Meeting #39

When: Sunday, March 31st, 8:15 PM
Where: Ultimate Self Defense Studio, South Boston, MA
Attendees: Martin B, Glenn H, David K, Alex L, Victor M, Dev R, Dave T, Terry T

Victor began by reminding us that, within the project, we had one more piece to learn, that being Bicycling to Afghanistan. He stated that he had in mind who should play what parts, and asked us if anyone wanted to choose their part, rather than having them assigned. I stated that I would be happy for him to choose the parts, and there seemed to be general consensus that, especially without knowing the parts, that there would be little point in people picking the parts for themselves. Victor made the assignments as follows:
First Lead: Dev R & Terry T
Second Lead: Glenn H & David K
Bass: Martin B, Alex L & Dave T

Each section went off to their own space: The First Leads in the hall, the Basses in the big room, and the Second Leads in the little room. Victor walked from room to room, handing out the parts.

At the end of the night, we reassembled in the small room. Victor gave us a brief outline of the form of the piece as a whole, and said it was too bad that we couldn't hear some of the parts together until we had done some more work. He said, that clearly, work on this piece was going to be our focus for a while. The First Leads had two parts left to learn, and he asked for a special session with them. The Basses and the Second Leads had all their parts. He said that the end of the piece has been recomposed, and the parts for the end will be handed out in a separate session. He noted that many of the lines in this piece cross at one point or another, and this is especially true of the ending.

We were sent home, with our foreheads slightly bulging, to reconvene next week.

GH

Terry adds this from the First Leads:

Victor showed us the first section with 2 variations. both of them begins with the same 4 notes and ends with the same 6 notes. the variations are in the middle which has 5 notes for the first time and 7 notes for the second time.

the second section that victor showed us has 4 bars of 7 and the section ends with a bar of 4 notes.

the third section has 3 variations. each variation has 32 notes. the first variation repeats the 16 note phrase. the second variation begins like the first 16 notes but the last 16 notes descends from f#m chord down to a 4 note bar. the third variation repeats the f#m chord and the c#m chord.

there are two other sections which me and dev have not learned yet. important note is to keep a constant up/down strokes and count the sections in 4.

TT

Meeting #38

When: Sunday, March 24th, 8:15 PM
Where: Ultimate Self Defense Studio, South Boston, MA
Attendee: Martin B, Glenn H, David K, Victor M, Dev R, Terry T

(Two people forgot their stools, and so were sitting on chairs for the duration. A trend? Ed.)

We thought that Dave was coming, so we left a space in the circle empty for him, complete with our special added floor mats as to not leave imprints in the regular floor matting.

The meeting began with silence. Then Victor had us bring our attention into our left hands, starting with the palm of the hand, then moving through the first, second, third, and fourth fingers, and finally the hand as a whole.

We then ran through the following pieces:
Eye of the Needle
The Third Relation
Larks' Thrak
Flying Home
Calliope

Victor then began a circulation. After the circulation, he called out The Third Relation once more. It fell apart, and we began again. After this we circulated once more, with some part of it focusing on circulating as fast as possible, though that was not openly discussed.

We then moved to work on Flying Home. We looped the D-F section with everyone playing for a while, and then the basses were asked to play it by themselves. During both of these loops, people occasionally dropped out, (mostly basses) due to fatigue. After the basses played it by themselves, Victor cleared up some issues for them.

Next was Larks', leaving out the Thrak. We ran it about 3 times, each time a little bit faster. We then looped just the first two chords for a period. Again, a few people dropped out here and there due to fatigue.

Silence. (or, at least, quiet. Ed)

Victor then asked each of us to state why we are doing this work. After each person had given their answer, Victor then asked us why we wanted that, (referring to what we had answered previously).

Victor then pointed out, and we agreed, that all of us now know what it will exactly take for us to complete this project. We discussed how, in order for the aims to be met, we must all reach the aims on a personal level, as well as on a group level. We discussed how they could all be bolied down to technical issues, and how difficult it is to reach technical goals at the same time within a group. Victor then stressed putting the extra effort in every day, and finding a little extra time to practice everyday. The little bits will add up to big bits and things can change.

