A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday September 27, 2010 – Tech Rehearsal at Fremont Abbey
The team arrived at the Abbey at 8:30. We gathered, and the Managing Director gave us our marching orders. The aim was to get the lights and sound set up as quickly as possible. Travis was working with Gene, the soundman/genius, and training Carl in the setup of the sound. Necessary backup, and freeing Travis to attend to larger concerns. Ian also worked with Greg as backup on the light setup. Redundancy in technical areas is a good thing.
We were set up in record time. Sound check was relatively painless. One small glitch in Joel’s gear was the only hang-up, and that was addressed swiftly.
Chris began calling pieces. A Day In The Life, Vrooom, My Precious Dream, Ninth Guitar E (as far as we know it so far), and even the first page of Neptune. Joel was so hot in Space Zombies! From Outer Space! that the guitarist were tripping over their own smiles, and so we did it again. Greg, from his post in the center of the circle, registered an unambiguously thrilled thumbs up on Neptune. A good night all the way around. The work that needs to be done between now and opening night was definitely clear, but the sense was that it is totally doable.
Striking the set was notably efficient. We're getting pretty good at this.
Thursday evening we rehearse at the Wilsons. On Saturday, the Open Circle and then the Performance Team rehearses. The set list for opening night will be set, and it will be run at the dress rehearsal next Monday. On our way!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Full Team Circle and Performance Team Rehearsal, and Tech Preparation
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday September 25, 2010 – Full Team Circle and Performance Team Rehearsal, and Tech Preparation
Ah, the perils of having 4 rather major and time-demanding projects all on the front burner… the Tuning the Air blog ends up fifth in line, and too often left off entirely. Mia Culpa.
Monday and Thursday were evening rehearsals at the Wilsons, and today we were at Fremont Abbey for an hour of full team self-organized musical work, followed by a Performance Team rehearsal and an hour or so of practical work around the Abbey.
For the full group hour we began again with wordless improvisation, and as with last week it was very satisfying on every level – good group interaction, thoughtful but still playful. High level work. Toward the end of the hour, the suggestion was made that Chris begin presenting the De Hartmann piece to this group. He showed us the first 8 bars. In earlier Performance Team rehearsal, he had assigned parts, but for this we all learned every part, and then gravitated to the one that best fit us. With very little adjustment of assignments, an excellent balance and sound was achieved, and the sense that this is the right group to be taking the piece on.
A short break, and then we transitioned into Performance Team rehearsal mode. Earlier in the week the Musical Director had the epiphany that all Music Directors always have about 2 weeks before opening: we are nowhere near ready to perform, and we have very limited rehearsal time. So the heat was turned up on the Performance Team get our practice regimen amped up, our established repertoire up to performance level, and to get a firm handle on the new material that has been presented thus far. For today’s rehearsal, we touched briefly on Vroom, and it was clear that the challenge had been taken up. Not quite performance-ready, but the path to performance-readiness is clear. Then on to Bob’s Ninth Guitar E. Here we are still at the beginning of the learning curve on the composed sections, and just a little further along on the improvs. We worked primarily on getting the next 8 bars up and running. This took some time, but we crossed a certain threshold, and the general feeling was that the impossible was becoming possible. A much clearer picture of the Whole, and how these individual parts and sections fit in. Again, not performance-ready, but the path is much clearer, and the necessary work very straight-forward.
Then on to Neptune. Still the most daunting of the new material, our full parts had arrived this week and we are in a position to begin to dive into the Music much more seriously, again with a much better grasp of whole. In the case of this piece, rehearsing the group is the work most needed. Individual parts are not particularly difficult or complex in themselves, but everyone has a separate part. There is no duplication, so the way they connect to one another, and the way the various sections flow from one to the next – that is the real challenge. While a modicum of personal work to learn and memorize the parts is called for, it will be the group work that brings this little gem to life. So little time, so much to do.
After rehearsal, a small team remained at the Abbey to install some shelving in the storage area, while the rest of us drove to the TTA storage unit to collect everything we need for the show; lighting rigs, PA and house stuff. By the time we got back, the shelves were ready and we stowed the gear away. Monday night will be a tech rehearsal, which generally means a lot of tech and not a lot of rehearsal. Necessary, of course, but wouldn’t it be nice to be spending that time on Neptune?
Saturday September 25, 2010 – Full Team Circle and Performance Team Rehearsal, and Tech Preparation
Ah, the perils of having 4 rather major and time-demanding projects all on the front burner… the Tuning the Air blog ends up fifth in line, and too often left off entirely. Mia Culpa.
Monday and Thursday were evening rehearsals at the Wilsons, and today we were at Fremont Abbey for an hour of full team self-organized musical work, followed by a Performance Team rehearsal and an hour or so of practical work around the Abbey.
For the full group hour we began again with wordless improvisation, and as with last week it was very satisfying on every level – good group interaction, thoughtful but still playful. High level work. Toward the end of the hour, the suggestion was made that Chris begin presenting the De Hartmann piece to this group. He showed us the first 8 bars. In earlier Performance Team rehearsal, he had assigned parts, but for this we all learned every part, and then gravitated to the one that best fit us. With very little adjustment of assignments, an excellent balance and sound was achieved, and the sense that this is the right group to be taking the piece on.
A short break, and then we transitioned into Performance Team rehearsal mode. Earlier in the week the Musical Director had the epiphany that all Music Directors always have about 2 weeks before opening: we are nowhere near ready to perform, and we have very limited rehearsal time. So the heat was turned up on the Performance Team get our practice regimen amped up, our established repertoire up to performance level, and to get a firm handle on the new material that has been presented thus far. For today’s rehearsal, we touched briefly on Vroom, and it was clear that the challenge had been taken up. Not quite performance-ready, but the path to performance-readiness is clear. Then on to Bob’s Ninth Guitar E. Here we are still at the beginning of the learning curve on the composed sections, and just a little further along on the improvs. We worked primarily on getting the next 8 bars up and running. This took some time, but we crossed a certain threshold, and the general feeling was that the impossible was becoming possible. A much clearer picture of the Whole, and how these individual parts and sections fit in. Again, not performance-ready, but the path is much clearer, and the necessary work very straight-forward.
Then on to Neptune. Still the most daunting of the new material, our full parts had arrived this week and we are in a position to begin to dive into the Music much more seriously, again with a much better grasp of whole. In the case of this piece, rehearsing the group is the work most needed. Individual parts are not particularly difficult or complex in themselves, but everyone has a separate part. There is no duplication, so the way they connect to one another, and the way the various sections flow from one to the next – that is the real challenge. While a modicum of personal work to learn and memorize the parts is called for, it will be the group work that brings this little gem to life. So little time, so much to do.
After rehearsal, a small team remained at the Abbey to install some shelving in the storage area, while the rest of us drove to the TTA storage unit to collect everything we need for the show; lighting rigs, PA and house stuff. By the time we got back, the shelves were ready and we stowed the gear away. Monday night will be a tech rehearsal, which generally means a lot of tech and not a lot of rehearsal. Necessary, of course, but wouldn’t it be nice to be spending that time on Neptune?
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Full Team Circle and Performance Team Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday September 18, 2010 – Full Team Circle and Performance Team Rehearsal
For me, this was a big day.
Last season we saw that there was a need for the Tuning the Air company to spend more time working together in the circle. We were opening up the show to more improvisation, and more intentional hazard. But we had settled into small working groups – the Performance Team, the House Circle, Sgt Bones, etc – and were not making the opportunities for all of us to sit in the circle and work together. There were times when I got together with the House Team on guitars (this morphed into the Music Lab), and of course there was the Monthly Open Circle where we could all take part. But the open circle is geared for beginners, and the music lab is specifically “educational”. So we changed the weekly schedule to include 90 minutes on Saturday morning for the whole team. We invited Frank to take charge of these sessions, so that the entire team (myself included) could focus on the work. In this way, Alexander Technique became the unifying theme for the season, with a specific focus on breath and breathing. Sandra Bain Cushman came into town for a week of intensive work, that mirrored and amplified what we were doing with Frank.
We made a lot of changes last season, so it is difficult to say precisely what was responsible for the huge qualitative shift that occurred, but I feel very strongly that it all sprang from the foundation of this work together.
This year as we began the pre-preparation for the new season, the question of what it takes to be on the performance team arose on a number of occastions. In our 5 years we have lost a number of players to normal attrition and necessity, and we have added a few players as well. There are certainly quantifiable standards and requirements that we could enumerate; but the truth is that no one currently on the performance team has absolute command of everything that might appear on that list. Clearly, it is not a matter of checking off items on a list of skills.
In fact – and this is the tricky bit – skill is not sufficient. There will never be a Tuning the Air audition. There is something else. For myself, I always know when someone is ready to be on the team – I can’t explain it, and it is always impossible to justify/rationalize on the basis of qualitative standards.
The x-factor is that it really comes down to “what does Tuning the Air need?”
Parenthetically, in every case I have known when a player is leaving the performance team, because I have seen that in fact they have already left. I was “taken by surprise” only once, and frankly that was because I really, really didn’t want to see what I was seeing; active denial – not a useful quality, but a human one I suppose.
So, in discussing the question of what it takes to be on the performance team with the Tuning the Air Artistic Director, Music Director and Managing Director, I came to the conclusion that holding the question is better than sitting down and trying to answer it. It is something that needs to be seen, rather than enumerated. Holding the question is active. The decision, then, was to dedicate the full company portion of the Saturday morning rehearsal to working together at the highest musical level we can, giving everyone who wishes the opportunity to see themselves in that circumstance, and hopefully to recognized the qualities required, as well as the skills.
We know how to do this. It is not a class. I do not have a pile of exercises that will unfold to reveal the answers. It is not for me or anyone else to “teach”.
So, without any preconceived plan, we set ourselves up in the circle, and sat for a few minutes in silence. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jaxie’s hands move to her guitar. We all responded by quietly bringing ourselves to a place of readiness and responsiveness. She played a note and passed it across the circle. Forty-five minutes later, the improvisation came to its completion. Fantastic.
Compared to that, the Performance Team rehearsal that followed was mundane. Necessary, and very good work done on a very practical level. I actually love this part of the process.
We dove into Vroom once more. I am substantially off-book at this point. There are 3 parts that I still use the score for, but it is more of a security blanket than a necessity. Two of the sections are short, rhythmically eccentric lines that simply need a bit of drilling. This rehearsal served that purpose for one of them, and a little practice before Monday should take care of the other. Then there is one long but technically very easy passage that simply needs memorization. This should also be possible before Monday. The primary accomplishment of this rehearsal was that we reached a full-group understanding of the piece. A very clear sense that we have turned the corner from hacking through the parts to addressing the Music.
Ran The Children’s Hour, A Day In The Life and Space Zombies! From Outer Space!, taking a few moments as necessary to address problem areas. The rehearsal ended with a little more R&D on Holzt’s Neptune, which we are chomping at the bit to get up and running.
Saturday September 18, 2010 – Full Team Circle and Performance Team Rehearsal
For me, this was a big day.
Last season we saw that there was a need for the Tuning the Air company to spend more time working together in the circle. We were opening up the show to more improvisation, and more intentional hazard. But we had settled into small working groups – the Performance Team, the House Circle, Sgt Bones, etc – and were not making the opportunities for all of us to sit in the circle and work together. There were times when I got together with the House Team on guitars (this morphed into the Music Lab), and of course there was the Monthly Open Circle where we could all take part. But the open circle is geared for beginners, and the music lab is specifically “educational”. So we changed the weekly schedule to include 90 minutes on Saturday morning for the whole team. We invited Frank to take charge of these sessions, so that the entire team (myself included) could focus on the work. In this way, Alexander Technique became the unifying theme for the season, with a specific focus on breath and breathing. Sandra Bain Cushman came into town for a week of intensive work, that mirrored and amplified what we were doing with Frank.
We made a lot of changes last season, so it is difficult to say precisely what was responsible for the huge qualitative shift that occurred, but I feel very strongly that it all sprang from the foundation of this work together.
This year as we began the pre-preparation for the new season, the question of what it takes to be on the performance team arose on a number of occastions. In our 5 years we have lost a number of players to normal attrition and necessity, and we have added a few players as well. There are certainly quantifiable standards and requirements that we could enumerate; but the truth is that no one currently on the performance team has absolute command of everything that might appear on that list. Clearly, it is not a matter of checking off items on a list of skills.
In fact – and this is the tricky bit – skill is not sufficient. There will never be a Tuning the Air audition. There is something else. For myself, I always know when someone is ready to be on the team – I can’t explain it, and it is always impossible to justify/rationalize on the basis of qualitative standards.
The x-factor is that it really comes down to “what does Tuning the Air need?”
Parenthetically, in every case I have known when a player is leaving the performance team, because I have seen that in fact they have already left. I was “taken by surprise” only once, and frankly that was because I really, really didn’t want to see what I was seeing; active denial – not a useful quality, but a human one I suppose.
So, in discussing the question of what it takes to be on the performance team with the Tuning the Air Artistic Director, Music Director and Managing Director, I came to the conclusion that holding the question is better than sitting down and trying to answer it. It is something that needs to be seen, rather than enumerated. Holding the question is active. The decision, then, was to dedicate the full company portion of the Saturday morning rehearsal to working together at the highest musical level we can, giving everyone who wishes the opportunity to see themselves in that circumstance, and hopefully to recognized the qualities required, as well as the skills.
We know how to do this. It is not a class. I do not have a pile of exercises that will unfold to reveal the answers. It is not for me or anyone else to “teach”.
So, without any preconceived plan, we set ourselves up in the circle, and sat for a few minutes in silence. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jaxie’s hands move to her guitar. We all responded by quietly bringing ourselves to a place of readiness and responsiveness. She played a note and passed it across the circle. Forty-five minutes later, the improvisation came to its completion. Fantastic.
Compared to that, the Performance Team rehearsal that followed was mundane. Necessary, and very good work done on a very practical level. I actually love this part of the process.
We dove into Vroom once more. I am substantially off-book at this point. There are 3 parts that I still use the score for, but it is more of a security blanket than a necessity. Two of the sections are short, rhythmically eccentric lines that simply need a bit of drilling. This rehearsal served that purpose for one of them, and a little practice before Monday should take care of the other. Then there is one long but technically very easy passage that simply needs memorization. This should also be possible before Monday. The primary accomplishment of this rehearsal was that we reached a full-group understanding of the piece. A very clear sense that we have turned the corner from hacking through the parts to addressing the Music.
Ran The Children’s Hour, A Day In The Life and Space Zombies! From Outer Space!, taking a few moments as necessary to address problem areas. The rehearsal ended with a little more R&D on Holzt’s Neptune, which we are chomping at the bit to get up and running.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Performance Team Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday September 16, 2010 – Performance Team Rehearsal
Since Thursday is gig night during the season, we have decided to go ahead and set it aside for rehearsals during the preparation period. The full team was all present and accounted for at the Wilsons tonight. As is our practice this season, we opened with a bit of open circulation.
The work for tonight continued to focus on new material, and material that was new last season. We began with Vroom. We began looking at the “bass solo” sections, where the lead players are playing cross-picking figures in 7, Mary Beth and I are playing the low bass accompaniment, and Travis and Chris have the bass solo/melody. Each part has its particular challenges, and we had not yet picked this section apart to understand what is happening, and how these parts are related. Until now, in our run-throughs, simply getting to the end of the section at the same time was a major success. This is the kind of detail work that indicates we are beginning to change modes in our own process. We spent the better part of the rehearsal on this, resisting the temptation to spend a lot of time breaking up into sections, except for a period when Chris and Travis slipped away to compare notes on the tricky timing of the solo.
Grunt work, but necessary and useful grunt work.
After the break, we again touched on A Day In The Life, Space Zombies! From Outer Space! and The Children’s Hour, and a bit more R&D on Prayer of Gratitude.
Thursday September 16, 2010 – Performance Team Rehearsal
Since Thursday is gig night during the season, we have decided to go ahead and set it aside for rehearsals during the preparation period. The full team was all present and accounted for at the Wilsons tonight. As is our practice this season, we opened with a bit of open circulation.
