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.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Thacher Music Room, 11-25-2012
In attendance: Victor, Brad, Rick, Glenn, Wayne, Dev
Rick and Dev are both running a bit late.
The meeting opens with a short bit of improvising, which also serves as soundcheck music. Victor asks each of us what we've been working on, and then suggests the staccato-legato exercise as a means of warming up. We bring Wayne up to speed on this, and then run it for a bit. Following this, a bit of 1st primary to warm the right hand up.
With Dev and Rick still in their respective transits, the suggestion to write a song before they arrive is floated; quickly, a basic figure arises in six (5-7-7-5), with a vague bass part being formulated underneath this. Dev arrives around this time. Some general harmonic structure is implied, and then an off-the-cuff line from Glenn is expanded and developed as a sort of in-between bit (the metric is something like 2-3-3-2-2-3-3-2-2-2-4). Back to the main section (in A and D) for a bit, and then a line in Bdim shows up. This is developed, with a bit of clarification. A bit more work, and we let this go as Rick arrives.
A bit of shifting and soundchecking, and we move to working with circulation. The unexpected challenge of circulating in quarter notes, then 8ths, then 16ths twice, and then 8ths, and then beginning again with quarters. We also work a bit with 8ths to triplet 8ths and back, and a touch with 8ths to triplet 8ths to 16ths, and back.
Following this, a deep working of A Sigh And A Kiss. Good and productive work. A break after this.
A request for further work on Iron Man is declined; some work on Peaches en Regalia follows instead. A quiet moment to end the night, and we all set off for our respective homes.
Rick and Dev are both running a bit late.
The meeting opens with a short bit of improvising, which also serves as soundcheck music. Victor asks each of us what we've been working on, and then suggests the staccato-legato exercise as a means of warming up. We bring Wayne up to speed on this, and then run it for a bit. Following this, a bit of 1st primary to warm the right hand up.
With Dev and Rick still in their respective transits, the suggestion to write a song before they arrive is floated; quickly, a basic figure arises in six (5-7-7-5), with a vague bass part being formulated underneath this. Dev arrives around this time. Some general harmonic structure is implied, and then an off-the-cuff line from Glenn is expanded and developed as a sort of in-between bit (the metric is something like 2-3-3-2-2-3-3-2-2-2-4). Back to the main section (in A and D) for a bit, and then a line in Bdim shows up. This is developed, with a bit of clarification. A bit more work, and we let this go as Rick arrives.
A bit of shifting and soundchecking, and we move to working with circulation. The unexpected challenge of circulating in quarter notes, then 8ths, then 16ths twice, and then 8ths, and then beginning again with quarters. We also work a bit with 8ths to triplet 8ths and back, and a touch with 8ths to triplet 8ths to 16ths, and back.
Following this, a deep working of A Sigh And A Kiss. Good and productive work. A break after this.
A request for further work on Iron Man is declined; some work on Peaches en Regalia follows instead. A quiet moment to end the night, and we all set off for our respective homes.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Thacher Music Room, 11/4/2012
In attendance: Victor, Brad, Glenn, Rick, Scott, Dev
This is largely anecdotal.
Dev running a bit late, but we begin without him with a full group improv. After this, Victor asks what we've been working on; Scott mentions that he's been playing a few open mics (in NST, per request for clarification). A call for a demonstration yields Radiohead's "I Might Be Wrong".
Some circulation work, and then a call to Dev to check on his progress. With an ETA of 10-ish minutes, we elect to break and wait for Dev.
Dev arrives a short time later; once we've worked out a cabling issue, Dev delivers a short report on next year's Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists tour, and the progress with this so far. A brief discussion regarding a weekend with Sandra Bain Cushman, as well.
Victor runs a sitting exercise with us.
Some work on Sigh and a Kiss, including teaching Scott some of the bass part. Also, some general work with Peaches en Regalia (which is surprisingly bare, sans Chris).
A short silence to close the night.
This is largely anecdotal.
Dev running a bit late, but we begin without him with a full group improv. After this, Victor asks what we've been working on; Scott mentions that he's been playing a few open mics (in NST, per request for clarification). A call for a demonstration yields Radiohead's "I Might Be Wrong".
Some circulation work, and then a call to Dev to check on his progress. With an ETA of 10-ish minutes, we elect to break and wait for Dev.
Dev arrives a short time later; once we've worked out a cabling issue, Dev delivers a short report on next year's Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists tour, and the progress with this so far. A brief discussion regarding a weekend with Sandra Bain Cushman, as well.
Victor runs a sitting exercise with us.
Some work on Sigh and a Kiss, including teaching Scott some of the bass part. Also, some general work with Peaches en Regalia (which is surprisingly bare, sans Chris).
