe dream than a reality.
After a coffee break, we took the first 30 minutes of what would normally be rehearsal time to meet with the full company and work out the logistics of next Thursday; what will we load out of the Abbey after the show, where will it go, how will it get there? Those decisions made, we moved on to more important questions, like how many and what kind of pizza to order for the after show, end of season, bash at my place. Finally, a quick decision about the schedule for the completion meeting for the season, and that was that.
Rehearsal was without Travis, who is in Oregon this weekend on family business, and Bob who was home on family business. We circulated a bit and then continued the practice of running everything that is in the Hat of Repertoire (as well as a few things that are not) in order to ensure that anything called during performance is indeed performance ready. We stopped to iron out one or two rough spots, and skipped over a couple of pieces that really need the full group, putting them off until Monday night. We are not diving into anything new at this stage. The work for next season will involve a great deal of that, as well as reevaluation of current repertoire. For this season, now only one gig to go, playing what we play as well as it can be played is the plan. We wrapped things up a little early, which gave me the opportunity to grab a little lunch before the House Circle met.
Three for the HC meeting; Mary Beth, Christina and Greg. The key of the day was C Harmonic Minor, and I had them begin with a free circulation in that key, “the notes of your choice, the direction of your choice.”
For the balance of the 90-minute meeting we worked through a sequence of arpeggios in this key, moving through diatonic triads in all inversions. It was a 4-note figure played by 3 people, played in 6/8, which meant there was a discontinuity between the musical form and the “feel” which ended up being the primary grist for today’s mill. Somehow, we never take these things quite as far as I originally imagine will be possible in and hour and a half, but there is a substantial track record for hitting the mark on exactly what needs to be worked on.
Before calling it a day, I again called C Harmonic Minor to be circulated with “the notes of your choice, the direction of your choice.” The difference in the quality of this circulation in contrast to the opening one was striking. Living in a key for 90 minutes, the notes begin to take on significance, even if we don’t have the vocabulary to articulate how it works. It never fails to move me.
At the House Circle, I sit outside of the circle, generally without my guitar unless there is something that needs to be demonstrated. I direct the action, unfolding the complete exercise I have in mind as logically as I can without resorting to more than a few words. It is a very valuable exercise for me, although energetically taxing. I suspect the team sometimes thinks I am just tormenting them; as soon as they begin to get it, I tend to up the ante, and the pattern is so well established that at this point they can generally anticipate what the next iteration is going to involve – although they often leap a few steps ahead to something we may or may not actually get to.
What is so challenging for me, and the reason I am generally exhausted when it is over, is that the “deal” I have made with myself is that I will play every note myself, in visualization. I don’t ask anyone to play something I can’t play myself, and so I play everything in my head. I fail with regularity, but for the most part I can tell them what note they are playing and where it can be found on the guitar and on what beat or part of the beat it should fall, at any time. This takes a pretty major effort, which is sustained for the entire 90 minutes.
This is a practice/technique/strategy I found/fell into on Saturday September 9, 2000. It was in Lebanon, NJ. The Level One course was completed and the beginners were on their way home, but the Level Two+ course was extended out another day and a half. It was late morning in the gymnasium we used as a ballroom. The L2’s had been given the challenge of circulating a 4-octave C Major scale up and down without making a mistake – in this exercise when anyone hits a wrong note, the group begins again, with the person who made the mistake initiating the new beginning. The instruction is not to leave the room until the task has been successfully completed, and has been known to take many hours. With this group it took about 2 hours – as I recall they were a little late for lunch, but did not miss it entirely. I was sitting outside of the circle, without a guitar, observing and lending my attention and support. I think Tony and Bill were doing the same, although I cannot be certain of my memory in this. Sitting still, maintaining a part of my attention in my body, and following the progress of the exercise, I began to “play” every note in my head in the form of a very focused visualization. I also said the name of the note, internally, the scale degree and the solfege syllable. I did this with every note. If the next note was to be middle C, I would see my finger on the note on the fretboard, see it on the staff, hear the word “C”, hear the word “1”, and hear the word “Do”, all simultaneously. And since it took so long and so many attempts, I was able to “see” the note played in every conceivable location: there are 3 places that middle C can be played.
When I walked into the room that day, I had a journeyman’s command of C Major. That is, I knew it exactly as well as the demands on me required me to know it. I could get around gaps in my knowledge by sticking to my comfort zones. It was a completely workable and functional “knowledge”. When I walked out of the room, I was profoundly exhausted, but I could say “I know C Major on the guitar in New Standard Tuning.” It was a remarkable leap, accomplished without every laying my hands on an instrument.
Since then, it has been one of my primary learning tools.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Tuning the Air 172
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday December 10, 2009 – Tuning the Air 172
Arrival and setup again went swimmingly fast and without incident. I got a lot of personal practice in, as a result, and as more players joined in we did a fair amount of group warmup as well.
Good house, once more. Very receptive audience. The Hat was remarkable, with a couple of fascinating “coincidences”. The setlist, as recorded by the House Manager and amended slightly in emails from Greg and Joel, was as follows:
Tuning the Air 172
Thursday December 10, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #10
Preshow:
*After Batrachomyomachy was called by Igor, we returned to the Hat, and out came, naturally, Batrachomyomachy. An audience member’s cell phone went off, and it was taking some time to find it. I quickly determined the ring tone was in C Major, and called for a C Major Improv. The audience member slipped out to deal with finding and silencing the phone. After C Major, In My Room was just screaming to be played, so I called it. Moving on from there we again consulted the Hat, and sure enough, In My Room was the next to come out. At least that’s how I remember the unfolding of events.
Thursday December 10, 2009 – Tuning the Air 172
Arrival and setup again went swimmingly fast and without incident. I got a lot of personal practice in, as a result, and as more players joined in we did a fair amount of group warmup as well.
Good house, once more. Very receptive audience. The Hat was remarkable, with a couple of fascinating “coincidences”. The setlist, as recorded by the House Manager and amended slightly in emails from Greg and Joel, was as follows:
Tuning the Air 172
Thursday December 10, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #10
Preshow:
Joel Palmer ImprovisationsSet:
Cultivating the Beat – preplannedEncore:
Little Gangsters – from the Hat
Whatever you were going to play, play something else - from the Hat of Mystery
Shostakovich Prelude XXII - from the Hat
Basketball for Nine Guitarists - from the Hat of Mystery
Brasil – from the Hat
Lament – from the Hat
My Precious Dream – from the Hat
Jaxie talked to the audience
Kashmir – preplanned
Tuning the Air - from the Hat of Mystery (scale picked by Taylor, F minor)
Batrachomyomachy – called by Igor*
C major improv called by a cell phone ring in the audience and then by Curt
In My Room - called by Curt*
Long Ago Today - from the Hat (Jaxie chose to trust the Hat)
Bus Artist – called by Jaxie
La Rueda – from the Hat
Thrak – preplanned
Eye of the Needle – preplanned
Twilight – called in the Green Room
*After Batrachomyomachy was called by Igor, we returned to the Hat, and out came, naturally, Batrachomyomachy. An audience member’s cell phone went off, and it was taking some time to find it. I quickly determined the ring tone was in C Major, and called for a C Major Improv. The audience member slipped out to deal with finding and silencing the phone. After C Major, In My Room was just screaming to be played, so I called it. Moving on from there we again consulted the Hat, and sure enough, In My Room was the next to come out. At least that’s how I remember the unfolding of events.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Rehearsal at the Wilsons
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday December 7, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
Bitter cold day. Cold guitars = funky and evolving tuning.
Howard was ambushed by a client, and so had to miss the rehearsal.
Began with a circulation in F Harmonic Minor, which served to center the group and the room, or so it seemed to me. Continuing with the strategy of keeping all of the current repertoire (and even a little bit of non-current repertoire) fresh, well-rehearsed, and ready to be played at a moment’s notice should it come out of the hat. Began with Eye of the Needle, including a bit of review of the work we did in October at Raft Island. From there, it was all about calling tunes and running them. Only where there was some specific issue to be addressed did we repeat anything. Even though they are not in the set, I called the missing 2/3 of the "Turkish Trilogy", Not My Sharona and Where Is the Nurse?, as well as Onyx. Gave La Rueda a couple of runs, which was particularly interesting since Howard sits in the pole position of the circulation and counts it off in performance. When we have to work on a circulated piece while missing a player or two, it is inevitably revealing and very useful: a strategy worth adopting intentionally, I would say. Howard sits in Position 5 (Beat 3) of the 6-part Shostakovich circulation, and this was the first time in my memory that we rehearsed the piece with a gap in that particular slot, and I found it strangely disconcerting. Counting that more or less takes care of itself as a rule for me was getting turned around in surprising ways. Live and learn.
Onward to the final shows of the season.
Monday December 7, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
Bitter cold day. Cold guitars = funky and evolving tuning.
Howard was ambushed by a client, and so had to miss the rehearsal.
Began with a circulation in F Harmonic Minor, which served to center the group and the room, or so it seemed to me. Continuing with the strategy of keeping all of the current repertoire (and even a little bit of non-current repertoire) fresh, well-rehearsed, and ready to be played at a moment’s notice should it come out of the hat. Began with Eye of the Needle, including a bit of review of the work we did in October at Raft Island. From there, it was all about calling tunes and running them. Only where there was some specific issue to be addressed did we repeat anything. Even though they are not in the set, I called the missing 2/3 of the "Turkish Trilogy", Not My Sharona and Where Is the Nurse?, as well as Onyx. Gave La Rueda a couple of runs, which was particularly interesting since Howard sits in the pole position of the circulation and counts it off in performance. When we have to work on a circulated piece while missing a player or two, it is inevitably revealing and very useful: a strategy worth adopting intentionally, I would say. Howard sits in Position 5 (Beat 3) of the 6-part Shostakovich circulation, and this was the first time in my memory that we rehearsed the piece with a gap in that particular slot, and I found it strangely disconcerting. Counting that more or less takes care of itself as a rule for me was getting turned around in surprising ways. Live and learn.
Onward to the final shows of the season.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Monthly Open Circle and Performance Team Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday December 5, 2009 – Monthly Open Circle and Performance Team Rehearsal
Ice on some of the roads this morning.
The final Open Circle of 2009. Due to a scheduling conflict we had to move it to a different location. A very pleasant and attractive room in a neighboring community center. Functionally adequate, but something less than inspiring; after attending one of these events in the Great Hall, pretty much anything else is a letdown. The heating system tended to drown out the playing when it kicked in. Nevertheless, a very good circle, well attended with a couple of new faces as well as one returnee who seems to be catching the bug. Looking for just the right material that would work for the absolute beginners, but still challenge the experienced players, was a little trickier than usual for some reason. The standards were not clicking as well as they generally do, so I had to try and then move on from a number of strategies before we hit our stride with a musical fragment that I haven’t pulled out in many years. In the end, kind of fun. These events are never the same twice.
The performance team went back to my place for rehearsal. The House Circle is working on one of Andrew’s compositions in preparation for recording it, and headed over to Greg’s place for that. Following on from last week, the sense continues to be that if everything is in the hat, our best strategy is to make sure that everything is always well practiced and ready to go. We began with a little circulating. Of course this is good for grounding a group, but honestly my primary motivation was to help me transition from the personal state I need to adopt for the Open Circle to being a player in an ensemble. Once again we simply called pieces and ran them, with the metronome, pausing if necessary to look at any issues that we might have noticed either in performance or in rehearsal, and then moving on. A little more structured rehearsal work on La Rueda when it came up, since it is our newest piece and we still haven’t quite achieved that level of command that makes it possible for us to execute it with reliability. We don’t have train wrecks with it, but the qualitative difference between being in the groove with it and merely playing it “right” is pretty significant.
Working on a big screen/good sound system viewing of the Jimi at Monterey dvd tomorrow night.
Saturday December 5, 2009 – Monthly Open Circle and Performance Team Rehearsal
Ice on some of the roads this morning.
The final Open Circle of 2009. Due to a scheduling conflict we had to move it to a different location. A very pleasant and attractive room in a neighboring community center. Functionally adequate, but something less than inspiring; after attending one of these events in the Great Hall, pretty much anything else is a letdown. The heating system tended to drown out the playing when it kicked in. Nevertheless, a very good circle, well attended with a couple of new faces as well as one returnee who seems to be catching the bug. Looking for just the right material that would work for the absolute beginners, but still challenge the experienced players, was a little trickier than usual for some reason. The standards were not clicking as well as they generally do, so I had to try and then move on from a number of strategies before we hit our stride with a musical fragment that I haven’t pulled out in many years. In the end, kind of fun. These events are never the same twice.
The performance team went back to my place for rehearsal. The House Circle is working on one of Andrew’s compositions in preparation for recording it, and headed over to Greg’s place for that. Following on from last week, the sense continues to be that if everything is in the hat, our best strategy is to make sure that everything is always well practiced and ready to go. We began with a little circulating. Of course this is good for grounding a group, but honestly my primary motivation was to help me transition from the personal state I need to adopt for the Open Circle to being a player in an ensemble. Once again we simply called pieces and ran them, with the metronome, pausing if necessary to look at any issues that we might have noticed either in performance or in rehearsal, and then moving on. A little more structured rehearsal work on La Rueda when it came up, since it is our newest piece and we still haven’t quite achieved that level of command that makes it possible for us to execute it with reliability. We don’t have train wrecks with it, but the qualitative difference between being in the groove with it and merely playing it “right” is pretty significant.
Working on a big screen/good sound system viewing of the Jimi at Monterey dvd tomorrow night.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Tuning the Air 171
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday December 3, 2009 – Tuning the Air 171
The fastest setup ever; under 20 minutes. Gave us a lot of time to warm up. This is a blessing and a curse. The acoustics of the Great Hall make individual practice and warmup difficult, because it turns into a din and that is very hard for me to bear. On the other hand, group warmups have a habit of turning into rehearsals, and so we risk over-preparing and blowing our freshness. As a compromise, a number of us formed a standing circle, much closer together than we actually sit in the performance circle, and ran a bunch of material that is not in the current repertoire. Where Is The Nurse?, Not My Sharona, Onyx, Bloed Spoed. All challenging pieces that work well as callisthenic warmups. Except for Bloed Spoed, which hasn’t been performed or rehearsed for more than a season, they sounded quite good, and Bloed Spoed was at least fun, and in any case this gave us the requisite adjustment to the sound of the room. Returned to a bit more personal practice before giving Joel a few minutes of silence in which to soundcheck, after which we gathered in the performance circle to formally warm up as a group. Circulated in F and G majors; not wonderful, but they served to shake off some of the rust. Then on to necessary bits of repertoire: the Shostakovich prelude, In My Room, Cultivating, the double reverse swirling zither and the Kashmir circulation.
Full circle with the entire company, talking through the set, and then we were “on”, which meant the Green Room for the performers. Even from backstage it was clear that Joel was on fire. A good omen.
As we entered, we found a good sized audience; the center chairs occupied and a few overflow as well. Also a good omen.
The hat was on as usual. Only two pieces were called by name from the circle. One of them, La Rueda, actually came out of the hat right after it had been called and performed. Trust the hat. On several occasions the call was for more than one piece to be pulled – “two from the Hat of Repertoire”, or “one from each hat” – and this helped to facilitate the flow considerably. We’re beginning to get the hang of it.
Exceptional audience. Attentive and supportive, generally silent, rather than “quiet” in that repressed sort of way that occasionally happens. As we stood after the final piece we received what felt like a genuine and spontaneous standing ovation. This was repeated after the encore.
