The Sixth Fret

Fret: An agitation of mind. 6th Fret: On guitar, the most dissonant leap from a neutral position. The Sixth Fret™: Blogging the dissonant agitations of NYC guitarist/composer Thomas Flippin. http://www.thomasflippin.com

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Playing a free live concert for @austinclassicalguitar Saturday night. It’s extraordinary how much goes on behind the scenes to make something like this happen. What an amazing time to try new things and take some chances, like playing theorbo with electronics and playing percussion with your daughter’s child instruments. Join me in my living room! Link in bio. https://www.instagram.com/p/CDUKeFqg5vC/?igshid=9il2oqktyv0g

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My new theorbo piece Endless Loop, Endless Days, written for the Yale School of Music’s Postcards from Confinement project, which documents various Yale artists’ responses to the quarantine. This self-isolation has had me suffering from severe insomnia and Zoom-fatigue, and at times has made me want to scream. I think the music gets all these feelings out and I hope you dig it. For the full video :link in bio. #yaleschoolofmusic #classicalguitar #guitar #theorbo #looppedal #improvisation #music #oud #riffwars #indomusikgram #insomnia #nightmusic #guitarvirtuoso #lute https://www.instagram.com/p/CAvw9u9Ax6Y/?igshid=1xb46sduyfy2i

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It has been such a special weekend. On Saturday, I returned to Yale for the 10th Yale Guitar Extravaganza after 12 years since graduating. Returning back now to perform as a professional artist with Duo Noire, alongside so many accomplished friends and colleagues (@jiji_guitar, @thegreatnecks, David Russell et al) was unforgettable. Deepest love to maestro @benverdery for bringing all of us guitar lovers together and for his fantastic new album “Scenes from Ellis Island”! Deep thanks also to composers @raylustig @marykouyoumdjian and @clariceassad for writing such killer music for our set. On Sunday, I joined my other musical mentors @aliciahallmoran and Jason Moran for an incredible evening of music making with some jaw-dropping (!!!) displays of musicality, community, sincerity, and virtuosity. It was such a profound joy to share in a musical Black History Month celebration with everyone on that stage (Chala Yancy, Curtis Stewart, Anthony Morris). Onwards! #classicalguitar #newmusic #classicalmusic #yaleguitarextravaganza #classicalguitarist #classicalguitarists (at Yale School of Music) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8rHM2_geLm/?igshid=2u1yh0npkuy4

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Still beaming from my chance to play the Concierto de Aranjuez with the phenomenal musicians of the @stamfordsymphony this past weekend. It was such an incredible and humbling journey to learn this masterpiece over the past few months, and to get to play it for such an incredible audience and administrative team. So much love was in the room! My prize to myself is a lifetime of experience, a new electric guitar I’m about to buy, and a well-deserved vacation. Peace and love y’all!!! #classicalguitar #classicalmusic #classical #music #concerto #stamfordsymphony #concertphotography #guitar #guitarist #rodrigo #aranjuez (at Stamford Symphony) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5DcwYLgZod/?igshid=e2set0my87o5

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Warming up for “The Black Clown” opening tonight for Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival. The show is sold out all week. It is one of the most profound collaborations I’ve ever been a part of (banjo/guitar) and we got three (!!!) standing ovations tonight. There’s no better feeling for a musician than when all the hours devoted to your craft connect with an audience in that moment when it really matters and notes become art. #theblackclown #mostlymozart #banjo #broadway #musician #grateful #art #music (at Lincoln Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0UuHrfgslC/?igshid=a5eul37o4xxp

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[Their] Relative performance tells us nothing of interest because all of them may be shamefully low — or impressively high — on whatever measure we’re using. Comparative success just gives the winner bragging rights (“We’re No. 1!”). And again, it creates the misleading impression of inevitable, permanent failure for some. But boy, do we love to rank. Worse, we create artificial scarcity by giving out awards — distinctions manufactured out of thin air specifically so that some cannot get them. Framing excellence in these competitive terms doesn’t lead to improvements in performance. Indeed, a consistent body of social science research shows that competition tends to hold us back from doing our best. It creates an adversarial mentality that makes productive collaboration less likely, encourages gaming of the system and leads all concerned to focus not on meaningful improvement but on trying to outdo (and perhaps undermine) everyone else.

