The Guitar Circle I
Guitar Craft 25th Anniversary Completion Course
Special Project: The Orchestra Of Crafty Guitarists III
Convento La Pace, Sassoferrato (Ancona), Italy
6:42am
After a bit more “busy work” and putting new strings on the guitar, it was still only about 11pm, but I saw that my attention was wandering and felt that I could probably sleep. I was right. Sleep came easily, in fact. Dream-filled in that uniquely jet-laggy way; lots of imagery, some vivid, but without any memory of plot or narrative. Awoke to find it was 3am, which was a pleasant surprise. Slipped back to sleep. Less sense of dreaming. Reawoke to the sound of church bells coming from atop the adjacent hill. Counted 6 bells. From my bed I could see the top of a snow capped mountain not so far away in the early morning light. It was indeed 6am. Still early – sitting is at 7:15 – so I lay about just resting for another 30 minutes before getting up and beginning my day. The heat, scheduled to come on at 6am, was on. So far, so good.
9:04am
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In the library at Claymont Court, the room where the morning sitting took place, there was a freestanding gas heater. On winter courses this was powerful incentive for getting to the sitting a little early.
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The morning sitting in the ballroom. After moving through my routine, making some decisions about which of the available exercises are most germane in this moment and under these circumstances, found myself ruminating on my aims for the course. I was reminded that there are, in fact, 3 courses taking place, and that each has a different function and each requires me to consider my aim in a slightly different context, or perhaps to examine several aspects of my aim. I was also struck in a slightly more tangible way by the need to discern the difference between Aim and Wish, and from that my personal wishes.
This is a Franciscan monastery. I am not well versed on Catholic saints, but a have at least a layman’s awareness that St Francis was associated with our relationship to animals. There is a fresco on the eastern wall of the dining hall, behind the head table, that depicts this. Thinking about the subjectively ludicrous relationship I have with the silly cat currently home alone in my apartment, and how important it is to me.
Off to practical work.
11:29am
Good work. My sense is that from the standpoint of the primary course taking place here, entitled “Guitar Circle I”, the Kitchen and the House are the central and most relevant metaphors. Catching a glimpse of the Kitchen Coordinators, I was reminded that Help is always available, but 1) when we most need it, we tend to forget that this is so, 2) we need to remember to ask, and 3) on occasion we need to demand. The corollary to this is that Help often comes in surprising ways, and not from where we expected it.
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My primary and most lasting impression from the first meal of the first Guitar Craft course on the evening of March 25, 1985 was the attention, clear intention and care put into every detail of the meal that was served by members of the Claymont community. It was not a matter of perfection, but of presence.
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Practical work, part two, for me is in my room, looking after some details. I once noticed that when a room is looking generally a little dingy even though everything is relatively clean, often all that is necessary is to clean the light fixtures and lamp shades. People rarely see this, or at least they rarely seem to do anything about it.
12:39pm
I am not sure how much of the currently active League is here on the course. I did notice, however that the other most obvious “go-to” teams in terms of offering the more traditional musical interludes within the Orchestra performance, are not here. Two-thirds of Zum is here, so no Zum mid-show mini-concert. Two-thirds of Big Time is here, so no Big Time mid-show mini-concert. And without Howard and Igor A, the heart of the Tuning the Air repertoire that worked so well within the last Orchestra performance is also unavailable. Unless there is a sufficient League with a ready repertoire, something else is going to have to happen for this performance.
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For the final performance of the first Guitar Craft course, I had the responsibility for bringing Theme I in. Nervous about the tempo, for the entire day or more before the performance I took to leaving my metronome on whenever I was in my room, at the prescribed tempo, in the hope that I could internalize and somehow “memorize” it. For that piece, I was sitting to Robert’s left (throughout the show, players moved regularly so that small groups were always sitting together as they performed, so almost no one ended the show in the seat where they began). When the time came, out of the corner of my eye I detected Robert subtly conducting the correct tempo for me with his left hand.
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3:33pm
Many more familiar faces in the house. Lunch was full of happy surprises, and now every time I walk down a hallway another newcomer appears. After lunch, felt the crash coming, but managed to redirect myself to other things, in the hope of forestalling it, or even avoiding it. I think if I can persevere to a normal bedtime, I will be over the worst. SSG homework addressed; still more to do, but progress made.
In the realm of “be careful what you assume”, after a day of turning on the tap to get some hot water up here, waiting for a sign of hot water before trying the shower, I finally gave up and resigned myself to a week of cold showers. Turned on the shower, bracing myself for the inevitable, but was hit by nearly scalding hot water. Very happy boy, and fully clean, boy. The whole bathwater all over the bathroom floor scenario remains unappealing, but life is better than I thought.
Funny thing about a life lived partly online: how many people who have never met him come up and ask me how Melvin is and who is looking after him while I am away.
10:25pm
At tea, more old friends have arrived. The tables are reorganized in a logical but clearly wrong arrangement. Thinking about saying something, an announcement is made asking for volunteers to help re-reorganize the dining room in anticipation of 108 by tomorrow.
We are working with self selection on this course. When a call for volunteers goes out, we are not raising hands. When the kitchen coordinator asks for “5 volunteers for cleanup” at such and such a time, the right people are simply expected to show up. So far, it is working. When the course gets cooking, this will be tested.
Practiced a bit, finally, after tea. Attention all over the place. Playing bad. Mind scattered. Hands misbehaving. Short fuse, no patience, and so I admitted that I needed a nap. Lay down for an hour or so. I could hear a lot of guitar playing going on. At one point someone was burning through bits of Afghanistan, which gave me a bit of a start. Feeling more rested and less fuzzy, and inspired by what I was hearing, I got back up and practiced until suppertime. Still sucked, but it was honest work.
Nearly everyone present now. Close to 100 in the dining hall for supper. A number still to arrive tomorrow.
Staff meeting with Robert after supper. Having been fed several more desserts than my fair portion, I had to struggle to maintain my attention. Checking in with the House and the Kitchen was the primary aim, since these are the most critical to get off on the right foot. A bit of discussion about how things might be organized with Alexander, and the Circle work, given the numbers and the range of experience levels. The course will officially begin tomorrow night, but things are very much under way. Dr Mike will have a Kitchen meeting after breakfast tomorrow, and since we are all the Kitchen Team, this means everyone will be in on the meeting. My sense is that things are beginning to percolate, and there may be a number of opportunities tomorrow, in addition to the continued Kitchen and House work. I am hearing small groups playing in many corners of the facility, and the facility has a lot of corners available.
After the staff meeting, Fernie found me and asked I would like to work with him and Shinkuro on Schizoid Man. I protested the lameness of my chops, but they were hearing none of it. We got together in my room, and Fernie laid it out. At about ¼ tempo it is all doable for me, although the fingerings are nearly criminal. At tempo, not so much. I will practice it more tonight before I go to bed. Not holding out a lot of hope for getting it up to performance quality, but stranger things have happened.
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