The setlist, as notated by the House Manager was:
Tuning the Air 171
Thursday December 3, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #9
Preshow:
Thursday December 3, 2009 – Tuning the Air 171
The fastest setup ever; under 20 minutes. Gave us a lot of time to warm up. This is a blessing and a curse. The acoustics of the Great Hall make individual practice and warmup difficult, because it turns into a din and that is very hard for me to bear. On the other hand, group warmups have a habit of turning into rehearsals, and so we risk over-preparing and blowing our freshness. As a compromise, a number of us formed a standing circle, much closer together than we actually sit in the performance circle, and ran a bunch of material that is not in the current repertoire. Where Is The Nurse?, Not My Sharona, Onyx, Bloed Spoed. All challenging pieces that work well as callisthenic warmups. Except for Bloed Spoed, which hasn’t been performed or rehearsed for more than a season, they sounded quite good, and Bloed Spoed was at least fun, and in any case this gave us the requisite adjustment to the sound of the room. Returned to a bit more personal practice before giving Joel a few minutes of silence in which to soundcheck, after which we gathered in the performance circle to formally warm up as a group. Circulated in F and G majors; not wonderful, but they served to shake off some of the rust. Then on to necessary bits of repertoire: the Shostakovich prelude, In My Room, Cultivating, the double reverse swirling zither and the Kashmir circulation.
Full circle with the entire company, talking through the set, and then we were “on”, which meant the Green Room for the performers. Even from backstage it was clear that Joel was on fire. A good omen.
As we entered, we found a good sized audience; the center chairs occupied and a few overflow as well. Also a good omen.
The hat was on as usual. Only two pieces were called by name from the circle. One of them, La Rueda, actually came out of the hat right after it had been called and performed. Trust the hat. On several occasions the call was for more than one piece to be pulled – “two from the Hat of Repertoire”, or “one from each hat” – and this helped to facilitate the flow considerably. We’re beginning to get the hang of it.
Exceptional audience. Attentive and supportive, generally silent, rather than “quiet” in that repressed sort of way that occasionally happens. As we stood after the final piece we received what felt like a genuine and spontaneous standing ovation. This was repeated after the encore.
The setlist, as notated by the House Manager was:
Tuning the Air 171
Thursday December 3, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #9
Preshow:
Joel Palmer ImprovisationsSet:
Cultivating the Beat – preplannedEncore:
In My Room – from the Hat, w/Circulation in C major called by Curt
Tell Me Your Deepest Secret (Improv) – from the Hat
Batrachomyomachy – from the Hat
Brasil – called by Howard
Lament – from the Hat
Bus Artist – from the Hat
Zithers (Improv) – from the Hat
Jaxie talked to the audience
Kashmir – preplanned
D major circulation – called by Howard
La Rueda – called by Howard
Little Gangsters – from the Hat
Sigh and a Kiss – from the Hat
My Precious Dream (for Debbie) – from the Hat
King for a Day – from the Hat
Thrak – preplanned
Eye of the Needle – preplanned
Long Ago Today
Twilight
(both called in the Green Room)
Monday, November 30, 2009
Rehearsal at the Wilsons
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday November 30, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
We were Chris-less tonight due to a touch of flu-ishness.
Very straightforward plan for tonight. Since the OCG course in October, our setlist has been much more open and un-pre-planned. One interesting aspect of this is that there are a number of pieces that always seem to come out of the hat. Borderline spooky. The flip side is that there are a number of pieces we haven’t performed or even touched upon for a month or more. So for tonight the plan was to play everything. We pulled titles from the hat, and in this way also managed to “rehearse” playing pieces on the fly, whether or not we are (for instance) sufficiently warmed up. The metronome was on for every piece. We did pause from time to time to look at details of particular pieces, especially those we have not performed recently. One short break, but this process filled the entire rehearsal.
Monday November 30, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
We were Chris-less tonight due to a touch of flu-ishness.
Very straightforward plan for tonight. Since the OCG course in October, our setlist has been much more open and un-pre-planned. One interesting aspect of this is that there are a number of pieces that always seem to come out of the hat. Borderline spooky. The flip side is that there are a number of pieces we haven’t performed or even touched upon for a month or more. So for tonight the plan was to play everything. We pulled titles from the hat, and in this way also managed to “rehearse” playing pieces on the fly, whether or not we are (for instance) sufficiently warmed up. The metronome was on for every piece. We did pause from time to time to look at details of particular pieces, especially those we have not performed recently. One short break, but this process filled the entire rehearsal.
A Point of Seeing
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday November 30, 2009 – A Point of Seeing
I have been sitting on this for over a week. It first came to me during the Saturday sitting on the 21st. It was the anniversary of my mother’s death, and I found myself contemplating much, including the history and future of Tuning the Air. I decided to sit with it to see if it might re-express itself in a different way, perhaps a more “reasonable” way, but it keeps coming back, and has only been reinforced by events in the interim. It came to me in these words:
Monday November 30, 2009 – A Point of Seeing
I have been sitting on this for over a week. It first came to me during the Saturday sitting on the 21st. It was the anniversary of my mother’s death, and I found myself contemplating much, including the history and future of Tuning the Air. I decided to sit with it to see if it might re-express itself in a different way, perhaps a more “reasonable” way, but it keeps coming back, and has only been reinforced by events in the interim. It came to me in these words:
If anyone with Guitar Craft experience is contemplating moving to Seattle, or coming to Seattle for an extended period of work, now is the time.This was followed by:
There is a window of opportunity. The opportunity is great, but it is not unlimited. That we have kept this up, running and growing for 5 years (the anniversary of the birth of Tuning the Air is December 13) is nearly miraculous, and what we have accomplished is nothing short of astonishing. But in six months I cannot guarantee that there will be anything to move here for. With the right people engaged and committed, a new leap is awaiting; a beginning. Without that, more of the same, and eventual dispersal; with luck and work, an honorable completion.
I can live with either.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Vancouver Open Circle 2
A Tuning the Air Journal
Sunday November 29, 2009 – Vancouver Open Circle 2
I was up early; certainly early for Sunday. I picked Greg up at 8am and we hit the road for Vancouver. It is a little under 3 hours door to door, but the border is the proverbial x-factor, so we need to allow for potential delays should there be a lot of traffic backed up at immigration. As it turned out, no delays this morning. A couple of cars in the line, and we were through in 5 minutes. This meant we arrived at Pablo’s place early enough to go out and grab a late breakfast before heading to the circle. Sotirios was already there. We piled into his van, which was also loaded with chairs, and went to a nearby restaurant for a quick bite, and then on to the studio for the circle.
Pablo’s report of the day is posted on the Guitar Circle and NST page on Facebook.
I concur with his description of events. The facility was less than ideal, but perfectly workable. A better than anticipated turnout. High note for me was having Brock turn up. It has been too long, and his presence in the circle was very helpful.
For myself, these circles, with participants at this level, are pretty labor-intensive. More or less, very little takes on a life of its own, but depends on the circle leader along with the “shills” (the more experienced players sitting in the circle: Pablo, Sotiros, Greg and Brock, in this case), to keep the thing moving. I saw a couple of things about preparing participants that I will communicate to Pablo. My sense is that the local experienced players need to work with the first-timers for an hour or so before the full circle, dealing with tuning and the most rudimentary details of technique. This worked very well in the early Seattle Circle open circles. I also see that for those who may become regular participants in these circles, it would be a good idea to get them together in between scheduled circles, to look at matters of basic technique.
After the circle, we returned to Pablo’s place. Greg and I packed our stuff in my car, and then we chilled out with the family for about 30 minutes, including coffee and patries!, before hitting the road once again. No difficulties on the drive. The border crossing took about 30 minutes this time – no trouble, simple traffic volume. Back in Seattle a little after 7:30. Dropped Greg off and headed to the local pub for a beer and a meal. Very tired.
Sunday November 29, 2009 – Vancouver Open Circle 2
I was up early; certainly early for Sunday. I picked Greg up at 8am and we hit the road for Vancouver. It is a little under 3 hours door to door, but the border is the proverbial x-factor, so we need to allow for potential delays should there be a lot of traffic backed up at immigration. As it turned out, no delays this morning. A couple of cars in the line, and we were through in 5 minutes. This meant we arrived at Pablo’s place early enough to go out and grab a late breakfast before heading to the circle. Sotirios was already there. We piled into his van, which was also loaded with chairs, and went to a nearby restaurant for a quick bite, and then on to the studio for the circle.
Pablo’s report of the day is posted on the Guitar Circle and NST page on Facebook.
I concur with his description of events. The facility was less than ideal, but perfectly workable. A better than anticipated turnout. High note for me was having Brock turn up. It has been too long, and his presence in the circle was very helpful.
For myself, these circles, with participants at this level, are pretty labor-intensive. More or less, very little takes on a life of its own, but depends on the circle leader along with the “shills” (the more experienced players sitting in the circle: Pablo, Sotiros, Greg and Brock, in this case), to keep the thing moving. I saw a couple of things about preparing participants that I will communicate to Pablo. My sense is that the local experienced players need to work with the first-timers for an hour or so before the full circle, dealing with tuning and the most rudimentary details of technique. This worked very well in the early Seattle Circle open circles. I also see that for those who may become regular participants in these circles, it would be a good idea to get them together in between scheduled circles, to look at matters of basic technique.
After the circle, we returned to Pablo’s place. Greg and I packed our stuff in my car, and then we chilled out with the family for about 30 minutes, including coffee and patries!, before hitting the road once again. No difficulties on the drive. The border crossing took about 30 minutes this time – no trouble, simple traffic volume. Back in Seattle a little after 7:30. Dropped Greg off and headed to the local pub for a beer and a meal. Very tired.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Catching up: no rehearsal, no performance, a rehearsal, and a house circle
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday November 28, 2009 – Catching up: no rehearsal, no performance, a rehearsal, and a house circle
Last Monday, the 23rd, would normally have been a rehearsal night. However, since there was no show Thursday, and additionally because Joel had a performance at Good Shepherd that night, we decided to take the night off. Many of us attended Joel’s performance. He was wonderful, in a space that works very well. It is a very different thing to perform this kind of material on stage for an attentive audience, rather than provide background music for something or someone else; preshow music as the audience arrives and settles in at Tuning the Air, or background music for yoga classes, which are the kinds of things he usually does. He acquitted himself very well, and no doubt learned a thing or two that will serve him well in the future. One of those things is to choose carefully who you share the stage with.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, and so no Tuning the Air performance. A number of us were at the Wilsons for dinner. A very lovely time, that included a spirited game of “Taboo”.
Today, back to the groove. Performance team at Fremont Abbey in the morning. Began with a short meeting to address, together, some recent arisings that will significantly impact the show next season. The rehearsal that followed was very difficult work for the same reasons; a certain presence to the group that carried us most of the way, but not much in the way of enthusiasm. More no doubt to follow.
Back to my place for a meeting with the House Circle. Greg, Mary Beth, Christina and Andrew on board. We worked for 90 minutes almost entirely on a “simple” (not to be confused with “easy”) exercise in developing variations, taking a 4-note phrase played in circulation through the displacements, and retrograde with displacements. Once established, we moved on to several ways of counting the exercise. Very good work.
Tomorrow Greg and I will motor up to Vancouver to join Pablo and Sotirios in the Vancouver Open Circle #2.
Saturday November 28, 2009 – Catching up: no rehearsal, no performance, a rehearsal, and a house circle
Last Monday, the 23rd, would normally have been a rehearsal night. However, since there was no show Thursday, and additionally because Joel had a performance at Good Shepherd that night, we decided to take the night off. Many of us attended Joel’s performance. He was wonderful, in a space that works very well. It is a very different thing to perform this kind of material on stage for an attentive audience, rather than provide background music for something or someone else; preshow music as the audience arrives and settles in at Tuning the Air, or background music for yoga classes, which are the kinds of things he usually does. He acquitted himself very well, and no doubt learned a thing or two that will serve him well in the future. One of those things is to choose carefully who you share the stage with.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, and so no Tuning the Air performance. A number of us were at the Wilsons for dinner. A very lovely time, that included a spirited game of “Taboo”.
Today, back to the groove. Performance team at Fremont Abbey in the morning. Began with a short meeting to address, together, some recent arisings that will significantly impact the show next season. The rehearsal that followed was very difficult work for the same reasons; a certain presence to the group that carried us most of the way, but not much in the way of enthusiasm. More no doubt to follow.
Back to my place for a meeting with the House Circle. Greg, Mary Beth, Christina and Andrew on board. We worked for 90 minutes almost entirely on a “simple” (not to be confused with “easy”) exercise in developing variations, taking a 4-note phrase played in circulation through the displacements, and retrograde with displacements. Once established, we moved on to several ways of counting the exercise. Very good work.
Tomorrow Greg and I will motor up to Vancouver to join Pablo and Sotirios in the Vancouver Open Circle #2.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Rehearsal and House Circle
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday November 21, 2009 – Rehearsal and House Circle
Twenty years ago today I was in San Diego with the League of Crafty Guitarists. We were in a period of doldrums during what has come to be colloquially known as “The Bogo Tour”. No gigs scheduled for several weeks, we were vamping and improvising while camping out at Paul Richards’ family’s condo. I was awakened at dawn by a phone call, and the news that my mother had passed away. It was her 60th birthday. A few minutes later I was on my way to the airport, and back home to DC and my family.
This was the essential content my sitting. It is not a source of sadness, particularly, but November 21 is inevitably something of a contemplative day for me.
Triplets day in Tuning the Air-land.
Two of the team were running a bit late, and Jaxie was not available, so the six of us began by turning on the metronome and circulating in triplets (D Major – a current favorite; so much so it was both called and pulled from the hat on Thursday). With six in the circle, this went swimmingly well. Only when I needed to get up to take care of a phone call, leaving five in the circle, did it begin to get ugly. When I returned to my seat, the tension was palpable. Fortunately at about that point the two late-comers arrived and we moved on to other matters.
First, La Rueda. It went very well on Thursday, but is still new and falls into the short list of pieces that need to be played every time we get together in order to move on to something farther from beginner’s luck and enthusiasm and closer to reliability and, dare I hope, something approaching mastery. Chris and I formed a limping rhythm section without Jaxie, but solid work all around and the circulators got a workout.
Cultivating the Beat was next. A few observations re our recent performances. It is the opener, and that means we need to be sharp right out of the gate. Chris noted a difference between the way he and his section is playing a particular passage and the way it is on the score/midi. I pulled up the score and Bob verified that it is correct, so we worked on making that correction. It is subtle, but initially a little jarring for me, since I am accustomed to hearing it played “wrong”. Very cool, and clearly right, but it will take a little time before I can stop being startled by it.
On to In My Room, which has not been as reliable as it needs to be. It didn’t come out of the hat in the last performance, but it did the week before, and it was a bit of a train wreck. In particular, we drilled the cascade/zither section, but the tempo problem we are fighting is systemic. Travis put it fairly but bluntly that by the time we get to the cascades, it has already died. Good work with the metronome, and a discussion of one potential (but labor-intensive) arranging adjustment – not for this season, but to be considered for the future. Acknowledged that this one is also on te list of “must play” pieces for every rehearsal.
The Shostakovich Prelude next. This one hasn’t been particularly problematic lately, but has always been at the top of the “must play” list, and we can generally find nuances to address. The first run-through began extremely well, especially considering that Jaxie, the player in the poll position of the circulation, was absent, but about halfway through it just crashed and burned. No big deal, just one of those things. Subsequent runs went much better. We focused on one perennially difficult phrase and made a number of useful observations about how it works.
At some point in there we ran Onyx, mostly because I miss performing it. It got sidelined when we moved to the Great Hall due to the tempo and complexity and the difficulty of pulling it off in that acoustic environment. It is not the best or most creative piece in our repertoire, but it has something really wonderful that nothing else we play can really duplicate. Hoping now that we are more at home in the new performance space that we can begin to reintroduce a few pieces like this that got set aside.
