Music Lesson or Drinking Beers and Telling Lies? You Decide.
on October 13th 2009 in UncategorizedHi everybody,
I’m gonna get the party started here with some really dry music theory crap that should eventually wind up in a fairly juicy place.
So this is gonna be a guitar lesson, or music lesson of some sort, and we’ll be working together on this hopefully for a long time.
In order to get up to speed on this, I have to take you all the way back to my very first musical experiences, and what those lessons should have taught me if I had only been smart enough to figure it out at the time. I’m guessing that a lot of folks probably had similar experiences, so. . . here goes nothin’…
I got my first guitar when I was 12 or thereabouts, a flat-top acoustic with a trapeze style tailpiece and floating one piece wooden bridge. It was untuned when I took it out of the box.
I had no idea how to tune it. . .
So, my first guitar playing experiences consisted of holding the thing flat down on the bed with one hand, and strumming across the slack untuned strings and pushing the bridge back and forth to change the pitch with the other hand.
Pretty much the same shit I’m into now, if you think about it.
Kinda scary.
I was eventually compelled by my patiently suffering family to at least try to learn to tune the thing.
Of course that involved putting the bridge in the right place and leaving it there, which was no fun,
but I figured it out with some help from my Dad’s science teacher friend, and commenced to begin tuning.
That took some time, Mel Bay helped, and after a while I more or less got the idea, and more or less ‘properly’ tuned the thing.
I did run into one little problem though; if I tuned the guitar so that any one chord sounded OK to me, everything else sounded like shit.
I was ill prepared for that result, disappointed etc. but my initial reaction, which I should have paid much more attention to was . . .
MY EARS DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS SYSTEM.
I soon succumbed to the peer pressure that followed from my patiently suffering friends, family and innocent bystanders to amend my position to “I can’t tune the guitar.”
The B side of which, of course was “Seek professional help.”
So, I took my guitar, and my one ‘Well Tempered’ chord that I could play, D Major, down to the local music store for a lesson.
The lesson took place in a little tiny closet with barely enough room for two chairs, two people, and two guitars.
I played my one chord for the professional guitar music instructor.
D Major. Nice.
He said “Ok, how ’bout this?”
He then turned the little D Major triangle upside down, and with triumphant satisfaction proclaimed “D7!!”
So I tried his fancy D7, and said. . .
“No, that’s not it.”
End of lesson.
What I should have learned from all that was:
1. I’m cool with just about any sound a guitar makes when the pitches can go anywhere.
2. There are compromises in the standard 12 tone tuning scheme that I can not abide.
3. That nice D Major chord in tune in with it’s overtone series worked for me, and that fancy D7, in disagreement with it’s overtone series didn’t.
Of course none of that really registered at the time, although I was feeling very strongly that in each instance my initial impressions were correct.
As a result, I shunned further instruction and just played whatever felt good, and tuned to whatever felt good.
So in my first band, we tuned the bass guitar to the kick drum and then tuned the guitars to the bass.
Sounded pretty good too.
That didn’t last long, and as I continued to progress with my playing, I was constantly bombarded with admonitions from other well meaning professional types to “LEARN THEORY”.
I resisted for years, happy in my work, but eventually caved in and started to do the music theory thing.
I wound up having one really serious problem with the information I was supposed to be learning.
Every single time I asked “Why?” about anything,
I got some bullshit along the lines of ‘because’, or ‘just because’, or ‘that’s what it says here’, or ‘that’s just the way it is’, or my favorite:
DON’T ASK WHY!!!
So, eventually I caved in to that, too.
Although it was perfectly clear to me that if the answer to the question, “What is a D Major chord?” was “D F# A”, and if the answer to the question “What is D F# A?” was “D Major”, that I hadn’t learned anything at all about that D Major triad.
I thought the ‘music theory” bit was going to explain to me why I felt the way I did when I played and listened to music,
but instead it just churned out a bunch of circular logic bullshit, perfectly protected by the really not so diabolically clever Catch 22: DON’T ASK WHY!!
Ok, great . . .
So like a complete idiot I continued to pursue this sorry excuse for a theory thing for decades, until one day I picked up my guitar and played that D Major chord, and guess what?
It was just a D Major chord again, just the sound, nothing else.
Just like the very first time I got it in tune.