Victor suggested the following:
- at least by the night before, plan when you are going to practice the next day.
- keep working on the left pinky. It should only take about 5 hours of solid focused practice.
- getting Larks' up to speed

We then discussed how the sense of the whole piece as we were playing each piece was better, some noting Calliope specifically.

Then we talked about possibly having a retreat or weekend of some sort where we would spend 3-5 days working together. The activities would include 6 or so hours of personal practice, a few hours in the kitchen, 2 to 3 hours of group work in the evening, and a 30-45 minute sitting in the morning. As an alternative to this retreat approach because of people's busy schedules, etc., it was proposed that we could practice at our respective homes for the given time, and then work and sit as a group in the evening.

Finally, we returned to the discussion of playing ahead of the beat, on the beat, and behind the beat. Victor gave us various ideas on how to approach this task, beginning with working with the metronome and becoming familiar with playing in all three areas. He also recommended listening to all different kinds of music that played with this idea, and to try and play along, or at least understand what those people were trying to do.

DR

Meeting #37

When: Sunday, March 9th, 8:15 PM
Where: Ultimate Self Defense Studio, South Boston, MA
Attendees: Glenn H, David K, Alex L, Dev R, Dave T, Terry T

One person forgot their stool, and so was sitting on a chair for the duration. At the beginning of the meeting, Victor told us that he was not feeling well, but rather than cancel the meeting, that he would give us something to work on, then check in on us near the session's completion. We were set to work on 'Flying Home' focusing on being aware of the quarter note pulse and our lightness of touch. If we were to give attention to a third thing, it was to be our pinkie. The basses stayed put, and the leads were sent to work in the adjoining room. The team worked this way for some time, playing the piece at different speeds, and looping sections. Victor returned later on, and had us regroup and play the piece for him. There was a marked improvement, however, the attention to the lightness of touch seemed to make us play a little softly. Victor asked us to work on two things over the coming week: our little fingers, and playing 'in front of' and 'behind' the beat.

GH

Meeting #36

When: Sunday, March 9th, 8:15 PM
Where: Ultimate Self Defense Studio, South Boston, MA
Attendees: Martin B, Glenn H, David K, Alex L, Victor M, Dev R, Terry T

The meeting began without Terry. The performance which was to be given has been cancelled/postponed, possibly to next week. We arranged our stools in a semi-circle. Victor asked us to circulate the C Major scale, from the low C on the 6th string up 3 octaves to the C on the first string and back down. If someone made a mistake, they were to start the circulation over. Many attempts were made, none successful. A knock was heard from above (Terry), and Victor left to get the door, asking us to continue. By the time Victor had returned, we had made it up a little over 2 octaves. Victor asked us to continue, but with everyone saying every note. After a few tries we pretty much made it through all the way.

Terry joins the (semi-) circle.

Victor moves to the center of the semi-circle and asks us to run Eye of the Needle. A few wrong notes, but it felt fairly musical to me. Victor asked us to try very hard to relax. Victor next called out Third Relation, with me (David) counting in. Victor commented that it was pleasant to listen to, even if that wasn't apparent from where we were sitting. Victor next called for Calliope, with Alex counting in. This didn't go so well. Victor had us re-arrange the stools into two rows, facing each other (David and Alex, Dev and Glenn, Martin and Terry). Victor told us to concentrate on two things: playing Calliope *to* the person we were facing, and concentrate on the music. Again, this didn't go too well. Victor asked us to do it again, keeping an internal count of each time we realized we either weren't focusing on playing to the other person, or weren't focusing on the music. Though Victor called a halt during the re-intro, he said it was the best performance technically we had ever played; no glaring open string mistakes - the mistakes that were made were missing notes. Victor asked us again to run the piece. Made it most of the way through, the ran out of steam in the final melody section and train-wrecked the outro. Victor spoke to us for a while about the triad of Music/Musician/Audience, and how often in a performance it's just Music and Audience; there is a lot of personal "letting go" that needs to happen. Victor commented that within the group, we do a very good job of being supportive of one another, and to consider treating ourselves the way we treat others or the way we see others treating others. At the same time we have to balance our personal needs with the needs of the group.