The last 45-minutes were devoted to a little more research on an arrangement strategy for the middle section of Charles Ives’ Children’s Hour. Not rehearsal, but more of a “proof of concept”; will this approach work? Last week we looked at the first 4 bars of the section, and it took over an hour. Today we looked at the next 4 bars. This section, all of 12-bars long, is an orgy of disjointed triplets, and the reason I began the rehearsal with the circulated triplet exercise. It looks like Igor will be tuning his low string down to “A” for this one; strange and amazing chord voicings written for the piano, played by 6 guitarists. Like last week’s set of phrases, when approached through the minutia of the fragmented parts, this one is completely incomprehensible, but once heard as a whole it is remarkably simple and even obvious. It may take a while before we can get to that point without spending an hour ramping up to it. But we’ll get there.
A break and a snack, and then the House Circle, represented by Mary Beth, Christina and Greg, arrived.
Continuing the theme of triplets, we worked with an array of circulated and modulating 6-note pentatonic scale patterns, highlighting keeping the pulse of the 6/8 – 1-2-3 4-5-6 – while alternating with two slower sequences that sit on 1-2-3 4-5-6 and 1-2-3 4-5-6. Much like the work on the Ives piece, these patterns have a musical sense and even seem pretty simple and obvious, once we can rise just a little above the mechanics. After 90 minutes, the team was pretty much cruising, although I’m not sure they would concur.
On Monday we blow off rehearsal in order to head to Good Shepherd to see Joel perform. For the performance team, a real treat. He plays before the show every Thursday, but we are sequestered in the green room and can’t hear him. On Monday, we will not only hear him, but will be able to relax and enjoy him, since we won’t be moments away from performing ourselves. Hooray!
Saturday November 21, 2009 – Rehearsal and House Circle
Twenty years ago today I was in San Diego with the League of Crafty Guitarists. We were in a period of doldrums during what has come to be colloquially known as “The Bogo Tour”. No gigs scheduled for several weeks, we were vamping and improvising while camping out at Paul Richards’ family’s condo. I was awakened at dawn by a phone call, and the news that my mother had passed away. It was her 60th birthday. A few minutes later I was on my way to the airport, and back home to DC and my family.
This was the essential content my sitting. It is not a source of sadness, particularly, but November 21 is inevitably something of a contemplative day for me.
Triplets day in Tuning the Air-land.
Two of the team were running a bit late, and Jaxie was not available, so the six of us began by turning on the metronome and circulating in triplets (D Major – a current favorite; so much so it was both called and pulled from the hat on Thursday). With six in the circle, this went swimmingly well. Only when I needed to get up to take care of a phone call, leaving five in the circle, did it begin to get ugly. When I returned to my seat, the tension was palpable. Fortunately at about that point the two late-comers arrived and we moved on to other matters.
First, La Rueda. It went very well on Thursday, but is still new and falls into the short list of pieces that need to be played every time we get together in order to move on to something farther from beginner’s luck and enthusiasm and closer to reliability and, dare I hope, something approaching mastery. Chris and I formed a limping rhythm section without Jaxie, but solid work all around and the circulators got a workout.
Cultivating the Beat was next. A few observations re our recent performances. It is the opener, and that means we need to be sharp right out of the gate. Chris noted a difference between the way he and his section is playing a particular passage and the way it is on the score/midi. I pulled up the score and Bob verified that it is correct, so we worked on making that correction. It is subtle, but initially a little jarring for me, since I am accustomed to hearing it played “wrong”. Very cool, and clearly right, but it will take a little time before I can stop being startled by it.
On to In My Room, which has not been as reliable as it needs to be. It didn’t come out of the hat in the last performance, but it did the week before, and it was a bit of a train wreck. In particular, we drilled the cascade/zither section, but the tempo problem we are fighting is systemic. Travis put it fairly but bluntly that by the time we get to the cascades, it has already died. Good work with the metronome, and a discussion of one potential (but labor-intensive) arranging adjustment – not for this season, but to be considered for the future. Acknowledged that this one is also on te list of “must play” pieces for every rehearsal.
The Shostakovich Prelude next. This one hasn’t been particularly problematic lately, but has always been at the top of the “must play” list, and we can generally find nuances to address. The first run-through began extremely well, especially considering that Jaxie, the player in the poll position of the circulation, was absent, but about halfway through it just crashed and burned. No big deal, just one of those things. Subsequent runs went much better. We focused on one perennially difficult phrase and made a number of useful observations about how it works.
At some point in there we ran Onyx, mostly because I miss performing it. It got sidelined when we moved to the Great Hall due to the tempo and complexity and the difficulty of pulling it off in that acoustic environment. It is not the best or most creative piece in our repertoire, but it has something really wonderful that nothing else we play can really duplicate. Hoping now that we are more at home in the new performance space that we can begin to reintroduce a few pieces like this that got set aside.
The last 45-minutes were devoted to a little more research on an arrangement strategy for the middle section of Charles Ives’ Children’s Hour. Not rehearsal, but more of a “proof of concept”; will this approach work? Last week we looked at the first 4 bars of the section, and it took over an hour. Today we looked at the next 4 bars. This section, all of 12-bars long, is an orgy of disjointed triplets, and the reason I began the rehearsal with the circulated triplet exercise. It looks like Igor will be tuning his low string down to “A” for this one; strange and amazing chord voicings written for the piano, played by 6 guitarists. Like last week’s set of phrases, when approached through the minutia of the fragmented parts, this one is completely incomprehensible, but once heard as a whole it is remarkably simple and even obvious. It may take a while before we can get to that point without spending an hour ramping up to it. But we’ll get there.
A break and a snack, and then the House Circle, represented by Mary Beth, Christina and Greg, arrived.
Continuing the theme of triplets, we worked with an array of circulated and modulating 6-note pentatonic scale patterns, highlighting keeping the pulse of the 6/8 – 1-2-3 4-5-6 – while alternating with two slower sequences that sit on 1-2-3 4-5-6 and 1-2-3 4-5-6. Much like the work on the Ives piece, these patterns have a musical sense and even seem pretty simple and obvious, once we can rise just a little above the mechanics. After 90 minutes, the team was pretty much cruising, although I’m not sure they would concur.
On Monday we blow off rehearsal in order to head to Good Shepherd to see Joel perform. For the performance team, a real treat. He plays before the show every Thursday, but we are sequestered in the green room and can’t hear him. On Monday, we will not only hear him, but will be able to relax and enjoy him, since we won’t be moments away from performing ourselves. Hooray!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tuning the Air 170
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday November 19, 2009 – Tuning the Air 170
Two items from tonight’s performance…
Tuning the Air 170
Thursday November 19, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #8
Preshow
Thursday November 19, 2009 – Tuning the Air 170
Two items from tonight’s performance…
- The admonition to always “Trust the Hat” was severely tested when, in the final 15 minutes of the show, when my wish was to be “building up” to the end of the show, a call for “two pieces from the repertoire hat” drew 49 Notes and Voices of Ancient Children; two pieces I would never in a million years have put together, and certainly not at that point in the set. Strongly tempted to intervene, but since trusting the hat was a very specific and intentional piece of work in this scheme, I swallowed hard and assumed the virtue. Of course it was awesome, but in a way I had/could never have envisioned. In the end, it set up a gentle ascent to the end of the set that was completely organic and absolutely “right”.
- La Rueda is now a viable and performable addition to the repertoire. With a short-staffed and wedding-oriented rehearsal on Saturday, and no rehearsal at all on Monday, I had relegated it to the “not quite yet” list in my head. But we ran it during the warmup before the show, and it seemed hazardous, but completely doable. When we circled up in the green room with the audience applauding and demanding an encore, the question “what shall we play?” was posed, and La Rueda came out of three mouths simultaneously. Right choice. Just stunning. No doubt it will benefit from some solid technical work in rehearsal, but it is on!
Tuning the Air 170
Thursday November 19, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #8
Preshow
Joel Palmer ImprovisationsThe Set (including sources)
Cultivating the Beat: SetlistEncore
The Wig Maker, with double swirling zither: Hat
Beyond here be dragons: Hat
Aquarela do Brasil: Hat
Batrachomyomachy: Hat
Circulation in D Major: Curt
Sigh and a Kiss: Hat
Circulation in F Harmonic Minor: Hat
Follow the Lights: Hat
Address the audience: Jaxie
Kashmir: Setlist
Circulation in D Major #2: Hat
49 Notes: Hat
Voices of Ancient Children: Hat
Long Ago Today: Jaxie
Twilight: Curt/Bob
Thrak: Setlist
Eye of the Needle: Setlist
La Rueda: Greenroom
Monday, November 16, 2009
Rehearsal at the Wilsons
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday November 16, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
We learned very early on that it is never a good idea to discuss how a particular performance went, immediately after that performance. Doing this show requires an openness that makes us very vulnerable, and the potential for misunderstanding and hurt feelings is very high when we try to switch gears too soon. Even casual remarks can have destructive repercussions. It is not an easy “rule” to follow, and none of us is completely successful every week, but we do our best.
So we set aside part of tonight’s rehearsal as the time for the entire company to get together to reflect on the recent performances and the new direction we are working with.
Unfortunately, the Fates were not completely on our side. Two performers had work obligations that kept them from attending, and another one was down with a bout of food poisoning. From the rest of the company, only Christina and Greg were available. So it was not really the “all-in” freewheeling discussion we had hoped for, and we were missing several key points of view.
Nevertheless, it was a very good review, and despite our low numbers it managed to extend to the entire rehearsal, and my guitar remained in its case. I was particularly interested to hear the observations from outside the performance team. Very useful. The result was essentially “no change” for this week’s performance, outside of a handful of minor tweaks.
Monday November 16, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
We learned very early on that it is never a good idea to discuss how a particular performance went, immediately after that performance. Doing this show requires an openness that makes us very vulnerable, and the potential for misunderstanding and hurt feelings is very high when we try to switch gears too soon. Even casual remarks can have destructive repercussions. It is not an easy “rule” to follow, and none of us is completely successful every week, but we do our best.
So we set aside part of tonight’s rehearsal as the time for the entire company to get together to reflect on the recent performances and the new direction we are working with.
Unfortunately, the Fates were not completely on our side. Two performers had work obligations that kept them from attending, and another one was down with a bout of food poisoning. From the rest of the company, only Christina and Greg were available. So it was not really the “all-in” freewheeling discussion we had hoped for, and we were missing several key points of view.
Nevertheless, it was a very good review, and despite our low numbers it managed to extend to the entire rehearsal, and my guitar remained in its case. I was particularly interested to hear the observations from outside the performance team. Very useful. The result was essentially “no change” for this week’s performance, outside of a handful of minor tweaks.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Sherman/Abel Wedding
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday November 14, 2009 – The Sherman/Abel Wedding
We began arriving about 5:30, with the plan to begin the music a little after 6pm. We were the Performance Team (minus Taylor, of course), plus Christina and Greg. Tony was on solo 12-string. The circle was not actually circular – the facility did not really work for that. Instead we were in a very slight arc, going up a ramp behind the folks seated for the ceremony. Tony was stationed just to the left of the celebrants, and lightly amplified. Ian was at the whims of public transportation, and arrived just as we were about to go on.
Because we were in an arc, we elected to circulate with return rather than trying to complete the circle in a situation where hearing was going to be difficult, and sight lines unreliable. We stuck with major keys, and kept it simple, as the guests arrived and began to find their places. Our aim was to set an atmosphere, rather than draw attention to ourselves. As the ceremony was about to begin, we modulated to Bb Mixolydian, setting up Tony’s first piece. For the prelude, during which the wedding party entered, we circulated as Tony played. Then Tony moved to the Processional for the entrance of the Bride.
For the ceremony we remained in place. Fortunately, it was not very long, so standing still with guitars was not a burden. A lovely and moving ceremony. At the end, Tony launched into the joyous Recessional as the wedding party made its exit. Last to leave was the judge/celebrant, who invited the guests to move to the reception area for cocktails, and on that cue we launched into Brasil, 3 choruses, with half-step modulations. We had kept the length open, to be called in the moment. Three choruses seemed sufficient, which was good because in rehearsal the 4th modulation was where things tended to come unglued.
Very generous applause, and we moved back to the “green room”, circled up to complete our contribution, packed away our guitars, and made the transition from musicians to simple wedding guests. Music for dancing would be provided by a DJ.
A terrific event in every way.
Saturday November 14, 2009 – The Sherman/Abel Wedding
We began arriving about 5:30, with the plan to begin the music a little after 6pm. We were the Performance Team (minus Taylor, of course), plus Christina and Greg. Tony was on solo 12-string. The circle was not actually circular – the facility did not really work for that. Instead we were in a very slight arc, going up a ramp behind the folks seated for the ceremony. Tony was stationed just to the left of the celebrants, and lightly amplified. Ian was at the whims of public transportation, and arrived just as we were about to go on.
Because we were in an arc, we elected to circulate with return rather than trying to complete the circle in a situation where hearing was going to be difficult, and sight lines unreliable. We stuck with major keys, and kept it simple, as the guests arrived and began to find their places. Our aim was to set an atmosphere, rather than draw attention to ourselves. As the ceremony was about to begin, we modulated to Bb Mixolydian, setting up Tony’s first piece. For the prelude, during which the wedding party entered, we circulated as Tony played. Then Tony moved to the Processional for the entrance of the Bride.
For the ceremony we remained in place. Fortunately, it was not very long, so standing still with guitars was not a burden. A lovely and moving ceremony. At the end, Tony launched into the joyous Recessional as the wedding party made its exit. Last to leave was the judge/celebrant, who invited the guests to move to the reception area for cocktails, and on that cue we launched into Brasil, 3 choruses, with half-step modulations. We had kept the length open, to be called in the moment. Three choruses seemed sufficient, which was good because in rehearsal the 4th modulation was where things tended to come unglued.
Very generous applause, and we moved back to the “green room”, circled up to complete our contribution, packed away our guitars, and made the transition from musicians to simple wedding guests. Music for dancing would be provided by a DJ.
A terrific event in every way.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Two Rehearsals and a Wedding
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday November 14, 2009 – Two Rehearsals and a Wedding
Sitting as usual. Two-part rehearsal in my living room. Tony and the house team joined us for the first segment, focusing on the music for this evening. The second part was a bit of “proof of concept” for the arrangement I had seen for the middle section of the Charles Ives piece. It has the strange quality of being unfathomable when analyzed and broken down into its constituent parts, but somehow simple and obvious once you hear it all together.
Now a bit of computing, a short nap I would think, and then off to the Sherman-Abel nuptials.
Saturday November 14, 2009 – Two Rehearsals and a Wedding
Sitting as usual. Two-part rehearsal in my living room. Tony and the house team joined us for the first segment, focusing on the music for this evening. The second part was a bit of “proof of concept” for the arrangement I had seen for the middle section of the Charles Ives piece. It has the strange quality of being unfathomable when analyzed and broken down into its constituent parts, but somehow simple and obvious once you hear it all together.
Now a bit of computing, a short nap I would think, and then off to the Sherman-Abel nuptials.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Tuning the Air 169
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday November 11, 2009 – Tuning the Air 169
…aka, Tuning the Air 132
Chillier in Seattle than it has been so far. But the sun is shining.
The plan for tonight is more or less the same as last week, with a few refinements. One less hat. Particular attention to the flow of the evening. La Rueda remains a question mark – the hat? in the pocket? wait another week? Probably tbd at the preshow warmup.
Thursday November 11, 2009 – Tuning the Air 169
…aka, Tuning the Air 132
Chillier in Seattle than it has been so far. But the sun is shining.
The plan for tonight is more or less the same as last week, with a few refinements. One less hat. Particular attention to the flow of the evening. La Rueda remains a question mark – the hat? in the pocket? wait another week? Probably tbd at the preshow warmup.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Rehearsal at the Wilsons
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday November 9, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
The primary task of the night was to discuss our observations from last week’s show; to look at what worked, what didn’t, and what, if any changes were to be made. We realized very late in the game that this was a meeting that really involved the entire company and not just the performance team, but with less than an hour before rehearsal time Jaxie and I agreed to acknowledge that we had made a mistake, and move ahead as planned. We will make sure that an open invitation to the entire team is made for next Monday.
