Guitar Circle New England 2001 Meeting Minutes
[Home] Repertoire Project: |
GCNE North August 6th 2001 Where: David Kuznick's House Who: Glenn Hughes, David Kuznick, Bill Banatt 8pm Silence. 8:15 Review 2nd primary. 8:30 Review exercise in 7 counting in four. Some simpler versions tried. Then back to original exercise, for a few times through solid. 9:00 Blockhead ending. Getting all three parts at once. Glenn as Paul, David as Bert, and Bill as Hideyo. 9:50 Blockhead Runthrough and getting Alternate B -> Ending transition. BB
Where: Victor Mcsurely's Loft 10:30 Talk w/o guitars...Mostly on the group's increasing divergence. Victor stresses the importance of time management, and suggests that in the future he may impose requirements on the group. 11:15 Victor shows us a line in seven and superimposes a count over it. The exercise was to play the line while counting and sending Glenn support. 12:30 End. BB
GCNE SOUTH Marc Benigni, Alex Lahoski, Nancy Vaine Wallingford, CT 9:00A-9:30A Silence 9:30A-10:00A Coffee, etc 10:00A-~2:00P 1st primary warm-up Circulation Repertoire work: Eye of the Needle, Chiara, Blockhead, Asturias, One of a Thousand Regrets Ear training: Interval recognition 2 passes of planned set list for 8/6: Eye of the Needle, Chiara, Blockhead Circulation End MB
GCNE South Saturday 7/28/2001 9:00A-9:30A Silence 9:30A-10:00A Coffee, etc 10:00A-~2:00P Circulation Discussion pertaining to performance goals Repertoire work: Eye of the Needle, Chiara, Blockhead Performance planned for 8/6/2001Circulation End MBGCNE North July 30th 2001 Where: David Kuznick's House Who: Glenn Hughes, David Kuznick, Bill Banatt 8pm Pick any note and play it 8:10 Blockhead 9:15 Break 9:25 review minuets in gmin, gmaj 9:50 review ruthenian song 9:57 Blockhead run-through BB What happened in July There was at least one other meeting the North had in July. It took place at Glenn's new house. Shawn, Bill and Glenn attending. We were quiet for some time. We had an attentive improv session. We worked on Blockhead. Possibly something more. It was in the dining room with a bare light-bulb giving a yellow -sickly illumination in the unfamiliar surroundings and making it easy for the blackness to creap into the corners of the field of vision. The rest leaked out. GH
Who: Bill B, Meli G, Glenn H, Shawn M Where: Glenn's Apt 8 PM: 15 Minutes quiet, verging on silence 8:15: "Pick a note, and playing" winding into improvisation with intent. Second primary, moving into cross picking variations. Meli talks about an exercise based on intro to Third Relation. Discussion involving "what's the fourth primary". Circulating C Major. 9:20 Break. Meli shows Bill and Glenn part of one of her songs. 9:30 Rhythm work. Working on 3 against 4 "Eat your gosh darn spinach"... Bill Glenn and Shawn play Ruthenian Song for Meli. 10:00 Completion GH
Alex Lahoski, Marc Benigni Wallingford, CT 9:00A-9:30A 9:30A-10:30A 10:30A-11:00A 11:00A-11:30A 11:30A-11:45A 11:45A - 12:15P 12:15P-12:45P 12:45P MB
16 minutes of silence guitars: Pick any note. Free circulation. Ruthenian Song. Rhythm work: Divisions of 8 beats. Thraking. Break: slit drum jam. Tum Tum Tree. GH
Fairfield, CT Nancy Vaine, Marc Benigni 10:00A-10:20A Sitting 10:00A-10:30A Right hand warm up, 2nd primary focusing on time signature changes, 2nd primary focusing on ability to maintain tempo through 4 bars with metronome silenced, 1st bar of of CYB #7 focusing on ability to maintain tempo through 4 bars with metronome silenced, 10:30A-10:45A Break 10:45A-11:45A Polyrythmic counting via Eye of the Needle arpeggios in 13 11:45A-2:00P Rythym work, repeating rythyms by ear using sticks, Nancy presents beginning of "Growing Circle", Review Eye of the Needle, exchanging bass and lead parts, Brief sitting. MB
15 minutes of silence Ruthenian song Circulating C Major Tum Tum Tree GH
