Questions and Answers and Revelations

So, I decided to get back to this blog after around four years(!) because it's a good place to make note of things. Whether or not I can follow up remains to be seen.

So, Elden asked some very interesting questions which completely changed the way I look at my lessons and my relationship with music and musicianship.

Here are the questions and my answers:

1) Describe yourself as the ideal version of you as a musician. What are you like? What is your music like? Is it instrumental or singer-songwriter? what do you play? Piano guitar, both? What are your day to day activities as a musician? Do you perform? If so, describe your ideal balance of activities. 

 Ideal me plays better than current me does now.  

 But if I did have more advanced skills, I would want to use them to play mostly instrumental music, preferably my own compositions or improvised pieces, including arrangements of others’ music. I think my music, whatever the genre, would be impressionistic, in the vein of Debussy, perhaps, or some more contemporary version of that kind of music.  I would like it to be complex, perhaps bringing together different elements (rhythmical, harmonic, melodic, textural, timbral) or ideas that at first seem not to go together but, once joined, surprise with how well they enhance one another’s beauty and depth.

 I would want to play both piano and guitar, but my goal in learning to play any intrument is not so I can perform, primarily (at least not as an entertainer), but so I can hear the music that’s in my head, both written and imagined. Some of the music I hear in my head is jazz, which I haven’t really learned to play as yet. A third instrument that I would like to “play” is my voice. That’s the instrument I’m most experienced with and it’s possibly my main instrument, though it isn’t a chordal instrument, so it’s limited in that way. I guess of the three instruments, voice is the only one I’d enjoy performing with as a way of entertaining others, as long as I don’t have to accompany myself! 😊 (Only because I’m not very good at it, although if I’m ideal me then I would have no problem with that!)

 If I had enough time, ideally, I would like to spend my day creating and playing music. I’m not sure I know what musicians do day to day, but I suppose they practice, more pointedly for upcoming performances; less goal-driven for general maintenance. But I think they must also listen to music, mining it for ideas, perhaps. In that same way, I think listening to music should also be part of my daily activities, ideally, and analyzing it for how I can use it in my own practice (something I’m not doing enough of now). This is akin to what writers do in their day to day activities—write, edit, read, study writing. I guess I would apply those methods to creating music as well—play, listen, analyze, intensively practice with problem-solving in mind to work out difficult parts of the process.

 2) What are 5 existing musical pieces that would represent your ideal aesthetic?

Claude Debussy: “Clair de Lune”

Marcus Norris: “There Can Be No More Kings: A Hood Fantasy" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x80-X_QcFFg

Keith Jarrett:  “October 17, 1988”

Miles Davis:  “Flamenco Sketches”

Toru Takemitsu: “Rain Tree” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0jO-WN9U9U

3) If you could write only one musical composition (under 4 mins in length) that represents you, what would it sound like? What would it include? Be as detailed as possible

(Or just begin writing it LOL)

 Wow, this is an interesting, difficult question. How to describe a hypothetical musical composition? The first thought I had was the metaphor of a rain forest, mostly for the depth and breadth of sounds that can be heard there—birds, other animals, rain, insects—at different levels—top, middle, bottom of the trees—and across the area. I’d like my composition to have that kind of range and complexity—of elements and melodic lines and harmonies. It would be interesting in its layered combinations that are surprising and also beautiful. The only problem is I might not be able to play it myself on a single instrument, so I’d need other musicians to help bring it to life.

 4) What are you most interested in studying in music right now and in the future? What interests you the most and what would you like to learn more about?

Answering this set of questions was very enlightening for me. I see now that I really would like to learn more about

a.   writing for multiple instruments--instrumental pieces, primarily

b.    playing jazz on guitar

c.    continuing to study music for composition ideas

d.    continuing to employ good methods for improving technical skills