Chris was running a little late, so the rest of us began with a look at the Charles Ives piece, Children’s Hour. In looking over the piano score, I had noticed a couple of things that were different from the way we had arranged it, primarily related to the octave in which the circulated part is played. We made the adjustments and ran it a bit, with pretty stunning effect. Chris arrived, and it was time to get down to business. But frankly, all I wanted to do was dive deeper into this piece.
Very good discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of the improvisational strategy we adopted for last week’s show. Clear and direct observations, and remarkable unanimity in terms of our experience. We threw around a very wide range of possible adjustments that we could adopt, but in the end adopted an approach articulated by Howard: change nothing. That is, continue another week with this strategy, but… attend the flow, which we generally agreed was the stickiest part of our first experiment. So the decisions for this week were enumerated as:
During the final run through of the piece, a solution to the puzzle of how to arrange the middle section of Children’s Hour came to me. I have no idea what I was doing thinking about Ives while playing Pietrafesa, but sometimes associative thinking works in your favor. I ran the idea by Jaxie as we were packing to leave, and it seemed to resonate for her as well. Not sure when we will have time to test this arrangement, as next Saturday will be dominated by the Sherman/Abel nuptials. Soon, I hope.
Fernie popped in after I got home, for a short visit and nightcap, as he is going home tomorrow afternoon. I’m sure Moni and Uma will be happy to see him. I know he has been missing them badly. But I am sorry to see him go.
Monday November 9, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
The primary task of the night was to discuss our observations from last week’s show; to look at what worked, what didn’t, and what, if any changes were to be made. We realized very late in the game that this was a meeting that really involved the entire company and not just the performance team, but with less than an hour before rehearsal time Jaxie and I agreed to acknowledge that we had made a mistake, and move ahead as planned. We will make sure that an open invitation to the entire team is made for next Monday.
Chris was running a little late, so the rest of us began with a look at the Charles Ives piece, Children’s Hour. In looking over the piano score, I had noticed a couple of things that were different from the way we had arranged it, primarily related to the octave in which the circulated part is played. We made the adjustments and ran it a bit, with pretty stunning effect. Chris arrived, and it was time to get down to business. But frankly, all I wanted to do was dive deeper into this piece.
Very good discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of the improvisational strategy we adopted for last week’s show. Clear and direct observations, and remarkable unanimity in terms of our experience. We threw around a very wide range of possible adjustments that we could adopt, but in the end adopted an approach articulated by Howard: change nothing. That is, continue another week with this strategy, but… attend the flow, which we generally agreed was the stickiest part of our first experiment. So the decisions for this week were enumerated as:
- Change nothing
- Attention on the flow
- Trust the hat – only 2 this week: The Hat of Repertoire and the Hat of Mystery
- Joel to move a little more quickly when the hat is called for
- Igor will watch for possible opportunities for improv during the Hat
- We will not know in advance the themes of the improvs in the Hat of Mystery
During the final run through of the piece, a solution to the puzzle of how to arrange the middle section of Children’s Hour came to me. I have no idea what I was doing thinking about Ives while playing Pietrafesa, but sometimes associative thinking works in your favor. I ran the idea by Jaxie as we were packing to leave, and it seemed to resonate for her as well. Not sure when we will have time to test this arrangement, as next Saturday will be dominated by the Sherman/Abel nuptials. Soon, I hope.
Fernie popped in after I got home, for a short visit and nightcap, as he is going home tomorrow afternoon. I’m sure Moni and Uma will be happy to see him. I know he has been missing them badly. But I am sorry to see him go.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Monthly Open Circle and Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday November 7, 2009 – Monthly Open Circle and Rehearsal
When people engage, with openness, Music happens. I know nothing is ever guaranteed, but this seems to come about as close as anything can. The Open Circle is an excellent example.
Rehearsal entirely devoted to two new pieces. We worked to get La Rueda on its feet; a slightly limping version, as Bob was AAD, but nevertheless it is now provisionally ready for prime time. Monday night will tell the tale. For the last hour we began working on an arrangement of a lovely Charles Ives piece.
Saturday November 7, 2009 – Monthly Open Circle and Rehearsal
When people engage, with openness, Music happens. I know nothing is ever guaranteed, but this seems to come about as close as anything can. The Open Circle is an excellent example.
Rehearsal entirely devoted to two new pieces. We worked to get La Rueda on its feet; a slightly limping version, as Bob was AAD, but nevertheless it is now provisionally ready for prime time. Monday night will tell the tale. For the last hour we began working on an arrangement of a lovely Charles Ives piece.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
First Post-Orchestra Tuning the Air
Thursday November 5, 2009 – First Post-Orchestra Tuning the Air
Jaxie’s setlist:
Set List:
Jaxie’s setlist:
Set List:
- Cultivating the Beat (Opener)
- Kashmir (In the Middle)
- Thrak (Closer – with Eye of the Needle or Lament potentially called afterwards, if needed)
- Improvisation - Here there be dragons
- Eye of the Needle
- Brazil
- Voices of Ancient Children
- Long Ago Today
- Little Gangsters
- Tuning the Air – call a key or not
- My Precious Dream
- Prelude XXII in G Minor
- In My Room
- Zither Improvisation
- Improvisation – Tell me your deepest secret
- Twilight
- Sigh and a Kiss
- Bus Artist
- Batrachomyomachy
- 49 Notes
- Lament
- Wig Maker
- Improvisation – Audience choice
- Circulation – D Major
- Circulation – Begin with: Plus 2 Minus 1
- Double Swirl Zither
- Improvisation – What is the sound of stars colliding?
- Circulation madness
- Music for a Found Harmonium
- Mevlevi Greeting – notes of your choice
Monday, November 2, 2009
First Post-Orchestra Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday November 2, 2009 – First Post-Orchestra Rehearsal
Filling in… load out from Raft Island was entirely uneventful, which is to say it was a complete success. Everyone who needed to get to the airport got there. Everyone who needed to get to town got there. The camp was cleaned and restored in record time, and we were on the road well before noon.
A get-together at my place Saturday night, which happened to be Halloween. Fifteen or twenty of us, including several out-of-town guests, decompressing. The evening remained pretty low-key until about 11, when the registrar took charge of iTunes and pulled up some Prince, and suddenly dancing broke out, which continued until we were all falling down.
While strolling down Market Street on Sunday afternoon, giving some of the folks still in town from the course the nickel tour of NW Seattle – Vera’s for breakfast, the Ballard Sunday Farmer’s Market, Ballard Locks (complete with at least one salmon in the fish ladder), Golden Gardens, and Fremont – Jaxie called. She had a pretty clear sense of a direction for this week’s show. Told her she should run with it.
All in, plus one, for tonight’s rehearsal, although Igor was going to be a little late. Tony sat in. We began with a bit of circulating in the “plus two minus one” form, which was surprisingly difficult. Don’t know if we were just all still a little hammered from the course, or what was going on.
Jax then laid out some of the things she was seeing for the show on Thursday. At first there was a lot of what I read as non-responsiveness, a kind of shoe gazing, but which turned out to be simply pondering. Once the discussion began to open up, it was very apparent that much of what she was describing was also on a lot of minds, not to mention a whole lot of other germs of ideas. All in all, a very fruitful discussion. After a short, and late, break, we kind of hammered out the general shape and strategy for Thursday, incorporating some of the myriad ideas that had been aired. It is going to be an interesting one. Suffice it to say, there will be no setlist insert in this week’s program (one joking suggestion was to print up an insert reading “this page intentionally left blank”).
Ran several small group pieces, and a couple of the large group pieces that are definitely going to be played, and called it a night.
Monday November 2, 2009 – First Post-Orchestra Rehearsal
Filling in… load out from Raft Island was entirely uneventful, which is to say it was a complete success. Everyone who needed to get to the airport got there. Everyone who needed to get to town got there. The camp was cleaned and restored in record time, and we were on the road well before noon.
A get-together at my place Saturday night, which happened to be Halloween. Fifteen or twenty of us, including several out-of-town guests, decompressing. The evening remained pretty low-key until about 11, when the registrar took charge of iTunes and pulled up some Prince, and suddenly dancing broke out, which continued until we were all falling down.
While strolling down Market Street on Sunday afternoon, giving some of the folks still in town from the course the nickel tour of NW Seattle – Vera’s for breakfast, the Ballard Sunday Farmer’s Market, Ballard Locks (complete with at least one salmon in the fish ladder), Golden Gardens, and Fremont – Jaxie called. She had a pretty clear sense of a direction for this week’s show. Told her she should run with it.
All in, plus one, for tonight’s rehearsal, although Igor was going to be a little late. Tony sat in. We began with a bit of circulating in the “plus two minus one” form, which was surprisingly difficult. Don’t know if we were just all still a little hammered from the course, or what was going on.
Jax then laid out some of the things she was seeing for the show on Thursday. At first there was a lot of what I read as non-responsiveness, a kind of shoe gazing, but which turned out to be simply pondering. Once the discussion began to open up, it was very apparent that much of what she was describing was also on a lot of minds, not to mention a whole lot of other germs of ideas. All in all, a very fruitful discussion. After a short, and late, break, we kind of hammered out the general shape and strategy for Thursday, incorporating some of the myriad ideas that had been aired. It is going to be an interesting one. Suffice it to say, there will be no setlist insert in this week’s program (one joking suggestion was to print up an insert reading “this page intentionally left blank”).
Ran several small group pieces, and a couple of the large group pieces that are definitely going to be played, and called it a night.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists, Day 1 of whatever comes next
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday October 31, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 1 of whatever comes next
8:44am
Packing, cleaning, restoring, with the plan to be out and on our way home by noon. I always enjoy the first morning sitting on the day after the course has been completed. No schedule. No sense of joining in as part of a course. Just what we do every day. A new beginning.
The sun is inexplicably out. Going to take as much advantage of that in the cleanup as possible.
Saturday October 31, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 1 of whatever comes next
8:44am
Packing, cleaning, restoring, with the plan to be out and on our way home by noon. I always enjoy the first morning sitting on the day after the course has been completed. No schedule. No sense of joining in as part of a course. Just what we do every day. A new beginning.
The sun is inexplicably out. Going to take as much advantage of that in the cleanup as possible.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 7
A Tuning the Air Journal
Friday October 30, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 7
5:19pm
My body is sore, as though I ran a marathon yesterday. Hmmm.
Largely a day of looking after details in order to complete the course with care. A little light at the sitting, which is not so uncommon on the morning after a gig when beginners are involved. Conservation of energy requires awareness and practice. I joked with Jaxie at breakfast that at an earlier time in the history of Guitar Craft, at breakfast an announcement might have been made that we had another gig that night, and would be loading out in 4 hours.
Good comments and even a few observations about last night’s gig shared over breakfast.
For myself, 2 (or 3, depending on how you look at it) back to back meetings with Robert and a rolling assortment of the usual characters. First, the TTA performance team+4, looking at and completing the work we had undertaken for the week. Then the NAFGC (aka, the nafgooses) to look at the support that the Office needs, and ways that we can/will effect that. With just a little personnel shifting, this morphed into a GC Histories meeting. Several things came clear to me through these meetings, almost as a side effect. I hadn’t gone into them asking for answers, or even particularly focused on the questions, but at several points there were very clear decisions that presented themselves. One was very directly related to one of my aims for this course. The other was more of a surprise.
I had just enough time to grab a shower before lunch. It occurred to me that the shower stall was not designed to be used by an actual human being.
Two of the team departed this morning. One was due to a commitment for tomorrow and we were aware of it from the beginning. The second was unforeseeable, involving an emergency at his job. Their absence, while unavoidable, is definitely noticeable.
Great lunch of leftover soups. A performance/demonstration from Those Who Fly At A Somewhat More Modest Altitude, of the circulation work they had undertaking in the morning. Another beauty from Patrick, and a poem from Erin as well. Office work and a bit of practice for me at the afternoon. Tea time was the course’s Merchandising Opportunity. Great bazaar-like atmosphere. I blew out all of the strings I had.
Met with Chris, Travis and Taylor on money matters after Tea, to wrap up the course finances, and get everyone paid. Barring a large surprise, it looks like we will not lose any money, and may even bank a buck or two.
House of Guitars at 6pm. Final meeting on the schedule for 9pm.
11:46pm
Substantial House of Guitars. One “when ready…” and from there it played itself. Three movements. Occasionally fell back on the reliable. But real moments of group movement. Ended with a whiz that didn’t quite reach last night’s altitude, but reached for it at least, and came close.
SSG on supper. Wonderful. The Blessing calling to be uttered, and then there it was. Silence with a capital.
Course complete. Just details now. But inattention to details can undo everything, so attention yet to be paid.
Looking forward to my own bed and my own shower, not to mention the monster.
Friday October 30, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 7
5:19pm
My body is sore, as though I ran a marathon yesterday. Hmmm.
Largely a day of looking after details in order to complete the course with care. A little light at the sitting, which is not so uncommon on the morning after a gig when beginners are involved. Conservation of energy requires awareness and practice. I joked with Jaxie at breakfast that at an earlier time in the history of Guitar Craft, at breakfast an announcement might have been made that we had another gig that night, and would be loading out in 4 hours.
Good comments and even a few observations about last night’s gig shared over breakfast.
For myself, 2 (or 3, depending on how you look at it) back to back meetings with Robert and a rolling assortment of the usual characters. First, the TTA performance team+4, looking at and completing the work we had undertaken for the week. Then the NAFGC (aka, the nafgooses) to look at the support that the Office needs, and ways that we can/will effect that. With just a little personnel shifting, this morphed into a GC Histories meeting. Several things came clear to me through these meetings, almost as a side effect. I hadn’t gone into them asking for answers, or even particularly focused on the questions, but at several points there were very clear decisions that presented themselves. One was very directly related to one of my aims for this course. The other was more of a surprise.
I had just enough time to grab a shower before lunch. It occurred to me that the shower stall was not designed to be used by an actual human being.
Two of the team departed this morning. One was due to a commitment for tomorrow and we were aware of it from the beginning. The second was unforeseeable, involving an emergency at his job. Their absence, while unavoidable, is definitely noticeable.
Great lunch of leftover soups. A performance/demonstration from Those Who Fly At A Somewhat More Modest Altitude, of the circulation work they had undertaking in the morning. Another beauty from Patrick, and a poem from Erin as well. Office work and a bit of practice for me at the afternoon. Tea time was the course’s Merchandising Opportunity. Great bazaar-like atmosphere. I blew out all of the strings I had.
Met with Chris, Travis and Taylor on money matters after Tea, to wrap up the course finances, and get everyone paid. Barring a large surprise, it looks like we will not lose any money, and may even bank a buck or two.
House of Guitars at 6pm. Final meeting on the schedule for 9pm.
11:46pm
Substantial House of Guitars. One “when ready…” and from there it played itself. Three movements. Occasionally fell back on the reliable. But real moments of group movement. Ended with a whiz that didn’t quite reach last night’s altitude, but reached for it at least, and came close.
SSG on supper. Wonderful. The Blessing calling to be uttered, and then there it was. Silence with a capital.
Course complete. Just details now. But inattention to details can undo everything, so attention yet to be paid.
Looking forward to my own bed and my own shower, not to mention the monster.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 6
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday October 29, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 6
2:03pm
It’s gig day. Personal work for the morning. Not really much to do beyond that. Everything is as “in place” as it can be. Robert spoke a little at breakfast about the energy that is lost in unnecessary talking, and proposed that drives to and from the gig be quiet. We are taking up an exercise to keep us on and in touch with the course throughout the road trip. A travel meeting. I practiced for most of the morning, which was a treat. Very little hanging out going on. Not sure how others have been occupying themselves. Even gave myself permission to take a short nap (actually, Fernie convinced me it would be okay, and who am I to argue with Fernie?). Showered and ready to go. Just need to dress.