We re-arranged the stools back into a semi-circle and stretched our legs, backs, bladders, etc. for a few minutes.

When we began again, Victor asked us to keep the same feel we were trying to achieve facing each other, by playing *to* him and also concentrating on the music. We ran Calliope again. Victor then called for Lark's Thrak, with Martin counting in. Larks was at a slower tempo than we have been playing it recently. Victor observed that Alex and I were still having issues with Larks. I commented that actually I had improved a lot over the past two weeks (interesting that I felt a need to say that), but still find my left hand getting in its own way and stiffening up; it's not a matter of not knowing the notes. Alex said that he wasn't releasing tension at all throughout Larks. Victor suggested we try imagining ourselves playing it faster than we actually were. Victor commented to the group that Larks was slower than we usually play it, yet Thrak was about the "correct" tempo, which Victor commented was mostly due to me (David K) driving it; perhaps I'm very familiar with a recorded version he suggested. Glenn commented that playing Larks and Thrak at different tempi makes it difficult to lock into the pulse. Victor suggested that if they are played at different tempi, which can work, to look for the second or third chord to get the pulse from (especially the pickup to the 2). We went for it again. Then again, just Thrak. Victor reminded us not to play behind the beat, especially during the rock-n-roll section. Then we ran it again, just Thrak, this time making sure to tap the pulse with our feet. Then again. And again. Victor then called for Flying Home, with Dev counting in. Not great, not horrible. Victor asked the basses to play the F section, first together then one at a time, with suggestions made to some players on what to concentrate on.

Victor then called for a circulation. After a short while, Victor spoke about the fact that we were at the point where we were doing OK with the what, and the when, but we needed to work on the why; the note, the audience. We circulated again.

Next meeting Sunday March 16th, usual place, usual time. If you can't make it, let Victor know in advance as we may have some invited guests to perform for.

DK

Meeting #35

When: Sunday, March 2nd, 7:45 PM
Where: 40 Sargent Ave, Somerville MA
Who: Glenn H. David K. Alex L. Dev R.

The meeting began with Dev, Glenn and David in attendance. Tuning with an A fork. The large C fork was rejected. It seemed to be sharp. "The man with the tuning fork runs the meeting," so, Glenn suggested looking at the 4th primary, misspeaking saying the D string, when the A string was intended. Played rather quickly at first. Then another attempt at a slower pace, paying attention to 'squeaky noises' at the point of release.

Flying Home. After a pass or two through this piece, Alex arrived.
A couple of more passes through Flying Home. 3 basses, one lead. The F section standing out as the part needing the most work. Looped 2 Ds and 4 Fs.

Eye of the Needle. Twice through. First time was a little too fast, and many mistakes. Second time better. Need to watch the continuity leading into the burbles at the end.

Third Relation. Transitions standing out as the weakest point. Last descending line also.

Calliope. Brief detour into a demonstration of the intro lead part. Played at tempo, still not all there. Played through 2 or 3 times. Several comments about how quickly this piece atrophied.

Break-- Tea for Dev and Glenn. Talk about courses gone by.

Lark's Intro. Began playing slower than normal, with intention. This shook out a misconception. Played the 'second half' through on its own a couple of times. Note: pay attention to the thumb position in the transition to the final section.

Lark's Thrak. Played more or less at tempo. The intro was sloppy, but Thrak itself seemed snappy and tight.

Flying Home, again. Played through closer to tempo. Sloppy, the F section again standing out as needing the most work. Played through again, at Dev's suggestion, at slower tempo.

Circulation. Slow C, turning into ping pong duets, 'not C', free improv, back into circulation. This basic form repeated a couple of times. There were some lovely sections. A final circulation into chords to end.

Next meeting: Sunday the 9th. Possible mini-performance.

GH