5/26/2001 Wallingford, CT 9:00A-9:30A Sitting 9:30A-10:00A Tea, etc. 10:00A-10:20A Right hand warm-up (1st Primary variation per Mark Bernadini) 10:20A-11:30A Eye of the Needle work including circulation, metronome and counting drills 11:30A-11:55A Ear Training (interval recognition) 11:55A-12:50P Rythym work. 12:50P-1:30P Develop ideas around Alex Kelley's chord progression 1:30P-155P Asturias, Chiara 1:55P-2:00P Brief silence MB
Where: Glenn's apartment in Somerville, MA Who: Bill Banatt, Glenn Hughes, and Shawn Marquis 8pm the group begins with a casual discussion of Glenn's Music for People course ~8:10 The circle begins with 15 minutes of silence ~8:25 Work begins on the Bartok piece Ruthenian Song, which was tabled after 15 minutes to do some rhythm work. ~8:50 With one player playing the downbeat of a 4/4 phrase, the other players attempted feeling and playing the upbeat. This work was continued without guitars, and later with guitars again. ~9:20 Clapping work. Claps were circulated in a 4/4 phrase around the circle. This was continued until 10pm. BB
5/19/2001 Wallingford, CT 9:00A-9:30A Sitting 9:30A-10:15A Coffee, etc. 10:15A-10:30A First primary (2134 pattern) over alternating bars of 4 beats and 4 rests 10:30A-11:00A Rythym work focusing on the upbeat following the 3 in a bar of 4 11:00A-11:30A Discussion regarding GCNE, GCNES, and Guitar Craft experiences 11:30A-11:45A Thrakking 11:45A-12:15P Interval recognition 12:15P-1:25P Repertoire inc. Chiara, Eye of the Needle, One of a Thousand Regrets 1:25P-1:30P Closing discussion, brief silence MB
Where: Victor's loft 10:30 Group arrives, putting away guitars, finding and arranging chairs. There was no work on guitars today. A brief silence. Victor produces two lincoln-log-like musical sticks and taps out a rhythm. passing the sticks around, we try to imitate the rhythm tapped out by Victor. It is the 332 pattern - Victor states that this is the most common musical pattern in existence. We try to tap out this rhythm 3 or so times through the circle. Here, we were instructed not to count, but just to imitate the rhythm as closely as possible without using the mind. Then, a different rhythm: the "simplest polyrhythm" - tapping the downbeat with our feet, and the upbeat with the sticks. Victor introduces some music that demonstrates these rhythm figures, playing Busta Rhymes(from the album Extinction Level Event), King Crimson's Frame by Frame off the Discipline album, a cuban group called Vocal Sampling, and Bob Marley. The idea was to understand these rhythms with the body, rather than approach each rhythm with the mind. Victor stresses that "these people had nothing"; that those who grew up under those conditions learn to appreciate what they have. Rhythmic Freedom. Victor again mentions that having our technique more developed than our musicianship can be stifling. Without this physical perception of rhythm, it doesn't matter what we play, it will still sound horrible. Also, Victor encourages us to listen to what we listen to in a new way. Find the downbeat, the backbeat, and the upbeat of any piece of music, and the perception of rhythm will strengthen. BB Monday 5/8 NE GC Northern Arc Meeting Where: David Kuznick's house in Arlington Who: Bill Banatt, David Kuznick, Shawn Marquis The circle began with 15 minutes of silence. Guitars were brought into the circle and retuned (twice!). A free play-any-note improvisation was then performed for 15 minutes. Work then proceeded on the Bartok piece which Bill introduced last week, and we eventually were able to play it all the way through once. 15 minute break Clapping exercises were then begun in the 233/323/332 variations. Each separate pattern was worked on, then we circulated the three patterns consecutively, both "thrakking" and clapping. The meeting then concluded. A post-mortem then broke out about how enjoyable the opening improv was (we seemed to be really listening and playing with one another while making something musical) and it was the feeling of the circle that our improv work lately has felt like it was good and improving. DK
