I've become very bad at posting on time... I also realized that as a human being who is doing many things updating this blog in a meaningful and timely fashion isn't exactly always possible. So I'm going to come out and say it: I won't get to it every day. However this does hopefully mean that when I post I can say more meaningful and less obligatory things.
So, with that out of the way, let's think about the last couple of days.
On Friday I practiced a decent amount, and I went to the first Classical Guitar Society of Calgary meeting that I've ever attended. We had food and wine and socialized as well as played for each other. I got to hear a different rendition of 'Un Dia de Noviembre' by Leo Brouwer which I'm also playing, and that was lovely. I also got to have some nice conversation.
Me and a friend of mine were talking on the way to the meeting as he was driving, and we were discussing the maintenance of repertoire and how many professionals will play the same piece for 20 years or more. I've definitely noticed that the pieces I've known for at least a year are my strongest and most compelling, both technically and in terms of expression and emotion. As a music student you are always being pushed to the next level and learning new pieces, which is wonderful, but it means that you rarely get the chance to sit on a piece for several years and really become intimately connected to it. Sometimes this process happens quickly, especially if the piece carries some emotional significance or is musically what you're really into, but often-times you have to learn new rep for juries or recitals so quickly that your pieces don't truly get to mature. Coming to grips with that I've realized that I need to both retain some of my favourite repertoire, and try as hard as I can to 'speed up' the process of becoming comfortable with my new repertoire, so that I feel at least somewhat settled with it by the time I need to perform it.
With all that in mind, I've started to play through all my rep for the year every day before I begin learning something new. I think last year I kind of worked on one or two pieces at a time each day, even if it was for a very long time, and sometimes I would go 4 or 5 days without playing a certain piece. Then when it came time for my recital I had to cobble them all together in a sequence. Since I got a strong head start this summer on memorization I think I can afford to spend the first 2 or so hours of my practice time running and tweaking my already memorized rep before spending the rest of the day on memorizing or working over more fresh material. This has proved helpful in that I'm already getting a really defined sense of how I perform each of my already memorized pieces, and playing them every day means that when I sit down to play it for others I have a very clear idea of the landscape and texture I'm trying to extract from the piece.
Yesterday I went to a clinic run by Tosin Abasi, one of the most prolific and virtuosic guitarists in the world of metal music. His music is fascinating because he is heavily inspired by the best of the progressive musical world in all genres, even citing classical guitarists (such as Sergio and Odair Assad) and gospel guitarists as major influences in his writing. That influence can be seen clearly by the absence of aggression for the sake of aggression in the music his band produces (an attitude that many generic and un-inspired metal bands could learn from), as well as a bigger emphasis on musical variety and the development of varied musical themes. He also plays an extended range guitar which helps him reach much further into his bass range, and he makes use of it through stronger and more effective percussive techniques, as well as a huge emphasis on counterpoint and separation of voices (again, techniques that the hordes of metal guitarists all playing the same riffs could learn from).
The clinic was very interesting. He talked about the techniques he uses, and I found that he focused much more heavily on the compositional benefits of these techniques than the practical assimilation or practice of them, although he touched on that as well. He demonstrated some new riffs and old ones, and played a number of his songs. His insanely metronomic shredding inspired me to be more committed to my rhythmic accuracy. The best part about his rhythmic consistency is that he plays nearly exclusively a-symmetrical rhythmic patterns at breakneck speed. What this means is that very interesting and stimulating syncopation and rhythmic grooves emerge even as your mind is struggling to make sense of the rhythm. The effect is further augmented by the counter-rhythms of the other instruments or in many cases even the other voices that he is playing with his other hand (for example if he is playing with multiple fingers on the right hand or if he is tapping with both hands).
I'm playing a number of pieces with an abundance of a-typical rhythms, primarily the Black Decameron by Leo Brouwer, and I've already been giving more thought to how my consistency affects the way these rhythms are experienced by the audience.
Now that I've written enough to assuage my guilt for missing multiple blog posts I plan to spend some more time with my metronome.. until next time internet-land!
^the stylish and talented Tosin Abasi