The work for tonight continued to focus on new material, and material that was new last season. We began with Vroom. We began looking at the “bass solo” sections, where the lead players are playing cross-picking figures in 7, Mary Beth and I are playing the low bass accompaniment, and Travis and Chris have the bass solo/melody. Each part has its particular challenges, and we had not yet picked this section apart to understand what is happening, and how these parts are related. Until now, in our run-throughs, simply getting to the end of the section at the same time was a major success. This is the kind of detail work that indicates we are beginning to change modes in our own process. We spent the better part of the rehearsal on this, resisting the temptation to spend a lot of time breaking up into sections, except for a period when Chris and Travis slipped away to compare notes on the tricky timing of the solo.
Grunt work, but necessary and useful grunt work.
After the break, we again touched on A Day In The Life, Space Zombies! From Outer Space! and The Children’s Hour, and a bit more R&D on Prayer of Gratitude.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
An Evening With Sgt Bones
A Tuning the Air Journal
Wednesday September 15, 2010 – An Evening With Sgt Bones
Was called upon by Sgt Bones, my current favorite guitar-circle-related band, to give them some feedback on the state of their repertoire.
It was a lot of fun. I have spent a large part of the last 25 years working with guitar circles at the beginner level, where simply making it through a piece with all of the notes in the right place is a legitimate reason for celebration. Happily, this is a group that is moving into the next stage of the process. The notes are there. What is necessary for them lies in the realm of Quality; musical choices, phrasing, breathing and performing. Part of the challenge is to let go of the concerns of the first phase; to trust that the notes will be there in the right place, and to attend to other matters.
They ran their set: 49 Notes, a circulation in G Harmonic Minor, Eye of the Needle, Lament, and Big Rock Candy Mountain. I just listened, watched, and took it in, making occasional notes to myself. Melvin kibitzed. Afterward, we talked a little about where they are, and then I walked through the pieces one at a time, consulting my internal notes, and trying out a few ideas. Almost everything we worked with had to do with trusting that the work they have done thus far will not fail them, and to move into matters of playing as a group. Much of this was not new news to them, clearly, but perhaps hearing it from a fresh corner helped to drive it home. And with any luck I may have been able to clear up one or two questions of detail on the performance of these pieces.
A good way to spend an evening.
Sgt Bones on Facebook
Sgt Bones monthly podcasts
Wednesday September 15, 2010 – An Evening With Sgt Bones
Was called upon by Sgt Bones, my current favorite guitar-circle-related band, to give them some feedback on the state of their repertoire.
It was a lot of fun. I have spent a large part of the last 25 years working with guitar circles at the beginner level, where simply making it through a piece with all of the notes in the right place is a legitimate reason for celebration. Happily, this is a group that is moving into the next stage of the process. The notes are there. What is necessary for them lies in the realm of Quality; musical choices, phrasing, breathing and performing. Part of the challenge is to let go of the concerns of the first phase; to trust that the notes will be there in the right place, and to attend to other matters.
They ran their set: 49 Notes, a circulation in G Harmonic Minor, Eye of the Needle, Lament, and Big Rock Candy Mountain. I just listened, watched, and took it in, making occasional notes to myself. Melvin kibitzed. Afterward, we talked a little about where they are, and then I walked through the pieces one at a time, consulting my internal notes, and trying out a few ideas. Almost everything we worked with had to do with trusting that the work they have done thus far will not fail them, and to move into matters of playing as a group. Much of this was not new news to them, clearly, but perhaps hearing it from a fresh corner helped to drive it home. And with any luck I may have been able to clear up one or two questions of detail on the performance of these pieces.
A good way to spend an evening.
Sgt Bones on Facebook
Sgt Bones monthly podcasts
Monday, September 13, 2010
Performance Team Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday September 13, 2010 – Performance Team Rehearsal
The Music Director had to work tonight, but left a couple of instructions that boiled down to “Circulate” and Vroom.
We began with some free circulations, helping us to get back into the group groove. Next, a bit of the C Augmented Scale (C-C#-E-F-G#-A), which had the dual virtues of keeping us circulating, while continuing to explore one of the tonalities used in the Voodoo Situation.
Straight on to Vroom. The bass players (Mary Beth, Travis and myself – Chris is also on bass, but was absent tonight) excused ourselves and headed to the back room to address a particular passage with very tricky timing. This took some time. The lead players drilled their parts with the metronome. When we rejoined the group, we began by putting the bass part we were concerned with into context by playing it all together. This helped to make sense of what feels like a strangely disjointed rhythm when played alone. Expanded the part we were practicing, adding the sections that come before and after, eventually opening up to the entire piece which we ran several times. Not yet presentable, but very definite progress and an increased sense that this is doable. Some insights into where the metronome does and does not work with this piece. We are asked to be off book for Thursday’s rehearsal, so there is personal work to be done.
It was already late at this point. We took a short break and then reconvened for the final 20 minutes to run some of the newer material from last season; specifically A Day In The Life and The Children’s Hour. Travis had missed Saturday’s rehearsal when we confronted all of the current repertoire. He has very specific roles to play on these pieces, and it took a little while for him to get them back into his hands.
Next rehearsal: Thursday evening.
Monday September 13, 2010 – Performance Team Rehearsal
The Music Director had to work tonight, but left a couple of instructions that boiled down to “Circulate” and Vroom.
We began with some free circulations, helping us to get back into the group groove. Next, a bit of the C Augmented Scale (C-C#-E-F-G#-A), which had the dual virtues of keeping us circulating, while continuing to explore one of the tonalities used in the Voodoo Situation.
Straight on to Vroom. The bass players (Mary Beth, Travis and myself – Chris is also on bass, but was absent tonight) excused ourselves and headed to the back room to address a particular passage with very tricky timing. This took some time. The lead players drilled their parts with the metronome. When we rejoined the group, we began by putting the bass part we were concerned with into context by playing it all together. This helped to make sense of what feels like a strangely disjointed rhythm when played alone. Expanded the part we were practicing, adding the sections that come before and after, eventually opening up to the entire piece which we ran several times. Not yet presentable, but very definite progress and an increased sense that this is doable. Some insights into where the metronome does and does not work with this piece. We are asked to be off book for Thursday’s rehearsal, so there is personal work to be done.
It was already late at this point. We took a short break and then reconvened for the final 20 minutes to run some of the newer material from last season; specifically A Day In The Life and The Children’s Hour. Travis had missed Saturday’s rehearsal when we confronted all of the current repertoire. He has very specific roles to play on these pieces, and it took a little while for him to get them back into his hands.
Next rehearsal: Thursday evening.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Monthly Open Circle and TTA Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday September 11, 2010 – Monthly Open Circle and TTA Rehearsal
Not a terribly early beginning. This season the Saturday morning group sitting will be at 9am on Open Circle days (8:30am on regular rehearsal Saturdays), so it was an easy morning. After the sitting, we migrated to Fremont Abbey (by way of assorted coffee shops), for the 10am Open Circle. Eight in attendance, all from the TTA company. Two newcomers had signed up, but they did not show. Since this was a group of players with circle experience, I decided to sit in the circle myself rather than direct the work from my feet. One of the plans for this season is to set aside the first hour of every Saturday rehearsal for the full group, not just the performance team, and to work on more challenging circulation work and other exercises. With no newcomers, this felt more like that than an Open Circle, and I decided to go with it.
We circulated for two hours, taking several different strategies for contending with dual circulations – bidirectional circulating, bidirectional with one on the off-beat, bidirectonal with one moving at double-time, and two circulations in the same direction with one at double-time. Interesting to look at the difference in experience between working to perceive and enter into the circulation, and actually breaking it down in terms of counting in order to execute it with some reliable accuracy.
At noon, out the door and back to my place (by way of various grocery stores for snacks and sustenance). Chris had made a mistake in the scheduling email, listing rehearsal time as 1pm rather than 12:30, so those of us who had been at the morning circle chilled out and snacked at leisure until 1pm when the others arrived. Wishing to keep to the 3-hour rehearsal plan, we determined that everyone was available to 4pm, and then dove in.
This was reality check day. We began with the new material from last season: The Children’s Hour, A Day In The Life, and Space Zombies! From Outer Space! Chris’ sense was that these would be the most difficult to get back, and his intuition was borne out. Sobering. Most of us had to dig for our scores. Several times through each, getting them up and running, reviewing target tempos and remembering musical indications. Our work is cut out for us.
A break, and then into our core repertoire; pieces we have been playing for some time. We simply ran these as a way to begin to reconnect and take inventory of the work ahead. Here we revealed mostly rust, and it was clear that there is both individual and group work to be done.
Another short break, followed by a bit of discussion about some work we could consider taking on for this season, as a group. This rather naturally moved us to an arrangement Chris is working on of a de Hartmann piano piece, one of the pieces of new material that we have been playing with off and on during the August “R&D” rehearsals. Lovely, and full of potential. Next was a down and dirty look at Vroom, showing improvement but still needing some very focused work supported by a lot of personal work. We skipped past Neptune, as Taylor has not completed the arrangement, but took the opportunity to nag him to get on it since there is very strong support for getting it up and running for this season. We also passed on the Voodoo Situation for this week. For the last 15 minutes we looked at learning a few bars of Bob’s anagrammatical opus. In August we had been focusing on a specific section involving some structured group improvisation, but we had not yet heard any of the music that will surround it, so this was our first exposure.
Saturday September 11, 2010 – Monthly Open Circle and TTA Rehearsal
Not a terribly early beginning. This season the Saturday morning group sitting will be at 9am on Open Circle days (8:30am on regular rehearsal Saturdays), so it was an easy morning. After the sitting, we migrated to Fremont Abbey (by way of assorted coffee shops), for the 10am Open Circle. Eight in attendance, all from the TTA company. Two newcomers had signed up, but they did not show. Since this was a group of players with circle experience, I decided to sit in the circle myself rather than direct the work from my feet. One of the plans for this season is to set aside the first hour of every Saturday rehearsal for the full group, not just the performance team, and to work on more challenging circulation work and other exercises. With no newcomers, this felt more like that than an Open Circle, and I decided to go with it.
We circulated for two hours, taking several different strategies for contending with dual circulations – bidirectional circulating, bidirectional with one on the off-beat, bidirectonal with one moving at double-time, and two circulations in the same direction with one at double-time. Interesting to look at the difference in experience between working to perceive and enter into the circulation, and actually breaking it down in terms of counting in order to execute it with some reliable accuracy.
At noon, out the door and back to my place (by way of various grocery stores for snacks and sustenance). Chris had made a mistake in the scheduling email, listing rehearsal time as 1pm rather than 12:30, so those of us who had been at the morning circle chilled out and snacked at leisure until 1pm when the others arrived. Wishing to keep to the 3-hour rehearsal plan, we determined that everyone was available to 4pm, and then dove in.
This was reality check day. We began with the new material from last season: The Children’s Hour, A Day In The Life, and Space Zombies! From Outer Space! Chris’ sense was that these would be the most difficult to get back, and his intuition was borne out. Sobering. Most of us had to dig for our scores. Several times through each, getting them up and running, reviewing target tempos and remembering musical indications. Our work is cut out for us.
A break, and then into our core repertoire; pieces we have been playing for some time. We simply ran these as a way to begin to reconnect and take inventory of the work ahead. Here we revealed mostly rust, and it was clear that there is both individual and group work to be done.
Another short break, followed by a bit of discussion about some work we could consider taking on for this season, as a group. This rather naturally moved us to an arrangement Chris is working on of a de Hartmann piano piece, one of the pieces of new material that we have been playing with off and on during the August “R&D” rehearsals. Lovely, and full of potential. Next was a down and dirty look at Vroom, showing improvement but still needing some very focused work supported by a lot of personal work. We skipped past Neptune, as Taylor has not completed the arrangement, but took the opportunity to nag him to get on it since there is very strong support for getting it up and running for this season. We also passed on the Voodoo Situation for this week. For the last 15 minutes we looked at learning a few bars of Bob’s anagrammatical opus. In August we had been focusing on a specific section involving some structured group improvisation, but we had not yet heard any of the music that will surround it, so this was our first exposure.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Begin with the Creative...
Begin with the Creative...
Seattle Circle Guitar School Mission Statement
The Seattle Circle Guitar School is a nonprofit music school devoted to opening the door to the creative process for children and adults, regardless of previous training or experience. Our approach emerges from the knowledge that learning to play music together contains endless possibilities for growth, and that the experience gained through this process develops skills that are essential.
Music Instruction Turned Inside Out
We have turned traditional musical instruction on its head. We begin by immersing students in a musical environment where they are composing and experimenting on their first days in class. The master musician is able to play and have fun while calling directly on the Muse. We treat the children as if they are master musicians and gradually build in the skills needed to actually move toward this goal. We introduce skills as the child recognizes the need for them: my pick keeps falling out of my hand! Well, let's take a closer look at how to hold the pick, then. If we can remain in contact with this spirit of exploration and play while developing skills, then our journey is joyful and we remain in contact with the spirit of music.
Working within the guitar circle, we open the door to a world where learning is a meaningful inquiry. Once we have a taste of this playful and joyful spirit, then any musical pursuit is enriched.
Our Approach Is Experiential
Music is primarily a collaborative activity, and the skills we develop in the process have far reaching application. We learn by doing, by failing, by doing again in the light of what we have learned. What we experience is ours, and cannot be taken away or forgotten. It informs us as we look ahead to where we want to go, and helps us to see for ourselves what we need in order to get there.
Make This Sound
The Seattle Circle Guitar School works within the oral tradition of music, engaging our students with the actual sound and feel of music as presented by practicing musicians. Throughout history and in every culture, musical education has been transmitted through apprenticeship. Music is best learned by being around musicians, listening to and playing with musicians.
Engaging The Whole Body
Crucial to our enjoyment and long-term participation in music is how we use our bodies - if it is physically hard, uncomfortable or painful to play, we won't have fun! The SCGS faculty has a strong background in Alexander Technique. The aim here is freedom and relaxation in the body; release of unnecessary tension; engagement and direction of attention; and the ability to respond to each other, to the situation, and to Music itself.
Where Did All This Space Come From?
In the experience of playing music, sometimes a new world opens up: a world with lots of space in it.
The Guitar Circle
The Guitar Circle embodies a new approach to guitar instruction and music-making as developed over 25 years in Guitar Craft, which was founded in 1985 by Robert Fripp. When a group of people sit together in a circle with guitars, something happens which does not happen any other way, and we can get a glimpse of something magical.
“I wish I had had the opportunity to play this way when I was a child…they are learning how to play cooperatively, listen carefully, and have fun playing together!” - Marian Wagner, 3rd grade teacher, Salmon Bay School
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Weekend at CCMAC: Sessions #5 and Departure
A Tuning the Air Journal
Sunday August 29, 2010 – Weekend at CCMAC: Sessions #5 and Departure
Sunday August 29, 2010
Copper Colored Mountain Arts Center
Ann Arbor, MI
5:00am – Rise
5:30am – 1-hour silent meditation with community
6:30am – Free time/breakfast
9:00am – Community blessing (without doughnuts this time)
9:30am – Free time
1:00pm – Lunch
2:00pm – Session #5
3:30pm – Seminar completion
4:45pm – Departure for Airport
Up again for the 5:30 sitting. Made some minor adjustments, and avoided yesterday’s discomfort in my legs. Back to the house for a bit of breakfast, and then a morning mostly to myself. The community had some community business to attend to. I read, showered, and got myself more or less packed and ready to head for the airport after the afternoon session. Lovely lunch of homemade pesto (basil grown here on the property). Got a tour of the second barn which has a room on the top floor with 4 walls of stunning Tibetan-style paintings of various relevant deities and teachers. My understanding of Buddhist practice and tradition is woefully inadequate, but the shear artistic impact was impressive and wonderful.
Session #5, our final session, began at 2pm. I did not plan on a heavy work session, but primarily aimed to bring the various threads of inquiry from the weekend to a completion. I began with putting the rhythmic figures the team had memorized and practiced, together. Again I was pleased to discover that this had been taken seriously, and so I was able to move the exercise much further along than I had dared to hope or anticipate. More work with boomwhackers, taking the basic circulation exercises we had explored yet another step.
We re-gathered in the circle to share observations before drawing the weekend to a close. Very good insights that indicated to me that what was being presented, beyond the superficial activities, was comprehended and the team seemed to recognize the value of what they had experienced. Ended the meeting and the class with the Tuning the Air hand clap circulation and “let it go” gesture, which brought the weekend to a very powerful completion for me.
