Wul, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

Went to MoMA today, and saw the de Kooning exhibit and soundscape exhibit that I'd wanted to see.  I love going to museums, but man, are they exhausting!  I think it's a combination of standing around for hours, plus the non-stop bombardment of stimulation.  I always get home feeling like I really need a nap.  And so then, when I got home, I took a nap, and had a dream where someone criticized the way I breathe.  Who wants to tell me what that means?

Anywho... naturally, I had eavesdropped on a conversation at the museum, while looking at one of the largest, and most famous of de Kooning's works, Excavation.  Two guys got on the topic of classical training, and how, isn't it interesting that de Kooning had all this formal training, and then he paints stuff "like this," ... and Wynton Marsalis went to Juilliard, blah blah, and ended up leaving to play jazz with Charlie Parker.  (Now, I don't know if that's true, but that's what the guy said.  I'm sure one of you jazz dudes can chime in here, and clarify.  I'll continue with what they said next.)  So then one of them says to the other that, "Well, don't you think that there's such a thing as having too much technique? I mean, you don't want to have none, but at some point there's too much, and you want to be more in the middle.  At some point there's so much technique that the music sounds hollow."

Excuse me, sir, but just because I have amazing technique does not mean that I am soulless.  That would be an absurd assumption.  Did you take logic class in college?  Because I did.  It fulfilled my math requirement.  I can still draw an immaculate Venn diagram, and my Venn diagram is stronger than yours.

I do not know how this post turned into a rant, but there it is up there.  A rant.  Shall I continue?

There are people who are musical, but have none or very little technique.  Sometimes it works just fine, but it will only take you so far.  This is a point that I have had to explain to students on several occasions.  Then, there are people who have awesome technique, but lack a sort of artistic flair.  One might even say that they "sound hollow."  Well, okay.  That's a real bummer.  Because in my opinion, it's easier to be musical, and learn the technique.  Not so easy to go the other way around.  Anyway, there's a third type of musician: has awesome technique AND amazing artistry.  They DO exist, and there are plenty of them.  I mean, the guy negated his own stupid comment by prefacing it with Wynton Marsalis.  Not to mention Sviatoslav Richter, or Martha Argerich, or so many of my other musical heroes.  And just because they can play a ridiculously fast octaves scale does not mean that they would be more of an artist than if they could not play that fast octaves scale.  That is just silly. 

This guy might as well have said, "Oh, yes, yes.  You should practice.  But don't practice too much, or else you'll get too good.  And then you won't make good art."

Okay, rant over.  I could go on even more, by clarifying on the opposite end of that spectrum, but I won't.  So, after I got past my underlying, seething rage over this guy's imbecilic comment, (I missed some of the intermediary remarks,) I listened to what the other guy said, and THIS I found very interesting, and, when I take it out of context so I can forget about Tweedledee, I actually like what he says, which was,

"I like to see what's at stake."

!!!

That comment was actually the ENTIRE point of why I was writing this story.  I don't know how the rant took over.  But I love that statement.  Now I just have to figure out how to translate it.

Okay, so about the improv: this is a little rip-off of my favorite Rachmaninoff prelude.  And there's a brief Brahms quotation in there, too.  I find it too meandering, but that has been sort of a theme, hasn't it.

Here we go, Day 47: https://ia600704.us.archive.org/15/items/Improv93011/9_30_117_55Pm.mp3

I could've put a picture of one of the fantastic de Koonings that I saw today, but I thought you might all rather see me drive my point home.  I made it extra big so you can see the stick figure scratching his head.  And that word on the last line is "circles."  Circles.

Still Life

Still. Life.  Still life.  Still? Life.  Still Life.  Still Life  Still, life.  Still? Life?  STILL LIFE  "still life"  Still... life.  Still -- life.  stilllife  Still! Life?  