I realized then that all this theory crap wasn’t about the sound or the feeling of it.
Everything I had learned about “D Major” was simply EVERYTHING THAT “D MAJOR” WAS NOT,
and when I had exhausted all the things it wasn’t, and believe me, that was a LOT of shit,
it turned back into the only thing it had ever really been in the first place:
A SOUND, A FEELING.
I should have figured that out going in from my first “music lessons”, but I guess I just didn’t have the self confidence to buck that system without checking it out first, but I have checked it out, and I had it right the first time, so that’s where we start.
It’s all about the sound, and the feeling you get from that sound, the emotion of it, the feeling states that accompany each and every resonance,
and the progression of those feeling states as the experience of music.
That’s what it’s about.
And that sound is a physical thing, a measurable quantity of vibration, and you can ask why and get an answer about that if you’re smart enough to ask the right questions.
So lesson #1 is my definition of music, the definition of music that I was looking for the ‘theory’ behind.
MUSIC IS THE FEELING YOU GET WHEN YOU LISTEN TO GOOD MUSIC.
If you have a different definition, there’s the door. . . don’t let it hit you in the ass on the way out, SEE YA!
If you’re ok with the idea that music is the way you feel when you listen to music, well then, let’s go!
OK. This first exercise is so freakin’ simple you don’t even have to be able to play at all to pull it off.
We’re looking for two things here, thing one is a quiet mind, (a very good thing to have just anyway)
and thing two is feeling the sound. Which is the whole point of the playing/listening bit.
Here’s what you want to do.
Just sit with your instrument. Don’t make a sound.
You don’t even have to be ready to make a sound, no need to put your hand on the fingerboard or the keys or whatever.
Just sit. Quiet, gutcheck.
Get empty, let go, etc.
When you feel you’ve quieted down enough that you can tell where you’re at with your feelings, and you’re ok,
Make a sound. Just one note, any note. Open string, fine. . .
When you made that sound, did something happen?
Did anything change?
Feel something?
Probably did, huh?
So that’s the first exercise, the transition from no sound to sound.
The experience of your feelings changing from one state to another in response to vibration.
And a little investigation of that knife edge, instantaneous, vanishingly brief crossing over.
That’s it. Gotta start somewhere, that’s where we start.
For you ‘music theory’ types, remember FUNCTION IS FELT.
So a quick definition that will help illuminate later discussion of the terms TONIC and TONALITY with respect to FUNCTION, here’s a definition I’m working with.
Tonality: the preservation of the psychological feeling of rest during musical performance when the tonic key center is reached.
That’s from Owen H. Jorgensen’s book, TUNING: Containing the Perfection of Eighteenth-Century Temperament, the Lost Art of Nineteenth-Century Temperment and the Science of Equal Temperment
Ok, chew on that definition and do that exercise for a week or so until I get back, and when I do, we’re gonna tackle that tonic function and make damn sure we’re feeling it.
In the meantime, here’s a very valuable link with some great info that we’re gonna need in the future, so please check it out.
Properties of the circle of 5ths
And for your dining and dancing pleasure here’s some absolutely incredible playing by Peyman Nasehpour.
You might want to twist one up before you listen to this guy, if you don’t know his music it’s shockingly good.
Peyman Nasehpour-Tonbak Solo 1
Peyman Nasehpour-Tonbak Solo 2
Peyman Nasehpour-Tonbak Solo 3
peace. SK
136 Comments
( ADD A COMMENT )The emotional intelligence that sees flow, has a seed of passion for attainment. Pursuing any field in which we seek to master the channeling of emotions has a profound effect eternally. That moment of letting go of ego and not reflecting on your feelings will take you to euphoria every time. That stillness as spoken connects us as one. The music is one to the listener and player when selfconsciousness is no longer around. Thanks for sharing this rarity and may the sheer pleasure of the act continue to motivate. Pure enlightment to all…Namaste Charlotte, NC
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i’ve really enjoyed the conversation, even though have i have little musical literacy (other than being a relative expert at enjoying or appreciating music).
i don’t need to understand the conversation to enjoy it, just like music.
Everyone is transmitting their realization (or rather, the limits of, or on, their realization). How could it be otherwize?
Everyone knows the blues, but few know bliss.
This is the hardest thing to do, whether in music or life (being love/bliss).
