Dev's House

6/24/2012


In Attendance:  Dev Ray, Scott Dozier, Victor McSurely, Rick McCarthy, Wayne Wylupski, Brad Hogg

Beginning around 8 pm with Dev, Scott, Brad, and Wayne.  An opening circulation, going round the circle, followed by another circulation that begins with intentional passing across the circle and grows quickly into a full improvisation.

Dev comments on the newness seems to be coming from Wayne; this prompts a discussion about where Wayne had left off in the beginning years of Guitar Craft, and where we are as a circle.

Circulation pattern work; first a review of +2 -1, and then some stretching.  Brad suggests a pattern of +2 -1 +1 -1, while counting in 5 (1 2 3 1 2).  The big help here seems to be looking the way that you are passing.  Once we get that under our hands, Dev mixes it up and suggests playing a rest on the 1, while still having the spot in the pattern "played" by the circulation (so the rest would happen on a person's slot, and they would get the note, but wouldn't actually play anything).  This proves to be a good challenge.  Some playing with this, and then quick observations (noticing startles, difficulties with the gap of the rest) and a note that this particular pattern ends up with a ping pong that shifts on each bar of 5.  Another run of the pattern with this in mind makes it much easier to play, but also makes it too easy to think of the ping pong and just play that.  After a few minutes of this, we take a short break that ends up running longer—some discussion of various topics, during which Rick arrives.

With Rick in the circle, we take a moment to collect, and then a circulation and improv.  Nice stuff.

Back in with the circulation work.  We review what we’d been doing with Rick, run that for a moment, and then Brad puts forward a different pattern:  forward 3, reverse 2, and then begin again to the right of the player that finishes the pattern.  So, with an order of Dev – Brad – Wayne – Rick – Scott, it would look like:

Dev – Brad – Wayne – Rick – Wayne – Brad

Wayne – Rick – Scott – Dev – Scott – Rick

Scott – Dev – Brad – Wayne – Brad – Dev

Brad – Wayne – Rick – Scott – Rick – Wayne

Rick – Scott – Dev – Brad – Dev – Scott

Once we have our fingernails latched onto this, Rick ups the ante:  count out loud in 5.  This we do, and then bump it up just a touch more with a footstomp when the six-note pattern shifts.  A couple of attempts result in peals of laughter, and then we begin to get the hang of it.  At about this time, Victor arrives.

A short circulation to incorporate Victor, and then a short discussion of what we’ve been doing, to bring him up to speed.  At his request, a short report on what is going on with the AAD course.  Some more discussion follows of upcoming performances and work we have coming our way.

Back with the for3-rev2 circulation we’d been working with, sans stomping or counting.  Victor adds an extra step that we hadn’t thought of:  using the two non-playing circulators in the circuit, playing on the &s of 1 and 4.  This looks like this:

Rick (Wayne) Victor – Scott – Dev (Brad) Scott – Victor

Scott (Victor) Dev – Brad – Wayne (Rick) Brad – Dev

Fun work.

At this point, Victor takes a moment to talk about Orchestra work, and presents two exercises that we should be working with:  The Guitarist Inside work, and Division of Attention.  We run this last one for about 8 minutes or so.  Some final words, a final circulation, and we call it a night.