09.16
Monasterio Monjas Dominicas,
C/Mare de Deu del Roser 2,
Sant Cugat (08174), Barcelona.
Rising at 06.15.
Morning Sitting at 07.15.
Breakfast at 08.00.
Promoter Sr. Nunez gave us the overview of our day before setting off to do a tv interview.
T’ai Chi at 09.45.
Down the hill & back I…
II…
III...
IV...
The board I…
II...
III...
Curt leading gentle Circulations in the Ballroom at 10.30.
Personal meetings with Mentors continue.
13.03 An early lunch at 12.30. Sr. Nunez presented his report: the venue is prepared.
Guitar call on the patio at 13.30 for loading; walking departures at 13.45; car departures at 14.00.
Venue-rehearsal c.14.45.
My morning: reflecting on performance principles.
22.16 Guitars ready to go…
… into the PromoterMobile…
… for a punctual departure to the venue I…
II...
III...
The OCG walked the 30-minute walk to downtown Sant Cugat. Support act ZUM gave me a lift.
Organising the space & chairs; fine tuning & checking the acoustics; practising walking through the space & finding our chair.
Rehearsal I…
II...
III...
IV...
V...
VI...
VII...
VIII...
IX...
X...
XI...
XII...
XIII...
XIV...
XV...
XVI...
We left c.16.45 following an honourable afternoon of work.
T’ai Chi at 19.00.
Dinner at 19.30 with a visiting local guest; Mrs. Al also visiting.
Two comments at dinner: how sitting on chairs for the performance might support our playing; and whizzing chords sounding better in chromatic disposition.
A post-dinner meeting with our visiting Guest: he made several insightful, if complimentary, comments; and then asked for King Crimson to visit Barcelona.
I have to accept that it is impossible for a KC fan to have any sense of what is involved in this request; the various & several areas of mutual incompatibility that have to be reconciled; and the effect of this on myself. Simply put: when King Crimson walks onstage, 80% of my contribution to the band is unseen, and none of this 80% is paid for. An earlier member of KC once commented on my unpaid efforts: methinks the gentlemen doth protest too much. Actually, those who know my involvement firsthand might argue that I don’t protest anywhere near enough. That a former Crim might make this impressively ignorant comment (albeit informed by resentment & Coca Cola), how can an innocent KC fan have any clue? But, further commentary on that subject is for elsewhere, and comes under the liberal education of a young man preparing to enter the world. When the lesson has been learnt, and revisited over 4 decades, other concerns present themselves for attention & consideration.
A meeting afterwards with Sr. Nunez, addressing our July in Sant Cugat; and the possibility of a visit to Argentina next March for a Guitar Craft 25th. Anniversary Completion Course.
A ballroom meeting to discuss both performance issues commented on at dinner, and both were addressed: the first by Mariela making suggestions re: sitting on the chair; the second by chromatic Magic Chords being assigned to seats for whizzing.
This was followed immediately by a House of Guitars, working until shortly before 22.15. A recommendation made: keep the juice available for the performance.
On the board I…
II...
Three documents. The first…
The Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists
Thursday 26th. February, 2009
Monasterio Monjas Dominicas, Sant Cugat.
A principle is universal, a rule is inflexible, a law is invariable.
Six Principles of the Performance Event
Music so wishes to be heard that sometimes it calls on unlikely characters to give it voice, and ears. This wishing-to-be heard calls into existence the Performance Event; where music, musician & audience may come together as one, in communion.
This communion has six different forms of being & experiencing itself (plus an invisible seventh); and these forms, or principles, are simultaneously present within the Performance.
I
When people get together with music, something happens.
When people get together, something happens.
When people get together with music, something remarkable happens.
When musician, audience & music come together in a performance, this something remarkable has a quality of its own.
The something remarkable is Music taking on a life of its own.
The Creation continues being created.
II
In a performance, things come together, mysteriously; and go better than we might anticipate; and better than we deserve.
In a performance event, the Benevolence that gives rise to Music brings together musicians & audience.
Things come together, mysteriously; and go better than we deserve, or might expect them to.
III
A performance can take on a life & character of its own.
Any particular performance event - with these people, in this place, at this time - defines the conditions of the performance: the where, when & what of the event.
This is on the outside.
The conditions of time, place & persons do not govern the quality of our experiencing of this performance.
Our experiencing is on the inside.
That the event happens is a given.
How we participate, listen, respond, is open & available.
What happens within the performance, that is, whether the performance comes to life or not, is to be created & discovered.
If this is so, the performance can take on a life & character of its own.
IV
Any one performance is a multiplicity of performances.