But love/bliss (or happiness) is our real, or true, or native or inherent condition; it is only our egoic self-contraction that gets in the way.
So when Steve talks about quieting the mind (really the entire body/mind) we cease to identify with the body/mind (which is merely a program that can be witnessed) and re-cognize the Prior Condition (a’ priori) that is all bliss.
(Why does light appear to be both particle and wave? Because the ’strings’ of light are a rotating (dancing) helix (like DNA) and it depends on what axis you are viewing (point of view)).
love,
bsanandaATyahooDOTcom
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beautiful and well said!
Hey Steve,
Martin, From the Bronx here…..
We’ve chated telephonically a few times in the wee hours.
Anyhow…….I went to the “Perfect 5th link” in your first lesson there.
Interesting to see the chord reflections between Major and Minor chords.
That is essentially the premise of chord borrowing from a parallel scale as used in a great many pop compositions.
Cool!
Be well,
Martin
That whole quieting your brain thing….THEN sounding the note……
Is it okay to do that LOUDLY!!!!!
Thanks for the brain fuel.
I’ve often though the problem with music theory is the use of the term ‘theory.’ It’s just too freighted, self important, and seems to imply some sort of grand scheme or underlying system of objective truth (like evolution, gravity, or thermodynamics.)
And the only truth is that music cannot be separated from the listener. Music theory doesn’t explain, nor can it predict, it merely describes. We have no business calling it a theory.
Personally I wish we just called it ‘musical context’ or something other equally plastic term. In other words, make your music, and if it sounds good let someone else come along and try to put in in context with what someone else is doing. But always understand that it is the description that is the derivative of the music, not the other way around.
So, how’s the practice coming, everyone? Any new discoveries/revelations?
Yea, I’m having lots of success playing with reciprocals.
Say you’re playing over a C7 vamp
you play C major pent
and the you play the reciprocal of C maj pent
Ab major pent, then the reciprocal of that which is E major pent
C Ab and E major pents played in that order against a C7 chord
here’s a simple sequence
C7
|—8——–|———–|———–|—|
|—–10-8—|-11-9——|-9———|-8-|
|———-9-|——10-8-|—11-9—-|—|
|————|———–|——–11-|—|
|————|———–|———–|—|
|————|———–|———–|—|
……C…………Ab……….E…….C
This sequence takes you out, way out, but always can come back to the tonal center of C.
I’m facinated by it and it is my main question. How close am I getting to the connection of the reciprocals to blues and beyond. It just sounds too good to say I’m too off. Plus Barry Greene talks of using Giant Steps changes over the I to TV of a blues, What I’m doing actually works better than Greene slant on it. But it was a validation that I’m on the right path. A path that Steve got me on and demoed in a few meetings.
And then there is the question about intonations.
This is my weaker area. For this I’m looking for straight simple paths, the math is confusing, but I trust my ear. A neckbend here and there to taste. Hmm.
Whatever you’ve done to my brain Steve, no matter how it’s been altered,never to be ordinary again, I’m glad and thank you.
Got to go back to the ward now, bingo time.
Ooh, that tab sucks. sorry, how can I write good tab?
Here’s the lick again, another harder way to write. My 1st attempt was a paste from my music program.
C7
-8—————————–
—10-8—11-9——9———8
——–9——10-8—11-9—–
—————————11–
——————————-
——————————-
….C……..Ab……..E……C. etc…
One thing that I learned from Caleb Quaye is that phrasing is one of the most difficult things to do well, but also one of the most satisfying when done correctly. Phrasing is one thing that all players need to work on.
Also I have been listening to David Torn and learning from his approach; the man truly redefines the ideas of texture or soundscape that we cling to. Great music.
Sorry, Have no idea why it’s not tabbing, Steve?
It’s like it wasn’t reading the dashes?
Here’ the lick,you figure out the strings
8-10-8-9-11-9-10-8-9-11-9-11-8
Look below the “Comment” Box. It says “You may use these HTML tags and attributes”. One of them is
I think that putting the TAB between 2 of them, will keep is aligned?
I have no idea what I’m doing, I put the tab between
and when I posted it was all gone and I posted a blank post.
I think I need to go back to centering on one tone.
That I can do
Ah, I posted the two greater than and less than symbles in the post before and they didn’t get posted??
These are the markings around the word code and cite.