A little free time. Got my stuff together and ready for travel. Cleaned out my room. Walked about the property enjoying the heat. Hit the road for the Detroit Airport a little before 5pm. Breezed through security. Had time to grab some functionally adequate food before departure time, since there would be no food on the plane and nothing in my refrigerator when I got home.
Travel was smooth. I even had no one in the seats adjacent to me – almost unheard of these days. The only dark spot on the trip was the brain-dead Delta employee at the gate who saw the duffle bag I was carrying the boomwhackers in and insisted that it would not fit in the overhead. My explanation that on the way out it had fit just fine, taking up the same space as a little wheelie bag, did not sway her. The fact that it fit in the stupid little measuring thing at the gate was not enough to convince her that her estimation of the bags size was possibly in error. Meanwhile, as this conversation was going on, people were passing by us dragging steamer trunks on wheels that were never going to fit in any overhead compartment ever. In the end her idiocy trumped my energy for argument, and the bag was checked. Pea brains rule the world. Not enough to spoil my weekend, though.
Back to Day 2
Sunday August 29, 2010 – Weekend at CCMAC: Sessions #5 and Departure
Sunday August 29, 2010
Copper Colored Mountain Arts Center
Ann Arbor, MI
5:00am – Rise
5:30am – 1-hour silent meditation with community
6:30am – Free time/breakfast
9:00am – Community blessing (without doughnuts this time)
9:30am – Free time
1:00pm – Lunch
2:00pm – Session #5
3:30pm – Seminar completion
4:45pm – Departure for Airport
Up again for the 5:30 sitting. Made some minor adjustments, and avoided yesterday’s discomfort in my legs. Back to the house for a bit of breakfast, and then a morning mostly to myself. The community had some community business to attend to. I read, showered, and got myself more or less packed and ready to head for the airport after the afternoon session. Lovely lunch of homemade pesto (basil grown here on the property). Got a tour of the second barn which has a room on the top floor with 4 walls of stunning Tibetan-style paintings of various relevant deities and teachers. My understanding of Buddhist practice and tradition is woefully inadequate, but the shear artistic impact was impressive and wonderful.
Session #5, our final session, began at 2pm. I did not plan on a heavy work session, but primarily aimed to bring the various threads of inquiry from the weekend to a completion. I began with putting the rhythmic figures the team had memorized and practiced, together. Again I was pleased to discover that this had been taken seriously, and so I was able to move the exercise much further along than I had dared to hope or anticipate. More work with boomwhackers, taking the basic circulation exercises we had explored yet another step.
We re-gathered in the circle to share observations before drawing the weekend to a close. Very good insights that indicated to me that what was being presented, beyond the superficial activities, was comprehended and the team seemed to recognize the value of what they had experienced. Ended the meeting and the class with the Tuning the Air hand clap circulation and “let it go” gesture, which brought the weekend to a very powerful completion for me.
A little free time. Got my stuff together and ready for travel. Cleaned out my room. Walked about the property enjoying the heat. Hit the road for the Detroit Airport a little before 5pm. Breezed through security. Had time to grab some functionally adequate food before departure time, since there would be no food on the plane and nothing in my refrigerator when I got home.
Travel was smooth. I even had no one in the seats adjacent to me – almost unheard of these days. The only dark spot on the trip was the brain-dead Delta employee at the gate who saw the duffle bag I was carrying the boomwhackers in and insisted that it would not fit in the overhead. My explanation that on the way out it had fit just fine, taking up the same space as a little wheelie bag, did not sway her. The fact that it fit in the stupid little measuring thing at the gate was not enough to convince her that her estimation of the bags size was possibly in error. Meanwhile, as this conversation was going on, people were passing by us dragging steamer trunks on wheels that were never going to fit in any overhead compartment ever. In the end her idiocy trumped my energy for argument, and the bag was checked. Pea brains rule the world. Not enough to spoil my weekend, though.
Back to Day 2
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Weekend at CCMAC: Sessions #2, 3 and 4
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday August 28, 2010 – Weekend at CCMAC: Sessions #2, 3 and 4
Saturday August 28, 2010
Copper Colored Mountain Arts Center
Ann Arbor, MI
5:00am – Rise
5:30am – 1-hour silent meditation with community
6:30am – Free time/breakfast
9:00am – Community blessing (followed by doughnuts!)
9:30am – Session #2
12:00noon – Free time
1:00pm – Lunch
2:00pm – Session #3
4:30pm – Break
5:00pm – Out to Ann Arbor with three of the CCMAC team for an awesome dinner
7:00pm – Session #4
Sitting at 5:30 is pretty brutal, even for me. Plus, it has been a long time since I’ve done my morning sitting cross-legged on cushions. But I didn’t bring my kneeler with me (along with the laptop, a decision designed to keep me down to carry-on for the flights), so I suffered legs falling asleep.
Session #2 began at 9:30am. The two or three people from the Ann Arbor vicinity who took part in last night’s free class did not decide to follow through and sign up for the full weekend. I choose not to take this personally. So the team for the balance of the weekend are all part of the group here that runs the Arts Center. There will generally be 13 or 14 in the circle, depending on a few individual schedules (a couple of the participants will need to miss at least one session due to their work obligations). One advantage to this turn of events is immediately apparent. This is already a group. This is a community following a particular spiritual path, from the Buddhist tradition, and they are used to working together. This makes my life a bit easier, in certain respects, since turning a mob of strangers into a group is generally where a lot of my energy goes at the beginning of a seminar. Not necessary here.
We began with a return to clapping circulation exercises, picking up on the work from last night and going further and deeper.
Then a 40-minute session of Body Beat. I had originally envisaged this for the afternoon session. It is a good way to generate energy in that after lunch midday slump. But the weather forecast is for high temperatures and humidity today. The barn-converted-to-arts-center has fans and some air conditioning, but I am concerned that even with that it will be too much. Even at 11am it is pretty warm when we wrap it up. Good work, and the team manages to rise to most of the challenges. Clapping on backbeats always a stumbling block, but not nearly as daunting for this group as for most, so naturally I push it!
Back to the circle, and out with the boomwhackers. We reviewed the rhythmic figures I presented to be memorized last night, and introducing the next ones. The penny seemed to drop that this is going to require a bit of personal work and review in between class sessions.
After lunch, Session #3 began at 2pm. It was in fact pretty warm in the barn, and I wanted to keep the physical activity low-key. Dug into my storehouse of Frank Sheldon exercises, and introduced two. First was the “Winking Game”. This never fails to illuminate the state of our attention. Plus, it is a bit silly, kind of fun, and when it clicks there is a wonderful elegance about the way the group interacts and moves that is instantly noticeable. Excellent observations from the team. Then to another Frank classic: circulating words. We worked with creating stories one word at a time in circulation. The fans in the room made speaking up an absolute necessity, and forgetting to speak up a good indication of attention having meandered. I asked one of the participants to summarize the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and then had the group tell it in circulation (“the first 4 words of your story will be ‘once upon a time’, and you will indicate the end of the story with ‘happily ever after’.”) The version of Goldilocks that emerged was a little strange, but certainly entertaining. This helped the group to get a sense of narrative, with a beginning and a middle and an end, and so the next totally improvised story had much more coherence, ending in raucous laughter over some strange images with potentially bawdy interpretations.
Introduce the next set of rhythmic figures to be memorized. Now it is abundantly clear that this exercise is going to involve personal work. Ended the afternoon session with some thrakking in 5 and 7, with hand claps and then boomwhackers. Wrapped up Session #3 at about 4:15.
Went into town with Hootie as well as both the president and the executive director of CCMAC (who happen to be a married couple). Great bbq, and interesting conversation discovering a lot of crossed paths. Time for a little rest and personal gathering before the next session.
Session #4 at 7pm. I began by introducing the final rhythmic figures to be memorized for the weekend. Drilled them to make sure everything was in place. A number of people made notes for studying. The plan is to put it all together at the final session on Sunday afternoon.
Just beyond the middle, and the evening of a good day of pretty hard work. A bit of fun seemed in order. A number of the people in the class are studying drumming on conga drums, and an inquiry determined that there were enough extra drums around that we could have an entire conga drum circle. The risk, as I saw it, of this was that by putting familiar instruments in everyone’s hands we might revert to familiar and comfortable patterns. This is not a drum seminar, and I am definitely not a drum teacher. We are working with opening up, directing and dividing attention, connecting with the other players. Thankfully, the team seemed to get this, and so outside of a bit of random banging as the drums were set up, we managed to remain on task. We went to a number of circulation exercises already introduced, and pushed a bit further. The sound of the drums certainly adds a bit of fun, which helps. Definite improvement. We thrakked, this time adding an 11 pattern to the 5 and 7. This, as always brought the energy level up. I reminded the group of the basic exercises in directed attention we have been using to contain our energy and this was instantly understood. A lot of juice in the room. Moved on to set up The Whizz. We managed a certain velocity, and even flirted with escape velocity. Not sure what kept us from really taking off. Is it the nature of drums? The hot weather? Something in the nature of this particular group? Perhaps simply not enough people to really handle the current. I don’t know. Certainly fun, and very cool sounding on the drums.
Wrapped things up at about 9pm. Back to my quarters. Chilled and did a bit of reading, and early to bed (5:30 will again come sooner than I realize).
Back to Day 1
On to Day 3
Saturday August 28, 2010 – Weekend at CCMAC: Sessions #2, 3 and 4
Saturday August 28, 2010
Copper Colored Mountain Arts Center
Ann Arbor, MI
5:00am – Rise
5:30am – 1-hour silent meditation with community
6:30am – Free time/breakfast
9:00am – Community blessing (followed by doughnuts!)
9:30am – Session #2
12:00noon – Free time
1:00pm – Lunch
2:00pm – Session #3
4:30pm – Break
5:00pm – Out to Ann Arbor with three of the CCMAC team for an awesome dinner
7:00pm – Session #4
Sitting at 5:30 is pretty brutal, even for me. Plus, it has been a long time since I’ve done my morning sitting cross-legged on cushions. But I didn’t bring my kneeler with me (along with the laptop, a decision designed to keep me down to carry-on for the flights), so I suffered legs falling asleep.
Session #2 began at 9:30am. The two or three people from the Ann Arbor vicinity who took part in last night’s free class did not decide to follow through and sign up for the full weekend. I choose not to take this personally. So the team for the balance of the weekend are all part of the group here that runs the Arts Center. There will generally be 13 or 14 in the circle, depending on a few individual schedules (a couple of the participants will need to miss at least one session due to their work obligations). One advantage to this turn of events is immediately apparent. This is already a group. This is a community following a particular spiritual path, from the Buddhist tradition, and they are used to working together. This makes my life a bit easier, in certain respects, since turning a mob of strangers into a group is generally where a lot of my energy goes at the beginning of a seminar. Not necessary here.
We began with a return to clapping circulation exercises, picking up on the work from last night and going further and deeper.
Then a 40-minute session of Body Beat. I had originally envisaged this for the afternoon session. It is a good way to generate energy in that after lunch midday slump. But the weather forecast is for high temperatures and humidity today. The barn-converted-to-arts-center has fans and some air conditioning, but I am concerned that even with that it will be too much. Even at 11am it is pretty warm when we wrap it up. Good work, and the team manages to rise to most of the challenges. Clapping on backbeats always a stumbling block, but not nearly as daunting for this group as for most, so naturally I push it!
Back to the circle, and out with the boomwhackers. We reviewed the rhythmic figures I presented to be memorized last night, and introducing the next ones. The penny seemed to drop that this is going to require a bit of personal work and review in between class sessions.
After lunch, Session #3 began at 2pm. It was in fact pretty warm in the barn, and I wanted to keep the physical activity low-key. Dug into my storehouse of Frank Sheldon exercises, and introduced two. First was the “Winking Game”. This never fails to illuminate the state of our attention. Plus, it is a bit silly, kind of fun, and when it clicks there is a wonderful elegance about the way the group interacts and moves that is instantly noticeable. Excellent observations from the team. Then to another Frank classic: circulating words. We worked with creating stories one word at a time in circulation. The fans in the room made speaking up an absolute necessity, and forgetting to speak up a good indication of attention having meandered. I asked one of the participants to summarize the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and then had the group tell it in circulation (“the first 4 words of your story will be ‘once upon a time’, and you will indicate the end of the story with ‘happily ever after’.”) The version of Goldilocks that emerged was a little strange, but certainly entertaining. This helped the group to get a sense of narrative, with a beginning and a middle and an end, and so the next totally improvised story had much more coherence, ending in raucous laughter over some strange images with potentially bawdy interpretations.
Introduce the next set of rhythmic figures to be memorized. Now it is abundantly clear that this exercise is going to involve personal work. Ended the afternoon session with some thrakking in 5 and 7, with hand claps and then boomwhackers. Wrapped up Session #3 at about 4:15.
Went into town with Hootie as well as both the president and the executive director of CCMAC (who happen to be a married couple). Great bbq, and interesting conversation discovering a lot of crossed paths. Time for a little rest and personal gathering before the next session.
Session #4 at 7pm. I began by introducing the final rhythmic figures to be memorized for the weekend. Drilled them to make sure everything was in place. A number of people made notes for studying. The plan is to put it all together at the final session on Sunday afternoon.
Just beyond the middle, and the evening of a good day of pretty hard work. A bit of fun seemed in order. A number of the people in the class are studying drumming on conga drums, and an inquiry determined that there were enough extra drums around that we could have an entire conga drum circle. The risk, as I saw it, of this was that by putting familiar instruments in everyone’s hands we might revert to familiar and comfortable patterns. This is not a drum seminar, and I am definitely not a drum teacher. We are working with opening up, directing and dividing attention, connecting with the other players. Thankfully, the team seemed to get this, and so outside of a bit of random banging as the drums were set up, we managed to remain on task. We went to a number of circulation exercises already introduced, and pushed a bit further. The sound of the drums certainly adds a bit of fun, which helps. Definite improvement. We thrakked, this time adding an 11 pattern to the 5 and 7. This, as always brought the energy level up. I reminded the group of the basic exercises in directed attention we have been using to contain our energy and this was instantly understood. A lot of juice in the room. Moved on to set up The Whizz. We managed a certain velocity, and even flirted with escape velocity. Not sure what kept us from really taking off. Is it the nature of drums? The hot weather? Something in the nature of this particular group? Perhaps simply not enough people to really handle the current. I don’t know. Certainly fun, and very cool sounding on the drums.
Wrapped things up at about 9pm. Back to my quarters. Chilled and did a bit of reading, and early to bed (5:30 will again come sooner than I realize).
Back to Day 1
On to Day 3
Friday, August 27, 2010
Weekend at CCMAC: Travel and Session #1
A Tuning the Air Journal
Friday August 27, 2010 – Weekend at CCMAC: Travel and Session #1
The class description on the Copper Colored Mountain Arts Center website read as follows:
Summer in the Midwest; hot and humid. My room is a small office in one of the houses, converted for guests. I have a lovely view of the grounds. The buildings are air conditioned. Whew. I share supper with the residents of the house at 6pm, keeping it light since 7pm is showtime.
Session #1 (of 5) was free and open to the public. Most of the participants would be taking part in the entire weekend, but an unknown number might show up just for this session. So my challenge was to present, in about 90 minutes, material that would set the weekend in motion, while being a coherent whole for those who would not be returning. I talked a little about my background and introduced the them of working with attention. A little more PT Barnum/razzle dazzle, perhaps, than I might have unleashed at the first session had it not been for the visitors. Introduced circulation with some simple forms using hand claps, pushing the complexity up to the edge of the available attention. We did several iterations of an exercise circulating our names, as well as the names of those sitting to our left and right. This not only serves as a way of introducing ourselves, but also injects a bit of levity into a proceeding that can sometimes become a little self-consciously serious, and introduces a necessary element of play into the way we approach the challenges.
At this point, the dramatic introduction of the boomwhackers. I learned this trick from watching Sandra and Rob; you walk into the center of the circle, open the bag and unceremoniously dump 50 colored and tuned pvc tubes onto the floor, making a raucous clatter that never fails to elicit smiles all around, even if you know it is coming (at least that has been my experience). I invited everyone to choose the two tubes that attracted them, and we launched into some more challenging circulation work.