Last night was Synesthesia.  Food, wine, poetry, dance, music, theater.  And that was before we got to LPR.  I almost couldn't sleep, my body hurt so much from dancing the night into oblivion.  (Yes, getting older, aren't we?)  Today might as well have been last night.  Multi-sensory.  And tomorrow?  Well, I just bought a two-year MoMA membership.  So that tomorrow, I can see the de Koonings and Carvalhosa's Sum of Days.  What a city.

Today was a scavenger hunt.  McIntyre graced me with his leadership through some uncharted NY territory, and we found plenty of visual bon-bons for our eyes to feast upon.  There is no shortage of stimulation in New York City.  I'm such a sucker for the little details that often go unnoticed, and it was my delight that McIntyre is every bit the sucker that I am. 

I guess I have no idea which improv to put on here today, because there is so much intellectual, physical, and emotional input floating around in my head.  So, I'm sorry for the three, but...

here we go, Day 46: https://ia700704.us.archive.org/10/items/Improv92911/9_29_119_28Pm.mp3
and Day 46 Part 2: https://ia600708.us.archive.org/16/items/Improv292911/9_29_119_38Pm.mp3
AND Day 46 Part 3: https://ia600707.us.archive.org/28/items/Improv392911/9_29_119_48Pm.mp3

The pictures today are from our LES excursion:

The amount of food...

...at that show/party was heavily outweighed by the amount of wine present. 

... it was fun, though. ;)

Here we go, Day 45: https://ia600708.us.archive.org/11/items/Improv92811/9_28_114_58Pm.mp3

Aphorism.

A pithy observation that contains a general truth.  There are pieces as such.

I had braised short ribs this evening.  I made them with my new slow cooker.  After enjoying said ribs, I named my slow cooker Terris, meaning tender and good in Latin.  I almost named it Glenda, meaning holy and good, but that would have been sacrilicious. 

Here we go, Day 44: https://ia700707.us.archive.org/3/items/Improv92711/9_27_119_23Pm.mp3

And another picture from my Dad's recent slide catalogue.  I wanted to put a hilarious photo of the family dog nursing a slew of puppies all at once.  The dog has a fantastic expression.  But it's hard to see it in the small size that comes up on the blog.  So instead, I'm going to put a cute one of my mom a long time ago, posing with a VW Beetle.

Focus.

Sometimes... I lose focus.  I wish I could command it whenever I want, but it's hard to command focus when you are daydreaming. 

Here we go, Day 43: https://ia600706.us.archive.org/9/items/Improv92611/9_26_119_21Pm.mp3

This is a picture that was scanned from an old slide.  My Dad got around to putting these onto disc not too long ago.  This one is from when he was a child, with my great grandfather, Pappy.  My, how things change, and how they stay the same.

Opus 27, No. 1

One of my favorite pieces ever is the Chopin Nocturne in c# minor, Opus 27, No. 1.  It is lovely.  Whenever I think to sit down and play it, I always become entranced by its sublime beauty.  In my humble opinion, it is the best Nocturne of them all.

Anyway, today, I unintentionally started my improv with something very reminiscent of this piece.  It was kind of a change of pace to improvise something on a classical piece that I already know.  Makes sense, though.  I was sent a few clips of improvisation on the Goldberg Variations just the other day.  So I feel like I am allowed to do this, too. :)

I had actually done a few of these today.  The first was probably the most interesting, had more harmonic changes, but had plenty of "mistakes".  The last was a lot tighter, and with more confident direction.  More with inner voices, as well.  It had a lot of beautiful sounds, but I think it was just a bit too plain, so I'll put the mistake-riddled one on here.

Here we go, Day 42: https://ia700704.us.archive.org/0/items/Improv92511/9_25_118_27Pm.mp3

And picture of the day:

Late fate.

Yes, it's late.  So, so late, that I feel like whatever I post today will be excusable.  (Past 4 am.)  I did, however, record it on Saturday, September 24, 2011.  Let the record show that I still have not missed a day of improv.

Here we go, Day 41: https://ia600707.us.archive.org/3/items/Improv92411/9_24_116_50Pm.mp3

Miscellaneous goods.