5/5/2001 Wallingford, CT 9:00A-9:30A Sitting 9:30A-10:00A Right hand warm-up 10:00A - 10:20A Coffee, etc. 10:20A-11:00A Right hand warm-up focusing on time signature changes 11:00A-11:30A Ear Training (interval recognition) 11:30A-11:45A Circulation/ Improvisation 11:45A-12:25P Repertoire inc. Chiara, Eye of the Needle, Asturias, One of a Thousand Regret, Invocation (partial), and 3rd Relation 12:25P-12:45P Rythym exercises 12:45P-12:50P Brief Silence MB
Where: David Kuznick's house in Arlington The circle began with 15 minutes of silence. A discussion/brainstorming session then ensued regarding future direction of both the GCNE and Guitar Craft as a whole, sparked by comments in Victor's diary entry dated 4/24/2001. Various strategies were discussed regarding possible events to help raise the visibility of GC and help bring old Crafties back "into the fold" or to reconnect. Guitars were then brought into the circle. We worked on the 233/332 song/exercise which Bill had introduced last week. Glenn introduced us to an exercise (from Tony passed on to Travis and modified by Glenn) which involves playing triads of the chords of C-Major on the 2, 3, and 4 strings, where the roots follow one another in descending 3rds (for example, starting with the open D string: D(4)F(2)A(3), B(3)D(4)F(2), G(2)B(3)D(4), then up a position to E(4)G(2)B(3), C(3)E(4)G(2), A(2)C(3)E(4), etc. The rhythm of the exercise also involves shifting where the groups of three notes fall in relation to the downbeat: |1-ee-and-<rest>, 1-ee-and, uh-1-ee| uh-1- ee, uh-1- ee, and-uh-1| and-ah-1, and-ah-1, ee-and-uh etc... Bill next presented a Bartok piece which the group then worked on. Finally Glenn presented a part of piece he wrote in college, "The Tum-Tum Tree", which was originally played solo with an echo box; here rearranged as two lines, separated by a beat and a half. The meeting then concluded. DBK
Wallingford, CT 9:00A - 9:30A 9:30A - 10:15A 10:15A - 10:45A 10:45A - 1:05P 1:05P - 1:10P
Where: David Kuznick's House in Arlington The meeting began with 15 minutes of silence. Each player in the circle then chose any note and played it. Bill then suggested that the Second Primary be worked on. Following this, Bill reacquainted Shawn and David with the basics of "Asturias". Work with the subdivisions of 8 followed. 10 min. break Work continued with the subdivisions. Following this, the reacquaintance of the introduction of "Third Relation" was led by Bill. Schedule was discussed and the meeting was then concluded. SM
Wallingford, CT 9:00A - 9:30A 9:30A - 10:00A 10:00A - ~1:30P Brief Silence Monday 4/16 NE GC Northern Arc Meeting Where: David Kuznick's House in Arlington The meeting began with 15 minutes of silence. Work began on clapping out subdivisions of eight (3-3-2/3-2-3/2-3-3). Glenn suggested the circle stand and sway from side to side in time while working on this exercise. Following this, guitars were introduced and the subdivisions were played on the guitar. The circle then decided to each choose a note and to play that note. This exercise moved into a free improvisation. Following this, Glenn led the group in approaching "Third Relation". After working on the piece for a little while, Bill suggested that the First Primary be visited. The First Primary was played in the 1-2-3-4 sequence up and down the neck once then, work continued on "Third Relation". Schedule was discussed and the meeting concluded. SM Saturday 4/14 Full NE GC Meeting 10:30 10:40 Circulation of C Major to the high D and back down. 7 people in the circle. Victor poses the idea that our notion that he is somehow "more advanced" is an delusion, and that we can make use of delusions. He grants that he has been in more circles, and so has a better idea of what works in these settings, but that this is a relatively small