Wrapped the session up at about 8:30, introducing a couple bars of specific rhythm to be memorized by those taking part in the entire weekend. This will be a thread we will follow, adding more bars each session until (hopefully) it can be all put together by the closing meeting. It is clear to me that except for a couple of guitarists known to me, the team is a combination of non-musicians and people who have begun studying hand drumming. That makes boomwhackers the closest we will get to working with melody or harmony. Changing harmonic elements is one way to inject variety into repeated exercises, but that little ploy is not going to be available to me this weekend. Most of the people taking part in the weekend seem to be part of this community, which means they have an established practice, and that will likely be what makes this work.
In that slightly psychotic jet-lagged state; very tired from a long day of travel and work, but in a time zone where it is later than my internal clock will acknowledge, I went back to my room and fell into a longish nap. Got up long enough to slip out to the kitchen for a midnight snack, then a quick wash-up and back to bed in earnest. This community does a one-hour silent meditation at 5:30am, and jet lag or no jet lag that hour is going to sneak up on me fast.
On to Day 2
Friday August 27, 2010 – Weekend at CCMAC: Travel and Session #1
The class description on the Copper Colored Mountain Arts Center website read as follows:
This Moment: Exploring the interface of music and mindfulness.I was up bright and early in Seattle. My ride to the airport arrived right on time. No problems at the airport, and everything fit in carry-on. Arrived Detroit a little early. RV (aka, I have come to learn, “Hootie”) met me out front and we made the 45ish minute drive to the Ann Arbor vicinity. Off the interstate, onto some state roads and then a dirt road, and Copper Colored Mountain Arts Center.
Weekend Workshop, August 27th-29th
Open to musicians and non-musicians alike. We will use Musical exercises integrating mindfulness and rhythm to create a dynamic space, deepening the connection between awareness and the joy of music. Using instruments, clapping, boomwhackers and group circulation techniques, we will explore the relationship of attention, rhythm and group interaction. Instructed by Curt Golden.
Friday August 27th, 7:00pm Free Introductory Evening
Saturday August 28th, 9:30am-12:00pm, 2:00-4:30pm, 7:00pm-?
Sunday August 29th, 2:00pm-4:00pm
Summer in the Midwest; hot and humid. My room is a small office in one of the houses, converted for guests. I have a lovely view of the grounds. The buildings are air conditioned. Whew. I share supper with the residents of the house at 6pm, keeping it light since 7pm is showtime.
Session #1 (of 5) was free and open to the public. Most of the participants would be taking part in the entire weekend, but an unknown number might show up just for this session. So my challenge was to present, in about 90 minutes, material that would set the weekend in motion, while being a coherent whole for those who would not be returning. I talked a little about my background and introduced the them of working with attention. A little more PT Barnum/razzle dazzle, perhaps, than I might have unleashed at the first session had it not been for the visitors. Introduced circulation with some simple forms using hand claps, pushing the complexity up to the edge of the available attention. We did several iterations of an exercise circulating our names, as well as the names of those sitting to our left and right. This not only serves as a way of introducing ourselves, but also injects a bit of levity into a proceeding that can sometimes become a little self-consciously serious, and introduces a necessary element of play into the way we approach the challenges.
At this point, the dramatic introduction of the boomwhackers. I learned this trick from watching Sandra and Rob; you walk into the center of the circle, open the bag and unceremoniously dump 50 colored and tuned pvc tubes onto the floor, making a raucous clatter that never fails to elicit smiles all around, even if you know it is coming (at least that has been my experience). I invited everyone to choose the two tubes that attracted them, and we launched into some more challenging circulation work.
Wrapped the session up at about 8:30, introducing a couple bars of specific rhythm to be memorized by those taking part in the entire weekend. This will be a thread we will follow, adding more bars each session until (hopefully) it can be all put together by the closing meeting. It is clear to me that except for a couple of guitarists known to me, the team is a combination of non-musicians and people who have begun studying hand drumming. That makes boomwhackers the closest we will get to working with melody or harmony. Changing harmonic elements is one way to inject variety into repeated exercises, but that little ploy is not going to be available to me this weekend. Most of the people taking part in the weekend seem to be part of this community, which means they have an established practice, and that will likely be what makes this work.
In that slightly psychotic jet-lagged state; very tired from a long day of travel and work, but in a time zone where it is later than my internal clock will acknowledge, I went back to my room and fell into a longish nap. Got up long enough to slip out to the kitchen for a midnight snack, then a quick wash-up and back to bed in earnest. This community does a one-hour silent meditation at 5:30am, and jet lag or no jet lag that hour is going to sneak up on me fast.
On to Day 2
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Performance Team R&D
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday August 14, 2010 – Performance Team R&D
Met briefly with Travis and Chris at 9:30, to discuss the proposed realignment of organizational structure for Tuning the Air. My life gets easier. Or, so one might hope. We’ll see. Mostly, my energy will be somewhat redirected. Briefly touched on some practical issues, including getting promotion up and running. A question about the CGT potential at Fremont Abbey in November. Before we could get far into that, however, it was 10am and the rest of the performance team was arriving.
Six of us got together this morning, plus a special east coast guest who sat in as an observer. The plan largely to begin shaking the dust off. Fremont Abbey is booked for September, and so we cannot open the show until October. Making a virtue of a necessity, Chris thought that we could use this time, which ordinarily would have been the beginning of the formal rehearsal crunch, to work on some simmering ideas for new material. No guarantee that any of it will make it into the show, but injecting a little “new music energy” into the process, just to see what happens.
We began with some work on the scales that Ian introduced last season in the context of the Voodoo Situation. In rehearsals we rarely had time to give these tonalities the kind of exploration they require if we really intend to present them with any level of mastery, let alone playful creativity. This work helped a lot, bringing both the “Augmented Scale” [C-C#-E-F-G#-A] and the “Lydian Augmented Scale” [F-G-A-B-C#-D-E] more into our common experience. Some beautiful things came up as we discovered the natural tonal centers. Took a brief look at the zither potential of the Augmented Scale, and quickly saw that there is something there to be explored further.
Chris and Howard presented Vrooom. Howard worked with Bob on the lead lines. Chris took Ian, Travis and myself aside to get the bass line going. A tricky little ditty. It needs more lead players. Taylor may already know the lead; not sure if Jaxie and/or Mary Beth have ever addressed it. It is a piece that the League has been playing for some time, and we tend to bump into it whenever we attend a course in Europe. Fun. Twisted. Entirely doable.
A short break to stretch. We took some of that time to come back to the CGT question. Travis, who has been the point person on the discussion, brought us up to date on the email conversations that have taken place so far, and the various options that have been discussed. Cleared up a few questions, and set a plan in motion to get a bit more to the heart of the matter. More to follow.
After the break, Bob introduced what will be the middle section of a piece he is working on. It involves 3 truly twisted bass lines in 15. The circle was divided into 3 groups of 2 (it will be 3 groups of 3 when we are all together). Each group responsible for one of the bass lines. Chris and I had the one in “C”. While we played it (Struggled? Scrambled? Faked it?), Howard and Travis improvised Cmin7 chord vamps in the midrange, and Bob and Ian improvised melody/solo lines in the upper range. When we switched to the Ian/Bob bass line (in “D”), Chris and I moved to chord improvs and Howard/Travis took on the lead/solo improvs. When the Howard/Travis bass line (“E♭”) was on, Chris/Curt moved to lead, and Ian/Bob to chords. Bob set up a specific form for these changes:
We were scheduled to go to 1pm. At 12:45 we agreed we had reached saturation.
Saturday August 14, 2010 – Performance Team R&D
Met briefly with Travis and Chris at 9:30, to discuss the proposed realignment of organizational structure for Tuning the Air. My life gets easier. Or, so one might hope. We’ll see. Mostly, my energy will be somewhat redirected. Briefly touched on some practical issues, including getting promotion up and running. A question about the CGT potential at Fremont Abbey in November. Before we could get far into that, however, it was 10am and the rest of the performance team was arriving.
Six of us got together this morning, plus a special east coast guest who sat in as an observer. The plan largely to begin shaking the dust off. Fremont Abbey is booked for September, and so we cannot open the show until October. Making a virtue of a necessity, Chris thought that we could use this time, which ordinarily would have been the beginning of the formal rehearsal crunch, to work on some simmering ideas for new material. No guarantee that any of it will make it into the show, but injecting a little “new music energy” into the process, just to see what happens.
We began with some work on the scales that Ian introduced last season in the context of the Voodoo Situation. In rehearsals we rarely had time to give these tonalities the kind of exploration they require if we really intend to present them with any level of mastery, let alone playful creativity. This work helped a lot, bringing both the “Augmented Scale” [C-C#-E-F-G#-A] and the “Lydian Augmented Scale” [F-G-A-B-C#-D-E] more into our common experience. Some beautiful things came up as we discovered the natural tonal centers. Took a brief look at the zither potential of the Augmented Scale, and quickly saw that there is something there to be explored further.
Chris and Howard presented Vrooom. Howard worked with Bob on the lead lines. Chris took Ian, Travis and myself aside to get the bass line going. A tricky little ditty. It needs more lead players. Taylor may already know the lead; not sure if Jaxie and/or Mary Beth have ever addressed it. It is a piece that the League has been playing for some time, and we tend to bump into it whenever we attend a course in Europe. Fun. Twisted. Entirely doable.
A short break to stretch. We took some of that time to come back to the CGT question. Travis, who has been the point person on the discussion, brought us up to date on the email conversations that have taken place so far, and the various options that have been discussed. Cleared up a few questions, and set a plan in motion to get a bit more to the heart of the matter. More to follow.
After the break, Bob introduced what will be the middle section of a piece he is working on. It involves 3 truly twisted bass lines in 15. The circle was divided into 3 groups of 2 (it will be 3 groups of 3 when we are all together). Each group responsible for one of the bass lines. Chris and I had the one in “C”. While we played it (Struggled? Scrambled? Faked it?), Howard and Travis improvised Cmin7 chord vamps in the midrange, and Bob and Ian improvised melody/solo lines in the upper range. When we switched to the Ian/Bob bass line (in “D”), Chris and I moved to chord improvs and Howard/Travis took on the lead/solo improvs. When the Howard/Travis bass line (“E♭”) was on, Chris/Curt moved to lead, and Ian/Bob to chords. Bob set up a specific form for these changes:
C min – 4 barsFirst we simply circulated (and connected) the bass lines. Once that was more or less (mostly less, but who is keeping score) established, Bob added the chord improvs, ad finally the lead/solos as well. Playing the bass lines was certainly a challenge, but keeping contact with the long 15 count while improvising was what nearly always undid us. We did manage to hit a stride and for a few repetitions of the form it was possible to hear the potential of this arrangement. Improvising within a structure. And the movement of parts around the circle could be very effective in the performance space.
D min – 4 bars
C min – 4 bars
D min – 4 bars
E♭ min – 8 bars
We were scheduled to go to 1pm. At 12:45 we agreed we had reached saturation.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Retreat Day 4
A Tuning the Air Journal
Sunday August 8, 2010 – Retreat Day 4
Sunday August 8, 2010 – Retreat Day 4
- 6:00am – Rise
- 6:30am – Curt and Tony walk to W. Broadway to join team
- 7:00am – Sitting
- 7:45am – Breakfast prep
- 8:00am – Breakfast
- 8:30am – Personal meetings. Preliminary cleanup. Curt, Tony and Victor (and later, Tom) get with guitars, Curt sharing Seattle ear training exercises.
- 9:30am – Work in the Circle with guitars; new exercise from RF
- 10:30am – House restoration
- 11:30am – Final meeting
- 12:25pm – Completion of retreat acknowledged with enthusiasm
- 12:27pm – Intentional walk to the restaurant at the end of the block for a post-retreat/pre-departure meal and decompression.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Retreat Day 3
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday August 7, 2010 – Retreat Day 3
For the work in the Circle this morning, Tony introduced an exercise he is doing with the NY Circle, involving traditional bell ringing changes. Very challenging for us.
After lunch Jaxie, Tony and I presented a report on the status of the Seattle Circle Guitar School. The ensuing discussion went into and through Tea (Tony preparing Turkish Coffee for the second day in a row!). Very good feedback, as well as some brainstorming about related reading, plus potential donors to help us get through the initial period. The photos of the Kids Circle performing at Tuning the Air was again a big hit, meeting universal enthusiasm. The videos of that show were also very effective, not to mention a source of amusement – never a bad combination.
Awesome Pad Thai from the kitchen team of Jaxie, Tom and Robert. Associatively, a number of kitchen-related Guitar Craft histories, recorded by Tony.
[go to Day 4]
Saturday August 7, 2010 – Retreat Day 3
- 6:00am – Rise
- 6:30am – Curt and Tony walk to W. Broadway to join team
- 7:00am – Sitting
- 7:45am – Breakfast prep
- 8:00am – Breakfast
- 9:15am – Work in the Circle with guitars – Tony presenting a bell ringing exercise
- 10:30am – Meet to complete presentation of reports on professional life: Jaxie, Curt, Sandra, Tony.
- 12:30pm – Lunch prep
- 1:00pm – Lunch
- 3:30pm – Report on Seattle Circle Guitar School
- 4:00pm – Tea (continue SCGS discussion)
- 4:30pm – SSG I meeting
- 5:00pm – SSG IV meeting
- 5:30pm – Vayu Prana Meditation
- 6:15pm – Dinner prep and AT/Breathing work with Sandra
- 7:00pm – Dinner
- 8:30pm – Personal meetings
- 9:30pm – Work in the Circle with guitars
For the work in the Circle this morning, Tony introduced an exercise he is doing with the NY Circle, involving traditional bell ringing changes. Very challenging for us.
After lunch Jaxie, Tony and I presented a report on the status of the Seattle Circle Guitar School. The ensuing discussion went into and through Tea (Tony preparing Turkish Coffee for the second day in a row!). Very good feedback, as well as some brainstorming about related reading, plus potential donors to help us get through the initial period. The photos of the Kids Circle performing at Tuning the Air was again a big hit, meeting universal enthusiasm. The videos of that show were also very effective, not to mention a source of amusement – never a bad combination.
Awesome Pad Thai from the kitchen team of Jaxie, Tom and Robert. Associatively, a number of kitchen-related Guitar Craft histories, recorded by Tony.
[go to Day 4]
Friday, August 6, 2010
Retreat Day 2
A Tuning the Air Journal
Friday August 6, 2010 – Retreat Day 2
Big news of the day: Robert finally had his initiation into the Guitar Craft Kitchen.
Over lunch, received the news from England that Alice Lawton has flown away. She and Ken, who passed away last year, hold a special and happy place in Guitar Craft history, specifically in the Red Lion House era, and were a great support to us.
[go to Day 3]
Friday August 6, 2010 – Retreat Day 2
- 6:00am – Rise
- 6:30am – Curt and Tony walk to W. Broadway to join team
- 7:00am – Sitting
- 7:45am – Breakfast prep
- 8:00am – Breakfast
- 9:15am – Work in the Circle with guitars
- 10:15am – Meet to present reports on professional life: Tom, Victor, Dev
- 12:45pm – Lunch prep
- 1:00pm – Lunch
- 2:30pm – Personal time, dinner pre-prep
- 4:00pm – Tea
- 5:00pm – Vayu Prana Meditation
- 5:30pm – Work in the Circle with guitars
- 6:00pm – Dinner prep
- 7:00pm – Dinner
- 9:30pm – Listen to JGB talk on the Formatory Apparatus, and follow-up discussion
- 11:00pm – Curt and Tony walk back to W 4th Street for the night
Big news of the day: Robert finally had his initiation into the Guitar Craft Kitchen.
Over lunch, received the news from England that Alice Lawton has flown away. She and Ken, who passed away last year, hold a special and happy place in Guitar Craft history, specifically in the Red Lion House era, and were a great support to us.
[go to Day 3]
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Retreat Day 1
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday August 5, 2010 – Retreat Day 1
Arose at Tony’s place about 6:30am. Sat at 7am. Already in the 80’s outside with serious humidity. A shower and breakfast, and then he and I headed out to the Whole Foods on Houston (just typing that phrase makes me shake my head) to do the basic shopping for the weekend. Tony took a page (or maybe 2?), and I took a page (largely the vegetable and fruit page). An hour or so later, 8 or 10 bags of groceries. Citibank saw a $250 charge try to go through at a grocery store in NYC, and elected to not approve the purchase, on the chance that the card had been stolen (speaking to them later, my snarky reference to the fact that I had purchased the airline ticket on that card didn’t make much of an impression). So, Chase got that business today, and Citibank did not. We hailed a cab and headed down to SoHo to the retreat location. Managed to make all the keys work, unloaded the groceries, turned on the air conditioning (by this time 80º was only a fond memory).