Received in the mail today:
Green sleeping bag.
Piano Adventures Lesson Book Level 2A.
Slow cooker.

The future looks bright. :)

Camping, satiated children, braised short ribs.

Here we go, Day 40: https://ia600708.us.archive.org/20/items/Improv92311/9_23_119_00Pm.mp3

Amelia Earhart.

Gavin, thinking that this might be an absurd assumption, said, "so you write about Amelia Earhart."  Being a Smarty McSmartypants, I, of course, had to title tonight's entry after her.

I could write about her, but I think most of you, or all of you, already know what I know about her.  She was a pretty slick lady.  Inspirational, even.  So today's picture, anyway, will be:

And a good Amelia Earhart quote, that I find quite pertinent to my improv project: "The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.  The fears are paper tigers.  You can do anything you decide to do.  You can act to change and control your life;  and the procedure, the process is its own reward."
 
I got my kombucha scoby today in the mail.  I just started my first batch.  I'm pretty pumped.  Yes, I drink bacteria.  But it's tasty, fermented, carbonated bacteria!  Yum, yum!

I'm starting to feel a little bit more comfortable with my improvisations.  In addition to my kombucha, I also got Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns today on Russ' recommendation, and practiced a little from the first page.  You might note that I used the first scale in today's improv.  It felt quite nice!

Here we go, Day 39: https://ia600708.us.archive.org/6/items/Improv92211/9_22_117_04Pm.mp3

Caprese.

Gots me TWO heirloom tomatoes from McIntyre, and his student's nearby farm.  Sooo excited.  You have no idea.

The mozzarella buffalo: BEWARE.

Here we go, Day 38: https://ia700702.us.archive.org/31/items/92111/9_21_117_25Pm.mp3

Physics.

Physics and music.

When you feel yourself say, "Ahhhhh! That was just right." it's because the performer did whatever it was according to the laws of physics.  Trust me.  I know.

Here we go, Day 37: https://ia600705.us.archive.org/31/items/Improv92011/9_20_119_49Pm.mp3

The Portuguese.

Nuno came over today, and showed me a bunch of stuff that he had once learned.  I thought it was really useful!  Another perspective, at least, to add to the bits and pieces that I've been putting together.

So we started very simply.  First was imitation, next was to play something completely opposite, and lastly we melded those ideas of imitation and opposites.  We did a few other things, too... like picking only two notes, and trying to improvise with only those pitches.  We also did a picture thing: drawing symbols on a page and using those drawings to interpret something on the instrument, and vice versa.

It was really fun to actually play with someone else.

And last night I went a little bit overboard purchasing improv books.  *Cough.* I figure it's cheaper than enrolling in a class.

Here we go, Day 36: https://ia600504.us.archive.org/6/items/Improv91911/9_19_119_21Pm.mp3

And, in case you need to satisfy your curiosity, the picture improv, just for fun: https://ia600704.us.archive.org/35/items/Improv291911/9_19_118_54Pm.mp3

And here is said picture.  By Nuno:

Lastly, I promise to have the piano tuned shortly.  It's getting out of hand.

Variations.

It was a day all to myself, and I spent a lot of time practicing.  I thought I would spend more time perusing improv, but I was hooked on that Opus 109 again.  Man!  What an incredible piece of music!! The third movement is an amazing variations.  And while I was practicing it, it hit me!!

DUH!  Improvise some variations, stupid!  It's just what I think I need to be doing right now.  Because I can start with a very simple theme, and then practice developing it in many different ways and styles, thusly reinforcing both the I IV V I progression, and motivic development.  At the same time!  And because I can base it on something very short and easy, I don't have to get my brain all tangled up in itself, trying to be more complex than it needs to be.  I also get little rests in between ideas.  I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner.

So, that's what I did with my improv today.  But it turned into more of a study, sounds kinda boring, and I don't want to subject any of you to that (or myself to the scrutiny).  If you're curious, think Mendelssohn's Variations Serieuses, which I spent a good year or so trying to get just right.  And even then, it was still not right.  Same idea.