Jeff, did I do what you suggested?
did they post?
Ha! I don’t know!
I have seen “Code” tags on other Forums. But, they are just something you click on, and 2 of them appear. Then, you just copy and paste your TAB between them. I think this Forum needs 1 more step.
Cliff, we need to ask an Expert. Cal in the 8 year olds! LOL (They always know how this new-fangled interwebbed, gobbledegook works!)
Oh yeah,
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!
Hello All,
I was going through my list of things that I’m grateful for on Thanksgiving and Steve, you’re on my list. I am so thankful for all of the peaceful moments and joyous sweetness you have given us over the years… Thanks to you, your band mates, family and all of those that make this goodness possible.
Peace
what is the trick for keeping steady rythm guitar? is it something you’re born with? or can you work on it and develope it? i’m realizing the rest of the band depnds on you(me)big time! if i drop the ball so to speak,it’s not good. the bass and drums help and give me something to fall back on,so i can play my rythm chords a little more free and experiment. i seem to loose my timeing,especially if it’s just me and the lead guitarist acousticly.
Hopefully, Mr. Kimock will be able to reply. But, I can tell you what has helped me. (A lot! LOL).
You want to get an internal sense of the Beat, the Tempo, and all the little “Parts” of the Rhythm.
But, I had to (have to) break it down to it’s most fundamental parts and then work from that base. It wasn’t a type of thing where I “just got it”. I had to work for it. It happens much more quickly an effeciently now. And that also comes from repetition and listening.
I would suggest you start with things that seem so simplistic, that you are only focusing on one Aspect at a time. i.e. Don’t take ANYTHING for granted. Not while doing these focused Exercises.
Try this: When listening to music, any music, tap your foot and count, “one and two and three and four and”. Also, move your Picking Hand back and forth along with your Foot. Move your Hand like you’re shaking water off of it. That type of Wrist Motion.
LOCK your Picking Hand to your Foot’s movements. Foot Up = Hand Up, Foot Down = Hand Down.
FOLLOW YOUR FOOT. Don’t let your Foot follow You.
Don’t try any more complex Rhythms or anything. Just work on 1/8 Notes.
Do this whenever you hear music. Radio, CDs, T.V. Theme Songs and Commercials, etc. Even when the voices in your Head start Singing! LOL
And ESPECIALLY when Strumming. Take some simple 3 or 4 Chord Progressions, and try to maintain that same Lock-Step:
Count a Beat/Tempo
Tap Foot to follow the Beat
Move Hand to follow Foot
Play the Progression
DON”T allow for any variations
No “Artistic Liberties” with this Exercise. You’re working towards Internalizing a simple thing. Nothing “more”. Doing more would be doing less, at this point. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be having this problem.
Sounds kind of Militaristic, I know. And it kind of is. But, it has worked for many.
If you try this, let me know how it works for you. If you like it, we can build on it in a few weeks.
Hope this helps!
thank you so much!
Seltz, practicing with a metronome is pretty crucial for this.
Have you been?
no,i must get one. thanks!
The trick to the rhythm guitar thing is actually playing with other people, but in the meantime if you want some basic stuff to work on, here’s another possible approach. I’m not gonna beat this to death right now, because it ties into the next chunk of Korner I’m getting to, but here in a nutshell . . .
Tapping your foot is cool, but it’s a lousy way to learn to move your hands, so if you want to skip it for a minute, it’ll keep.
I think what you want to do is tap your finger, or maybe hold a pencil like a drumstick and tap with that, or you could get really radical and hold your pick and tap with that . . .
Either way, the idea is we’re going to start internalizing whatever rhythm we want to work on by using the fine motor skills and tactile responses in our fingers and work up to stomping our feet, if necessary, later.
At some point you will need to walk to figure some stuff out . . .
So no guitar, no two hard things at once.
Just some simple rhythms.
Think of a tune, any tune, and tap along with the index finger on your right hand.
That’s probably the pulse.
Now tap your left hand index finger in unison, exact same thing.
No problem.
Now double up on one finger, doesn’t matter which, whatever’s comfortable.
One hand is going twice as fast right?
Both are playing together still, but one is going in between, right?
Ok?
Try one hand half speed to whatever you started with, whichever is most comfortable.
Cool?
Ok, now try alternating between unison pulse with both tapping together, and double and half.