We headed back up to the Village to Tony’s place to get the guitars and a few necessities (Tony and I will be returning to his apartment to sleep throughout the weekend). Again cabbed back to SoHo, and found that Jaxie had arrived. A few bits of Housecraft, and then we hit the streets for a slice for lunch. The rest of the team would be arriving between 2 and 3pm. Hot and crowded out, we brought the pizza back to eat in comfort.
Tom called to let us know he and Robert were a few blocks away, so we went down to meet them. Loaded out their car, and Tom left to put it in the parking lot. Dev and Victor arrived next, looking a bit wrung out, having driven from Boston with no AC in the car. Victor came in, and Dev set out to the parking lot. Sandra arrived, and we loaded her gear out. Tony accompanied her to the parking lot. By tea time, we were all present and accounted for.
Over tea, some discussion about the weekend, with Robert leading off regarding his aims. We all weighed in on our sense of the weekend, and talked about the flow of the days, meals (everyone is on kitchen duty at every meal – only dinners are at all involved, but even they are going to be as simple as possible).
Eight of us in a wonderful kind of choreography as we improvised our way through the dinner prep. Dinner had a force in it. I gave Mr Bennett’s blessing, nearly stumbling on the line that often gets ironically inverted. More discussion over dinner about Guitar Craft, GC History, and this group.
For the evening meeting, Robert presented the exercise for our morning sitting, which ties directly into the exercise we will be taking on throughout the day. Afterward, some guitaring seemed to be calling us. We sounded tired and a bit dispersed, but a necessary breaking of the ice. Robert, still on UK time, called it a night about 10:30. The rest of us sat and talked another hour before Tony and I left for the 20-minute trek back to his place, and the rest settled into their beds.
[go to Day 2]
Thursday August 5, 2010 – Retreat Day 1
Arose at Tony’s place about 6:30am. Sat at 7am. Already in the 80’s outside with serious humidity. A shower and breakfast, and then he and I headed out to the Whole Foods on Houston (just typing that phrase makes me shake my head) to do the basic shopping for the weekend. Tony took a page (or maybe 2?), and I took a page (largely the vegetable and fruit page). An hour or so later, 8 or 10 bags of groceries. Citibank saw a $250 charge try to go through at a grocery store in NYC, and elected to not approve the purchase, on the chance that the card had been stolen (speaking to them later, my snarky reference to the fact that I had purchased the airline ticket on that card didn’t make much of an impression). So, Chase got that business today, and Citibank did not. We hailed a cab and headed down to SoHo to the retreat location. Managed to make all the keys work, unloaded the groceries, turned on the air conditioning (by this time 80º was only a fond memory).
We headed back up to the Village to Tony’s place to get the guitars and a few necessities (Tony and I will be returning to his apartment to sleep throughout the weekend). Again cabbed back to SoHo, and found that Jaxie had arrived. A few bits of Housecraft, and then we hit the streets for a slice for lunch. The rest of the team would be arriving between 2 and 3pm. Hot and crowded out, we brought the pizza back to eat in comfort.
Tom called to let us know he and Robert were a few blocks away, so we went down to meet them. Loaded out their car, and Tom left to put it in the parking lot. Dev and Victor arrived next, looking a bit wrung out, having driven from Boston with no AC in the car. Victor came in, and Dev set out to the parking lot. Sandra arrived, and we loaded her gear out. Tony accompanied her to the parking lot. By tea time, we were all present and accounted for.
Over tea, some discussion about the weekend, with Robert leading off regarding his aims. We all weighed in on our sense of the weekend, and talked about the flow of the days, meals (everyone is on kitchen duty at every meal – only dinners are at all involved, but even they are going to be as simple as possible).
Eight of us in a wonderful kind of choreography as we improvised our way through the dinner prep. Dinner had a force in it. I gave Mr Bennett’s blessing, nearly stumbling on the line that often gets ironically inverted. More discussion over dinner about Guitar Craft, GC History, and this group.
For the evening meeting, Robert presented the exercise for our morning sitting, which ties directly into the exercise we will be taking on throughout the day. Afterward, some guitaring seemed to be calling us. We sounded tired and a bit dispersed, but a necessary breaking of the ice. Robert, still on UK time, called it a night about 10:30. The rest of us sat and talked another hour before Tony and I left for the 20-minute trek back to his place, and the rest settled into their beds.
[go to Day 2]
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Music Lab
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday July 31, 2010 – Music Lab
Very productive Lab today. Eight in attendance: Christina, Mary Beth, Taylor, Rob, Ian, Carl, IgorK and Greg. This made an exercise possible that we could not address with fewer people.
We began with three circulations in A Harmonic Minor, tuning the air as it were.
To begin to get inside A Harmonic Minor we spent about 30 minutes on the circulation exercise we have been addressing for the past few weeks. We began on “A” at the 12th fret of the 3rd string. The first player played that A, followed by the note one diatonic step above or below; G# or B. The second player began with the second note, and followed it with a note one diatonic step above or below that, and so on. With so many people in the circle, keeping track of where we were when our turn came was something of a challenge, but the work of the previous Labs has paid off, and there was significant improvement. We moved on to include diatonic thirds to this exercise, which although a little more difficult, still resulted in noticeably more musical choices in the circulation.
Sticking with A Harmonic minor, we came back to the exercise first addressed a couple of weeks ago. I assigned notes from the tonic seventh chord to the players: A-C-E-G#. With 8 players, this arpeggio was repeated: A-C-E-G#-A-C-E-G#. We walked up through the diatonic seventh chords:
I-II-III-IV-V-VI-VII-I
…and then repeated this. In A Harmonic Minor, this was:
Amin(Maj7)-Bmin7flat5-Cmaj7aug-Dmin7-E7-Fmaj7-G#dim7-Amin(maj7)
I asked the players to track this sequence both in terms of the scale degrees (I, II, III, etc) and the root note names (A, B, C. etc – I did not insist on the full names of the chords, but simply to be aware of the harmonic movement in terms of the root). The aim was to begin to recognize the quality of each of the chords formed by this scale – however we might choose to characterize those qualities.
We then began with the I chord in the high octave and then moved “up” through the sequence while moving down in terms of voice leading. For instance:
Once we had this sequence under control, we moved up the sequence while moving down the scale, and then repeated the sequence moving up the scale, and so on. We applied a number of different circulation strategies in order to illuminate the quality of the chords in the sequence while moving through different voicings.
With 8 in the circle, 2 groups of 4, each with the same arpeggio, it was possible to explore the concept of contrary motion in voice leading. One group began in the high octave and moved down through the harmonic sequence while the other began in the low octave and walked “up”, and then the reverse.
Some stunning musical moments, simply by following this very simple exercise.
This exercise stretched out well over the first hour, so when we reconvened after a short break, there was really only about 30 minutes available. We used this to have a little fun with the bridge of Rhythm Changes, a little practical exploration of the Circle of Fifths.
For this, rather than assigned notes, we went with the notes of our choice, making necessary adjustments to ensure good sounding and complete voicings. The basic rule of voice leading remained the same: stay with common tones, otherwise move by step, and only change by “leap” within a chord. E7-A7-D7-G7, 2 bars each, followed by a C triad as the resolution, turning around back to the E7. In reality, an 8-bar phrase would have been used in that place (likely I-V7-I-VII7), but time demanded this short-cut.
Before we were done, we were actually circulating in swing. Big fun. Very sad that time ran out.
Saturday July 31, 2010 – Music Lab
Very productive Lab today. Eight in attendance: Christina, Mary Beth, Taylor, Rob, Ian, Carl, IgorK and Greg. This made an exercise possible that we could not address with fewer people.
We began with three circulations in A Harmonic Minor, tuning the air as it were.
To begin to get inside A Harmonic Minor we spent about 30 minutes on the circulation exercise we have been addressing for the past few weeks. We began on “A” at the 12th fret of the 3rd string. The first player played that A, followed by the note one diatonic step above or below; G# or B. The second player began with the second note, and followed it with a note one diatonic step above or below that, and so on. With so many people in the circle, keeping track of where we were when our turn came was something of a challenge, but the work of the previous Labs has paid off, and there was significant improvement. We moved on to include diatonic thirds to this exercise, which although a little more difficult, still resulted in noticeably more musical choices in the circulation.
Sticking with A Harmonic minor, we came back to the exercise first addressed a couple of weeks ago. I assigned notes from the tonic seventh chord to the players: A-C-E-G#. With 8 players, this arpeggio was repeated: A-C-E-G#-A-C-E-G#. We walked up through the diatonic seventh chords:
I-II-III-IV-V-VI-VII-I
…and then repeated this. In A Harmonic Minor, this was:
Amin(Maj7)-Bmin7flat5-Cmaj7aug-Dmin7-E7-Fmaj7-G#dim7-Amin(maj7)
I asked the players to track this sequence both in terms of the scale degrees (I, II, III, etc) and the root note names (A, B, C. etc – I did not insist on the full names of the chords, but simply to be aware of the harmonic movement in terms of the root). The aim was to begin to recognize the quality of each of the chords formed by this scale – however we might choose to characterize those qualities.
We then began with the I chord in the high octave and then moved “up” through the sequence while moving down in terms of voice leading. For instance:
- We began with Amin(maj7) in the high octave: A-C-E-G#
- Then moving “up” to the II chord, Bmin7flat5, with everyone who needed to change notes choosing to move to the closest available note down the scale: A-B-D-F
- Then moving “up” to the III chord, Cmaj7aug, with everyone who needed to change notes choosing to move to the closest available note down the scale: G#-B-C-E
Once we had this sequence under control, we moved up the sequence while moving down the scale, and then repeated the sequence moving up the scale, and so on. We applied a number of different circulation strategies in order to illuminate the quality of the chords in the sequence while moving through different voicings.
With 8 in the circle, 2 groups of 4, each with the same arpeggio, it was possible to explore the concept of contrary motion in voice leading. One group began in the high octave and moved down through the harmonic sequence while the other began in the low octave and walked “up”, and then the reverse.
Some stunning musical moments, simply by following this very simple exercise.
This exercise stretched out well over the first hour, so when we reconvened after a short break, there was really only about 30 minutes available. We used this to have a little fun with the bridge of Rhythm Changes, a little practical exploration of the Circle of Fifths.
For this, rather than assigned notes, we went with the notes of our choice, making necessary adjustments to ensure good sounding and complete voicings. The basic rule of voice leading remained the same: stay with common tones, otherwise move by step, and only change by “leap” within a chord. E7-A7-D7-G7, 2 bars each, followed by a C triad as the resolution, turning around back to the E7. In reality, an 8-bar phrase would have been used in that place (likely I-V7-I-VII7), but time demanded this short-cut.
Before we were done, we were actually circulating in swing. Big fun. Very sad that time ran out.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Music Lab
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday July 24, 2010 – Music Lab
Four in the circle today; 3 of the usual suspects, and Jaxie turned up as well.
Began with a bit of free circulation in the key of G Major.
Moved on to the ear training game of circulating in G Major, moving no more than one diatonic step up or down. Beginning on G at the 10th fret of the 3rd string, the first guitarist played the G followed by either A or F#. The next guitarist would then play the previous guitarists second note, and then move to another note a diatonic second up or down from that. The next guitarist would play the second note of that pair and then another note a diatonic second up or down from that, and so on. With only 4 players in the circle, keeping track of where we were when the circulation came back around was not too daunting a challenge, and the team did well. Even though the “melody” that emerges from this is naturally a little limited and perhaps uninteresting due to the constraints of the exercise, there is a qualitative and musical shift that occurs when the players let go of thinking about notes and trust their ears and hands. A certain flow is possible, and it appeared from time to time.
From here we moved to the same exercise, but adding diatonic thirds to the allowable movement. This definitely added a more musical quality to the resulting melody, but also increased the hazard. Mistakes in this incarnation of the exercise tended to create more train wrecks, where in the 1-step only version mistakes were easier to weather.
The final stage of this exercise eliminated the step of repeating the preceding guitarist’s second note, but simply moving to a note within a diatonic third up or down. This took some time to gain momentum. A certain tentativeness in the assertion of the chosen note, and more than a few inadvertent fourths and fifths crept into the mix. Nevertheless, there was an unmistakeable musical intelligence in the resulting melody.
A short break, and then we moved on to more fun with voice leading. For this week, a rudimentary blues progression in G.
With 4 players, I assigned notes of a basic tonic G7 arpeggio, which were played in circulation with return, up and down:
G-B-D-F-D-B
…giving a basic 6/8 feel. This took some time to settle in, and in fairness the people sitting in the 2nd and 3rd chairs are in the “hot seats” since their notes bounce back at them more quickly than for those in the pole positions.
We then established the C7 (IV) chord by having everyone simply move up a fourth. D7 (V) was established by moving a fifth up from the tonic (a whole step up from the fourth). Using these voicings, we established the form of the simple 12-bar blues, visualizing it in terms of 3 4-bar phrases:
C7-G7-C7-C7
G7-G7-C7-C7
D7-C7-G7-D7
or, in functional terms:
I-IV-I-I
IV-IV-I-I
V-IV-I-V
Played this way, there was very little elegance to the voice movement, very much the way beginner guitarists tend to play the blues when they have just learned how to use barre chords, everything moving in parallel blocks. But it helped us to establish, in our ears and capacity to visualize a pattern, the harmonic movement of this iconic form.
When we began to look at the harmonic movement in terms of voice leading, we quickly abandoned the circulation in favor of pulsing together in eighth notes. We again established the “rule” that in moving from chord to chord, we moved 1) by not moving at all if the note was common to both chords, or 2) by half or whole step. Thirds were allowed if absolutely necessary. Giving ourselves this kind of freedom to chose our own note had the immediate effect making it more difficult to keep track of the 12-bar form, but eventually it settled in. It was understood that since everyone was following their own “melody”, it was inevitable that notes would sometimes be missing from a particular chord. The final step was to allow leaps of up to a major third within a particular chord. In this way, intelligent adjustments could be made to the resulting voicings in order to 1) fill out missing elements, and/or 2) move individual players out of narrow melody loops that they might be feeling stranded in.
With 7 or 8 players, there is a further refinement possible that I am longing to hear. Perhaps next Saturday.
Saturday July 24, 2010 – Music Lab
Four in the circle today; 3 of the usual suspects, and Jaxie turned up as well.
Began with a bit of free circulation in the key of G Major.
Moved on to the ear training game of circulating in G Major, moving no more than one diatonic step up or down. Beginning on G at the 10th fret of the 3rd string, the first guitarist played the G followed by either A or F#. The next guitarist would then play the previous guitarists second note, and then move to another note a diatonic second up or down from that. The next guitarist would play the second note of that pair and then another note a diatonic second up or down from that, and so on. With only 4 players in the circle, keeping track of where we were when the circulation came back around was not too daunting a challenge, and the team did well. Even though the “melody” that emerges from this is naturally a little limited and perhaps uninteresting due to the constraints of the exercise, there is a qualitative and musical shift that occurs when the players let go of thinking about notes and trust their ears and hands. A certain flow is possible, and it appeared from time to time.
From here we moved to the same exercise, but adding diatonic thirds to the allowable movement. This definitely added a more musical quality to the resulting melody, but also increased the hazard. Mistakes in this incarnation of the exercise tended to create more train wrecks, where in the 1-step only version mistakes were easier to weather.
The final stage of this exercise eliminated the step of repeating the preceding guitarist’s second note, but simply moving to a note within a diatonic third up or down. This took some time to gain momentum. A certain tentativeness in the assertion of the chosen note, and more than a few inadvertent fourths and fifths crept into the mix. Nevertheless, there was an unmistakeable musical intelligence in the resulting melody.
A short break, and then we moved on to more fun with voice leading. For this week, a rudimentary blues progression in G.