I depart with the advance team at about 2:45pm. What will be, will be.
Likelihood of journalizing beyond this, today, is very low. Obviously not carrying the laptop on the road, and we return at midnight.
Thursday October 29, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 6
2:03pm
It’s gig day. Personal work for the morning. Not really much to do beyond that. Everything is as “in place” as it can be. Robert spoke a little at breakfast about the energy that is lost in unnecessary talking, and proposed that drives to and from the gig be quiet. We are taking up an exercise to keep us on and in touch with the course throughout the road trip. A travel meeting. I practiced for most of the morning, which was a treat. Very little hanging out going on. Not sure how others have been occupying themselves. Even gave myself permission to take a short nap (actually, Fernie convinced me it would be okay, and who am I to argue with Fernie?). Showered and ready to go. Just need to dress.
I depart with the advance team at about 2:45pm. What will be, will be.
Likelihood of journalizing beyond this, today, is very low. Obviously not carrying the laptop on the road, and we return at midnight.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 5
A Tuning the Air Journal
Wednesday October 28, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 5
6:47am
I was to bed fairly early. Pretty buzzed, so sleep was not coming immediately, but as I recapitulated my day, I did manage to slip away.
Awoke in the morning, thinking, “I don’t feel at all rested.” There was a reason for this. A glance at my clock told me it was 3:03am. Rolled over and made it back to sleep without too much fuss. The next time I awoke, it was 5:38am, and this time it was for good. My mind was already racing around everything that has to be done in order to get us to the gig and back. Saw several meetings that are needed on the schedule for today. Heard what I will need to tell the entire team in terms of how to prepare for and be “on the road”. Wrestled with all the logisitical difficulties we will encounter with a group this sized at the Abbey. My mind was not quite wittering, in the sense that it was all relevant and necessary planning. But it was on automatic pilot and had been going, so far as I could tell, from before I actually woke up.
A couple of guys came strolling into rehearsal last night after we had already begun, causing us to have to stop, reset the circles to accommodate them, and begin anew, repeating some territory already covered. Sometimes I wish I had the capacity to be that blithely clueless. How much easier would my life would be?
After a few minutes this morning, it was clear that no more sleep was in my near future, so I surrendered to being awake, and got up, painfully aware of how much of a clatter I was making dressing in the dark, and came up to the dining hall in order to sit and contemplate these matters over a cup of coffee before the sitting. It would be very nice if my sitting was not occupied with this stuff, but I’m not holding out a lot of hope.
10:02am
Sitting, good. Discussion about last evening’s rehearsal over breakfast; a little more "stuff" than I need or want, but probably good and necessary for the group as a whole. Thirty minute TTA Production Team meeting that actually ran thirty minutes. Now a bit of time for personal work as the Gnarlies (aka “Those Who Fly At A Somewhat More Modest Altitude”) are working out their stuff in the Chapel until lunch. Strings to be changed. And I need to meet with Howard to go over what he missed in the meeting with Robert yesterday.
3:17pm
Sounds like the Gnarlies had a barn-burner with RF at 10. I elected to practice. My loss. I continued through to lunch, taking breaks to change strings, to talk to the Fremont Abbey director about details for tomorrow, and to Travis about some transportation issues as well. In the late morning the Gnarlies worked again with Frank, Sandra and Jaxie on a circulation exercise. I popped in a couple of times, and once again found myself happily unnecessary.
Lunch was a low-key affair. Soup, humus and egg salad on pita. Awesome. The afternoon is mapped out. Gnarlies currently working with AT, although Frank was looking a little under the weather with a headache, and I am concerned for him. After Tea, the TTA Performance Team is on to go through some available repertoire for Robert to audition, so that he will have a pool to dive into for the show. Body Beat. Quiet time. Then, dinner. The evening will be the effective dress rehearsal for the gig.
6:38pm
Hell Boy appearance at Tea! The Chord from Hell with Hellboy Eduardo. No broken strings, so I’m not certain it counts.
Quiet time. We met with Robert re TTA repertoire for the gig, should it get called. I think Jaxie has a better feel for this than I do. When he calls on us, I’ll just look to my left with panic in my eyes, and follow her lead. After he departed, we ran a number of pieces. I was reminded how much I enjoy playing with this group. The hour was over too fast. Body Beat, with definite signs of improvement and assimilation. Kashmir is on for supper tonight.
11:53pm
Kashmir kicked ass.
Wonderful rehearsal. No latecomers. I guess that lesson was learned. We dealt with blocking and whizzing, with a little bit of circulating. Mostly instruction from the Conductor on what kinds of communications he would be doing, and some of the ways he might be doing them.
Bob was able to make it up for this rehearsal, which was completed quite early, so the TTA performance team + Pablo, Mary Beth and Fernando stayed in the Chapel for another hour running repertoire. Except that Bob had to drive back to Seattle, and we all have a gig tomorrow, I could easily have kept going and going. We began with a pretty substantial audience, but we outlasted every one of them. I was getting fatigued, but energized, if that makes any sense.
Evidently I was not alone. When I got to the dining hall there were a number of folks hanging out, some drinking tea and chatting, others practicing quite seriously, challenging one another with very difficult exercises. I had some work to do on the computer – boring shit like vehicle lists and cell phone number lists for the road trip tomorrow. By the time that was done, I was no longer buzzed, and so now I am ready to sleep. Long day tomorrow.
Wednesday October 28, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 5
6:47am
I was to bed fairly early. Pretty buzzed, so sleep was not coming immediately, but as I recapitulated my day, I did manage to slip away.
Awoke in the morning, thinking, “I don’t feel at all rested.” There was a reason for this. A glance at my clock told me it was 3:03am. Rolled over and made it back to sleep without too much fuss. The next time I awoke, it was 5:38am, and this time it was for good. My mind was already racing around everything that has to be done in order to get us to the gig and back. Saw several meetings that are needed on the schedule for today. Heard what I will need to tell the entire team in terms of how to prepare for and be “on the road”. Wrestled with all the logisitical difficulties we will encounter with a group this sized at the Abbey. My mind was not quite wittering, in the sense that it was all relevant and necessary planning. But it was on automatic pilot and had been going, so far as I could tell, from before I actually woke up.
A couple of guys came strolling into rehearsal last night after we had already begun, causing us to have to stop, reset the circles to accommodate them, and begin anew, repeating some territory already covered. Sometimes I wish I had the capacity to be that blithely clueless. How much easier would my life would be?
After a few minutes this morning, it was clear that no more sleep was in my near future, so I surrendered to being awake, and got up, painfully aware of how much of a clatter I was making dressing in the dark, and came up to the dining hall in order to sit and contemplate these matters over a cup of coffee before the sitting. It would be very nice if my sitting was not occupied with this stuff, but I’m not holding out a lot of hope.
10:02am
Sitting, good. Discussion about last evening’s rehearsal over breakfast; a little more "stuff" than I need or want, but probably good and necessary for the group as a whole. Thirty minute TTA Production Team meeting that actually ran thirty minutes. Now a bit of time for personal work as the Gnarlies (aka “Those Who Fly At A Somewhat More Modest Altitude”) are working out their stuff in the Chapel until lunch. Strings to be changed. And I need to meet with Howard to go over what he missed in the meeting with Robert yesterday.
3:17pm
Sounds like the Gnarlies had a barn-burner with RF at 10. I elected to practice. My loss. I continued through to lunch, taking breaks to change strings, to talk to the Fremont Abbey director about details for tomorrow, and to Travis about some transportation issues as well. In the late morning the Gnarlies worked again with Frank, Sandra and Jaxie on a circulation exercise. I popped in a couple of times, and once again found myself happily unnecessary.
Lunch was a low-key affair. Soup, humus and egg salad on pita. Awesome. The afternoon is mapped out. Gnarlies currently working with AT, although Frank was looking a little under the weather with a headache, and I am concerned for him. After Tea, the TTA Performance Team is on to go through some available repertoire for Robert to audition, so that he will have a pool to dive into for the show. Body Beat. Quiet time. Then, dinner. The evening will be the effective dress rehearsal for the gig.
6:38pm
Hell Boy appearance at Tea! The Chord from Hell with Hellboy Eduardo. No broken strings, so I’m not certain it counts.
Quiet time. We met with Robert re TTA repertoire for the gig, should it get called. I think Jaxie has a better feel for this than I do. When he calls on us, I’ll just look to my left with panic in my eyes, and follow her lead. After he departed, we ran a number of pieces. I was reminded how much I enjoy playing with this group. The hour was over too fast. Body Beat, with definite signs of improvement and assimilation. Kashmir is on for supper tonight.
11:53pm
Kashmir kicked ass.
Wonderful rehearsal. No latecomers. I guess that lesson was learned. We dealt with blocking and whizzing, with a little bit of circulating. Mostly instruction from the Conductor on what kinds of communications he would be doing, and some of the ways he might be doing them.
Bob was able to make it up for this rehearsal, which was completed quite early, so the TTA performance team + Pablo, Mary Beth and Fernando stayed in the Chapel for another hour running repertoire. Except that Bob had to drive back to Seattle, and we all have a gig tomorrow, I could easily have kept going and going. We began with a pretty substantial audience, but we outlasted every one of them. I was getting fatigued, but energized, if that makes any sense.
Evidently I was not alone. When I got to the dining hall there were a number of folks hanging out, some drinking tea and chatting, others practicing quite seriously, challenging one another with very difficult exercises. I had some work to do on the computer – boring shit like vehicle lists and cell phone number lists for the road trip tomorrow. By the time that was done, I was no longer buzzed, and so now I am ready to sleep. Long day tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 4
A Tuning the Air Journal
Tuesday October 27, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 4
11:17am
Awake early for some reason. Sitting was not harassed by thoughts of exercises for the guitar circle, which was a pleasant change. Profound Silence visited about 15 minutes in, hung around for a while, and popped back in for breakfast.
Robert worked with Those Who Fly At A Somewhat More Modest Altitude on the essentials of keeping time for the first hour of the morning. Fernie, Jax and myself in the Buddy role. For me that primarily means sitting off to the side inwardly counting my ass off, and beaming it into the circle as best I can. No evidence of particular success. Kindergarden time.
House of Guitars next.
12:57pm
House of Guitars. Still figuring things out.
10:45pm
Having to reach deep back into my memory now. Lunchtime feels like a lifetime ago. Getting to that point where convenient moments in the day to recapitulate are getting rarer and rarer.
After lunch Jaxie, Sandra and Frank met with Those Who Fly At A Somewhat More Modest Altitude in the Chapel. Sandra and Frank were working their magic on the team while Jaxie worked with them on a guitar exercise she has been chewing on for a day or so. Since lunch I had been sitting in the dining hall to practice, for the first time since I arrived, and elected to stay with it rather than attend this meeting. It felt very good. About 30 minutes into the meeting I did pop in briefly, just to see how it was going, and to offer Jaxie any moral support she might need. In fact, it was going swimmingly well, and they had already gotten much further than I had really expected. So I listened for a few minutes, had a smile or two, and then went back to my practice, delighted to be unnecessary.
At Tea, the team from the chapel marched in, surrounded the dining area, and demonstrated what they had accomplished. It was glorious. I told Jaxie is was a minor miracle. Tony was even more effervescent.
After Tea, Tuning the Air Performance Team+4 met again with Robert in the Chapel to take yesterday’s work a step or two further. Went well beyond that. More later. Or maybe not. Eventually. Some future history I would think.
Body beat; always a tonic.
After dinner, our first Orchestra rehearsal in actual formation. The Tuning the Air Performance Team is the inner circle, augmented by Mary Beth, Pablo and Fernando; a formidable group. Left an open seat for Bob, who will be joining us tomorrow night for rehearsal and Thursday for the gig.
Robert walked us through the general shape of the evening. Tonight’s “When Ready, Please Begin” instructions were particularly silly. Served to loosen up the team, I think, and there were some very good moments, it seemed to me. At least from my seat it all seemed very promising. If nothing else, it was fun, which it was definitely not feeling this morning.
A lot of energy generated for me, for whatever that is worth. Makes the prospect of going to bed a little daunting, but I think that is where I am headed.
Tuesday October 27, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 4
11:17am
Awake early for some reason. Sitting was not harassed by thoughts of exercises for the guitar circle, which was a pleasant change. Profound Silence visited about 15 minutes in, hung around for a while, and popped back in for breakfast.
Robert worked with Those Who Fly At A Somewhat More Modest Altitude on the essentials of keeping time for the first hour of the morning. Fernie, Jax and myself in the Buddy role. For me that primarily means sitting off to the side inwardly counting my ass off, and beaming it into the circle as best I can. No evidence of particular success. Kindergarden time.
House of Guitars next.
12:57pm
House of Guitars. Still figuring things out.
10:45pm
Having to reach deep back into my memory now. Lunchtime feels like a lifetime ago. Getting to that point where convenient moments in the day to recapitulate are getting rarer and rarer.
After lunch Jaxie, Sandra and Frank met with Those Who Fly At A Somewhat More Modest Altitude in the Chapel. Sandra and Frank were working their magic on the team while Jaxie worked with them on a guitar exercise she has been chewing on for a day or so. Since lunch I had been sitting in the dining hall to practice, for the first time since I arrived, and elected to stay with it rather than attend this meeting. It felt very good. About 30 minutes into the meeting I did pop in briefly, just to see how it was going, and to offer Jaxie any moral support she might need. In fact, it was going swimmingly well, and they had already gotten much further than I had really expected. So I listened for a few minutes, had a smile or two, and then went back to my practice, delighted to be unnecessary.
At Tea, the team from the chapel marched in, surrounded the dining area, and demonstrated what they had accomplished. It was glorious. I told Jaxie is was a minor miracle. Tony was even more effervescent.
After Tea, Tuning the Air Performance Team+4 met again with Robert in the Chapel to take yesterday’s work a step or two further. Went well beyond that. More later. Or maybe not. Eventually. Some future history I would think.
Body beat; always a tonic.
After dinner, our first Orchestra rehearsal in actual formation. The Tuning the Air Performance Team is the inner circle, augmented by Mary Beth, Pablo and Fernando; a formidable group. Left an open seat for Bob, who will be joining us tomorrow night for rehearsal and Thursday for the gig.
Robert walked us through the general shape of the evening. Tonight’s “When Ready, Please Begin” instructions were particularly silly. Served to loosen up the team, I think, and there were some very good moments, it seemed to me. At least from my seat it all seemed very promising. If nothing else, it was fun, which it was definitely not feeling this morning.
A lot of energy generated for me, for whatever that is worth. Makes the prospect of going to bed a little daunting, but I think that is where I am headed.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 3
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday October 26, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 3
9:11am
Awoke to the sound of actual rain. Welcome to the Pacific Northwest! Pleasant, really. I rather like this weather, and it is early enough in the season that it hasn’t yet worn out its welcome. I decided to pack up my most necessary stuff – guitar and computer – and move up to the dining hall, so that I won’t actually need to go back to the cabin during the day.
During the morning sitting, as I was struggling to stay with the exercise we are taking on for this course, an exercise for guitarists “who fly at a slightly more modest altitude” came to me that would address some of what I observed in the circle last night. At the head table over breakfast Robert, Jaxie and I wrangled a general schedule for the day that would accommodate a number of recognized needs. Robert will work with the TTA Performance Team, plus Tony, Fernie, Pablo and Mariana, first thing this morning. This will be followed by the House of Guitars. After lunch Jaxie, Frank and I will work with a group in the chapel on the exercise that I saw this morning. And then after Tea the TTA Full Company will meet to discuss logistics for Thursday. Somewhere in there I will need to phone the director at Fremont Abbey to discuss logistics on that end.
