[Harp-L] some thoughts

["Rupert Oysler" <orupert@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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.