thing. One of the main things that he can share with us is attitudes that work. Something inside wants to be expressed, trying on different attitudes, to eventually arrive at simply being itself. We are given two constraints in our circulation: 1) That we make our mistakes boldly and 2) that after we have made our mistake, we remain bold, no change in state. Another attitude is shared: let the completion of an act be the visualization of the next act so that when your time comes again you are already prepared. Some music theory is presented about triad building and the origin of chords and scales. Circulation of triads in C Major, each person plays four notes: root 3, 5, 3 (8th notes). Once this was played with a reasonable degree of success, we played in pairs, then in trios. At some point in here we took a brief break so Victor could take a phone call. There was some discussion in the group about various details of repertoire. 1:20 Break... chips salsa hummus stuffed grape leaves chat. 1:40 Victor introduces 8 note phrases around the circle. After some muddling attempts he breaks it down to feet and claps. We work on division of 2 beats with 16 notes: 3 + 3 + 2. Left for our own work: 3 + 2 + 3, 2 + 3 + 3 and the divisions of 4 beats with 16th notes. It is noted that players who lack rhythmic sense, attempting complex repertoire pieces, sound like geeks. 2:15 GH Monday 4/16 NE GC Northern Arc Meeting Where: Victor's loft, South Boston This meeting consisted of "spackle craft", and marked Dan's last as a regular member. GH
Wallingford, CT 9:00A - 9:30A 9:30A - 10:00A 10:00A - 11:15A 11:15A - 11:30A 11:30A - 12:15P 12:15P - 1:50P 1:50P - 2:00P
Where: David Kuznick's House in Arlington Who: Bill Bannat, Glenn Hughes, Dan Keener, David Kuznick, Shawn Marquis The meeting began with Glenn sharing stories of the recent NST weekend in Lebanon, NJ. 15 minutes of silence followed. Guitars were then introduced and tuned. A pentatonic circulation then moved to a bit of improvisation. Glenn then led then group in learning "Third Relation". Bill then led the group in learning the Bach minuet that he and Glenn had worked on in the previous session. A circulation followed. Dan then informed the group that he will be taking a hiatus in practicing music for an indefinite period of time but, that he may return to working with the GCNE in the future. The players in the circle expressed that he will be missed and that they wished him well. The meeting then concluded. SM
Where: Glenn Hughes' House in Somerville The meeting began with a casual discussion of possible directions the group might find themselves drawn. Bill suggested a performance challenge. Glenn brought up the fact that an attractive person in the front of the stage can draw attention away from the inadequacies of the aspirant in the shadows. The "They may be ugly, but they sound like shit" aphorism was revisited. Glenn presented his approach to finding chord voices in NST and his ordering of the 24 permutations of the first primary left hand patterns. Some time was spent exploring C Major Pentatonic (C D E G A) and a few song ideas sprang up.The Bach piece of the previous two weeks was reviewed. Bill introduced a new Bach piece. A possible performance challenge of playing in Harvard Square was discussed. The meeting concluded. There was no silence this evening. GH
9:00A-9:300A Silence. 9:30A-10:00A Coffee, etc. 10:00A - 10:30A First Primary Warmup 10:30A - 11:30A Thrakking exercises. 11:30A - 12:15P Interval Recognition, pitch recognition. 12:15P - 12:45P 3rd primary/ fretboard knowledge. 12:45P - 1:15P Repertoire - Eye of the Needle, One of a Thousand Regrets,Chiara. 1:15P - 1:30P Circulation. 1:30P Brief silence. MB