11:07am
Like some kind or wormhole opened up.
Now sitting in the minor cacophony of the dining hall. Those Who Fly At A Somewhat More Modest Altitude have just completed a session of work on rhythm and counting. There is a lot of energy in the room. Some of it is a little out of control, but a lot of it is being very constructively directed. It is hard here in the winter, since private space for personal practice or small group work is very scarce, and so there is activity in every corner of the room.
House of Guitars is next on the schedule.
6:39pm
Quiet time, my favorite thing on the schedule!
House of Guitars was quite good. Feeling better than last night; that is for sure.
Lovely lunch. At the part of the course where “what's to eat” begins to feel like it is of primary importance. Patrick and the Gangsters providing music.
After lunch, Frank, Jaxie and I worked with the team on some listening and improvisation exercises, which began slowly but really developed into something interesting. Meanwhile the TTA Performance Team + guests worked with Sandra, on circulation, I understand, but I haven’t heard a direct report. Unfortunately, due to a family emergency, Igor had to go back to Seattle. He is hoping to return tonight or tomorrow. Don D, who was waylaid by a bad back, did email to say he would be arriving tomorrow.
After Tea, a half-hour logistical meeting about Thursday, which ran over an hour. Necessary, but energy-sucking. For relief, body beat was next. And now, quiet time before dinner. The evening is not formalized yet.
7:38pm
Dinner running juuuuuust a tad late. The impending middle?
10:42pm
Well, dinner was late, but it was delicious. And guaranteed to raise the methane level in the room tonight.
House of Guitars. Feeling a somewhat selfish need for some comfort, I sat with a bunch of my TTA-mates. It is a joy to be in proximity to people that I know for a fact are listening. Whether anyone in the room realized it or not, it was a loose walk-through of how an OCG performance goes. Robert conducting the flow. There was one unqualified miracle. There was some stuff. Had a bit of fun playing with and off of Tony and Mariana who were sitting across the circle from me. There was some other stuff. Some really great moments of connectedness. Some epic cluelessness. The Orchestra in all its glory.
Monday October 26, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 3
9:11am
Awoke to the sound of actual rain. Welcome to the Pacific Northwest! Pleasant, really. I rather like this weather, and it is early enough in the season that it hasn’t yet worn out its welcome. I decided to pack up my most necessary stuff – guitar and computer – and move up to the dining hall, so that I won’t actually need to go back to the cabin during the day.
During the morning sitting, as I was struggling to stay with the exercise we are taking on for this course, an exercise for guitarists “who fly at a slightly more modest altitude” came to me that would address some of what I observed in the circle last night. At the head table over breakfast Robert, Jaxie and I wrangled a general schedule for the day that would accommodate a number of recognized needs. Robert will work with the TTA Performance Team, plus Tony, Fernie, Pablo and Mariana, first thing this morning. This will be followed by the House of Guitars. After lunch Jaxie, Frank and I will work with a group in the chapel on the exercise that I saw this morning. And then after Tea the TTA Full Company will meet to discuss logistics for Thursday. Somewhere in there I will need to phone the director at Fremont Abbey to discuss logistics on that end.
11:07am
It is December 1985. A grey, winterish day just outside of Charles Town, WV. I remember the light very clearly. I think it is morning, but that is not so clear to me. I am sitting on a chair in the ballroom of the Mansion at Claymont Court. My back is to the windows that are on the right side of the room as you enter, which in my experience means that I am facing south [although I cannot, here at Raft Island at this moment in 2009, verify this]. Robert is standing in front of his chair in the circle, directly across from me. He is showing someone a new part. Robert counts, and we play the second “A Minor” section of Eye of the Needle, and I hear it for the first time with the harmony part added.This morning, as I was sitting in the chapel in the circle, facing very roughly south, Robert sitting to my left, and the group mapping out Eye of the Needle, when we got to the second half of the F# Minor section, which also contains this harmony structure, I was very suddenly transported back to that moment. It was not a memory. I was present in that moment.
Like some kind or wormhole opened up.
Now sitting in the minor cacophony of the dining hall. Those Who Fly At A Somewhat More Modest Altitude have just completed a session of work on rhythm and counting. There is a lot of energy in the room. Some of it is a little out of control, but a lot of it is being very constructively directed. It is hard here in the winter, since private space for personal practice or small group work is very scarce, and so there is activity in every corner of the room.
House of Guitars is next on the schedule.
6:39pm
Quiet time, my favorite thing on the schedule!
House of Guitars was quite good. Feeling better than last night; that is for sure.
Lovely lunch. At the part of the course where “what's to eat” begins to feel like it is of primary importance. Patrick and the Gangsters providing music.
After lunch, Frank, Jaxie and I worked with the team on some listening and improvisation exercises, which began slowly but really developed into something interesting. Meanwhile the TTA Performance Team + guests worked with Sandra, on circulation, I understand, but I haven’t heard a direct report. Unfortunately, due to a family emergency, Igor had to go back to Seattle. He is hoping to return tonight or tomorrow. Don D, who was waylaid by a bad back, did email to say he would be arriving tomorrow.
After Tea, a half-hour logistical meeting about Thursday, which ran over an hour. Necessary, but energy-sucking. For relief, body beat was next. And now, quiet time before dinner. The evening is not formalized yet.
7:38pm
Dinner running juuuuuust a tad late. The impending middle?
10:42pm
Well, dinner was late, but it was delicious. And guaranteed to raise the methane level in the room tonight.
House of Guitars. Feeling a somewhat selfish need for some comfort, I sat with a bunch of my TTA-mates. It is a joy to be in proximity to people that I know for a fact are listening. Whether anyone in the room realized it or not, it was a loose walk-through of how an OCG performance goes. Robert conducting the flow. There was one unqualified miracle. There was some stuff. Had a bit of fun playing with and off of Tony and Mariana who were sitting across the circle from me. There was some other stuff. Some really great moments of connectedness. Some epic cluelessness. The Orchestra in all its glory.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 2
A Tuning the Air Journal
Sunday October 25, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 2
8:55am
A much more Seattle-like morning. Yesterday the weather gods gave us some very fair and sunny weather to greet the arrivals. Today, back to cloud cover and a persistent chill in the air.
Up for sitting at 7:15. Dark in the chapel when we arrive. Breakfast was quiet. That didn’t seem so unusual. This does not strike me as a noisy group. Last June was almost painful at times. Kitchen meeting and first guitar circle this morning. AT for high flyers after lunch. The “low flyers” have rhythm and counting exercise to address.
12:49pm
Watching my opportunities and inclinations to maintain the journal throughout the day beginning to dwindle. We shall see.
Full House/Kitchen meeting in the morning. Many people here who have not had much experience in the Kitchen, or any. This makes things interesting.
First guitar circle at 11:00am. 33 of us sitting, and Robert on his feet. My arithmetic makes that 5 people in the kitchen preparing lunch. Happy to be sitting in the circle rather than standing in the Buddy role. On the other hand… Circulations. “When Ready, Begin”, once with the instruction “Rhythm”, once “Slow to Fast and Back Again”, and once “Low to High”. Always a remarkable experience. Vast cluelessness. Wanking of all sorts. A moment or two, but nothing that would inspire much in the way of Hope. Some circulating with rhythm. Arghh. Circulating assigned notes on the low string, accompanied by a rotation of attention exercise. And then some organized Whiz circulations, also including attention rotation; never quite achieved escape velocity.
Wondering if desperation is really a necessary component of Day 1. A chocolate left on my pillow by a kind soul changed my state, if only a little. Much needed and appreciated.
8:33pm
Good afternoon of work. After lunch, the “Gnarlies” worked in the chapel on counting to 5, 6 and 7, while the high flyers worked with Sandra in the dining hall on “Up” in the form of arising from a chair. A lot of attention required to do something that more or less does itself once you have the hang of it.
Jaxie was in thinking about playing “Brasil” at tea, but after the morning circle I was very hungry to circulate for real. Myself, Jax, Bob, Igor, Ian, and Chris, with Adrian and Tony. I asked for a key suggestion, and Jax immediately responded “the note of your choice.” There you have it. 10 minutes of pure joy, ending with impromptu zithering.
After Tea, some downtime while the AADers met with Robert. Jaxie pulled out the score to a Charles Ives piece she has in mind, and there were enough TTAers close by to work out the circulation part. I was reading, but distracted by what I was hearing, and eventually joined in on the piano left hand. It will be very beautiful.
Body beat with Tony at 6pm, which I needed very much, if only to get my body moving a bit. We went ahead and performed “Brasil” at dinner. Not our best effort, but always a winner.
Large Circle in the chapel coming up at 9:15.
10:31pm
Big Circle. Big, as in 38 people sitting down and Robert on his feet. Orchestra in full exploration mode. “When Ready, Begin.” The first one was completely disrupted by a latecomer who somehow failed to grasp that there was something going on, and managed to blunder around behind the circle, and command all attention in the room, rather than wait quietly until the opportunity to join the group presented itself. A lot of information in every improv. Some good moments. A lot of wanking. Some real listening, and some of whatever the opposite of listening is. Very clear to me that the whole thing hinges on our presence within the group. Doziness is death. Robert gave some very useful direction about what it takes to be in the performing Orchestra, for those with ears to hear. A bit of whizzing, which came close to what we know it can be, at least for bursts and moments.
Not quite as desperate feeling as earlier in the day, but in that place where I just can’t imagine how we are going to get from here to there.
Over dinner, in a discussion about the Alexander Technique work we had done earlier, I described the moment when we move from sitting to standing as “and then a miracle happens.” The Orchestra moving from a pile of guitar players into a cohesive unit is a lot like that.
Sunday October 25, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 2
8:55am
A much more Seattle-like morning. Yesterday the weather gods gave us some very fair and sunny weather to greet the arrivals. Today, back to cloud cover and a persistent chill in the air.
Up for sitting at 7:15. Dark in the chapel when we arrive. Breakfast was quiet. That didn’t seem so unusual. This does not strike me as a noisy group. Last June was almost painful at times. Kitchen meeting and first guitar circle this morning. AT for high flyers after lunch. The “low flyers” have rhythm and counting exercise to address.
12:49pm
Watching my opportunities and inclinations to maintain the journal throughout the day beginning to dwindle. We shall see.
Full House/Kitchen meeting in the morning. Many people here who have not had much experience in the Kitchen, or any. This makes things interesting.
First guitar circle at 11:00am. 33 of us sitting, and Robert on his feet. My arithmetic makes that 5 people in the kitchen preparing lunch. Happy to be sitting in the circle rather than standing in the Buddy role. On the other hand… Circulations. “When Ready, Begin”, once with the instruction “Rhythm”, once “Slow to Fast and Back Again”, and once “Low to High”. Always a remarkable experience. Vast cluelessness. Wanking of all sorts. A moment or two, but nothing that would inspire much in the way of Hope. Some circulating with rhythm. Arghh. Circulating assigned notes on the low string, accompanied by a rotation of attention exercise. And then some organized Whiz circulations, also including attention rotation; never quite achieved escape velocity.
Wondering if desperation is really a necessary component of Day 1. A chocolate left on my pillow by a kind soul changed my state, if only a little. Much needed and appreciated.
8:33pm
Good afternoon of work. After lunch, the “Gnarlies” worked in the chapel on counting to 5, 6 and 7, while the high flyers worked with Sandra in the dining hall on “Up” in the form of arising from a chair. A lot of attention required to do something that more or less does itself once you have the hang of it.
Jaxie was in thinking about playing “Brasil” at tea, but after the morning circle I was very hungry to circulate for real. Myself, Jax, Bob, Igor, Ian, and Chris, with Adrian and Tony. I asked for a key suggestion, and Jax immediately responded “the note of your choice.” There you have it. 10 minutes of pure joy, ending with impromptu zithering.
After Tea, some downtime while the AADers met with Robert. Jaxie pulled out the score to a Charles Ives piece she has in mind, and there were enough TTAers close by to work out the circulation part. I was reading, but distracted by what I was hearing, and eventually joined in on the piano left hand. It will be very beautiful.
Body beat with Tony at 6pm, which I needed very much, if only to get my body moving a bit. We went ahead and performed “Brasil” at dinner. Not our best effort, but always a winner.
Large Circle in the chapel coming up at 9:15.
10:31pm
Big Circle. Big, as in 38 people sitting down and Robert on his feet. Orchestra in full exploration mode. “When Ready, Begin.” The first one was completely disrupted by a latecomer who somehow failed to grasp that there was something going on, and managed to blunder around behind the circle, and command all attention in the room, rather than wait quietly until the opportunity to join the group presented itself. A lot of information in every improv. Some good moments. A lot of wanking. Some real listening, and some of whatever the opposite of listening is. Very clear to me that the whole thing hinges on our presence within the group. Doziness is death. Robert gave some very useful direction about what it takes to be in the performing Orchestra, for those with ears to hear. A bit of whizzing, which came close to what we know it can be, at least for bursts and moments.
Not quite as desperate feeling as earlier in the day, but in that place where I just can’t imagine how we are going to get from here to there.
Over dinner, in a discussion about the Alexander Technique work we had done earlier, I described the moment when we move from sitting to standing as “and then a miracle happens.” The Orchestra moving from a pile of guitar players into a cohesive unit is a lot like that.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 1
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday October 24, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 1
11:00am
Up for the sitting in the chapel/ballroom. Breakfast. A morning of Housecraft. The property is in generally very good shape; certainly a little better every time we are here. The new (though not so “new” anymore, I guess) caretaker seems to really care, and so the facility continues to incrementally improve. Still, we need to go over the space from stem to stern so that it is at Guitar Craft standards (one of the reasons they like us here – I very much doubt there is any other group that reliably leaves the place in better condition than they found it). I was on Saint George duty for the first part of the morning, and then back to promotion duties for Thursday’s show, taking one glorious break for 20 minutes on Frank’s table.
5:25pm
The property is in very good shape. Total Level T, top to bottom and front to back. The ballroom is ready for us. The kitchen is up and running. All is good. The flood of arrivals has begun. Robert arrived around noon with Jaxie and Ingrid. Patrick is here. Tom is here. Fernie is here. The gang’s all here.
Lunch was soup. Very good. A recipe that Travis learned from Patty, which has served us very well. Spoke with Robert about logistics for the show on Thursday. Promotion may now begin. The show will be announced to the course at large at the end of the inaugural meeting.
Afternoon of putting the show out for the public to see: facebook postings and events, myspace, twitter, the Tuning the Air mailing list, my mailing list, you name it. I wonder how many people here with internet capability on their phones will have already learned about it by the time the meeting begins.
Nearly everyone has arrived, and no disasters or incidents. A couple more with later flights, but everyone should be here by suppertime. And then, the fun begins.
7:20pm
Supper running a tad late. It’s a tradition. Came back to the staff compound and worked on a guitar exercise for 15 minutes. First time I’ve picked up a guitar since I arrived. Felt strange. Familiar, but peculiar.
Working on formulating my aim. I have a sense of its essence, but haven’t quite found a way to articulate it that carries the spirit of the thing.
10:50pm
The course is on. No longer the “Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II Preparation” retreat, course, or anything else. Now, it is the Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II.
Saturday October 24, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 1
11:00am
Up for the sitting in the chapel/ballroom. Breakfast. A morning of Housecraft. The property is in generally very good shape; certainly a little better every time we are here. The new (though not so “new” anymore, I guess) caretaker seems to really care, and so the facility continues to incrementally improve. Still, we need to go over the space from stem to stern so that it is at Guitar Craft standards (one of the reasons they like us here – I very much doubt there is any other group that reliably leaves the place in better condition than they found it). I was on Saint George duty for the first part of the morning, and then back to promotion duties for Thursday’s show, taking one glorious break for 20 minutes on Frank’s table.
