Thacher Music Room, 10-06-2013

Chris's minutes:

In attendance: Brad, Chris, Dev, Rick, Victor.

The meeting begins sans Victor around 8:00. Dev runs the warm-up exercise: tonight, clapping parts of the beat in a circulation around a click-track--whole notes, half notes, quarters, eighths, eighth note triplets and sixteenth notes (and even attempted sixteenth note triplets) are all passed around the circle in sequence. We come back to the eighth note triplet pattern and spend some extended time practicing and discussing strategies for approaching this more complex rhythm.

A short exercise to warm up fingers on the guitar, then straight to Flying Home to begin repertoire work. Even at a slow tempo (and perhaps also because of it), the piece is muddy and labored. Each player then takes a turn at rehearsing the group, focuing on an aspect or drill that stands out for them. About this time Victor returns, and is able to offer quick one-on-one technical advice to each seat.

Further repertoire work with Voices of Ancient Children and Eye of the Needle, with Victor now joining on guitar. A small tweak is made to the former piece, which is almost ready for performance and ready to be rotated out of the docket for close focus work. The meeting ends with a circulation and rough-and-ready improv, closing with a short circulation reprise.

Dev's Apartment, 09-26-2013

Minutes:  Dev

Rick and Scott were both running late and so we did not begin until about 7:15pm, despite an original start-time of 6pm. Brad and Chris were unable to make it due to work.

Scott led calisthenics with variation of the First Primary at slower tempos. After this, there was a circulation that turned into an improv. Then we spent some time teaching Scott the bass part to Eye of the Needle. Specific attention and direction were given to lengths of notes, tone and feel. We ran sections and worked on details, eventually playing along to a recording. We then took a break.

After the break we worked on Voices of Ancient Children. For this we worked on counting specifically, and strategies for "what to do when you are lost". A few parts were clarified. At 9:05pm, we ended.

Brad's Apartment, 09-22-2013

Attending:  Rick, Brad, Chris, Dev

Opening the meeting with a circulation, Cmajorish with a tonally ambiguous ending.

Rick running calisthenics.  First working with the Hammerhead exercise, to refresh our fingers.  Following this with a modification that adds the pivot in:

--------5---|------5-6---|-----5-6-7--|--5-6-7-8---|5-6-7-8-|
5-6-7-8---5-|6-7-8-----6-|7-8-------7-|8---------8-|--------|

9-8-7-6---9-|8-7-6-----8-|7-6-------7-|6---------6-|--------|
--------9---|------9-8---|----9-8-7---|--9-8-7-6---|9-8-7-6-|

More working with the pivot, and digging into the technique.  Nitpicky, superfocused, and useful.

Eye of the Needle, next.  One false start, and then a full run.  Some discussion about voicing and the octave bass in the re-intro.  Problems with ringing strings.  Some things are really starting to sound nice.

Discussion.

Work with Voices of Ancient Children, next.  Some discussion about interpretive freedom, dynamics, timbre, and ensuring we communicate with each other.

During the break:  movie talk.

After the break, back in with a circulation that becomes an improv.

Flying Home, next.  Lots of work with this one; a lot of looping as a quartet, and in different pairs, to get a feel for who needs what, and what parts need what attention.  Some related calisthenic work as well, to really focus in on physical necessities in our playing (wrist positions, sheer speed, fingering choices).  All this while remaining aware of our time (tending to fall off the metronome at speeds that aren't what we usually work at).  Dev presents an exercise that is focused on speed in the right hand, and being able to hear at a faster speed.  The apparent necessity of pushing to a very fast speed and then bringing in quality/economy of motion, as opposed to approaching through sheer quality, yields some interesting discussion.

Bass work largely focuses on phrasing; the intro seems to sound better when phrased in tandem with the lead, and the main verse in D likes thumping.

A huge change comes about when we look at the lead part's jump from the 5th fret to the 13th fret, and Chris demonstrates how he fingers that interval.  Super useful stuff.

In for the first midweek meeting at Dev's, this coming Thursday.

Thacher Music Room, 09-15-2013

Attending:  Victor, Brad, Rick, Scott, Chris, Dev

A customary pause to open the meeting.

Brad leading calisthenics:  first working with the 1st Primary.  Working through 8 patterns up and down the neck, beginning at a slow tempo, moving two steps ahead, and then dropping back to the mean.

With a few minutes left, presenting an exercise related to Chris's from the week before:  again using the finger pattern of the 1st Primary while applying this to lateral movement across the fretboard, with the addition of an additional open string following each pattern.  The right hand does not break pattern (5-4-3-2).  This is met with approval, and Victor takes the opportunity to mention that the real work in this is to see the simplest way to see a pattern, and the simplest way to describe a pattern.

Work on Eye of the Needle.  A fair amount of work with the metronome, and nailing the first note of each transition.  Chris's own work in bringing out the burbles is noticeable and well-executed.  One run-through in the dark, with the appropriate scratched notes.

A short break with consumption of baked goods.

Back in the circle for Voices of Ancient Children.  One run-through with the full team, and then Dev asks two different trios to play it (Victor-Scott-Brad, then Chris-Dev-Rick).  Some different ideas about articulation and dynamics, while we try to arrive at this circle's interpretation.  Victor notes that he's letting Dev take the lead on the bass melody, and is working to simply fill out that sound.  Useful stuff.

Flying Home is next, and gets one playthrough at 76 bpm.  It's intentionally slow, to see where it's at and what different parts need.  Not great, but not bad for not having been played in months, and not having been really worked for a year or so.