Where: Glenn Hughes' House in Somerville The circle began with 15 min. of silence. Guitars were then introduced and tuned. Discussion ensued regarding the whole/half scale, pentatonic scale and how the blues could be played in NST. A bit of blues in C minor pentatonic erupted. Work then began on the Bach minuet from last week. The last section of the piece was introduced by Bill. Following this work, the circle engaged in a free circulation. Afterwards, each person shared their thoughts on the circulation and how the work in the circle was going for them. The meeting then concluded. SM
Nancy Vaine, Alex Lahoski, Marc Beningi Wallingford, CT 9:00A-9:30A Silence. 9:30A-10:00A Coffee, etc. 10:00A-12:00P Rythym work, clapping, marching and vocalizing in 5 over 7 over 4. 12:00P-12:15P 1st primary warm up, variation with string skipping. 12:15P-12:45P Ear training, interval recognition. 12:45P-2:10P Repertoire: Eye of the Needle, One of a Thousand Regrets, Chiara. 2:10P-2:15P Silence.. MB
7:00PM-7:30PM First primary warm-up. 7:30PM-8:30PM Fingerboard knowledge via 3rd primary, circulations in C major (straight, in groups of three notes, and in groups of four notes.) 8:30PM-8:45PM Repertoire work: Chiara. 8:45PM-9:00PM Discussions regarding GCNE and GCNE South goals. MB
Where: Glenn Hughes' House in Somerville The circle began with 15 min. of silence. Guitars were then introduced into the circle and tuned. Each person then chose a note and played that note. Glenn then introduced a piece of music he has been been working on. Afterwards, Bill introduced a Bach minuet to the circle. The section of the minuet that was introduced was successfully (?) performed. Discussion regarding schedule ensued. The meeting then concluded. SM
Where: Victor McSurely's Loft in Boston The circle began with a brief talk about the diversity of the GCNE. Victor said that he would prefer that the circle integrate it's diversity as opposed to segregating it. He then guided the circle through a 20 minute sitting. Following this everyone went for a walk to the Dorchester War Memorial. The meeting then concluded. SM
Nancy Vaine, Alex Lahoski, Marc Beningi 9:00A-9:30A Silence. 11:15A-12:00P 12:00P-1:15P 1:15P-2:00P Eye of the Needle. 2:00P-2:25P Group improvisation, silence.
Nancy Vaine, Alex Lahoski, Marc Beningi 9:00A-9:30A Silence. 9:30A-10:15A Coffee, etc. 10:15A-10:45A 1st primary warm up, Asturias. 10:45A-1:30P 1:30P-1:45P Silence, Circulation, Silence.
Wallingford, CT Nancy Vaine, Marc Benigni 9:00AM-10:00AM - Coffee, discussion (a deviation from the norm) 10:00AM-10:30AM - Silence. 10:30AM-1:00PM Rythym work including exercises in clapping subsequent bars of up and down beats in measures increasing from 2/4 through 5/4 or descending 5/4 through 2/4, and a number of thrakking exercises including 5, 7, and 9 time. First primary warm-up as presented by Mark Bernadini in a previous meeting. Polyrythm/ Thrakking exercises with guitars. Ear training: recognition of intervals up to and including the fifth. Repertoire work focusing on Contents of an Empty Canteen, Invocation Some discussion as to how to approach material we are presently unable to play. 1:00PM - Brief Silence. End. Monday 2/12 NE GC Northern Arc Meeting Where: David Kuznick's house in Arlington The circle began with a 15 min. silence. Guitars were then retrieved and tuned. Any note in G Major was then circulated. The First Primary was then approached in a 1-2-4-3 sequence. A mode circulation in C Major followed. This exercise circulated the notes of C Major in 3 octaves moving from the low C up to it's octave, then D to D, E to E, etc. The circle aimed to execute this exercise ascending once and fulfilled this aim before our first break. 10 min Break. Movie talk with the Crafties: "Crouching Tiger..." and "Traffic" receive thumbs up. The rhythm exercises that were introduced last week were approached again. One person kept a pulse, while another vocalized the one of a 4-beat measure and the other vocalized the one of a 5-beat measure. The vocalizing of the one was then substituted for a note on the guitar. This same exercise was performed again but, with the third person playing the one of a 7-beat measure. Glenn then introduced a circulation exercise. The circle claps together the whole notes of an 8-beat measure. The circulation is performed in pairs but, shifts seat-by-seat. Each person in the circulating pair, claps 8th notes from the measure; one person clapping the downbeats, the other the upbeats. This exercise was then performed on the guitar. The meeting then concluded. SM
