Taking Time

It's funny how we are aware that some things are important when playing guitar, yet fail to implement them until they rise to the top of the priority pile...  this week the need to "take time" was that thing for me.  Of course I didn't realize it was going to be that thing, this week...  Coincidentally I was listening to Matt Palmer's  approach to Torroba's Andante,  and I just had to marvel at his masterful timing resulting in a gloriously unhurried approach.  Not that I thought it had relevance to my personal playing odyssey until I asked my GT why I was repeatedly failing to nail all dynamics I wanted in the De Visee Prelude (not to mention making stupid little mistakes).  I asked the question really hoping that it would be something I could change and instantly fix (could it be my left hand thumb yet again?) Nope - it was all about the timing.  My GT pointed out that I needed to take time: time to phrase it correctly, time to relax, time to avoid rushing to the next phrase (and under no circumstances to  -hateful word -'grab').  Each time I felt the need to rush to the next part I tensed up, making it infinitely more likely I would make a mistake and/or fail to execute the dynamics I could hear in my head.

So this week's practice is to actively work on relaxing into the phrasing...  So here's a question - I wonder if it is possible to meditate while playing the guitar???

Taking Stock

Endicott College: site of summer school

It's been a long time since my last post, and I have to admit that I haven't felt quite the enthusiasm for posting on my progress recently - mostly because there hasn't been much progress!  Guitar Summer School was a blast - enjoyed the camaraderie, the ensembles, the workshops, the get-togethers - and even the duet with my one-time-a-year duet partner went reasonably well.  However on arriving back home it was really hard to get back into regular practice -  particularly as I brought home our new labradoodle puppy (pictured below) the following day.  She looks like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth but I can assure you just about everything else goes in there and comes out demolished 😧

However now it's time to take stock and get re-oriented.  I am still working towards my goal of submitting a level 3 certificate by the October 1 deadline, so for the last week I've been starting my practice with running through the required technical exercises, with a view to recording them and getting them out of the way.  I thought I nearly had them until I tried to run the whole set all at once - about 20 mins - .... reminds me of when my husband took up the triathlon and blithely commented that he could swim/bike/run the required distances no problem so of course he could do a triathlon.

Sprint Triathlon—750 meter (0.465 mile) swim / 20 kilometer (12.5 mi) bike / 5 km (3.1 mi) run

Standard or Olympic Triathlon—1.5 kilometer (0.93 mile) swim / 40km (25 mi) bike / 10 km (6.2 mi) run

   That was when he found that doing them one after the other was a whole different ball game!   For guitar, keeping concentration on what you are supposed to be doing for that long is hard!  I'm still fighting with the artificial harmonics, but otherwise things are coming along, with the possible exception of the 6-string scales, which I absolutely cannot get up to the required tempo.  Back to slow practice increasing just one click a day...  And I pretty much have 4 of the 5 pieces where I want them when played singly ... the ante- will be upped this week when I try to play them one after the other for my GT.  I had a great lesson with Fred Hand  at summer school on Maria Luisa, and I really like the way it is sounding.   Stay tuned, I'll try to record it and add it to this post later.   Adelita still needs cleaning up and I have to work on the dreaded D# slur, but it's a lot closer than it was.
The only thing I am still really not getting my head around is the improvisation... gotta remember to ask GT how I should approach it - if I have to memorize static scale patterns and shift them on the fly as the chords change,  I might as well give up now 😐

What did I take away from summer school?

• I need to sit the guitar up straighter and look at my left hand less, so I've been working on that.   My left hand is not at all accurate when I don't watch it, but I'm hoping practice will help, so I've been playing the Prelude,  Sor D major and Carcassi 7 mostly without looking.  I think there are parts I'm still going to have to glance to make sure I'm in the right place, but I do find I can concentrate on the dynamics, tone, and what's coming up next much better when I'm not watching my left hand.  
• Not looking and better LH positional sense will of course help with sight reading - which is the the other elephantine task I need to work on.  I'm doing a mediocre job of sight reading exercises a couple grades lower than my repertoire pieces at the moment (sadly that's sight reading exercises a couple grades down, not solo pieces).  Still - last year I spent only a few months practicing sight reading , this year I plan to start off every day with sight reading for 15 mins!  We'll see how that goes...😏
• I felt a lot better about performing the duet this year, so the efforts I've been making to get performance practice have been helping.   I need to get back into it!   Haven't done anything since I got back, but I did play my certificate pieces for my daughter and her boyfriend this week - they were the ideal audience - busy checking out their phones and not really listening lol!!!

And I still have another guitar "camp" to look forward to in my hometown at the end of the month,  where I'll be joining several guitar orchestra colleagues (and a bunch of young adults) at a summer guitar intensive run by the Peabody preparatory.  I have no doubt it will be a different experience (for a start, I'll not be "vacationing" out of town).  I'm hoping to learn a lot from the world-class guitarists and accomplished teachers, including Ben Verdery, Julian Gray, James Kerestes, Zoe Johnstone Stewart, and Zane Forshee.