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.