Where: Victor McSurely's loft in Boston Who: Glenn Hughes, Dan Keener, David Kuznick, Alex Lahoski, Shawn Marquis, Victor McSurely, Dave Traver, Nancy Vaine The circle began by each person stating what they have been working on over the last month, as per request by Victor. Guitars were then brought into the circle and attention was brought to the left hand. A note was then chosen and played from the following: A sharp/B/C sharp/D sharp/E/F sharp/G sharp. Riffs based upon the Second Primary were then issued around the circle by Victor. It was then explained that the riffs issued were all comprised of notes found in the D7 chord (C/D/F sharp/A). The exercise was approached again but, this time, circulating 2 measures of improvisation with the D7 notes. The circulation moved to the left with two people circulating at a time (the 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock seats begin, after two measures it shifts to the 7 o'clock and 1 o'clock seats). The same exercise was then approached with the circulation shifting after 4 measures of improvisation. Any note was then circulated. Victor then demonstrated an exercise for becoming familiar with the subtlety of vibrato. With attention on the use of vibrato, a circulation of any note was set into motion. The same exercise was then approached but, with a second circulation of skipping a chair. The exercise was then attempted again at a quicker tempo. Attention was then brought to the left hand. 10 min. Break. Dave Traver departs. Two notes from two bars of 7 were then issued to each person in the circle. Victor then asked that each player shift their note to another beat within those two bars. The original riff and the modified riff were then played, switching every two measures. Victor then stated that he felt that the comments Shawn and Glenn made prior to the beginning of today's meeting in regards to their experience of the recent L2 course in Italy, gave him the sense that this circle is becoming increasingly diversified. Questions were then fielded by Victor. Shawn departs. Glenn presented the "floating anchor" left hand exercise to the group. More Q & A. Victor then asked that each person think about what they would really like to get out of their next circle meeting. The meeting then concluded. SM/GH
Glenn's house, Somerville MA 8:07 Dan Arrives 9:20 break. Tales of Sassoferrato. 9:30 Rhythm exercises. Counting in 5, vocalize the following beats 1...51..4.1.3..12... Saturday 2/3 NE GC Southern Arc Meeting Wallingford, CT Nancy Vaine, Alex Lahoski, Marc Benigni 9:00AM-9:30AM - Silence. 9:30AM-10:00AM - Coffee, etc. 10:00AM-10:15AM - Guitar stringing (i.e. Marc arrives unprepared), tuning, etc. 10:15AM-11:00AM - Rythym work, clapping up beats then downbeats in subsequent bars cycling from 2/4 to 5/4 while others cycle from 5/4 to 2/4.Vocalisations over 2 bars of four illustrating 1/4 note vs. dotted 1/4 note applications. 11:00AM - 11:20AM - 2nd primary warm up. 1st primary warm up (2 play 1234, 1 plays 3412). 11:20AM - 11:30AM - Playing and singing in key of C with and without note names. 11:30AM-11:45AM - Ear training: interval recognition up to and including the tritone. 11:45AM - 12:00PM - Break. 12:00PM - 12:15PM - 3rd primary, C major. 12:15PM - 12:30PM - Absolute pitch recognition in the octave above middle C, enharmonic to C major. 12:30PM - 12:50PM - Repertoire work: Invocation. 12:50PM - 1:00PM - Silence into Circulation. 1:00PM - 1:10PM - Silence.