Alfie Kohn, “Why Can’t Everyone Get A’s?”, New York Times 6/17/2019

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Saturday night 3/30/19 I make my Carnegie Hall main stage debut in Jason and Alicia Moran’s “Two Wings”. It’s pretty powerful to see your name on the display. I’ve been working so hard on my solo arrangement to represent the classical guitar well. Fingers crossed that I break ALL the legs and lift up an overlooked composer! #classicalguitar #carnegiehall #practice #music #nyc #concert https://www.instagram.com/flippinguitar/p/Bvl-QRggJL7/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ualy1uo8xj5f

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It’s been 1 month since Duo Noire released our album Night Triptych, featuring 6 incredible new classical guitar duets by brilliant women composers from around the world: Clarice Assad, Courtney Bryan, Golfam Khayam, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Gity Razaz, and Gabriella Smith. We are honored to have worked with them and to have received such amazing reviews, including this newest one from Stereophile. We hope the guitar world enjoys and embraces this music of our time. *** “There’s a goldmine of ideas here, whose riches will unveil themselves more and more over time.” -Stereophile *** “Flippin and Mallett [are] virtuosos who invest their performances with energy and conviction. To claim that the two break new ground in the world of classical guitar music on the hour-long release isn’t overselling it.” -Textura.org *** “All contemporary programs of guitar music are not common, and this may be the first to feature exclusively female composers...A truly pathbreaking recording that is greatly satisfying in its own right.” -AllMusic #newfocusrecordings #gabriellasmith #classicalmusic #classicalguitar #classicalguitarist #classicalguitarasia #strings #music #newmusic #composer #guitar #guitarduo #albumcover #albumart #acousticguitar #guitarstagram #womeninmusic #womencomposers #classicalmusician

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Duo Noire soundchecking our transcription of a Bach duetto at The Boiler Room in Pennsylvania last weekend. This piece never gets old! #bach #duetto #classicalmusic #counterpoint #classicalguitar #guitar #acoustic @brilliantmusicians @talented_musicians (at Hawley, Pennsylvania)

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The only thing that remains really true is the feeling that at the end of the day, I know that I really played good or I didn't. Or that I made some progress and I understand something that I didn't understand at the beginning of the day, or I don't. This to me, is the real currency of what it is to have a life of a musician. This accumulated wisdom and insight into the reality of music, and as much of a stretch as it might be sometimes, therefore into life and living...The main thing in my life, even as I stand here right now, right this second, is that I really need to go home and practice.

Pat Metheny, 1996 Berklee Commencement Speech

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Musicians are nothing without their luthiers! Big thanks to Patrick’s Guitar Repair in Brooklyn for helping me out today. Thanks Patrick! #luthier #supportyourlocalluthier #guitar #brooklyn #backbuzz (at Brooklyn, New York)

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It has been a wild 48 hours (!!!), but worth it to promote the Dream Unfinished Orchestra, Lincoln Center Education, and Tania Leon’s music on BronxNet TV. I need some sleep! #classicalmusic #classicalguitar #bronx (at Lehman College)

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That is positive elitism — embodying the pursuit of excellence rather than money or credentials — for which no one need apologize and to which anyone can aspire.

Susan Jacoby

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We make art, and it simultaneously makes us. Shouldn’t it follow, then, that we can change ourselves by changing the art we make?

Lindy West

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My knee gave out. My second ascent of Mt Whitney -the tallest mountain in the contiguous USA (14,505 ft)- and my frickin' knee gave out a quarter of the way in. I limped up the mountain with hiking poles and accepted a knee brace from some kind strangers who wanted me to make it to the summit. It was an emotional day and I'm still recovering physically but...WORTH IT. #grit #mtwhitney #sierras #hiking #mountains (at Mt. Whitney)

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TOMORROW is the night! On 5/24 @ 7:30pm Duo Noire is playing a full program of commissioned works by brilliant women composers for the NYC Classical Guitar Society. It's at the Diller Quaile School of Music. Be there! (at The Diller-Quaile School of Music, Inc.)