Make sense?
If you do it for a couple of minutes I think you’ll agree that those are pretty different feels.
If you pick up your guitar now, and just did the same routine strumming an E7 chord or something suitably funky, the chording hand tap is now a clench and release, allowing the chord to sound and then muting it on the release, and the strumming hand is playing downstrokes, or if you’re fancy, it’s strumming up and down.
In any case, if you’re playing ‘both’, unison, simultaneously strum and clench/release, you’re gonna hear something that sounds like ‘Chord chord chord chord chord chord chord chord’
If the strumming hand goes twice as fast, and the clench stays the same, you should get ‘Chord chik chord chik chord chik chord chick’ etc.
If the clench releases every other chord instead of every chord, you should get a ‘long short long short long short long short’ sound on the chord.
That’s the basic idea, the rhythm gets learned by both hands and then broken up between them with the fretting hand articulating durations with the clench and release routine, while the strumming hand maintains some pulse, and voices the specific rhythm with up and down strokes in some pattern. We didn’t get there yet, to right hand patterns, but we will.
First you have to get your head around the idea that both hands are playing the rhythm, not just the strumming hand, and you’re probably gonna need to learn those rhythms tapping ‘em out with both hands and speaking them to internalize them off the instrument.
Same deal as singing, sometimes you just have to get the sounds to come out of your body before you can get them to come thru the axe, and sometimes that can make you feel pretty stupid, but c’mon, join the club.
Counting and singing out loud are the key to unlock that stuff. T’was always thus, that’s how the old magic works, you have to say the spell out loud.
wow! thanks steve! will do! when the whole band is together i can and like to add some chord textures in the holes in the music. but with just the 2 guitars alone,i really have to step it up and hold my own. when the lead tells me,if i can’t keep it together,he falls apart too,it’s really a wake up call! luckily,just practice,no gigs yet. i’m obviously not ready yet. i can only do what i can do,but i got to practice,practice,pratice! he see’s potential and desire,that’s why he puts up with me. thanks! these lessons are great!
i get so much joy from listening to you play,it’s just magical!
Oddly enough, that is the only thing I can do in my sleep on guitar, is keep the rhythm.
The only thing I can suggest and I don’t know if it will do you any good or not is Dance More.
It’s the only thing I can think of that has helped me with rhythm. I can Dance and I can Tap but I just can’t play the darn notes. Thank God for those of you who can.
Boy, have I got a tender nerve in myself for good music. When it gets struck, I almost break into tears, and it’s usually accompanied by dancing.
That’s the *sweetness* I’m talking about…
I just wanted to thank Steve and whoever else got Bobby V on the horn for the NYC shows. Sullivan Hall goes down in 24 hours and I hope to see you all there. Of course it will be funky with Vega at the helm, but a lot of us want to hear some good jazz playing.
thanks
HOORAY!! Only 14.5 more hours to go until we All Get ON Board!! Hope that The Boys get some rest today; it’s gonna be a late night!!
Hey Steve,
Zeke here from Sky Band / Studio E days. Been a very long time. A very big hello is in order.
After 35 years of playing slide, the cosmos taught me a new trick last week. Its pertinent to the feeling at hand.
Oh yes, I’m playing lap style now. After years of much fuss my back troubles simply say NO to strapping on a guitar. It’s been a challenge to be able to rip lap style, but it’s gonna have to do.
Anyway ,the last couple months I have been telling myself “there is a sound in there that I need to get out” kind of like a natural wah-wah. I started to get close when I used my metal box cutter (”boxcutter slim”) and varying the contact point. It was a good start but it started sounding funny as I began to strip the blue paint off the box cutter and on to the fretboard.
Then, just last week, the cosmos really dialed it in and sent it down big time. I don’t know if anybody else has done this or figured it out or stumbled on it (you would think so).
Usually, slide is played with the bar perpendicular to the strings. But, if you take the bar on any INDIVIDUAL string, and turn it from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock, “it happens” – the natural wah – it really kicks in just as you get close to 3 o’clock.
What is happening is that you are changing how much string is contacting the bar – from a single point(perpendicular) – to the whole length of the bar (at 3 o’clock). In so doing the all important resonance goes thru a very sweet mood change. The string buzzes just a teeny bit and the wah gets squeezed out. Tryin Little Feats “Lafayette Railroad”. Its cool.