With 4 players, I assigned notes of a basic tonic G7 arpeggio, which were played in circulation with return, up and down:
G-B-D-F-D-B
…giving a basic 6/8 feel. This took some time to settle in, and in fairness the people sitting in the 2nd and 3rd chairs are in the “hot seats” since their notes bounce back at them more quickly than for those in the pole positions.
We then established the C7 (IV) chord by having everyone simply move up a fourth. D7 (V) was established by moving a fifth up from the tonic (a whole step up from the fourth). Using these voicings, we established the form of the simple 12-bar blues, visualizing it in terms of 3 4-bar phrases:
C7-G7-C7-C7
G7-G7-C7-C7
D7-C7-G7-D7
or, in functional terms:
I-IV-I-I
IV-IV-I-I
V-IV-I-V
Played this way, there was very little elegance to the voice movement, very much the way beginner guitarists tend to play the blues when they have just learned how to use barre chords, everything moving in parallel blocks. But it helped us to establish, in our ears and capacity to visualize a pattern, the harmonic movement of this iconic form.
When we began to look at the harmonic movement in terms of voice leading, we quickly abandoned the circulation in favor of pulsing together in eighth notes. We again established the “rule” that in moving from chord to chord, we moved 1) by not moving at all if the note was common to both chords, or 2) by half or whole step. Thirds were allowed if absolutely necessary. Giving ourselves this kind of freedom to chose our own note had the immediate effect making it more difficult to keep track of the 12-bar form, but eventually it settled in. It was understood that since everyone was following their own “melody”, it was inevitable that notes would sometimes be missing from a particular chord. The final step was to allow leaps of up to a major third within a particular chord. In this way, intelligent adjustments could be made to the resulting voicings in order to 1) fill out missing elements, and/or 2) move individual players out of narrow melody loops that they might be feeling stranded in.
With 7 or 8 players, there is a further refinement possible that I am longing to hear. Perhaps next Saturday.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Music Lab
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday July 17, 2010 – Music Lab
More good work with voice leading. Not exactly the same players who have been working with this exercise for the past few weeks, but a definite sense of continuity and progress. With 5 players the last two week we managed a certain critical mass. If we can get everyone who has taken part in this series of exercises into the same room at the same time, things could get very interesting.
For the first hour we worked with diatonic triads in C Major, and then diatonic seventh chords in C Major. We began by walking up the scale, one player on the bass notes (roots to begin with, then roots and fifths, and eventually roots, fifths and thirds), the other players on assigned notes from the triad, first pulsing and later moving to circulating the arpeggios. We walked up the scale, once at the octave resetting back to the bottom and doing it again. Next we worked on how to move from the high arpeggio down as the harmony moved up. This required every player not only to know what note they were playing, but what interval within the chord of the moment it represented.
One of my hopes, if we can get enough players together, is to work through this exercise with two groups of circulators moving in contrary motion, chorale writing period of common practice style.
For the second half of the session we moved into an evolution of Rhythm Changes in the key of C. New bass player for this round. We began with circulating, but quickly reverted to pulsing chord voicings together in order to keep things moving. For this exercise, notes were not assigned, and it was up to the four players to find voicings together that were complete and convincing. We began with a simple…
I VI II V
…progression, getting the feel for how to find the simplest voice leading. The basic rules:
1. If your note is common to both chords, stay where you are.
2. If you must move, half steps are best, whole steps are good.
3. If absolutely necessary, moving a third is permissible.
The 4th rule, which did not figure much into this particular version of the exercise, since the chords where changing so quickly, is…
4. Moving a third or more within a particular chord is permitted if it helps to improve the voicing.
To this “pattern 1” we added a second pattern…
In C Major this is expressed as:
We ran a little long, in order to hear this played in improvised circulation. Of course this is a pretty complex sequence of chords, and quite new to several of the players, so we inevitably settled into a few reliable paths through changes. With a little practice, a lot more dynamism would be possible. And with a few more players we could even develop improvised rhythm and melody parts.
Next week, perhaps the bridge? All kinds of potential fun awaits.
Saturday July 17, 2010 – Music Lab
More good work with voice leading. Not exactly the same players who have been working with this exercise for the past few weeks, but a definite sense of continuity and progress. With 5 players the last two week we managed a certain critical mass. If we can get everyone who has taken part in this series of exercises into the same room at the same time, things could get very interesting.
For the first hour we worked with diatonic triads in C Major, and then diatonic seventh chords in C Major. We began by walking up the scale, one player on the bass notes (roots to begin with, then roots and fifths, and eventually roots, fifths and thirds), the other players on assigned notes from the triad, first pulsing and later moving to circulating the arpeggios. We walked up the scale, once at the octave resetting back to the bottom and doing it again. Next we worked on how to move from the high arpeggio down as the harmony moved up. This required every player not only to know what note they were playing, but what interval within the chord of the moment it represented.
One of my hopes, if we can get enough players together, is to work through this exercise with two groups of circulators moving in contrary motion, chorale writing period of common practice style.
For the second half of the session we moved into an evolution of Rhythm Changes in the key of C. New bass player for this round. We began with circulating, but quickly reverted to pulsing chord voicings together in order to keep things moving. For this exercise, notes were not assigned, and it was up to the four players to find voicings together that were complete and convincing. We began with a simple…
I VI II V
…progression, getting the feel for how to find the simplest voice leading. The basic rules:
1. If your note is common to both chords, stay where you are.
2. If you must move, half steps are best, whole steps are good.
3. If absolutely necessary, moving a third is permissible.
The 4th rule, which did not figure much into this particular version of the exercise, since the chords where changing so quickly, is…
4. Moving a third or more within a particular chord is permitted if it helps to improve the voicing.
To this “pattern 1” we added a second pattern…
I I7 IV IVmin6…creating the basic 8-bar “A” section of Rhythm Changes:
I VI II VOr, in practical terms:
I VI II V
I I7 IV IVmin6
I VI II V
C Amin7 Dmin7 G7From here we moved into standard substitutions, gradually hipifying the chord progression. First, all of the Amin7s were replaced with A7s, as the V7 of II. After several steps we ended with this version:
C Amin7 Dmin7 G7
C C7 Fmaj7 Fmin6
C Amin7 Dmin7 G7
I #Iº7 IImin7 #IIº7… in which the #Iº7 is functioning as V7 of II, the #IIº7 as V7 of III, the ♭III7 as V7 of II, and ♭II7 as V7 of I.
IIImin7 ♭III7 IImin7 ♭II7
I I7 IVmaj7 IVmin6
I VI7 IImin7 V7
In C Major this is expressed as:
C C#º7 Dmin7 D#º7… in which the C#º7 is functioning as A7 (V7 of Dmin7), the D#º7 as B7 (V7 of Emin7), the E♭7 as A7 (V7 of Dmin7), and D♭7 as G7 (V7 of C).
Emin7 E♭7 Dmin7 D♭7
C C7 Fmaj7 Fmin6
C A7 Dmin7 G7
We ran a little long, in order to hear this played in improvised circulation. Of course this is a pretty complex sequence of chords, and quite new to several of the players, so we inevitably settled into a few reliable paths through changes. With a little practice, a lot more dynamism would be possible. And with a few more players we could even develop improvised rhythm and melody parts.
Next week, perhaps the bridge? All kinds of potential fun awaits.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Music Lab Part 2, Crazy
Saturday July 10, 2010 – Music Lab Part 2, Crazy
The chords and analysis of the first 8 bars of Crazy, as we worked with them today, in the key of G (pretty sure Patsy sang it in B♭):
The analysis of this goes…
…where both VI7 and #Iº7 are functioning a V7 of II. The sequence IImin-IImin(maj7)-IImin7 is what is referred to as a “minor line cliché” and is familiar to anyone who has ever attempted Stairway to Heaven, to name but one of about a bazillion examples. The other common minor line cliché is min-min(aug)-min7 (see any James Bond movie you like).
The chords and analysis of the first 8 bars of Crazy, as we worked with them today, in the key of G (pretty sure Patsy sang it in B♭):
Gmaj . . . E7 . . . A- . A-(maj7) . A-7 . . .
D7 . . . A-7 . D7 . Gmaj . G#º7 . A-7 . D7 .
The analysis of this goes…
Imaj . . . VI7 . . . II- . II-(maj7) . II-7 . . .
V7 . . . II-7 . V7 . Imaj . #Iº7 . II-7 . V7 .
…where both VI7 and #Iº7 are functioning a V7 of II. The sequence IImin-IImin(maj7)-IImin7 is what is referred to as a “minor line cliché” and is familiar to anyone who has ever attempted Stairway to Heaven, to name but one of about a bazillion examples. The other common minor line cliché is min-min(aug)-min7 (see any James Bond movie you like).
Music Lab
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday July 10, 2010 – Music Lab
The regular Music Lab crew has elected to continue meeting, at least from time to time, through the Tuning the Air summer break. We had five on board this morning, including one new arrival to Seattle.
The last time we met, I had introduced a simple exercise in voice leading; choosing notes from a given chord and playing them together, and then moving to the next chord with as little movement as possible, staying put on common notes, moving by whole or half-step when a change is necessary, and possibly by a third when absolutely necessary, but never more. This is a horn player’s bread and butter skill, but for guitarists it tends to be unknown or a mystery. For that Lab I had taken a few bars of Big Rock Candy Mountain as material to work with, since Sgt Bones was working on it for their monthly podcast; seemed relevant. Earlier in the week there had been a casual discussion about the virtues of Willie Nelson’s Crazy, and so for today I had the idea to use as much of that as possible. It contains an interesting assortment of harmonic movements, most very typical of a certain genre of music and something players are likely to encounter often. In particular, in the first 8 bars there are two variations on the sequence: V/II-II-V-I. The bridge and the out-chorus both involve other iconic chord sequences, which I imagine we will take a look at in the future, if this continues to be a useful endeavor.
We began by simply pulsing the chord changes, discovering the relationships. Once the sequence was established, and the players had identified some paths through it, we moved on to playing it in time, in 12/8 bars. I gave IgorK the role of bass player, sounding roots on 1 and 3. I had the remaining 4 players move to circulating their notes, from Ian to Christina to Greg to Carl, with return. Once this pattern settled in it formed a good, though far from easy, 1-2-3 4-5-6 feel; twice through the circulation per bar. Igor moved to roots and fifths. At this point the time ran out. I took a few minutes with Igor to look at where we would move next in developing a strong bass line. More on this in the future, I’ll wager.
Saturday July 10, 2010 – Music Lab
The regular Music Lab crew has elected to continue meeting, at least from time to time, through the Tuning the Air summer break. We had five on board this morning, including one new arrival to Seattle.
The last time we met, I had introduced a simple exercise in voice leading; choosing notes from a given chord and playing them together, and then moving to the next chord with as little movement as possible, staying put on common notes, moving by whole or half-step when a change is necessary, and possibly by a third when absolutely necessary, but never more. This is a horn player’s bread and butter skill, but for guitarists it tends to be unknown or a mystery. For that Lab I had taken a few bars of Big Rock Candy Mountain as material to work with, since Sgt Bones was working on it for their monthly podcast; seemed relevant. Earlier in the week there had been a casual discussion about the virtues of Willie Nelson’s Crazy, and so for today I had the idea to use as much of that as possible. It contains an interesting assortment of harmonic movements, most very typical of a certain genre of music and something players are likely to encounter often. In particular, in the first 8 bars there are two variations on the sequence: V/II-II-V-I. The bridge and the out-chorus both involve other iconic chord sequences, which I imagine we will take a look at in the future, if this continues to be a useful endeavor.
We began by simply pulsing the chord changes, discovering the relationships. Once the sequence was established, and the players had identified some paths through it, we moved on to playing it in time, in 12/8 bars. I gave IgorK the role of bass player, sounding roots on 1 and 3. I had the remaining 4 players move to circulating their notes, from Ian to Christina to Greg to Carl, with return. Once this pattern settled in it formed a good, though far from easy, 1-2-3 4-5-6 feel; twice through the circulation per bar. Igor moved to roots and fifths. At this point the time ran out. I took a few minutes with Igor to look at where we would move next in developing a strong bass line. More on this in the future, I’ll wager.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Fall/Winter 2010 Season
A Tuning the Air Journal
Tuning the Air - Fall/Winter 2010 Season
Every Thursday, October 7 through December 16, 2010.
Fremont Abbey Arts Center – The Great Hall
4272 Fremont Ave N, Seattle
Doors open at 7:45pm
Admission $10
Tuning the Air - Fall/Winter 2010 Season
Every Thursday, October 7 through December 16, 2010.
Fremont Abbey Arts Center – The Great Hall
4272 Fremont Ave N, Seattle
Doors open at 7:45pm
Admission $10
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Monthly Open Circle and Tuning the Air Season Completion Meeting
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday July 3, 2010 – Monthly Open Circle and Tuning the Air Season Completion Meeting
Good work with the Open Circle this morning at Fremont Abbey. Entirely family and friends, and so we were able to push the challenges and exercises a bit. Both Frank and Teo onboard, so the AT Teacher to guitarist ratio was doubled. Bonus!
This was followed by a meeting at my place (outside in our back yard, to be precise) of the Tuning the Air company. Very good reflections and observations about the season just completed. Much of this inevitably suggested thoughts about the upcoming season. But we endeavored to keep our primary focus the wrapping up the present one.
“Free dispersal from the circle” declared, and the season was completed. We have until August 1 to contemplate and declare our commitment for the next season.
Saturday July 3, 2010 – Monthly Open Circle and Tuning the Air Season Completion Meeting
Good work with the Open Circle this morning at Fremont Abbey. Entirely family and friends, and so we were able to push the challenges and exercises a bit. Both Frank and Teo onboard, so the AT Teacher to guitarist ratio was doubled. Bonus!
This was followed by a meeting at my place (outside in our back yard, to be precise) of the Tuning the Air company. Very good reflections and observations about the season just completed. Much of this inevitably suggested thoughts about the upcoming season. But we endeavored to keep our primary focus the wrapping up the present one.
“Free dispersal from the circle” declared, and the season was completed. We have until August 1 to contemplate and declare our commitment for the next season.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Tuning the Air #185 - Closing Night
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday July 1, 2010 – Tuning the Air #185
A full house! 96 to be exact. We can still squeeze a few more in, but we are actually beginning to approach the limit. Amazing. Wonderful show. Now a break, and we open again in October.
Setlist:
Thursday July 1, 2010 – Tuning the Air #185
A full house! 96 to be exact. We can still squeeze a few more in, but we are actually beginning to approach the limit. Amazing. Wonderful show. Now a break, and we open again in October.
Setlist:
Joel Palmer – Improvised preshow music into C Harmonic MinorEncore:
C Harmonic Minor Chimes w/Joel
Voices of Ancient Children
Cultivating the Beat
My Precious Dream
From the Hat: “7 chords led by Mary Beth”
Pipeline
From the Hat: “What is the secret to an idyllic life?”
Address the Audience – Travis
Spiral Circulation
Sigh and a Kiss
The Children’s Hour
A Day in the Life
Spontaneous Composition in E Minor w/Oboe
Ikada-Jima
Space Zombies! From Outer Space! w/Joel
Twilight
Thrak
Eye of the Needle
Monday, June 28, 2010
Final Rehearsal of the Season
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday June 28, 2010 – Final Rehearsal of the Season
All present and accounted for at the Wilsons tonight.
We began with another look at Neptune, reviewing the opening section we have been working with in recent weeks. We then took a look at some examples of the arrangement strategies Taylor is contemplating for the next few sections, as a kind of “proof of concept”. A lot of energy from this, and he was encouraged (nagged? harangued?) to move forward with this swiftly. If time allows, we will run the first section at Thursday’s soundcheck in order to hear it amplified and in the performance space.
This was followed by a serious look at the scales employed in the Voodoo Situation. We talked through each, and then freely circulated, giving us a bit of room to explore the tonalities and begin to discover their qualities. Ian brought out a harmonic figure that he thinks will work well in the second section, and this livened things up quickly, and eventually the free circulation/improv morphed into the form of the piece, so though we never ran it formally there was still a good sense of how it could/will unfold. The Music Director did not comment on whether or not it will be in The Hat on Thursday.