The degree to which we act as one, as a whole person, is a measure of our integration; that is, a measure of our Being.
The degree to which the performance is a whole event, depends upon the extent to which Musician & Audience & Music are able to enter into Communion as One.
Until this point, the performance event is as many performances as participants.
Beyond this point, the Whole Performance is every Performance: it is eternal.
The distinction between both is less than we might believe it to be.
So, any one performance is a multiplicity of performances.
V
The possible is possible.
We are able to be with others only to the degree that we are able to be ourselves.
This being so, we can only be in the performance to the degree that we can be ourselves: to be who we are.
It is possible to be who we are.
So, the possible is possible.
We begin with the possible, and move gradually towards the impossible.
VI
The impossible is possible.
Normality is what we might achieve, given who we are, what we are, the conditions & limitations of the world we work within.
Our “norm” is what we “ought” to be.
This is what is asked of us: to be who we were born to be, and to do what we were born to do.
This is already asking too much: it is impossible
Nevertheless, we begin with the possible & move gradually towards the impossible; trusting that the Benevolence which gives rise to Music is never far away.
So, the impossible is possible.
The Seventh Principle resides within Silence.
The Six Principles assume a common aim, good will & a willingness to participate in good spirit within the event, and the capacity to do so.
In a sense the Six Principles are available when the highest in us comes together; in the knowledge that, essentially, we are the same person.
When the lowest takes charge, the performance event downgrades; and the possible becomes increasingly restricted.
The impossible becomes impossible.
The best is then, that the possible remains possible.
The worst is, that the possible becomes impossible.
This is the Null Event: nothing happens.
A Null Event has no life span, no persistence, no present moment of its own.
The event disappears, as if it never was; and, really, it wasn’t.
The Null Event is a complete waste of time &energy.
Something is lost.
But, it doesn’t have to be like that.
May we trust the inexpressible Benevolence of the Creative Impulse.
The second…
The Six Principles of the Performance Event
1. When people get together with music, something happens.
2. In a performance, things come together, mysteriously; and go better than we might anticipate; and better than we deserve.
3. A performance can take on a life & character of its own.
4. Any one performance is a multiplicity of performances.
5. The possible is possible.
6. The impossible is possible.
The Seventh Principle resides within Silence.
Trust the event.
The third…
Areas of Extemporisation
When ready, begin.
Play Blue.
Play Saturday night (nothing).
Play Sunday night.
You are playing Music for Dancing.
Play Sweet & Sour.
Play Water.
Play Running.
Play Sprinting.
Play Evening.
Play Yellow.
Play Rhythm.
Play Harmony.
Joy.
You have a Friend who needs to wake up. Wake them up!
Put your Friend to sleep.
You are celebrating The Awakening Of Spring.
You are providing music for a chase scene in a high-action Hollywood blockbuster. You have 4 minutes & 30 seconds following a count of 4.
You a percussion section playing Music For Fast Dancing.
Following a count of 5, play a chord you like very much for 1 minute and 13 seconds.
Following a count of 5, play a chord you don’t like very much for 1 minute & 23 seconds.
Following a count of 4, you are a drummer for 53 seconds.
Following a count of 4, one chord of your choice to be held for 9 seconds.
Play very high, move at the right speed to very low, responding as the moment requires.
Play very low, move to very high & back to very low, responding as the moment requires.
Begin playing very quietly & get louder.
Play faster than is comfortable.
Begin by playing very slowly & quietly, moving to playing very quickly & loudly.
Assumed to be included in the instruction:
Please.
When ready.
Respond as the moment requires.
The Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists
Circulations
Outer Circle circulating to the right in A flat Lydian major; Inner Circle respond as you see fit.
Outer Circle circulating to the right in E major, the Inner Circle to the left in G major.
Outer Circle moving to the right, any note of your choice, as fast as is possible while maintaining fluency; the Inner Circle, any note of your choice, moving as quickly as you may while maintaining fluency, in either direction.
Outer Circle, please, any note of your choice – high – moving to the right as fast as you may while maintaining fluency. Inner Circle please low note moving in either direction – low - as fast as you can while maintaining fluency; and then both Circles responding as you see fit.
Inner Circle: please begin circulating very high, moving at the right speed to very low, moving back to very high again. Outer Circle, begin very low, moving very high, and then back to very low – at the right speed. When ready, any note of your choice.
Outer Circle, circulate in F major; Inner Circle in A flat major.
Inner Circle, circulating any note of your choice, beginning very low & moving to very high. Outer Circle, beginning very high moving very low, returning very high. Begin at whatever tempo is right for you, moving to as-fast-as-is-possible while maintaining fluency.
Whizzing.
