Sunday, December 16, 2012
Small group at Thatcher 12/16/12
Present: Victor, Chris, Glenn.
I arrived about 15 minutes late, and couldn't get anyone's attention for about 20 minutes, so these notes begin at 8:05.
Victor told me that he and Chris had been talking about the school shooting in Connecticut. I joined in the conversation as we set up our stools. As the three of us sat waiting for something to drop in, the only thing that seemed right to me was the 28 bars, which was just what Victor suggested. We reviewed it, then played it through. Victor reminded us how to incorporate the Lord's Prayer into the piece, so we played it again doing this as best we could.
We talked about what Chris and I had been working on. This led to a discussion about possible large group pieces for the upcoming Orchestra course. An ideal piece would have the following characteristics: 1) Printed score available. 2) Should be able to be practiced in isolation (a MIDI file might help with this). 3) Assuming the players show up knowing their parts, should not require much fine-tuning when they all arrive on the course. In other words, the parts should be played as notated. This led to some discussion of how playing without a conductor is a challenge.
We also talked about the pros and cons of regular performance. My idea was that a regular monthly performance, perhaps back at Spontaneous Celebrations, could be productive. Chris and Victor filling me in on some of the related challenges that the team encountered during my absence.
We worked on Peaches en Regalia, looping bits where the tempo was uneven, playing slower than usual and paying attention to accuracy and unanimity.
We had a bit of a break. Victor played a video clip of one of his students singing and playing piano. We also did a bit of experimenting with the pitched bells that happened to be sitting in an open case on the floor. These are square pitched hollow metal bars with rubber ended clappers on the outside, which are intended to be used in a bell choir. We built some chords and played around with listening to different tones in each ear. I was struck, no pun intended, by how these objects made musical notes seem to have physical form.
In the last segment of the evening, I presented some of the piece Chrysanthemum. Chris used the word "architectonic," which was a new one on me and Victor. We wrapped up around 11:30.
Glenn writing.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Working with Sandra Bain Cushman, 12-09-2012
Held at Thacher Montessori. In attendance: Victor, Glenn, Dev, Chris, Rick, Brad, Scott, Wayne, and Sandra
(No notes taken that day, so this will be generally anecdotal.)
Work with Sandra Bain Cushman, today! (Link opens a new window.) Sandra has a long and storied history with the Guitar Craft and Guitar Circle work, as well as the Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists, and is also a wonderful person, to boot.
Our work today focuses on Sandra's "Five Relations" work, and we begin in the Thacher music room with guitars off, exploring the first triad of the relations: Balance. The idea is that before we can be balanced with our guitars, we first need to be able to find balance in the body. Once Sandra's made a pass around the circle with each of us, she invites us to strap guitars on and begin playing, while she continues to work with each of us.
Circulation work that slowly moves to improvising.
Next follows Animation. More work directly with Sandra, followed by more improvising while Sandra comes around to each one of us. Opposition after this.
Span comes next, as part of an AT lie-down, that eventually becomes ambulatory work, and then more work with guitars, taking us out into the hall, up and down the stairs several times, and back into the music room. This brings us up to a lunch break.
After lunch, we meet in the gymnasium for more ambulation. Outwardly, this exercise is simple enough: an extension of Frank Sheldon's exercise of filling a space as much as possible while also constantly remaining in motion. We maintain this while also keeping some connection with the others in the group as a whole. As an added level of complexity, we cycle the 60 Point exercise as well. Two cycles through, with a pause on the hour (something else we have been doing today).
Back up to the music room to work. Integration as part of a sitting exercise.
Some questions, answers, and discussion. Observations given.
The final triad, Poise, with Glenn as a willing demonstration subject, and then each person in turn. Some final work with guitars, during which Sandra kills the room lights and leaves us to improvise on our own.
We collect our things, and go back to the gym to review a diagram of the Five Relations, with the triads drawn in to illustrate; most everyone takes a photograph for their own reference later. Some mildly profuse thanking of Sandra, a couple of nods toward the approaching future, and that brings the day to a happy close.
(No notes taken that day, so this will be generally anecdotal.)
Work with Sandra Bain Cushman, today! (Link opens a new window.) Sandra has a long and storied history with the Guitar Craft and Guitar Circle work, as well as the Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists, and is also a wonderful person, to boot.
Our work today focuses on Sandra's "Five Relations" work, and we begin in the Thacher music room with guitars off, exploring the first triad of the relations: Balance. The idea is that before we can be balanced with our guitars, we first need to be able to find balance in the body. Once Sandra's made a pass around the circle with each of us, she invites us to strap guitars on and begin playing, while she continues to work with each of us.
Circulation work that slowly moves to improvising.
Next follows Animation. More work directly with Sandra, followed by more improvising while Sandra comes around to each one of us. Opposition after this.