Be good everybody,
Peace and love from Oceanside CA
Zeke
Hi Zeke! Really good to hear from you man!
I know exactly what you’re talking about, and it’s not a common technique.
Slanting is normally reserved for playing pitches at different frets, so most steelers who slant well have no reason to do so on a single string with the exception of my man Freddie Roulette.
Freddie put in some time at Studio E if you recall, and the majority of his single string playing in the high register took advantage of that sound.
He was really “all about chords”, but he got that singing slant thing happening on a lot of high notes whether he was playing the whole chord or not.
Played a lot of stuff with a scoop and a twist and various other odd english.
Look for a copy of Sweet Funky Steel if you can find it. Out of print import last I checked, so good luck.
Nice to hear from you, and glad you found that cool technique!!
Hey Steve,
Nice to hear from you too. I do remember Freddie, and I do remember seeing all the twists. I be playing slow as always – 1 or 2 notes to his ten, but I’m kool with that. It’s slow cooked, slightly stirred.
I’m on email list, so if you get down near San Diego, I’ll sure check in.
Meantime, thanks for all the good music and the very tasty website.
Zeke
hey steve.great thing goin on here! I wondered how you deal with the volume? the big amps got the big tone and it just aintthesame on low. at your gigs it seems like you get a pretty level going on stage. peace and thanks.
john
signofthebear@verizon.net
Steve rolled through Bend, OR a couple/few years ago coming down from Seattle. He had purchased an instrument in Seattle that looked like a cross between a banjo and a guitar but it had 8-10 strings if I remember correctly. Have not seen it since. What is the name of that instrument? It has escaped me. Thanks.
Hello Steve, I first heard of you when I read was reding an interview with Sonny Landreth. He mentioned you in it.Since I’ve check you on you tube. Here’s a question for you. Do you prefer lap steel to slide or bottleneck? and why?
extremely curious. Rickey
Clifford,
I’m still working with those Pentatonic Lines you shared. Starting to get a feel for them, I think.
)
Anyway, thanks! (And keep it up!
Looking forward to seeing you at the Fillmore this Fri Steve. I’m bringing my son and his girlfriend.
Do you remember my son Justyn? Ten+ years ago I came over to studio E to get your new video and you were there walking around. You saw my 8 yr old and gone you were with him at the piano and then you guys played with a little digital game. Hung out for a 1/2 hour. kids.
Do you remember that?
Your piano lesson hit home. He’s a fine young musician, ie; learned Maple Leaf Rag in six weeks with no paper,at tempo,, and that was from not playing the piano at all.
Thanks for giving him a little piece of yourself.
You be throwing little pieces of yourself all over the place.
Is everyone here still doing their Exercise? I’ve been making time to soak it in, every day. It really gets me in a good frame of mind.
Hey Steve. Thanks for two wonderful nights in the city! Much love.
Happy New Year all
Not much of a beer drinker here,
So I choose the music lessons.
And I’ll work hard at it
I think you might have just hit on my problem with hitting notes there Cliff…..
It seems like most of this first lesson focuses on “Zen and the Art of Music”. One cool trick that can make this more concrete for some folks is to warm up by playing with a picking style that isn’t your first nature. So if you are a finger-picker, try warming up with a pick. If you are a flat-picker, try warming up with some finger work.
Another interesting thing to think about is the connection between ‘true music’ and the ‘human moral compass’. Some great players like Wayne Shorter and Michael Hedges have shown that music can extend beyond the actual event of producing sound and can flow over into all aspects of one’s life and character. One thing that Herbie Hancock talks about is approaching music with a child’s eye that allows for pure creativity. I only wonder if this doesn’t apply strictly to music, but to life itself.
I got a wonderful gift for Christmas. It’s an audio book by Daniel Leviten, called “The World In Six Songs”.
He is a Doctor who used to be a professional Musician. Now, he studies Brain Functions. He also wrote “This Is Your Brain On Music”. Another great book!
Anyway, he touches on the Evolutionary aspects of our “Musical Brains”. Very cool stuff. And I think some others here may enjoy it.
Thing one; get empty.
How to get empty, I never do get totally empty. what I can do is reduce interference and focus.
Being in the moment, paving a path to the future by hearing and singing and reacting to the present, and of course the present is nothing but the past running away from us.