Monasterio Monjas Dominicas,
C/Mare de Deu del Roser 2,
Sant Cugat (08174), Barcelona.
Rising at 06.15.
Morning Sitting at 07.15.
Breakfast at 08.00.
Promoter Sr. Nunez gave us the overview of our day before setting off to do a tv interview.
T’ai Chi at 09.45.
Down the hill & back I…
II…
III...
IV...
The board I…
II...
III...
Curt leading gentle Circulations in the Ballroom at 10.30.
Personal meetings with Mentors continue.
13.03 An early lunch at 12.30. Sr. Nunez presented his report: the venue is prepared.
Guitar call on the patio at 13.30 for loading; walking departures at 13.45; car departures at 14.00.
Venue-rehearsal c.14.45.
My morning: reflecting on performance principles.
22.16 Guitars ready to go…
… into the PromoterMobile…
… for a punctual departure to the venue I…
II...
III...
The OCG walked the 30-minute walk to downtown Sant Cugat. Support act ZUM gave me a lift.
Organising the space & chairs; fine tuning & checking the acoustics; practising walking through the space & finding our chair.
Rehearsal I…
II...
III...
IV...
V...
VI...
VII...
VIII...
IX...
X...
XI...
XII...
XIII...
XIV...
XV...
XVI...
We left c.16.45 following an honourable afternoon of work.
T’ai Chi at 19.00.
Dinner at 19.30 with a visiting local guest; Mrs. Al also visiting.
Two comments at dinner: how sitting on chairs for the performance might support our playing; and whizzing chords sounding better in chromatic disposition.
A post-dinner meeting with our visiting Guest: he made several insightful, if complimentary, comments; and then asked for King Crimson to visit Barcelona.
I have to accept that it is impossible for a KC fan to have any sense of what is involved in this request; the various & several areas of mutual incompatibility that have to be reconciled; and the effect of this on myself. Simply put: when King Crimson walks onstage, 80% of my contribution to the band is unseen, and none of this 80% is paid for. An earlier member of KC once commented on my unpaid efforts: methinks the gentlemen doth protest too much. Actually, those who know my involvement firsthand might argue that I don’t protest anywhere near enough. That a former Crim might make this impressively ignorant comment (albeit informed by resentment & Coca Cola), how can an innocent KC fan have any clue? But, further commentary on that subject is for elsewhere, and comes under the liberal education of a young man preparing to enter the world. When the lesson has been learnt, and revisited over 4 decades, other concerns present themselves for attention & consideration.
A meeting afterwards with Sr. Nunez, addressing our July in Sant Cugat; and the possibility of a visit to Argentina next March for a Guitar Craft 25th. Anniversary Completion Course.
A ballroom meeting to discuss both performance issues commented on at dinner, and both were addressed: the first by Mariela making suggestions re: sitting on the chair; the second by chromatic Magic Chords being assigned to seats for whizzing.
This was followed immediately by a House of Guitars, working until shortly before 22.15. A recommendation made: keep the juice available for the performance.
On the board I…
II...
Three documents. The first…
The Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists
Thursday 26th. February, 2009
Monasterio Monjas Dominicas, Sant Cugat.
A principle is universal, a rule is inflexible, a law is invariable.
Six Principles of the Performance Event
Music so wishes to be heard that sometimes it calls on unlikely characters to give it voice, and ears. This wishing-to-be heard calls into existence the Performance Event; where music, musician & audience may come together as one, in communion.
This communion has six different forms of being & experiencing itself (plus an invisible seventh); and these forms, or principles, are simultaneously present within the Performance.
I
When people get together with music, something happens.
When people get together, something happens.
When people get together with music, something remarkable happens.
When musician, audience & music come together in a performance, this something remarkable has a quality of its own.
The something remarkable is Music taking on a life of its own.
The Creation continues being created.
II
In a performance, things come together, mysteriously; and go better than we might anticipate; and better than we deserve.
In a performance event, the Benevolence that gives rise to Music brings together musicians & audience.
Things come together, mysteriously; and go better than we deserve, or might expect them to.
III
A performance can take on a life & character of its own.
Any particular performance event - with these people, in this place, at this time - defines the conditions of the performance: the where, when & what of the event.
This is on the outside.
The conditions of time, place & persons do not govern the quality of our experiencing of this performance.
Our experiencing is on the inside.
That the event happens is a given.
How we participate, listen, respond, is open & available.
What happens within the performance, that is, whether the performance comes to life or not, is to be created & discovered.
If this is so, the performance can take on a life & character of its own.
IV
Any one performance is a multiplicity of performances.