5:25pm
The property is in very good shape. Total Level T, top to bottom and front to back. The ballroom is ready for us. The kitchen is up and running. All is good. The flood of arrivals has begun. Robert arrived around noon with Jaxie and Ingrid. Patrick is here. Tom is here. Fernie is here. The gang’s all here.
Lunch was soup. Very good. A recipe that Travis learned from Patty, which has served us very well. Spoke with Robert about logistics for the show on Thursday. Promotion may now begin. The show will be announced to the course at large at the end of the inaugural meeting.
Afternoon of putting the show out for the public to see: facebook postings and events, myspace, twitter, the Tuning the Air mailing list, my mailing list, you name it. I wonder how many people here with internet capability on their phones will have already learned about it by the time the meeting begins.
Nearly everyone has arrived, and no disasters or incidents. A couple more with later flights, but everyone should be here by suppertime. And then, the fun begins.
7:20pm
Supper running a tad late. It’s a tradition. Came back to the staff compound and worked on a guitar exercise for 15 minutes. First time I’ve picked up a guitar since I arrived. Felt strange. Familiar, but peculiar.
Working on formulating my aim. I have a sense of its essence, but haven’t quite found a way to articulate it that carries the spirit of the thing.
10:50pm
The course is on. No longer the “Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II Preparation” retreat, course, or anything else. Now, it is the Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Moving to Raft Island
A Tuning the Air Journal
Friday October 23, 2009 – Moving to Raft Island
Up as usual. Sitting as usual, Greg there as well as Howard and Eduardo. 8am lesson as usual. End of anything usual.
Morning busy-ness preparing to depart to the OCGII Prep Retreat. A call from a participant in SF; down with the flu, and participation unlikely. Email from another in the Midwest; back thrown out, and participation in question. I’m picking 2 people up at the airport. Call from one, whose flight was delayed and rescheduled and would now arrive later. The “flight status” page on the website for the airline of the other arrival is out of commission. One of those days.
Ultimately sorted the flights out. MS was put through the ringer getting through immigration. 90 minutes of harassment. Ridiculous. But she’s here and that is all that matters. Back to my place where she met Melvin, who was rather miffed about his impending abandonment, but still managed to be charming. Packed my car, grabbed some lunch at the local pub – the final carne before the course – and hit the road, picking up the late arrival at SeaTac and continuing on to Raft Island. All went without a hitch, except for the inexplicable traffic and the periodic downpours. Preparation of the facility went like a well-oiled machine. Tony the chief cook for supper. I popped in to help from time to time, but focused on some course-related business for the most part. The chapel transformed into a ballroom with neither muss nor fuss.
Wi-fi available in the staff cabin. Bonus! Frank, Tony and me, with Fernie arriving tomorrow. The adjacent room will be for Sandra and Jaxie, who arrive tomorrow. Party central.
The primary course-related business of the day related to an email that came to me and Jaxie this morning: “after yesterday evening's performance, and waking this morning, i have the sense of The OCG performing at TTA next thursday, subject to your views.”
Well, duh.
Friday October 23, 2009 – Moving to Raft Island
Up as usual. Sitting as usual, Greg there as well as Howard and Eduardo. 8am lesson as usual. End of anything usual.
Morning busy-ness preparing to depart to the OCGII Prep Retreat. A call from a participant in SF; down with the flu, and participation unlikely. Email from another in the Midwest; back thrown out, and participation in question. I’m picking 2 people up at the airport. Call from one, whose flight was delayed and rescheduled and would now arrive later. The “flight status” page on the website for the airline of the other arrival is out of commission. One of those days.
Ultimately sorted the flights out. MS was put through the ringer getting through immigration. 90 minutes of harassment. Ridiculous. But she’s here and that is all that matters. Back to my place where she met Melvin, who was rather miffed about his impending abandonment, but still managed to be charming. Packed my car, grabbed some lunch at the local pub – the final carne before the course – and hit the road, picking up the late arrival at SeaTac and continuing on to Raft Island. All went without a hitch, except for the inexplicable traffic and the periodic downpours. Preparation of the facility went like a well-oiled machine. Tony the chief cook for supper. I popped in to help from time to time, but focused on some course-related business for the most part. The chapel transformed into a ballroom with neither muss nor fuss.
Wi-fi available in the staff cabin. Bonus! Frank, Tony and me, with Fernie arriving tomorrow. The adjacent room will be for Sandra and Jaxie, who arrive tomorrow. Party central.
The primary course-related business of the day related to an email that came to me and Jaxie this morning: “after yesterday evening's performance, and waking this morning, i have the sense of The OCG performing at TTA next thursday, subject to your views.”
Well, duh.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tuning the Air 167
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday October 22, 2009 – Tuning the Air 167
Just serves to prove what I already know: the performer has no idea how the performance is going. For the entire set I truly did not know. I was not having any kind of negativity, or anything like that. I simply couldn’t tell. The Zeppelin medley was the only place I had a strong sense that this was really good.
The word from people I trust not to shield me from the truth is that is was a very good show.
Tomorrow the entire team, except Bob and Meleah, are moving down to Gig Harbor for the Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II Residential Preparation Retreat. This may have some interesting implications for next Thursday’s show.
Tuning the Air 167
Thursday October 22, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #5
Preshow:
Thursday October 22, 2009 – Tuning the Air 167
Just serves to prove what I already know: the performer has no idea how the performance is going. For the entire set I truly did not know. I was not having any kind of negativity, or anything like that. I simply couldn’t tell. The Zeppelin medley was the only place I had a strong sense that this was really good.
The word from people I trust not to shield me from the truth is that is was a very good show.
Tomorrow the entire team, except Bob and Meleah, are moving down to Gig Harbor for the Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II Residential Preparation Retreat. This may have some interesting implications for next Thursday’s show.
Tuning the Air 167
Thursday October 22, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #5
Preshow:
Joel Palmer ImprovisationsSet:
Entrance and Zither - F Harmonic MinorEncore:
Tuning The Air - F Harmonic Minor
Zither - F Harmonic Minor: double reverse
The Wig Maker (Gibson)
Sigh and a Kiss (Williams)
Cultivating the Beat (Williams)
Prelude XXII in G Minor (Shostakovich)
Circulation in C Harmonic Minor
Voices of Ancient Children (Kabusacki/Nunez)
Batrachomyomachy (Geballe)
Aquarela do Brasil (Barrosa)
Circulation in C Major
In My Room (Wilson)
Address the audience, and musical chairs.
Tuning The Air - KfaD scale
Mevlevi Greeting - KfaD scale
King for a Day (Jensen)
My Precious Dream (Binder)
The Bus Artist (Abuladze/Metcalf)
Kashmir (Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham)
Twilight (Williams)
Thrak (Fripp) [The composer was in the audience. How could we not?]
Lament (Geballe) [Likewise]
Monday, October 19, 2009
Evening Rehearsal at the Wilsons
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday October 19, 2009 – Evening Rehearsal at the Wilsons
Gathered at the Wilsons at 8:30. Chris under the weather, so we were 8 in the circle. Began by going over the corrected score for La Rueda that Luciano sent in response to my questions. This was pretty quick work. We couldn’t exactly run the piece without Chris, but with all of the arpeggio circulators present we did manage not only to verify the parts, but to get it up to tempo and have a good look at balance and blending details. Very good work, and a clear sense that this could be up and running in pretty short order.
A couple of runs through Eye of the Needle before a break.
Last part of the rehearsal dedicated to Scorched Air. All of the circulators present, so we began with the low clockwise circulation. Once that was well established and up to tempo, on to the double circulation. Several runs through the entire piece. Still not quite ready for primetime, but beginning to show signs of life.
The question, not entirely rhetorical, posed was “how do we keep these pieces (La Rueda and Scorched Air) viable and current when we will not be rehearsing together for a couple of weeks?” The entire team, except Bob, will be moving to Raft Island for the Guitar Craft course on Friday, so it will not be possible to have full group rehearsals until the Monday after the course, 2 weeks from now. Of course, there will be a lot of work together, and that is always beneficial to the group and the show – in many ways better than rehearsal, or at least a valuable change of routine with a good dose of new information – but these are pieces that need to be practiced together if they are to be performed, and if nothing happens with them between now and our next rehearsal, we will be back to starting over with them, and that isn’t a particularly attractive future.
The rehearsal ended with some discussion about the show itself, both details and more general qualities. We don’t sit and talk about this as often as we once did, and it was both necessary and refreshing.
One more show before the course, likely with a few of the arriving participants in the audience. No idea what the show for the following week will be. It could be that the company will simply slip away for the show, and the course will go on in our absence. Or, perhaps we will bring some additional players along and incorporate some of the work we are doing in the retreat as a kind of special project. Hell… maybe we’ll pack the whole course into vans and cars and have a Tuning the Air extravaganza – it’s a Guitar Craft course and one never knows what will happen.
Monday October 19, 2009 – Evening Rehearsal at the Wilsons
Gathered at the Wilsons at 8:30. Chris under the weather, so we were 8 in the circle. Began by going over the corrected score for La Rueda that Luciano sent in response to my questions. This was pretty quick work. We couldn’t exactly run the piece without Chris, but with all of the arpeggio circulators present we did manage not only to verify the parts, but to get it up to tempo and have a good look at balance and blending details. Very good work, and a clear sense that this could be up and running in pretty short order.
A couple of runs through Eye of the Needle before a break.
Last part of the rehearsal dedicated to Scorched Air. All of the circulators present, so we began with the low clockwise circulation. Once that was well established and up to tempo, on to the double circulation. Several runs through the entire piece. Still not quite ready for primetime, but beginning to show signs of life.
The question, not entirely rhetorical, posed was “how do we keep these pieces (La Rueda and Scorched Air) viable and current when we will not be rehearsing together for a couple of weeks?” The entire team, except Bob, will be moving to Raft Island for the Guitar Craft course on Friday, so it will not be possible to have full group rehearsals until the Monday after the course, 2 weeks from now. Of course, there will be a lot of work together, and that is always beneficial to the group and the show – in many ways better than rehearsal, or at least a valuable change of routine with a good dose of new information – but these are pieces that need to be practiced together if they are to be performed, and if nothing happens with them between now and our next rehearsal, we will be back to starting over with them, and that isn’t a particularly attractive future.
The rehearsal ended with some discussion about the show itself, both details and more general qualities. We don’t sit and talk about this as often as we once did, and it was both necessary and refreshing.
One more show before the course, likely with a few of the arriving participants in the audience. No idea what the show for the following week will be. It could be that the company will simply slip away for the show, and the course will go on in our absence. Or, perhaps we will bring some additional players along and incorporate some of the work we are doing in the retreat as a kind of special project. Hell… maybe we’ll pack the whole course into vans and cars and have a Tuning the Air extravaganza – it’s a Guitar Craft course and one never knows what will happen.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Vancouver Open Circle
A Tuning the Air Journal
Sunday October 18, 2009 – Vancouver Open Circle
Managed to sleep in just a little. Once up, I hung out with the boys for a while. About 10am Pablo and I headed out for a little sight seeing and some breakfast. As best I can work out the math, it has been more than 7 years since I’ve been up here. How did that happen?
At 11am we went to the studio space where the Circle would take place; a combination graphic design office, artist loft and recording studio in an industrial neighborhood along the port. Very workable space. Our host, a friend of Pablo’s, is a jazz guitarist of long standing. NST is new to him, and he has borrowed a funky acoustic guitar for the day. Sotirios arrived, and they began arranging the room we would use, moving furniture out and setting up chairs. I practiced.
A few of the attendees began drifting in. Pablo and Sotirios were in charge of working out the tuning issues. Plenty of extra strings on hand. As 1pm approached, Pablo began to look a little nervous that people would not show. He needn’t have been concerned; at 1pm there was a deluge. All but one or two of those who had signed up were there. The circle would be 11, plus me on my feet. Tuning continued for some time. One nylon string guitar needed to be tuned down to A, and then capoed at the 3rd fret in order to accommodate NST. By 1:30 we were able to begin in earnest.
It was a pretty straightforward beginner’s circle. We began by bringing some attention and awareness to the body and then moved on to a graduated series of circulation exercises. Largely noise and chaos at the beginning. The presence of a can of beer that accompanied one of the players was a first. But after an hour of work together, a good sense of group began to emerge.
We took a short break. In the second half we worked with more rhythmic exercises, culminating in a bit of thrakkishness. I noticed a very discernable change in the group as soon as this combination of counting and visceral music was introduced. Given what I had seen at the beginning, I was pleasantly surprised at how far we were able to take this. At about 3:30, I sensed that we were where we were going to be able to get, and drew the circle to a close with a circulation. A lot of energy in the room.
After restoring the space, back to Pablo’s place to pick up my overnight bag and wish the family farewell. Uneventful drive back to Seattle, other than a slightly slow border crossing. Stopped off for supper at the local pub, where I ran into Andy and Crystal. Then home to a rather miffed cat.
Sunday October 18, 2009 – Vancouver Open Circle
Managed to sleep in just a little. Once up, I hung out with the boys for a while. About 10am Pablo and I headed out for a little sight seeing and some breakfast. As best I can work out the math, it has been more than 7 years since I’ve been up here. How did that happen?
At 11am we went to the studio space where the Circle would take place; a combination graphic design office, artist loft and recording studio in an industrial neighborhood along the port. Very workable space. Our host, a friend of Pablo’s, is a jazz guitarist of long standing. NST is new to him, and he has borrowed a funky acoustic guitar for the day. Sotirios arrived, and they began arranging the room we would use, moving furniture out and setting up chairs. I practiced.
A few of the attendees began drifting in. Pablo and Sotirios were in charge of working out the tuning issues. Plenty of extra strings on hand. As 1pm approached, Pablo began to look a little nervous that people would not show. He needn’t have been concerned; at 1pm there was a deluge. All but one or two of those who had signed up were there. The circle would be 11, plus me on my feet. Tuning continued for some time. One nylon string guitar needed to be tuned down to A, and then capoed at the 3rd fret in order to accommodate NST. By 1:30 we were able to begin in earnest.
It was a pretty straightforward beginner’s circle. We began by bringing some attention and awareness to the body and then moved on to a graduated series of circulation exercises. Largely noise and chaos at the beginning. The presence of a can of beer that accompanied one of the players was a first. But after an hour of work together, a good sense of group began to emerge.
We took a short break. In the second half we worked with more rhythmic exercises, culminating in a bit of thrakkishness. I noticed a very discernable change in the group as soon as this combination of counting and visceral music was introduced. Given what I had seen at the beginning, I was pleasantly surprised at how far we were able to take this. At about 3:30, I sensed that we were where we were going to be able to get, and drew the circle to a close with a circulation. A lot of energy in the room.
After restoring the space, back to Pablo’s place to pick up my overnight bag and wish the family farewell. Uneventful drive back to Seattle, other than a slightly slow border crossing. Stopped off for supper at the local pub, where I ran into Andy and Crystal. Then home to a rather miffed cat.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Rehearsal, House Circle, Course Management Meeting, and a drive
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday October 17, 2009 – Rehearsal, House Circle, Course Management Meeting, and a drive
Good crowd in the living room in the morning. There was a dance audition at Fremont Abbey, so all of our activities took place at my apartment.
Jaxie was out for the rehearsal, and Howard was under the weather, so there was a certain limitation on what we could address. Tony had his guitar with him, so we invited him to sit in with us, and for the first hour+ we worked on circulating “any note”, with the metronome, in eighth notes at tempos that began at quarter=120bpm and worked up to 186bpm. Bill helped with observations about out timing. With 8 players, eighth notes are regular in the circulation, so it is easy to fall into simply playing in time rather than actually circulating. We spoke about the AT theme the high flyers will be addressing at next week’s Guitar Craft course, which will be “Up”, and how that might be incorporated into how we are as we circulate. Before the break we moved to eighth note triplets, at a considerably slower tempo. In a circle of eight, this is a little more challenging, and we were not as consistently accurate in either the timing or the flow. Some discussion of why this might be.