How do you get empty?
Get quiet? I just shut up and try to take stock of where my head and body are at. It takes a minute, but I settle into a place where I’m not terribly distracted and I can feel a stable sensation in my gut. Sort of a neutral calibration of sensation. If I ask myself a question from that place, or hear and feel a sound, it always goes the same place. Different basic intervals feel the same every time to me. A perfect fifth feels like a perfect fifth, consistently, as do the thirds, sevenths, etc.
interesting.
I like checking in on the affect from time to time, it’s humbling to feel music when that’s all you’re asking your perception to do, respond to resonance. Pretty fucking consistent. A good place to start.
How do you clean out your attic? Take everything out and give it a sweep, throw some stuff away, put some stuff in other places, and put the remaining stuff back in a more orderly way.
Some ideas sit in our minds for a while, but eventually need flushed out. Some can serve a purpose with minor doctoring or relocating. And some need not be emptied; ideas can serve as anchors and reference points.
From a spiritual/ emotional approach, take a deep breath and listen to the motion of your internal landscape. Learn why you feel the way you do, so you can flush that feeling out if need be.
just my two cents
I think about relaxing thoughts as something like a potters kickwheel, you kick that heavy wheel till it’s spinning real good. That’s like the active mind.
If you want to stop the wheel you can’t just grab it because it will fight you and throw you. The way to stop the wheel is to allow to wind down naturally, however like I said, I always seem to always maintain a stream of conscience thought.
Very good, Cliff. Very good. It sounds like you know when to hang on and when to wind down.
Unrelated but interesting, on Jan 15 in 1777 the Republic of New Connecticut declared its independence. Six months later it was renamed Vermont. Go USA!
Steve,
I was just wondering if you have ever heard of or even played with the great bassist Mike Manring. I believe he played with Hedges back in the day, and now does mostly solo stuff.
I would just love to see you do a trio thing with him and Rodney.
It’s been a while, the last time I played with Mike was at the Fillmore in SF with Henry Kaiser doing the Yo Miles! project. 2000 I believe.
Mike Manring did an amazing job with that material btw.
Download should be here: http://www.archive.org/details/ym2000-03-04.shnf
Funny, that Yo Miles! cd was just passed around my office this week. Good stuff!
Too cool. I think it is great that you had the pleasure of playing with him, and it’s awesome that you respect his playing as much as I do.
Also, I want to give a heartfelt compliment to your son John. I think you made the right choice for the drum seat. The man is a genius, hands down. I remember during the Sullivan Hall show, when you opened with Lump Sum, John did the opening section playing both parts of the kit as well as the glock. I remember, towards the end of the glock section, he did something seemingly superhuman. I can’t describe it, really, but it seemed like he was playing with eight limbs. He was going nuts on the glock and the kit at the same time. I remember you looked right at me and gave that knowing smile like, “Damn, is he good or what.”
And I know you didn’t force him to play, he had a natural tendency for the drums. I give you both credit for the way it worked out. Just a very inspiring father son relationship, on many levels. So thanks to both of you!
So, anything new come to anyone while doing the Exercise?
Speaking of trios – I’m curious about the CB-3 tour coming up. Musicians will be Chris Berry, Kimock, and Grammy-nominated Brazilian Girls? Can you give us any insight into what we can expect at these shows?
Solo show in NY?
Wish I could be there
I’ve been following your career from Freedom HS Auditorium to Moravian Coll outdoor shows w/ B Neimyer to Goodman Bros to Zero etc -keeping as current when possible. Your playing still blows me away – great to stumble upon this sight. Keep on going man!
Oh ya, in NC now – hope you bring your show down here!
“We’re looking for two things here, thing one is a quiet mind, (a very good thing to have just anyway)
and thing two is feeling the sound. Which is the whole point of the playing/listening bit.”
Thing one; a quiet mind, For me this is a straight line, without deviation.
When I was 18, I got into Scientology for about nine months. I did the “communications course”.
The first part was all about quieting the mind.
It’s not something we can do because once we do, we don’t. I feel quieting the mind is something that can’t be done (as an action), it happens natually without attention placed on it.
Getting back to the straight line, I’ve played and been taken away by the “moment”, It all becomes the moment I’m in, and my music is better when I’m “there”. To do this exercise without the instrument is a great challenge.