A short silence to close the night.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Lantern Festival, Jamaica Pond
10/21/2012
Attending: Victor, Brad, Glenn, Chris
Brad and Victor arrive early at the pond, around 5:30pm, to set the space, which involves lighting a small area with soda-bottle lanterns (decorated by local kids) hung from poles of bamboo, as well as arranging in a semi-circle with small amps. Chris and Glenn arrive at about the same time, a little after 6pm. A bit of warming up, and we unofficially begin with an improv that emerges out of a tuning and soundcheck.
No clue as to what a setlist may have looked like; we mostly just play what came to mind. Some pieces got several runs (Overworld II, for instance), and some only one or two. Generally, the audiences that stop to watch are very supportive.
After a couple of hours, we call it a night. Some clean-up, and there is a general agreement of grabbing dinner afterwards. All is finished around 8:20 or so.
Attending: Victor, Brad, Glenn, Chris
Brad and Victor arrive early at the pond, around 5:30pm, to set the space, which involves lighting a small area with soda-bottle lanterns (decorated by local kids) hung from poles of bamboo, as well as arranging in a semi-circle with small amps. Chris and Glenn arrive at about the same time, a little after 6pm. A bit of warming up, and we unofficially begin with an improv that emerges out of a tuning and soundcheck.
No clue as to what a setlist may have looked like; we mostly just play what came to mind. Some pieces got several runs (Overworld II, for instance), and some only one or two. Generally, the audiences that stop to watch are very supportive.
After a couple of hours, we call it a night. Some clean-up, and there is a general agreement of grabbing dinner afterwards. All is finished around 8:20 or so.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Sunday evening at Victor's House
10/14/2012
In attendance: Victor, Brad, Chris.
Opening the meeting with a couple of pieces to send Elspeth to bed: 3rd Relation and Growing Circle.
At Victor's prompting, working with a simple form with a twist: 2 bars of 5 in D minor, 2 bars in F minor, 2 bars in A-flat minor, 2 bars in C-flat minor, and repeat. The twist is to do with the roles, which rotate with each 2 bars: 1 bass, 1 person circulating on the beat, 1 person circulating off the beat. So, if we begin in Dmin, we have Victor on bass, Brad on the beat, and Chris off the beat. Then, at Fmin, Brad takes the bass, Chris moves to on-beat, and Victor switches to off-beat.
Juggling the roles proves to be difficult, and the addition of unfamiliar keys throws Brad a bit too much (time goes out the window). So we spend some time rotating roles in one key, and then bring the key changes in again after a bit. Good work.
Victor asks Chris what he has been working on; this becomes a chance for Chris to get some one-on-one time with Victor, regarding his right hand (and the pivot, as well). At one point, Victor plays parent again, and Chris and Brad talk a bit about guitar care. Eventually Chris finds himself playing a couple of different guitars.
Break. Pat Metheny in discussions.
Breaking the break, a circulation.
Following this, Victor instructs Chris to solo, as Brad and Victor circulate 4-note chords (individual notes). Then Victor and Chris circulate (Brad soloing), and Chris and Brad circulating. Victor observes the challenge of knowing the directionality of the melody and shifting it on the fly as the tonal colors shift in time.
A couple of runs through the Bach Fugue in C Major. Tough with 3/7 of the parts, but we at least know where we are.
Two passes through Voices of Ancient Children, the second one more assured than the first.
Silence to close out the meeting at a surprisingly late-feeling quarter to 11.
In attendance: Victor, Brad, Chris.
Opening the meeting with a couple of pieces to send Elspeth to bed: 3rd Relation and Growing Circle.
At Victor's prompting, working with a simple form with a twist: 2 bars of 5 in D minor, 2 bars in F minor, 2 bars in A-flat minor, 2 bars in C-flat minor, and repeat. The twist is to do with the roles, which rotate with each 2 bars: 1 bass, 1 person circulating on the beat, 1 person circulating off the beat. So, if we begin in Dmin, we have Victor on bass, Brad on the beat, and Chris off the beat. Then, at Fmin, Brad takes the bass, Chris moves to on-beat, and Victor switches to off-beat.
Juggling the roles proves to be difficult, and the addition of unfamiliar keys throws Brad a bit too much (time goes out the window). So we spend some time rotating roles in one key, and then bring the key changes in again after a bit. Good work.
Victor asks Chris what he has been working on; this becomes a chance for Chris to get some one-on-one time with Victor, regarding his right hand (and the pivot, as well). At one point, Victor plays parent again, and Chris and Brad talk a bit about guitar care. Eventually Chris finds himself playing a couple of different guitars.
Break. Pat Metheny in discussions.
Breaking the break, a circulation.
Following this, Victor instructs Chris to solo, as Brad and Victor circulate 4-note chords (individual notes). Then Victor and Chris circulate (Brad soloing), and Chris and Brad circulating. Victor observes the challenge of knowing the directionality of the melody and shifting it on the fly as the tonal colors shift in time.
A couple of runs through the Bach Fugue in C Major. Tough with 3/7 of the parts, but we at least know where we are.
Two passes through Voices of Ancient Children, the second one more assured than the first.
Silence to close out the meeting at a surprisingly late-feeling quarter to 11.
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