Span comes next, as part of an AT lie-down, that eventually becomes ambulatory work, and then more work with guitars, taking us out into the hall, up and down the stairs several times, and back into the music room. This brings us up to a lunch break.
After lunch, we meet in the gymnasium for more ambulation. Outwardly, this exercise is simple enough: an extension of Frank Sheldon's exercise of filling a space as much as possible while also constantly remaining in motion. We maintain this while also keeping some connection with the others in the group as a whole. As an added level of complexity, we cycle the 60 Point exercise as well. Two cycles through, with a pause on the hour (something else we have been doing today).
Back up to the music room to work. Integration as part of a sitting exercise.
Some questions, answers, and discussion. Observations given.
The final triad, Poise, with Glenn as a willing demonstration subject, and then each person in turn. Some final work with guitars, during which Sandra kills the room lights and leaves us to improvise on our own.
We collect our things, and go back to the gym to review a diagram of the Five Relations, with the triads drawn in to illustrate; most everyone takes a photograph for their own reference later. Some mildly profuse thanking of Sandra, a couple of nods toward the approaching future, and that brings the day to a happy close.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Thacher Music Room, 12/2/2012
In attendance: Victor, Brad, Glenn, Wayne, Rick, Chris
The meeting opens with a moment of silence, broken as Brad moves to let Glenn into the building. Once Glenn has situated himself into the circle, a bit of circulation to soundcheck.
Some improv exercises to warm up: first, four beats each, with the aim to continue the phrase as it is passed from player to player. This gets expanded to picking up a phrase before the previous player has completely finished playing (i.e., Brad picks up the torch as Victor is coming to the end of his phrase, and then Glenn does the same as Brad is finishing up). Longer phrases are invited. This is expanded even further to a three-player chain: Victor begins, Brad joins in, Glenn follows suit, and Wayne picks up where Victor leaves off; Rick will then pick up where Brad leaves off, Chris picks up Glenn's thread, and Victor takes over as Wayne is finishing up. Some interesting work.
(Brad: One thing I noticed about this was how the number of players in this exercise also created some interesting dyads [Victor/Wayne, Brad/Rick, Glenn/Chris]. Personally, it became a bit difficult to pay attention to the other players, as I was listening to keep track of what Rick was playing.)
Moving to working on Crescent Study. Mostly getting a feel for the pace of the piece; the spatial circulation order is easy enough to pick up, and so the work is largely focused on remembering notes and the shift from a 6/8 (duple triplets) feel to half-speed (quarter note) feel. A few runs of the first two pages, and the next two pages are slotted for the following week.
A break for the hindquarters.
Working on Peaches. Some spot work on the diddly bits going back into the restatement of the main theme, the slinky bits in the guitar solo, and a couple of runs through the piece as a whole.
Glenn asks to try a couple of ideas out regarding the arrangement of Sigh and a Kiss. Nothing concrete, but some good ideas that needed to be heard in order to be continued.
Victor asks everyone what they've been working on; Chris demonstrates a bit of the C Major Cello Prelude that he's been refining over the past month.
A final circulation to close the night.
The meeting opens with a moment of silence, broken as Brad moves to let Glenn into the building. Once Glenn has situated himself into the circle, a bit of circulation to soundcheck.
Some improv exercises to warm up: first, four beats each, with the aim to continue the phrase as it is passed from player to player. This gets expanded to picking up a phrase before the previous player has completely finished playing (i.e., Brad picks up the torch as Victor is coming to the end of his phrase, and then Glenn does the same as Brad is finishing up). Longer phrases are invited. This is expanded even further to a three-player chain: Victor begins, Brad joins in, Glenn follows suit, and Wayne picks up where Victor leaves off; Rick will then pick up where Brad leaves off, Chris picks up Glenn's thread, and Victor takes over as Wayne is finishing up. Some interesting work.
(Brad: One thing I noticed about this was how the number of players in this exercise also created some interesting dyads [Victor/Wayne, Brad/Rick, Glenn/Chris]. Personally, it became a bit difficult to pay attention to the other players, as I was listening to keep track of what Rick was playing.)
Moving to working on Crescent Study. Mostly getting a feel for the pace of the piece; the spatial circulation order is easy enough to pick up, and so the work is largely focused on remembering notes and the shift from a 6/8 (duple triplets) feel to half-speed (quarter note) feel. A few runs of the first two pages, and the next two pages are slotted for the following week.
A break for the hindquarters.
Working on Peaches. Some spot work on the diddly bits going back into the restatement of the main theme, the slinky bits in the guitar solo, and a couple of runs through the piece as a whole.
Glenn asks to try a couple of ideas out regarding the arrangement of Sigh and a Kiss. Nothing concrete, but some good ideas that needed to be heard in order to be continued.
Victor asks everyone what they've been working on; Chris demonstrates a bit of the C Major Cello Prelude that he's been refining over the past month.
A final circulation to close the night.
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