After a break, we touched on a number of pieces of repertoire that will be in the closing night set. For the most part, these were run without a lot of comment, simply to keep them sharp. Pieces that are not “problematic” rarely get played in our limited available rehearsal time, and Chris wanted to touch on as many as possible: The Children’s Hour, Cultivating the Beat, A Day In The Life, Space Zombies! From Outer Space!, Twilight, My Precious Dream, Ikada-Jima-Hoedown, and Eye of the Needle. The last piece was the only time the metronome came out, as we continued our commitment to readdressing it, as if it was new material.
Thursday night is closing night. On Saturday we will have the final Open Circle until September, and the completion meeting for the season.
Monday June 28, 2010 – Final Rehearsal of the Season
All present and accounted for at the Wilsons tonight.
We began with another look at Neptune, reviewing the opening section we have been working with in recent weeks. We then took a look at some examples of the arrangement strategies Taylor is contemplating for the next few sections, as a kind of “proof of concept”. A lot of energy from this, and he was encouraged (nagged? harangued?) to move forward with this swiftly. If time allows, we will run the first section at Thursday’s soundcheck in order to hear it amplified and in the performance space.
This was followed by a serious look at the scales employed in the Voodoo Situation. We talked through each, and then freely circulated, giving us a bit of room to explore the tonalities and begin to discover their qualities. Ian brought out a harmonic figure that he thinks will work well in the second section, and this livened things up quickly, and eventually the free circulation/improv morphed into the form of the piece, so though we never ran it formally there was still a good sense of how it could/will unfold. The Music Director did not comment on whether or not it will be in The Hat on Thursday.
After a break, we touched on a number of pieces of repertoire that will be in the closing night set. For the most part, these were run without a lot of comment, simply to keep them sharp. Pieces that are not “problematic” rarely get played in our limited available rehearsal time, and Chris wanted to touch on as many as possible: The Children’s Hour, Cultivating the Beat, A Day In The Life, Space Zombies! From Outer Space!, Twilight, My Precious Dream, Ikada-Jima-Hoedown, and Eye of the Needle. The last piece was the only time the metronome came out, as we continued our commitment to readdressing it, as if it was new material.
Thursday night is closing night. On Saturday we will have the final Open Circle until September, and the completion meeting for the season.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Full Company with Frank, Performance Team Rehearsal and Music Lab
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday June 26, 2010 – Full Company with Frank, Performance Team Rehearsal and Music Lab
Our final Saturday guitar circle/rehearsal of the season. We will complete the season next week with the Monthly Open Circle, a bit of practical work and then our final meeting. We began with the full team, with Frank and Teo. Frank recapitulated the themes he has been focused on with us since we began the season in January. We looked at the critical moment, and the ways we have to make choices at that moment, in particular the practice of observing the way our bodies move with our breath. He then set up a small performance challenge, so that we could look at this moment and these choices.
For me, this work with Frank (and the week with Sandra) has been one of the pivotal and defining elements in the evolution of the production this season.
After a break, the Performance Team reconvened to rehearse. We began with a continuation of the work with the opening section of Neptune. This was our first opportunity to hear it in the Great Hall, and that alone was amazing. It features very gentle and quiet tremolos that become magical in that space.
On to a look at The Children’s Hour. In the last week we moved to a slightly faster tempo and found that it was an improvement. We wanted to quantify the change. The original tempo was 50bpm, and the new tempo felt significantly brisker. So we set the metronome at 56bpm and ran it. This was clearly too fast. Backed it off to 54bpm, and this still seemed fast. 52bpm turned out to be the new tempo. Strange that such a small change could make such a marked qualitative difference.
Eye of the Needle was next. We ran it once with the metronome, and in general were startled that the determined tempo was so much fast than we ever perform it. Once we settled in, it felt right, but the first two or three sections were definitely a race against our habit. When we ran it a second time, it was much more solid. After some discussion, we agreed to make the commitment to make work with the piece at tempo a part of our daily practice this week, addressing it with the same kind of care we apply to learning new material.
On to Space Zombies! From Outer Space! We gave this some focused attention, working at a slightly slower tempo, and working in pairs, one bass player and one lead player, to sharpen the timing and feel issues.
At about this point, the next tenants began showing up and beginning to set the room up for their event, even though we had an hour to go for rehearsal. We explained the misunderstanding to them, and they gave us our space. But others continued arrive, and they were piling gear up outside the door waiting to get into the Great Hall, so we wrapped up early and moved on.
The Music Lab was at my place; Greg, Mary Beth and Ian in attendance. The House Circle is working on an arrangement of Big Rock Candy Mountain, and I decided to use this material for an exercise in voice leading for chords. Rather intense work, as it turns out. By the end we had added the task of developing bass lines as well.
For the last half hour, we looked at one of the scales used in Ian’s Voodoo Situation: C-C#-E-F-G#-A. Essentially a C augmented triad and a C# augmented triad. I worked out a circulated version of this that explored all of the triads available in this scale, beginning with the C augmented and then changing one note at a time until it had morphed into the C# augmented, then moving back to the next inversion of the C aug. This created the following sequence of triads:
There is a slightly different route that incorporates another set of minor triads, and a more complex arrangement that would actually hit on all 15 of the possible triads. But time was short, and so those will have to wait for another time.
Saturday June 26, 2010 – Full Company with Frank, Performance Team Rehearsal and Music Lab
Our final Saturday guitar circle/rehearsal of the season. We will complete the season next week with the Monthly Open Circle, a bit of practical work and then our final meeting. We began with the full team, with Frank and Teo. Frank recapitulated the themes he has been focused on with us since we began the season in January. We looked at the critical moment, and the ways we have to make choices at that moment, in particular the practice of observing the way our bodies move with our breath. He then set up a small performance challenge, so that we could look at this moment and these choices.
For me, this work with Frank (and the week with Sandra) has been one of the pivotal and defining elements in the evolution of the production this season.
After a break, the Performance Team reconvened to rehearse. We began with a continuation of the work with the opening section of Neptune. This was our first opportunity to hear it in the Great Hall, and that alone was amazing. It features very gentle and quiet tremolos that become magical in that space.
On to a look at The Children’s Hour. In the last week we moved to a slightly faster tempo and found that it was an improvement. We wanted to quantify the change. The original tempo was 50bpm, and the new tempo felt significantly brisker. So we set the metronome at 56bpm and ran it. This was clearly too fast. Backed it off to 54bpm, and this still seemed fast. 52bpm turned out to be the new tempo. Strange that such a small change could make such a marked qualitative difference.
Eye of the Needle was next. We ran it once with the metronome, and in general were startled that the determined tempo was so much fast than we ever perform it. Once we settled in, it felt right, but the first two or three sections were definitely a race against our habit. When we ran it a second time, it was much more solid. After some discussion, we agreed to make the commitment to make work with the piece at tempo a part of our daily practice this week, addressing it with the same kind of care we apply to learning new material.
On to Space Zombies! From Outer Space! We gave this some focused attention, working at a slightly slower tempo, and working in pairs, one bass player and one lead player, to sharpen the timing and feel issues.
At about this point, the next tenants began showing up and beginning to set the room up for their event, even though we had an hour to go for rehearsal. We explained the misunderstanding to them, and they gave us our space. But others continued arrive, and they were piling gear up outside the door waiting to get into the Great Hall, so we wrapped up early and moved on.
The Music Lab was at my place; Greg, Mary Beth and Ian in attendance. The House Circle is working on an arrangement of Big Rock Candy Mountain, and I decided to use this material for an exercise in voice leading for chords. Rather intense work, as it turns out. By the end we had added the task of developing bass lines as well.
For the last half hour, we looked at one of the scales used in Ian’s Voodoo Situation: C-C#-E-F-G#-A. Essentially a C augmented triad and a C# augmented triad. I worked out a circulated version of this that explored all of the triads available in this scale, beginning with the C augmented and then changing one note at a time until it had morphed into the C# augmented, then moving back to the next inversion of the C aug. This created the following sequence of triads:
- C aug
- A min
- F maj
- C# aug
- E aug
- C# min
- A maj
- F aug
- Ab (G#) aug
- F min
- Db (C#) maj
- A aug
- C aug and the cycle repeats.
There is a slightly different route that incorporates another set of minor triads, and a more complex arrangement that would actually hit on all 15 of the possible triads. But time was short, and so those will have to wait for another time.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Tuning the Air #184
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday June 24, 2010 – Tuning the Air #184
78 in the audience tonight. Thank you Seattle Times! Nothing but repertoire from The Hat; very strange. Wonderful show.
Setlist:
Thursday June 24, 2010 – Tuning the Air #184
78 in the audience tonight. Thank you Seattle Times! Nothing but repertoire from The Hat; very strange. Wonderful show.
Setlist:
Joel Palmer – Improvised preshow music into C Harmonic MinorEncore:
C Harmonic Minor Chimes w/Joel
Voices of Ancient Children
Cultivating the Beat
My Precious Dream
From the Hat: 49 Notes
Pipeline
From the Hat: Turkish Suite
Address the Audience – Travis
Spiral Circulation
Sigh and a Kiss
The Children’s Hour
A Day in the Life
Spontaneous Composition in E Minor
Ikada-Jima
Space Zombies! From Outer Space! w/Joel
Twilight
Thrak
Eye of the Needle
Monday, June 21, 2010
Rehearsal at the Wilsons
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday June 21, 2010 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
All present and accounted for tonight. We began by working on Taylor’s arrangeent of the first minute and a half of “Neptune”, from The Planets. This began to really take shape tonight, as we got a bit past the notes and began to address the music. A general kind of “proof of concept” that gives us the clarity that it is possible, and will work. And so the arranger has his work cut out for him; 90 seconds down and about another 5 minutes to go. We’ll play it amplified at sound check on Thursday, for additional information, but it is unlikely to be ready before the season closes.
Found this online about the piece earlier in the day and circulated it to the team:
Next on the agenda was Ian’s Voodoo Situation, a loosely structured improvisation following along the harmonic lines of George Russell’s Lydian Chromatic Concept, using chords from Miles Runs the Voodoo Down as the jumping off point. Good fun. A stretch for us, but stretching is good. We’ll also give this a go at soundcheck, and that will determine whether or not it will go in The Hat for this show.
A run through of A Day In The Life.
Lastly, a review of a new spin on Ikada-Jima that we stumbled into on Saturday. Since Howard was not at rehearsal on Saturday, and had no idea about the changes, we got to experience his unfiltered reaction, which was an ear-to-ear grin. Very good sign. It is on!
One more time through The Children’s Hour and we called it a night.
Monday June 21, 2010 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
All present and accounted for tonight. We began by working on Taylor’s arrangeent of the first minute and a half of “Neptune”, from The Planets. This began to really take shape tonight, as we got a bit past the notes and began to address the music. A general kind of “proof of concept” that gives us the clarity that it is possible, and will work. And so the arranger has his work cut out for him; 90 seconds down and about another 5 minutes to go. We’ll play it amplified at sound check on Thursday, for additional information, but it is unlikely to be ready before the season closes.
Found this online about the piece earlier in the day and circulated it to the team:
“Neptune” was the first piece of orchestral music to have a fade-out ending. Holst stipulates that the women's choruses are “to be placed in an adjoining room, the door of which is to be left open until the last bar of the piece, when it is to be slowly and silently closed”, and that the final bar (scored for choruses alone) is “to be repeated until the sound is lost in the distance”. Although commonplace today, the effect bewitched audiences in the era before widespread recorded sound—after the initial 1918 run-through, Holst's daughter Imogen (in addition to watching the charwomen dancing in the aisles during “Jupiter”) remarked that the ending was “unforgettable, with its hidden chorus of women's voices growing fainter and fainter... until the imagination knew no difference between sound and silence”.We moved on to some detail and refinement work on The Children’s Hour, focusing on phrasing as a group.
Next on the agenda was Ian’s Voodoo Situation, a loosely structured improvisation following along the harmonic lines of George Russell’s Lydian Chromatic Concept, using chords from Miles Runs the Voodoo Down as the jumping off point. Good fun. A stretch for us, but stretching is good. We’ll also give this a go at soundcheck, and that will determine whether or not it will go in The Hat for this show.
A run through of A Day In The Life.
Lastly, a review of a new spin on Ikada-Jima that we stumbled into on Saturday. Since Howard was not at rehearsal on Saturday, and had no idea about the changes, we got to experience his unfiltered reaction, which was an ear-to-ear grin. Very good sign. It is on!
One more time through The Children’s Hour and we called it a night.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Full Company with Frank, Performance Team Rehearsal and Music Lab
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday June 19, 2010 – Full Company with Frank, Performance Team Rehearsal and Music Lab
Solstice Festival day in Fremont, which made parking a bit dicey. It is overcast and chilly, and we begin pretty early, so it wasn’t too bad going in. By the time we departed, just after noon, the joint was definitely jumping.
First part of the morning was the full team with guitars, with Frank. We are wrapping up a season of consistent work with him, and following of on a week of intensive work with Sandra. He summarized the process of observing the body as it responds to the breath, our presence at the “critical moment”, and took us through an intensive look at “inhibition” in the Alexander Technique sense of the word. He led us through a simple rhythmic exercise, slowly adding more bits to it and increasing the complexity. The final part of the exercise was as close to The Movements as anything I have encountered; both revealing and energizing.
After a break, the Performance Team reconvened for rehearsal. A bit more focused work on The Children’s Hour to begin with. Chris revealed that for next week some repertoire is returning to The Hat, and so we spent the rest of the rehearsal reviewing pieces we may not have played for some time: The Turkish Suite, Brasil, Twilight, 49 Notes, Ikada-Jima, The Wig Maker, Thrak, and Lament. We got of on a very silly tangent on one of the pieces, reworking its arrangement and including a radical change in genre. Lots of fun, and I believe it will be incorporated. It took quite a bit more time than anticipated, however, and so continued work on Taylor’s arrangement of Neptune and Ian’s Voodoo Situation were pushed back to Monday’s rehearsal.
Return to my place where Greg, Mary Beth, Ian and IgorK gathered for today’s Music Lab. We moved forward in the interval recognition ear training exercise, taking on sixths and sevenths. From there we moved on to recognizing the elements of a harmonic environment – in this case various modes – and building a scale that is consistent. Feels like the beginning of some essential stuff. The circulations that surrounded this exploration had a definite “something” about them.
Saturday June 19, 2010 – Full Company with Frank, Performance Team Rehearsal and Music Lab
Solstice Festival day in Fremont, which made parking a bit dicey. It is overcast and chilly, and we begin pretty early, so it wasn’t too bad going in. By the time we departed, just after noon, the joint was definitely jumping.
First part of the morning was the full team with guitars, with Frank. We are wrapping up a season of consistent work with him, and following of on a week of intensive work with Sandra. He summarized the process of observing the body as it responds to the breath, our presence at the “critical moment”, and took us through an intensive look at “inhibition” in the Alexander Technique sense of the word. He led us through a simple rhythmic exercise, slowly adding more bits to it and increasing the complexity. The final part of the exercise was as close to The Movements as anything I have encountered; both revealing and energizing.
After a break, the Performance Team reconvened for rehearsal. A bit more focused work on The Children’s Hour to begin with. Chris revealed that for next week some repertoire is returning to The Hat, and so we spent the rest of the rehearsal reviewing pieces we may not have played for some time: The Turkish Suite, Brasil, Twilight, 49 Notes, Ikada-Jima, The Wig Maker, Thrak, and Lament. We got of on a very silly tangent on one of the pieces, reworking its arrangement and including a radical change in genre. Lots of fun, and I believe it will be incorporated. It took quite a bit more time than anticipated, however, and so continued work on Taylor’s arrangement of Neptune and Ian’s Voodoo Situation were pushed back to Monday’s rehearsal.
Return to my place where Greg, Mary Beth, Ian and IgorK gathered for today’s Music Lab. We moved forward in the interval recognition ear training exercise, taking on sixths and sevenths. From there we moved on to recognizing the elements of a harmonic environment – in this case various modes – and building a scale that is consistent. Feels like the beginning of some essential stuff. The circulations that surrounded this exploration had a definite “something” about them.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Tuning the Air #183
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday June 17, 2010 – Tuning the Air #183
Setlist:
Thursday June 17, 2010 – Tuning the Air #183
Setlist:
- Joel Palmer – Improvised preshow music into C Harmonic Minor
- Ringing in C Harmonic Minor
- Voices of Ancient Children (Kabusacki/Nunez)
- Cultivating the Beat (Williams)
- My Precious Dream (Binder)
- From the Hat: The Lizard of Ooze
- Pipeline (Carman/Spickard)
- From the Hat: Everyone Solos Then Everyone Plays Together
- Address the Audience – Travis
- Circulating through the audience, as the spirit moves
- Sigh and a Kiss (Williams)
- The Children’s Hour (Ives)
- A Day in the Life (Lennon/McCartney)
- Spontaneous Composition in E Minor, with oboe
- Ikada-Jima (Gibson)
- From the Hat: Worst Song I Ever Heard [rejected by performers]
- Alternate from the Hat: Open Circulation
- Space Zombies! From Outer Space! (Peacock) – with Joel Palmer on creepy ambience.