After the break, on to La Rueda. We weren’t looking to play the piece, per se, but to go through the score and verify the parts. Tony was in Howard’s seat, and had to pick up the initiating notes of each bar, which he did quickly. Over the course of an hour, we identified a number of questions, places where the recording and the score were at variance. After the rehearsal I emailed Luciano for some clarification.
The House Team arrived at 1pm; Greg, IgorK and Mary Beth on board, with Christina under the weather and so staying home. We worked entirely in C Major, once again addressing diatonic arpeggios, triads and seventh chords, with an ear toward recognizing their quality and significance.
Jaxie, Chris and Travis arrived at 2:30 for a final pre-course meeting, focusing on the finances, travel, and all of the assorted details that are needed to get a Guitar Craft course off the ground.
At 4pm the meeting was over, and I loaded into my car for the (rainy) drive up to Vancouver, to spend the evening with Pablo and Melina and the boys before tomorrow’s inaugural Vancouver Open Circle.
Saturday October 17, 2009 – Rehearsal, House Circle, Course Management Meeting, and a drive
Good crowd in the living room in the morning. There was a dance audition at Fremont Abbey, so all of our activities took place at my apartment.
Jaxie was out for the rehearsal, and Howard was under the weather, so there was a certain limitation on what we could address. Tony had his guitar with him, so we invited him to sit in with us, and for the first hour+ we worked on circulating “any note”, with the metronome, in eighth notes at tempos that began at quarter=120bpm and worked up to 186bpm. Bill helped with observations about out timing. With 8 players, eighth notes are regular in the circulation, so it is easy to fall into simply playing in time rather than actually circulating. We spoke about the AT theme the high flyers will be addressing at next week’s Guitar Craft course, which will be “Up”, and how that might be incorporated into how we are as we circulate. Before the break we moved to eighth note triplets, at a considerably slower tempo. In a circle of eight, this is a little more challenging, and we were not as consistently accurate in either the timing or the flow. Some discussion of why this might be.
After the break, on to La Rueda. We weren’t looking to play the piece, per se, but to go through the score and verify the parts. Tony was in Howard’s seat, and had to pick up the initiating notes of each bar, which he did quickly. Over the course of an hour, we identified a number of questions, places where the recording and the score were at variance. After the rehearsal I emailed Luciano for some clarification.
The House Team arrived at 1pm; Greg, IgorK and Mary Beth on board, with Christina under the weather and so staying home. We worked entirely in C Major, once again addressing diatonic arpeggios, triads and seventh chords, with an ear toward recognizing their quality and significance.
Jaxie, Chris and Travis arrived at 2:30 for a final pre-course meeting, focusing on the finances, travel, and all of the assorted details that are needed to get a Guitar Craft course off the ground.
At 4pm the meeting was over, and I loaded into my car for the (rainy) drive up to Vancouver, to spend the evening with Pablo and Melina and the boys before tomorrow’s inaugural Vancouver Open Circle.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuning the Air 166
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday October 15, 2009 – Tuning the Air 166
Up in the pitch black dark for the morning sitting. Happily, the weather seems to have abated somewhat. Tuesday was blustery and rainy, and yesterday was borderline torrential at times. I have no solid, quantifiable, evidence that rain keeps people away from the show, but it does feel like it would be a deterrent. In truth, it seems that really good weather, especially in the spring and summer when the sun doesn’t set until late at night, is more demonstrably bad for attendance. But maybe it is all entirely in my imagination.
Good lesson with Mary Beth, working on playing all of the parts of Eye of the Needle. She is pretty much there, and even the parts she is less proficient with, she at least knows how they go and understands how they work with the other parts. After the lesson we headed over to Fremont Abbey Arts Center to hang the banner and set out the sandwich boards.
Now home, doing some cooking so that I will be able to have a solid midday meal before heading out for the show. Practicing as well. One lesson coming up in the early afternoon.
Rumor is that there is a birthday in the team today. If it is true, Horn Up Your Ass will likely make an appearance in the encore. If not, I don’t imagine Christina’s cake will go uneaten. We’ll just have to find a different reason to celebrate.
Tuning the Air 166
Thursday October 15, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #4
Preshow:
Thursday October 15, 2009 – Tuning the Air 166
Up in the pitch black dark for the morning sitting. Happily, the weather seems to have abated somewhat. Tuesday was blustery and rainy, and yesterday was borderline torrential at times. I have no solid, quantifiable, evidence that rain keeps people away from the show, but it does feel like it would be a deterrent. In truth, it seems that really good weather, especially in the spring and summer when the sun doesn’t set until late at night, is more demonstrably bad for attendance. But maybe it is all entirely in my imagination.
Good lesson with Mary Beth, working on playing all of the parts of Eye of the Needle. She is pretty much there, and even the parts she is less proficient with, she at least knows how they go and understands how they work with the other parts. After the lesson we headed over to Fremont Abbey Arts Center to hang the banner and set out the sandwich boards.
Now home, doing some cooking so that I will be able to have a solid midday meal before heading out for the show. Practicing as well. One lesson coming up in the early afternoon.
Rumor is that there is a birthday in the team today. If it is true, Horn Up Your Ass will likely make an appearance in the encore. If not, I don’t imagine Christina’s cake will go uneaten. We’ll just have to find a different reason to celebrate.
Tuning the Air 166
Thursday October 15, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #4
Preshow:
Joel Palmer ImprovisationsSet:
Entrance and Zither - F Harmonic MinorEncore Potential:
Tuning The Air - F Harmonic Minor
Zither - F Harmonic Minor: double reverse
The Wig Maker (Gibson)
Sigh and a Kiss (Williams)
Cultivating the Beat (Williams)
Prelude XXII in G Minor (Shostakovich)
Circulation in C Harmonic Minor
Voices of Ancient Children (Kabusacki/Nunez)
Batrachomyomachy (Geballe)
Aquarela do Brasil (Barrosa)
Circulation in C Major
In My Room (Wilson)
Address the audience
Tuning The Air - KfaD scale
Mevlevi Greeting - KfaD scale
King for a Day (Jensen)
My Precious Dream (Binder)
The Bus Artist (Abuladze/Metcalf)
Kashmir (Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham)
Twilight (Williams)
49 Notes (Golden)
Eye of the Needle (Fripp)
Lament (Geballe)
Little Gangsters (Little Gangsters) (Abuladze)
Music for a Found Harmonium (Jeffes)
Thrak (Fripp)
Monday, October 12, 2009
Rehearsal at the Wilsons
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday October 12, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
All nine of the performance team were present for this rehearsal. A night of fairly heavy labor. Or, perhaps just a little labored. Energy seemed low, generally. Could simply be seasonal; the sun is rising about 7:30 in the morning and setting about 6:30 in the evening, the weather is chilly and wet, and all in all there is a strong pull toward hibernation. But life goes on and we have schedules to follow.
We began by reviewing the re-orchestrated Zeppelin circulation, getting Bob up to speed on what we worked out on Saturday. Even though this circulation is not strictly metronomic, we put in some time with the metronome in order to hone the sense of flow.
That done, we moved on to “Scorched Air”. Although this was in the set last season, it is not (yet) to the point where we can drop it and pick it back up easily. After a break it requires a fair amount of detailed rehearsal work to get back into performance trim, and even when it is up and running it needs to be played at every rehearsal. The bi-directional circulation is especially tricky, but that is only the tip of the scorched iceberg. The work together in rehearsal highlighted the amount of personal work we need if we are to reanimate this beast.
For the final part of the rehearsal, we moved on to “La Rueda”. Like “Scorched Air”, it is all about the circulations, and very difficult to work on except when we are all present. This one is still very new, so the first part of any rehearsal inevitably focuses on simply remembering parts. The circulating, itself, is not too terribly difficult, and well within our comfort zone as a group. We just don’t really “know” the piece yet, and so a good portion of the rehearsal was focused on details of parts and accuracy. Tony and Christina popped in on their way home from the House Circle meeting, and sat in on the tail end of this rehearsal. Christina moved inside the circle and we were able to do a couple of runs through before we called it a night.
Monday October 12, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
All nine of the performance team were present for this rehearsal. A night of fairly heavy labor. Or, perhaps just a little labored. Energy seemed low, generally. Could simply be seasonal; the sun is rising about 7:30 in the morning and setting about 6:30 in the evening, the weather is chilly and wet, and all in all there is a strong pull toward hibernation. But life goes on and we have schedules to follow.
We began by reviewing the re-orchestrated Zeppelin circulation, getting Bob up to speed on what we worked out on Saturday. Even though this circulation is not strictly metronomic, we put in some time with the metronome in order to hone the sense of flow.
That done, we moved on to “Scorched Air”. Although this was in the set last season, it is not (yet) to the point where we can drop it and pick it back up easily. After a break it requires a fair amount of detailed rehearsal work to get back into performance trim, and even when it is up and running it needs to be played at every rehearsal. The bi-directional circulation is especially tricky, but that is only the tip of the scorched iceberg. The work together in rehearsal highlighted the amount of personal work we need if we are to reanimate this beast.
For the final part of the rehearsal, we moved on to “La Rueda”. Like “Scorched Air”, it is all about the circulations, and very difficult to work on except when we are all present. This one is still very new, so the first part of any rehearsal inevitably focuses on simply remembering parts. The circulating, itself, is not too terribly difficult, and well within our comfort zone as a group. We just don’t really “know” the piece yet, and so a good portion of the rehearsal was focused on details of parts and accuracy. Tony and Christina popped in on their way home from the House Circle meeting, and sat in on the tail end of this rehearsal. Christina moved inside the circle and we were able to do a couple of runs through before we called it a night.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Sitting, Rehearsal, and House Circle
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday October 10, 2009 – Sitting, Rehearsal, and House Circle
Good turnout for the sitting. Tony here, and Bill back from the road.
To Fremont Abbey Arts Center for rehearsal. Eight in the circle, with Bob AAD. Bill, Tony and Christina in the center. The group felt a little scattered to me, so we warmed up with 15 minutes of right hand work on a single string, gathering in the energy. From there to some circulation work with the metronome, beginning with eighth notes on a 120bpm setting, and working our way up to 156bpm.
My observation from Thursday, which kept coming back to me all day yesterday, had to do with projecting notes, and the difference between that and simply playing louder. I saw on Thursday that we need to put some intention into notes in order to carry them out into the room, and that this is qualitatively different from simply turning up the volume. We began experimenting with this on the Shostokovich prelude. We began with the left hand, played by Travis, Ian and myself, with the intention to have our notes converge in the center of the circle; to send them to this very specific spot. Quickly remembered that we also need to play to one another, and included that in the intention. Moved to the circulated right hand part, playing it with the same kind of intention to send the note out, but somewhat more complex in that the circulation vectorizes around a star-shaped pattern and that connection needs to be attended to. I listened from various parts of the room, and made some suggestions about keeping the level of all six guitars the same.
For my ears, this work made a huge difference in the vitality of the piece.
Moved on to the closing circulation of the Zeppelin medley, which has not been satisfactory yet this season. My answer, and the feeling seemed to be generally shared, was that the parts needed to be redistributed so that it is no longer vectorized and back into a straight circulation. Not the first time we have had to do this, so we made pretty short work of it. Ian sat in for Bob, and will teach him his part on Monday. We should be good to go.
After a short break, Bill took off and we moved on to a rather intensive look at the rhythm section for the “King for a Day” solos. In the Great Hall, this has been the scariest thing we play. We have managed to dodge any train wrecks, but we have definitely rounded a few corners up on two wheels, and I always come out of that part breathing a major sigh of relief, which is not really the feeling I am aiming for when performing a piece of music. We dissected it and then reassembled it in an array of forms. Extremely informative. In the end, I didn’t feel as though we had come up with a “different” way to play it, but I was very definitely hearing it differently, with a much better grasp of what to listen for as we sync these parts together.
Another short break, and in the final half hour we took advantage of Tony’s presence to review some details and correct a couple of misapprehensions on both “Batrachomyomachy” and “Lament”. If he can come on Monday, when we are all together, I’d like to run “Where Is The Nurse?” by him as well.
Primary plan for Monday, however, is “Scorched Air” and “La Rueda”.
On to my place for a meeting with the House Circle; Greg, Mary Beth, Igor K and Christina on board for today. For the first half, we took another look at how note choices affect a circulation. Working in A Minor, I moved the team from Aeolian/natural minor to Dorian to Phrygian, and then to both Melodic and Harmonic Minor. In the HM work we focused on listening for the seventh, and responding with the E7 chord.
A break, and then on to learning the basics of the six-note phrase the Performance Team is using for the Division of Attention exercise, working through the six forward and the six retrograde displacements.
A good day of work.
Saturday October 10, 2009 – Sitting, Rehearsal, and House Circle
Good turnout for the sitting. Tony here, and Bill back from the road.
To Fremont Abbey Arts Center for rehearsal. Eight in the circle, with Bob AAD. Bill, Tony and Christina in the center. The group felt a little scattered to me, so we warmed up with 15 minutes of right hand work on a single string, gathering in the energy. From there to some circulation work with the metronome, beginning with eighth notes on a 120bpm setting, and working our way up to 156bpm.
My observation from Thursday, which kept coming back to me all day yesterday, had to do with projecting notes, and the difference between that and simply playing louder. I saw on Thursday that we need to put some intention into notes in order to carry them out into the room, and that this is qualitatively different from simply turning up the volume. We began experimenting with this on the Shostokovich prelude. We began with the left hand, played by Travis, Ian and myself, with the intention to have our notes converge in the center of the circle; to send them to this very specific spot. Quickly remembered that we also need to play to one another, and included that in the intention. Moved to the circulated right hand part, playing it with the same kind of intention to send the note out, but somewhat more complex in that the circulation vectorizes around a star-shaped pattern and that connection needs to be attended to. I listened from various parts of the room, and made some suggestions about keeping the level of all six guitars the same.
For my ears, this work made a huge difference in the vitality of the piece.
Moved on to the closing circulation of the Zeppelin medley, which has not been satisfactory yet this season. My answer, and the feeling seemed to be generally shared, was that the parts needed to be redistributed so that it is no longer vectorized and back into a straight circulation. Not the first time we have had to do this, so we made pretty short work of it. Ian sat in for Bob, and will teach him his part on Monday. We should be good to go.
After a short break, Bill took off and we moved on to a rather intensive look at the rhythm section for the “King for a Day” solos. In the Great Hall, this has been the scariest thing we play. We have managed to dodge any train wrecks, but we have definitely rounded a few corners up on two wheels, and I always come out of that part breathing a major sigh of relief, which is not really the feeling I am aiming for when performing a piece of music. We dissected it and then reassembled it in an array of forms. Extremely informative. In the end, I didn’t feel as though we had come up with a “different” way to play it, but I was very definitely hearing it differently, with a much better grasp of what to listen for as we sync these parts together.
Another short break, and in the final half hour we took advantage of Tony’s presence to review some details and correct a couple of misapprehensions on both “Batrachomyomachy” and “Lament”. If he can come on Monday, when we are all together, I’d like to run “Where Is The Nurse?” by him as well.
Primary plan for Monday, however, is “Scorched Air” and “La Rueda”.
On to my place for a meeting with the House Circle; Greg, Mary Beth, Igor K and Christina on board for today. For the first half, we took another look at how note choices affect a circulation. Working in A Minor, I moved the team from Aeolian/natural minor to Dorian to Phrygian, and then to both Melodic and Harmonic Minor. In the HM work we focused on listening for the seventh, and responding with the E7 chord.
A break, and then on to learning the basics of the six-note phrase the Performance Team is using for the Division of Attention exercise, working through the six forward and the six retrograde displacements.
A good day of work.
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