A bit of discussion takes us up to the mark, and we all take our leave.  Next meeting is later this week at Dev's house.

Thacher Music Room, 09-08-2013

Special Focus Project, Fall 2013 - Spring 2014

Attending:  Victor, Brad, Chris, Scott, Rick, Dev

This evening marks the beginning of a special project as outlined by Dev, primarily involving an approach to quality.

The meeting opens in the circle, with no guitars, for some important discussion, question-answering, and detail sorting.  This takes roughly 90 minutes or so.  Some good points made, and valuable insight offered.  The notion of minimizing "noise" is expanded upon, along with some clarification on the work of the energies.
It is decided that we will take this project on as a group.  More details will reveal themselves as time goes on.

A short break for our hindquarters.

Back in the circle with guitars.  Dev asks Chris to run a few minutes of calisthenics, which can best be summarized as:  applying the 1st Primary fingerings to a lateral movement across the fretboard, while also developing a variation of the lateral movement.

We'll be working with 3 pieces in the beginning of this project:  Eye of the Needle, Voices of Ancient Children, and Flying Home.

Eye of the Needle:  two run-throughs.  After the first, Victor and Brad trade parts, and there are notes about dynamics made.  Some very specific spot-work on the intonation of a harmony in the high lead (it needs to be pulled sharp).

Voices:  Chris takes Scott to the hall to show him the "pulse".  Victor and Dev run over the bass lead part, and Brad and Rick refresh on the "claw".  Two full runs, with a primary directive to the non-lead players to drop volume significantly.  Some other notes about dynamic shaping.

Flying Home would be next, but it is quite late, so we choose to save it for next week.  Next week will also be the first double-meeting week for this project.

Thacher Gym 2013-06-16

GCNE 2013-06-16, 
2045-2310
Victor, Chris, Rick, Scott, Brad and Glenn

The team begins by arranging chairs in a circle for 5 in the center of Thacher's gymnasium.  Once seated and settled a circulation begins.  This circulation completes to the growing sounds of Victor's cell phone vibrating.  Brad leaves, guitar in hand, to open the door for Glenn.

The seating arrangement is adjusted to make Glenn a spot in between Brad and Scott and once re-settled another circulation with what appear to be attempts at double-time, off-beat secondary circulation, 3-notes per player and single note staccato.  This develops into improv based loosely on C, Am and G before completing.  Victor introduces another circulation in C before the last improv notes fade away and this ends with a single finishing chord.  Some observations by Glenn about accidentals and the intention behind them which proceeds into discussion on circulation strategies and the suggestive warning that work in this area might become too regimented.

This leads to discussions of Summer schedules and individual's possible aims and vision for the Circle moving forward.  Suggestions of merely working together, working with quality, circulation work, working with the aim of presenting our work to the public every 4-6 weeks or so, finding a neutral meeting space, working toward "putting something in the bank" as a group, a possible "High Flyer's Performance Project" and a way of working At-A-Distance, especially when we can't meet regularly, as a way of connecting to our other team mates.  Much thoughtful discussion on several of these points follows as well as ways to incorporate specific division of attention exercises into our personal and group work.

The discussion winds down with focus on whether or not there is a necessity to have a dedicated blog, separate email group and formal, regimented structure to the "AAD" Circle work.  The danger of policing one another and ourselves while motivated by ego is brought to light.  The general consensus is arrived at toward the end of discussions that a simple email could appear from any team member when the impulse arises to share something of value from their work.  For now, the suggestion is made to work scales, rhythmic subdivisions of quarter, quarter eight, quarter triplet and sixteenth note groupings, repertoire (Victor mentioned that if performing it might not be a bad idea to have 6-7 pieces that the team plays well) and the 60-point exercise.  Individuals were encouraged to use their own judgement to extrapolate, modify and explore some of this as they deem profitable.

Victor's cell phone beeps telling the team that it is 11PM and the targeted completion time for our meeting.  A short circulation is played before the space is restored and the team departs.

Thacher Montessori Gym, 5-5-2013

In attendance:  Victor, Glenn, Chris, Scott, Brad

Opening the meeting with right-hand calisthenics:  follow-through downstrokes (56ish bpm, once every two beats), to follow-through upstrokes, to "stop" picking, then alternate picking, then double time, then double time again, and then 4 beats per string.  Upping the tempo two or three times.  First Primary work, with concentration on the right hand.

Chris suggests revisiting the diatonic modes of the major scale, which Scott has not learned before--this allows us to fully revisit how they are constructed, from light to dark:  Lydian, Ionian, Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian, Locrian.  (Ascending fifths, incidentally).  The way to learn this seems to be circulating each one with tonal center C, droning a C while circulating each scale up and down one octave several times (to allow it to completely move around the circle).  Following this, Victor moves to short improvs, which are each begun by one player, while the rest of the circle moves to recognize and respond in the correlating mode.

A break.

Back in the circle, improvising work.  We jump straight in to recording improvs, and move through 3 improvs.  After the third, we move upstairs to the music room of the school and listen back to the whole set. A few things crop up:  open and closed forms, harmonic density, certain timing and feel qualities.  Swing/shuffle rhythms are specifically mentioned as something that presents itself, but isn't able to be sustained, simply because it's not a regular part of our practice.

For next week, specific work to be involved includes repertoire (from the to-be-practiced list for the OCG), all diatonic modes in C, and swing/shuffle time.