- Eye of the Needle (Fripp)
Monday, June 14, 2010
Rehearsal at the Wilsons
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday June 14, 2010 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
Shorthanded tonight, with Chris out of town and both Travis and Howard unavailable.
The first half of the rehearsal we applied ourselves to digging into the details of the rhythmic and phrasing subtleties of The Children’s Hour.
After a break, we began work on Taylor’s arrangement of “Neptune” from Holst’s The Planets. Tempted to push on, but Ian had some further work into the harmonic explorations for the Voodoo Chord, which yielded some rather stunning improvs.
Monday June 14, 2010 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
Shorthanded tonight, with Chris out of town and both Travis and Howard unavailable.
The first half of the rehearsal we applied ourselves to digging into the details of the rhythmic and phrasing subtleties of The Children’s Hour.
After a break, we began work on Taylor’s arrangement of “Neptune” from Holst’s The Planets. Tempted to push on, but Ian had some further work into the harmonic explorations for the Voodoo Chord, which yielded some rather stunning improvs.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Alexander Technique Day
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday June 12, 2010 – Alexander Technique Day
An embarrassment of riches. We had not 1, not 2, but 3 AT teachers on board to help us out today. Frank Sheldon, of course. Sandra Bain Cushman is in town this week doing a series of classes. And our pal Teo Hannum, who we haven’t seen for some time, was along as well.
Sandra took the first hour, working largely with us without guitars. Some boomwhacker circulations in the circle, and a number of exercises that, among other uses, helped us to respond to circulations and, especially, The Whizz, without our usual startle and other unnecessary physicalizations. The first hour ended with some walking whizzes… with one oboe involved!
After a break, Frank worked with us, continuing the theme of “the breath” and focusing on the distinction between reacting and responding. For this we worked entirely in the circle, with guitars (and oboe). Simple circulations and improvisations, in which presence at the “critical moment” was the only aim. On a number of occasions, what the group was creating was so musical that it was very difficult for me to stay with the exercise. Tending to revert to “musician mode” is always a challenge when we are addressing AT with our instruments, and today was more challenging than most. The addition of the oboe, suggested some possibilities for Tuning the Air that were impossible to ignore, and keeping my mind on the business at hand was a constant struggle.
For the final hour, the AT trio of doom put us through a number of very physical exercises, beginning with a variation on Simon Says.
At the end of the workshop, those able stayed for a few minutes to help the next tenant in the Great Hall set up for a piano recital, and then we went our separate ways. It was an incredible spring day in Seattle, and the Music Lab was “called on account of sun.”
Saturday June 12, 2010 – Alexander Technique Day
An embarrassment of riches. We had not 1, not 2, but 3 AT teachers on board to help us out today. Frank Sheldon, of course. Sandra Bain Cushman is in town this week doing a series of classes. And our pal Teo Hannum, who we haven’t seen for some time, was along as well.
Sandra took the first hour, working largely with us without guitars. Some boomwhacker circulations in the circle, and a number of exercises that, among other uses, helped us to respond to circulations and, especially, The Whizz, without our usual startle and other unnecessary physicalizations. The first hour ended with some walking whizzes… with one oboe involved!
After a break, Frank worked with us, continuing the theme of “the breath” and focusing on the distinction between reacting and responding. For this we worked entirely in the circle, with guitars (and oboe). Simple circulations and improvisations, in which presence at the “critical moment” was the only aim. On a number of occasions, what the group was creating was so musical that it was very difficult for me to stay with the exercise. Tending to revert to “musician mode” is always a challenge when we are addressing AT with our instruments, and today was more challenging than most. The addition of the oboe, suggested some possibilities for Tuning the Air that were impossible to ignore, and keeping my mind on the business at hand was a constant struggle.
For the final hour, the AT trio of doom put us through a number of very physical exercises, beginning with a variation on Simon Says.
At the end of the workshop, those able stayed for a few minutes to help the next tenant in the Great Hall set up for a piano recital, and then we went our separate ways. It was an incredible spring day in Seattle, and the Music Lab was “called on account of sun.”
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Tuning the Air #182, with the Thornton Creek Kids Circle
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday June 10, 2010 – Tuning the Air #182, with the Thornton Creek Kids Circle
Much to process and write about this. For now, just the facts:
Joel Palmer – Improvised preshow music
Thornton Creek Kids Circle:
Enters playing a thrakish call and response, which continues as we march once around the Great Hall, and take our seats at the east end. The Tuning the Air team follows, each taking up a seat near their place in the circle.
Tuning the Air:
As Joel begins the opening music for the Tuning the Air segment, the house team strikes the chairs set up for the Kids Circle, and sets Curt’s guitar out. Jaxie and Curt escort the Kids out to join their families in the audience, and we take our places in the TTA Circle.
TTA team exits. When we return we are carrying guitars for the Kids. We take our places in the circle, invite the Kids back up from the audience to join us.
Thursday June 10, 2010 – Tuning the Air #182, with the Thornton Creek Kids Circle
Much to process and write about this. For now, just the facts:
Joel Palmer – Improvised preshow music
Thornton Creek Kids Circle:
Enters playing a thrakish call and response, which continues as we march once around the Great Hall, and take our seats at the east end. The Tuning the Air team follows, each taking up a seat near their place in the circle.
- Dirty Water – from our seats. From there on we are on our feet and on the move.
- Whizz – from the north side of the room
- The Blues – Curt in a chair on the west side of the room, blasting out-of-tune blues licks, with Jaxie and the Kids marching around the room doing the accompaniment.
- Spider Web Circulation – from the south side of the room
- La Bamba – standing in front of our original seats on the east side
- Circulation on any note of your choice.
Tuning the Air:
As Joel begins the opening music for the Tuning the Air segment, the house team strikes the chairs set up for the Kids Circle, and sets Curt’s guitar out. Jaxie and Curt escort the Kids out to join their families in the audience, and we take our places in the TTA Circle.
- Joel Palmer – C Harmonic Minor
- Ringing in C Harmonic Minor
- Voices of Ancient Children
- Cultivating the Beat
- The Children’s Hour (world debut!)
- From the Hat: A Quiet Song
- Pipeline
- Address the Audience – Curt
- Circulating through the audience, as the spirit moves
- Sigh and a Kiss
- A Day In The Life
- From the Hat: A One-Minute Collage, with each player on a 5-note phrase of their choice (with special guest Bill Rieflin in the role of timer)
- Space Zombies! From Outer Space! – with Joel Palmer providing awesomely creepy ambience.
TTA team exits. When we return we are carrying guitars for the Kids. We take our places in the circle, invite the Kids back up from the audience to join us.
- La Bamba (Slight Return)
Monday, June 7, 2010
Rehearsal at the Wilsons
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday June 7, 2010 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
Travis had a scheduling conflict (the nature of which was the source of much humor throughout the evening), so we were eight in the circle tonight. Sandra Bain Cushman, in town for a week of fun with Alexander Technique, was in attendance as well (until her east coast time orientation caught up with her about halfway through the rehearsal).
Twofold task for the evening… to sketch out a slightly shorter set than usual for Thursday night’s show with the Kids Circle, and to ensure that The Children’s Hour is presentable and ready for primetime.
The Children’s Hour was up first. Ran it cold, to test our true command of the piece first… in performance there is no warm-up or practice run. Quite good. The work we did on Saturday was evident, and there were no snags that we could not maneuver around. The difficult bits, particularly transitions, remain difficult, but no longer daunting. We engaged the metronome and got down to work. There was one short section where I was not hearing the melody clearly. It involves Jaxie and Chris playing lines that are partly unison and partly contrapuntal, and joining them into a single statement. A little work, a little analysis, and a little more work, and the passage was transformed. A few other details addressed, and the piece was declared ready, and to be included in Thursday’s set. We played it a couple times again in the evening, once as part of the set run through and again at the end of the night with us on our feet as we will be at the gig.
A Day In The Life was next. Travis plays the rhythm guitar part on this, and it is very much the skeleton on which the rest of the parts hang, so this was an opportunity for us to see how well we have internalized the music. Kind of a strange way for Sandra to hear the piece for the first time, but for the players a very informative experience. Space Zombies! From Outer Space! was also an interesting challenge without Travis holding down the middle.
On to set creation. From the weekend, we had already decided the musical content of the crossover from the Kids Circle to the TTA team. Chris laid out the plan he had in mind. Some suggestions and a bit of tweakage and we had a working set. We ran it for time (allowing some estimates for the selections from the Hat). The form an flow of the set seemed pretty good, but it ran a bit long. We looked at what could be dropped, and that inspired a little re-orging as well, and in the end we had a set that will work well in the shorter format: still complete, and without any kind of compromise, but running at a length that will not overtax the good will of an audience that will very likely include a number young people out on a school night; and their parents.
Monday June 7, 2010 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
Travis had a scheduling conflict (the nature of which was the source of much humor throughout the evening), so we were eight in the circle tonight. Sandra Bain Cushman, in town for a week of fun with Alexander Technique, was in attendance as well (until her east coast time orientation caught up with her about halfway through the rehearsal).
Twofold task for the evening… to sketch out a slightly shorter set than usual for Thursday night’s show with the Kids Circle, and to ensure that The Children’s Hour is presentable and ready for primetime.
The Children’s Hour was up first. Ran it cold, to test our true command of the piece first… in performance there is no warm-up or practice run. Quite good. The work we did on Saturday was evident, and there were no snags that we could not maneuver around. The difficult bits, particularly transitions, remain difficult, but no longer daunting. We engaged the metronome and got down to work. There was one short section where I was not hearing the melody clearly. It involves Jaxie and Chris playing lines that are partly unison and partly contrapuntal, and joining them into a single statement. A little work, a little analysis, and a little more work, and the passage was transformed. A few other details addressed, and the piece was declared ready, and to be included in Thursday’s set. We played it a couple times again in the evening, once as part of the set run through and again at the end of the night with us on our feet as we will be at the gig.
A Day In The Life was next. Travis plays the rhythm guitar part on this, and it is very much the skeleton on which the rest of the parts hang, so this was an opportunity for us to see how well we have internalized the music. Kind of a strange way for Sandra to hear the piece for the first time, but for the players a very informative experience. Space Zombies! From Outer Space! was also an interesting challenge without Travis holding down the middle.
On to set creation. From the weekend, we had already decided the musical content of the crossover from the Kids Circle to the TTA team. Chris laid out the plan he had in mind. Some suggestions and a bit of tweakage and we had a working set. We ran it for time (allowing some estimates for the selections from the Hat). The form an flow of the set seemed pretty good, but it ran a bit long. We looked at what could be dropped, and that inspired a little re-orging as well, and in the end we had a set that will work well in the shorter format: still complete, and without any kind of compromise, but running at a length that will not overtax the good will of an audience that will very likely include a number young people out on a school night; and their parents.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Monthly Open Circle, Company Meeting and Performance Team Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday June 5, 2010 – Monthly Open Circle, Company Meeting and Performance Team Rehearsal
Thirteen in the Open Circle this morning, plus me on my feet and Frank working the periphery. One first-timer, who plugged into the way the circle works very quickly. A number of regular Open Circlers, the House Team, but only three players from the Performance Team. With the experiential center of gravity at the beginner/intermediate level, this shifted to a more standard beginner’s circle, working on basic circulation skills. This struck me as something of a missed opportunity, as the circle felt as though it was perpetually right on the edge of really going somewhere, but never quite had the momentum to make the leap. A few more experienced players would have made a big difference.
Nevertheless, very good work. For the first half we worked with basic “any note of your choice” circulation exercises as well as some circulated scale/arpeggio work. For the second half it felt to me as though something a little more musical was called for, so I divided the circle into 2 halves, and we developed a simple form in which one group would play a gentle pulsing rhythmic form on a basic chord while the other group improvised in circulation. Roles reversed every 8 bars. This really began to get going after a while. Toward the end, several of the more experienced players had, and responded to, the impulse to get on their feet. Everyone followed their lead, and the thing really came alive. It was clear from the final “any note of your choice” circulation that there had been forward progress in our 2 hours together.
Back to my place for the Performance Team rehearsal, which began with a short (but not as short as I had originally envisioned) full company meeting to get the full team up to speed on how the Thursday show with the Kids Circle is going to go. It was a beautiful afternoon, so we met outside in the back yard. That may help to explain why the meeting went long – no one wanted to leave. I laid out the general framework of the show, pointed out a number of the challenges, and together we hammered out the details. Quite a few insights and inspirations from the team that were vast improvements over my original conception, and so by the end of the meeting we had crafted a far superior performance. Left the meeting feeling energized and enthusiastic.
Short Performance Team rehearsal inside at my place. Most of our work on The Children’s Hour, as the (absent due to work obligations) Music Director had made it pretty unambiguous that he would like to have it available for Thursday. A Day In The Life, Space Zombies! From Outer Space!, and 49 Notes also received a bit of attention.
Saturday June 5, 2010 – Monthly Open Circle, Company Meeting and Performance Team Rehearsal
Thirteen in the Open Circle this morning, plus me on my feet and Frank working the periphery. One first-timer, who plugged into the way the circle works very quickly. A number of regular Open Circlers, the House Team, but only three players from the Performance Team. With the experiential center of gravity at the beginner/intermediate level, this shifted to a more standard beginner’s circle, working on basic circulation skills. This struck me as something of a missed opportunity, as the circle felt as though it was perpetually right on the edge of really going somewhere, but never quite had the momentum to make the leap. A few more experienced players would have made a big difference.
Nevertheless, very good work. For the first half we worked with basic “any note of your choice” circulation exercises as well as some circulated scale/arpeggio work. For the second half it felt to me as though something a little more musical was called for, so I divided the circle into 2 halves, and we developed a simple form in which one group would play a gentle pulsing rhythmic form on a basic chord while the other group improvised in circulation. Roles reversed every 8 bars. This really began to get going after a while. Toward the end, several of the more experienced players had, and responded to, the impulse to get on their feet. Everyone followed their lead, and the thing really came alive. It was clear from the final “any note of your choice” circulation that there had been forward progress in our 2 hours together.
Back to my place for the Performance Team rehearsal, which began with a short (but not as short as I had originally envisioned) full company meeting to get the full team up to speed on how the Thursday show with the Kids Circle is going to go. It was a beautiful afternoon, so we met outside in the back yard. That may help to explain why the meeting went long – no one wanted to leave. I laid out the general framework of the show, pointed out a number of the challenges, and together we hammered out the details. Quite a few insights and inspirations from the team that were vast improvements over my original conception, and so by the end of the meeting we had crafted a far superior performance. Left the meeting feeling energized and enthusiastic.
Short Performance Team rehearsal inside at my place. Most of our work on The Children’s Hour, as the (absent due to work obligations) Music Director had made it pretty unambiguous that he would like to have it available for Thursday. A Day In The Life, Space Zombies! From Outer Space!, and 49 Notes also received a bit of attention.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Tuning the Air #181
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday June 3, 2010 – Tuning the Air #181
The setlist:
Thursday June 3, 2010 – Tuning the Air #181
The setlist:
Joel Palmer – C Harmonic Minor
Ringing in C Harmonic Minor
Voices of Ancient Children
Cultivating the Beat
My Precious Dream
Spontaneous Composition in F Major
From the Hat:
On Mars We Play Like ThisPipeline
49 Notes
Address the Audience – Travis
Circulating through the audience
Sigh and a Kiss
A Day In The Life
From the Hat:Encore:
Journey To The Unknown
Ikada-Jima
Circulation in G Major
Eye of the Needle
Horn Up Your Ass – acoustic, for Meleah’s birthday
Space Zombies! From Outer Space! – acoustic
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