9:00A-9:30A Silence. 9:30A-10:00A Coffee, etc. 10:00A-12:10P -Polyrythm exercises including clapping alternate measures of down-beats and upbeats in subsequent bars of 5, 4, 3, and 2, against the identical exercise ascending through 2, 3, 4, and 5. -1st primary warm-up (1243). -Ear training, passing and identifying seconds, thirds, and fourths. -Circulation. -Begin practicing Bill Bennet's "Contents of an Empty Canteen". 12:10P-12:15P Silence, Nancy departs. 12:15P-12:45P Continued work on "Contents of an Empty Canteen". End.. MB
9:00A-9:30A Silence. 9:30A-10:00A Coffee, etc. 10:00A-2:30P -1st primary warm-up (1243). -Ear training, passing and identifying seconds, thirds, and fourths. -Review of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th primaries (and the determination that these should be reviewed again with Victor McSurely's input.) -Polyrythm work thrakking 5 against 7 and 5 against 7 against 9. -Repertoire work including Invocation, Eye of the Needle, and Blockhead. -Discussion of future performance possibilities, goals with regard to repertoire. ~2:30-~2:45 Silence. End. MB Monday 1/8 NE GC Northern Arc Meeting Where: David Kuznick's House in Arlington, MA Who: Bill Banatt, Glenn Hughes, Dan Keener, David Kuznick, Shawn Marquis The circle began with 15 min. of silence. Dan then arrived and silence ensued for another 15 min; this time with the light off. Each person then picked a note from the scale of C# and played that note. Repetoire work then began on a piece of Bill Banatt's. Glenn offered a working title of "Dancing Bear Bites the Head Off the Organ Grinder," later shortened to "Dancing Bear's Revenge." 10 min. Break Work with the two-note circulation of hand and thigh claps began. Following this, two notes of thigh claps were circulated as quickly as the circle could. The meeting then concluded. SM
Where: Victor McSurely's Loft in Boston, MA Who: Bill Banatt, Mark Benigni, Glenn Hughes, Dan Keener, David Kuznick, Alex Lahoski, Shawn Marquis, Victor McSurely, Nancy Vaine, Doug Wright The circle began with approximately 15 min. of silence. Guitars were then brought into the circle and, Victor asked that each person choose a note from the following notes F#/G#/A/B/C#/D#/E. It was then requested that each person identify as much as possible with the note and then play it. Riffs were then about to be introduced around the circle by Victor but, Doug (a.k.a. The Weedy Little Bald Fellow) asked to make an announcement first. Doug wanted to let the circle know that he will be focusing more of his time and attention to his work at college and that this meeting would be his last. He then said that it was possible that he might return to the circle after his work over the next 6 months is completed. Victor then asked if Doug would be willing to help the circle out by contributing artwork, if needed. Doug said that this would be fine. Many people from the circle wished him well. Riffs were then introduced by Victor. Following the "riffing", Glenn asked about how fatigue in the arms should be dealt with. Discussion ensued about the topic. Victor then offered that it is possibly beneficial to play as long as you could with the left hand when it is fatigued but, it's perhaps not as beneficial to continue on with the right hand. David then arrived, earlier then expected, from a previous commitment. Repertoire work then began on a composition created by Bill. Following this work, Shawn asked what criteria should be taken into consideration when deciding if silence were a more appropriate contribution to a group. Victor offered that this should only be a concern when it comes to performing but, that the criteria is whether or not the note(s) are in time, in tune and in tone. Beyond those criteria, he offered, are timing and tambre. Glenn then asked how timing and tambre were different from being in time and, in tone. Victor replied that they were higher qualities of each. 15 min. break. Repertoire work continued with a piece written by Dave. Comments and questions were then fielded by Victor. Following this Victor led the circle through an attention exercise and asked that the circle try to maintain the effects of this exercise as they departed from the meeting. The meeting then concluded. SM |