Joe G

I was doing something very similar to that, but had forgotten about it. I'm glad you mentioned it.

Cute kids!

Now that rings true as well. Music practice really forces you to be new everyday in a certain way. I might be playing a particular piece that feels great one day, then when I try to repeat the experience the next day, it falls flat. Also, your post reminded me that the word we use to describe what we do is "play". It's work, yes, but it should be uplifting and invigorating.

As an aside, we did a blindfold rehearsal once; that was interesting. There were missed notes, and at first I was afraid of leaps up and down the neck, but at one point I gave into the darkness and could begin to "see" shapes, like where a cross rhythm was going to end up resolving.

Right ON, Phil! Thanks for posting - that was a fun read.

Well, that's not unique to organists alone...

Honestly I don't know how you guys do it. It takes me a year to work up a two-part invention on piano. Forget about improvising and interacting with someone else!

Tom, I like what you're doing! I need to work on tunes more regularly.

Yes. I'm just frantic and trying to keep my head above water. I get the feeling I'm not really absorbing anything. Even on my own gigs as a leader. I've had so many personel changes that I'm constantly changing the song list to fit the players. I have great players, but I've got to switch things mightily around to make it all work and use people for what they're best at, and keep the gigs. To tell you the truth, it's exhilarating, exhausting, uplifting and defeating all at once kind of. Making musical progess and practicing is becoming roadkill at this point it seems. Although I guess I'm learning just by staying in the game. Well, what you're doing is a skill in itself. Since I don't freelance a lot, I'm probably not as adaptable on the fly as you might be. You can take this as you see fit: my suggestion would be to balance out this flurry of activity with some of those zen-like practices that I described. My source for those is The Listening Book by W.A. Mathieu, which I've recommended here in the past. I think you could benefit by just taking some time to really deeply connect with your instrument, and with sound in general. It doesn't have to be a long session, just a few minutes at the start when you sit down to play. Fundamental practices never hurt, and you may be suprised at how improvements tend to creep into your playing overall. The trick is to take bite sized chucks, and only work as long as your concentration holds; five minutes might be a good start. Don't practice when you're bored, or with a wandering mind. That defeats the whole purpose of this kind of work. And you should feel refreshed when you're done. Hope this helps.

Never heard of this stuff! I'll try to find some tomorrow.

Mike, are you playing with a lot of different people, and having to learn their music very quickly, but then not getting the opportunity to keep playing it to the point of mindlessness and freedom? Sort of skimming the surface all the time, dealing on the level of just making the changes?

BTW, one of the Gibsons that I mentioned that really turned me on was a bright red 175 (I think - is that the one with two pickups?). Man did that thing play great, and with an incredible acoustic tone - I didn't even plug it in. But at close to $3K, or maybe even over that, I just wasn't going to happen.

No, I haven't played a lot of archtops, though I almost bought a Heritage Eagle several years ago. When I bought the Hofner, I wasn't even looking for an archtop. It has such a gorgeous tone. Chords just blend, and on single note lines, the dynamics are incredible. My mentor played it right after I got it, and he said, "The notes just pop out at you!"

For a few months that one keep creeping up on me as well.

Well, actual results may vary...

I wasn't aware of all that. Pretty lame! I believe that any finished product reflects the spirit in which it was created, and I feel much better about supporting a company that has a positive and holistic approach to doing business. Finding out about what Gibson's doing makes me want those guitars even less!

Well, I still have it. The thing about that guitar is that it's very sensitive to environmental conditions, so the neck is constantly going in and out, depending on humidity. It's like having a really hot but very high maintenence girlfriend. When it's good, it's really good, but it takes a lot of work to get it there.

Just curious about how everyone spends their musical free time. I usually start off by simply plucking and listening to a single string (usually D) for about a minute, then singing in unison with it for 9 to 21 breaths, keeping track on my fingers. Then I move into improvising very simple, dronal music, either in position (meaning across the strings), or up and down a single string against the D drone. Then I'll start singing what I'm playing, which leads to just singing while touching the notes but not actually sounding them. The purpose of this is to let the singing mind predominate, rather than letting the instrument dictate what gets played. Singing practices have helped me a lot. Then I might play some Bach, from the solo violin suites, and then probably work on whatever tune organissimo might be learning for performance. Also I might spend some time working out of the various Mick Goodrick books that I have lying around. The voice-leading almanacs are especially interesting to me. Away from the instrument, I work on cross-rhythms and rhythmic groupings, or sight-reading rhythms if I have a book with me. I also play the piano (not very well) for a couple of hours a week, and I have a tenor recorder that's fun to mess around on when I want pure melody. One thing I haven't been doing is learning standards. I think that would be beneficial, although we normally don't play in that bag, so the tunes don't get ingrained like I would like them to be. I also consider listening to great music, live or recorded, to be a part of my practice, and anything that cultivates a quiet, receptive mind - essential for coherant performance. ~ So what are your routines? And what practices have really helped you advance over the years?

Blasphamy in some circles, but do you guys think that most Gibsons are overrated and overpriced? I've found maybe two that really turned me on in the last ten years, and they were priced about $500 more than I was willing to pay for them. Back in the day I had an Explorer, which for a time really suited my needs. Also had a Les Paul that didn't work out for me.

Good to be there! I just relaxed, quieted my thoughts, and let the sound wash over me. I could feel the drums and tuba sending vibrations through the floor and into my legs and stomach. I got the idea that the sound was reording me on a cellular level. Don't know why I thought of that. At times I fixated on the bell of the tuba, with Jesse's wild shock of hair protruding out from behind the horn, the sight of which combined with the crazy sounds he was producing to create an almost surreal, cartoonish experience. Ravish's time was elastic but driving and didn't falter. Randy and our friend Kurt picked up on the tabla rhythms in his approach; it was confirmed afterwards that he does play tabla. Kalaparush has a wonderful tone and a good flow of ideas. One rather pensive tune was titled, "I don't have an answer.... unless it's God."

Look me up if you do!

My vote is yes!

... and a discount for us!

Right on, man! Actually I'm in the market for an inexpensive electric, one that I can keep at work to play on my lunch hour. This might just fit the bill. I like the one in the above post with the f-hole.

Thanks. I googled it to answer my own question.