The degree to which we act as one, as a whole person, is a measure of our integration; that is, a measure of our Being.
The degree to which the performance is a whole event, depends upon the extent to which Musician & Audience & Music are able to enter into Communion as One.
Until this point, the performance event is as many performances as participants.
Beyond this point, the Whole Performance is every Performance: it is eternal.
The distinction between both is less than we might believe it to be.
So, any one performance is a multiplicity of performances.
V
The possible is possible.
We are able to be with others only to the degree that we are able to be ourselves.
This being so, we can only be in the performance to the degree that we can be ourselves: to be who we are.
It is possible to be who we are.
So, the possible is possible.
We begin with the possible, and move gradually towards the impossible.
VI
The impossible is possible.
Normality is what we might achieve, given who we are, what we are, the conditions & limitations of the world we work within.
Our “norm” is what we “ought” to be.
This is what is asked of us: to be who we were born to be, and to do what we were born to do.
This is already asking too much: it is impossible
Nevertheless, we begin with the possible & move gradually towards the impossible; trusting that the Benevolence which gives rise to Music is never far away.
So, the impossible is possible.
The Seventh Principle resides within Silence.
The Six Principles assume a common aim, good will & a willingness to participate in good spirit within the event, and the capacity to do so.
In a sense the Six Principles are available when the highest in us comes together; in the knowledge that, essentially, we are the same person.
When the lowest takes charge, the performance event downgrades; and the possible becomes increasingly restricted.
The impossible becomes impossible.
The best is then, that the possible remains possible.
The worst is, that the possible becomes impossible.
This is the Null Event: nothing happens.
A Null Event has no life span, no persistence, no present moment of its own.
The event disappears, as if it never was; and, really, it wasn’t.
The Null Event is a complete waste of time &energy.
Something is lost.
But, it doesn’t have to be like that.
May we trust the inexpressible Benevolence of the Creative Impulse.
The second…
The Six Principles of the Performance Event
1. When people get together with music, something happens.
2. In a performance, things come together, mysteriously; and go better than we might anticipate; and better than we deserve.
3. A performance can take on a life & character of its own.
4. Any one performance is a multiplicity of performances.
5. The possible is possible.
6. The impossible is possible.
The Seventh Principle resides within Silence.
Trust the event.
The third…
Areas of Extemporisation
When ready, begin.
Play Blue.
Play Saturday night (nothing).
Play Sunday night.
You are playing Music for Dancing.
Play Sweet & Sour.
Play Water.
Play Running.
Play Sprinting.
Play Evening.
Play Yellow.
Play Rhythm.
Play Harmony.
Joy.
You have a Friend who needs to wake up. Wake them up!
Put your Friend to sleep.
You are celebrating The Awakening Of Spring.
You are providing music for a chase scene in a high-action Hollywood blockbuster. You have 4 minutes & 30 seconds following a count of 4.
You a percussion section playing Music For Fast Dancing.
Following a count of 5, play a chord you like very much for 1 minute and 13 seconds.
Following a count of 5, play a chord you don’t like very much for 1 minute & 23 seconds.
Following a count of 4, you are a drummer for 53 seconds.
Following a count of 4, one chord of your choice to be held for 9 seconds.
Play very high, move at the right speed to very low, responding as the moment requires.
Play very low, move to very high & back to very low, responding as the moment requires.
Begin playing very quietly & get louder.
Play faster than is comfortable.
Begin by playing very slowly & quietly, moving to playing very quickly & loudly.
Assumed to be included in the instruction:
Please.
When ready.
Respond as the moment requires.
The Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists
Circulations
Outer Circle circulating to the right in A flat Lydian major; Inner Circle respond as you see fit.
Outer Circle circulating to the right in E major, the Inner Circle to the left in G major.
Outer Circle moving to the right, any note of your choice, as fast as is possible while maintaining fluency; the Inner Circle, any note of your choice, moving as quickly as you may while maintaining fluency, in either direction.
Outer Circle, please, any note of your choice – high – moving to the right as fast as you may while maintaining fluency. Inner Circle please low note moving in either direction – low - as fast as you can while maintaining fluency; and then both Circles responding as you see fit.
Inner Circle: please begin circulating very high, moving at the right speed to very low, moving back to very high again. Outer Circle, begin very low, moving very high, and then back to very low – at the right speed. When ready, any note of your choice.
Outer Circle, circulate in F major; Inner Circle in A flat major.
Inner Circle, circulating any note of your choice, beginning very low & moving to very high. Outer Circle, beginning very high moving very low, returning very high. Begin at whatever tempo is right for you, moving to as-fast-as-is-possible while maintaining fluency.
Whizzing.
