[Harp-L] some thoughts



I was writing a note to a friend and it ocurred to me that some of the thoughts are relevant to harp playing, so here they are:

Some thoughts on singing: mainly it is communication, and overall musically the vocals are the most important aspect. One has to BE there to get the vocals across.it doesn't have to be any one thing in particular.even out-of -tune is OK if that is totally in sync with the whole presentation (Bob Dylan = good example). It's all about showing up, being there with real presence. Recording, singing in front of the mirror, vocal exercises, etc. are all tools to help eventually enable you to be more fully there, and to present something audibly that a listener can stand to be there with, or maybe even go somewhere with. When you paint, you step back and take in what has appeared, let some more flow, step back, make some changes, step back etc. Singing (anything musical) needs something of that process too, to hear AND see what is actually coming out, and to move toward what YOU actually want. It doesn't take a lot of time, but it takes a lot of attention to what is actually coming out, willingness to really hear and see what is actually coming out, and experimenting with the refining process that is gonna make the end product more YOU and more REAL .any way of increasing that, expanding that, is gonna help.



On timing: The groove, timing, is like one of the major grids for the field of music that is "out there" or "in there".and if you sync into it, the music will play you instead of you having to work hard to play IT. Timing can be a "problem" when you're focused on YOUR solo and trying hard to play it.instead of being aware of the whole picture and the whole field of music that is present and letting your solo come out of that. It would be impossible to drop measures etc. if you were floating on the top of the whole field of music that is there, which includes the timing, the changes etc. Using a metronome, playing with recordings, or a drum machine are all ways to "encourage" your attention to widen, expand, and include more than just the narrow focus of what you are trying so hard to do. You could experiment with expanding that type of practice by walking around while playing (with metronome, recordings etc.), getting up and down out of chair, looking out window, etc..playing with creating space for your awareness so you can include more than just what your own hands and brain are doing. It's like when Tolle talks about thinking, and you get the sense that you're stuck in this little tiny bubble of thought machinery that's grinding along, meanwhile there's a whole giant wonderful field of consciousness that is right there, surrounding and enfolding everything, and really all it takes is for your endless teeny thought machinery to just stop and there it all is..but if I am determined to keep narrowly focused on my tiny little thought bubble, then it ain't happening..So the first thing might be to just be aware of all this and allow some space..not so you can look out the window, or walk around.but having possibility of that while still playing "in time" creates an openness so the larger field of music can enter your awareness.



Really all the technical stuff, whether it's scales and theory, vocal exercises, phrases and licks, transcribing solos, whatever, is not so you can master that, and be able to do that. Rather, by doing that stuff you remove the limitations so that you can be open to that field of music and let it play through you. The more you do it, the more you remove, so the more music can come through.





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