So instead, I'm subjecting you to a different something that turned study.  Wasn't so comfortable in the beginning, because I didn't really know what I was going to do until later.  This ended up being less about motivic development and harmonic structure, and more about the layering of different ideas.

Is my music sounding pretty French to anyone else?

Here we go, Day 35: https://ia700707.us.archive.org/29/items/Improv91811/9_18_119_53Pm.mp3

And it's time for another ridiculous cat picture.

Massage.

That's where I'm going in ten minutes.

That's also why I frantically set some music down, and feel like I still haven't done a good job exploring chords.  I haven't even listened to the whole thing.  But that's the life of a serial socializer.  Bwah.  I swear, I am GOING to make some time to do some serious improv study soon.  Just not today.  Maybe tomorrow.

Here we go, Day 34: https://ia600702.us.archive.org/9/items/Improv91711/9_17_113_13Pm.mp3

Nautilus.

I'm not gonna write too much tonight.  It's friday, after all.  And I've got places to be, people to see.

Had a good conversation with McIntyre last night, who challenged me to go for... *bated breath* ...CHORDS.  Our one and only, basic chordal I IV V I structure.  Nature, he says.  Yes, it's absolutely true.  It scares me to try to do this, though, because of course, I want to create a masterpiece the first time.  But since I know this won't happen, I just tried to be very basic.  So instead of creating a masterpiece, I just tripped over my own two feet in public.  I can't say I was too happy with the result for today, since I wasn't able to give myself enough time for exploration, and I just sort of hated what happened.  I even stopped before it was really over.  I don't even have any idea about any relationship between beginning and end.  But it is what it is (embarrassing!), and so

Here we go, Day 33: https://ia600707.us.archive.org/1/items/Improv91611/9_16_119_20Pm.mp3

Roots.

Today's improv was pretty different than the kind of stuff I usually do.  It also seems kinda unfinished.  I started with some sort of rhythmic, geometric stuff, and it turned into a drunken gypsy waltz, which in turn became, I don't know what you call it, but some different, slower gypsy dance.  Sort of reminiscent of Bartok Romanian Dances.  I only wish I had remembered what it was that I had started with, so I could return to it again at the end, but it simply vanished from my memory.

Why gypsy music?  Not sure.  Maybe we can chalk it up to my 25%, pure, unadulterated, Hungarian roots.  Whatever that means.

Here we go, Day 32: https://ia600703.us.archive.org/13/items/Improv91511/9_15_119_17Pm.mp3

What's "better?"

So, other than laying it all down at once, how does one practice a particular element of improv?  Clearly there are ways to go about it, right?  Exercises, I suppose?

I come from a world where it's fairly easy to break down an idea and repeat it until it's ingrained.  But that's with pre-written music.  What do you do when the subject is so abstract?  Technique is one thing, but I feel like the difficult part of improv is in the snap decision making.

How do you train yourself to think in terms of motivic or rhythmic development?  How do you practice the conscious layering of sound?  I feel like I can do one or two layers, but beyond that, I get stuck.  And once I've played a motive once or twice, how do I change it?  I've tried doing inversions, and retrogrades, and things like that, but I really am lost when I try to take ideas beyond their simpler versions.

Is it better to lead an improv purely how the sound wants to move?  Or is it better to have an outline of what you want to happen?  What makes for a better overall piece of music?  Is it better to go in a direction that feels comfortable and natural, or is it better to take it into some unknown, scary, and difficult place?  Is it better to forget the word "better?"

I've had people tell me that one just needs to let go of everything, and allow whatever is in there to come out.  I can understand that point of view, but at the same time, will you really be able to realize your potential if you don't push yourself beyond what you've got?  And sure, maybe there are people out there that will enjoy what I play for what it is at the moment, but is that selling myself short, and simply being satisfied with something that I consider mediocre?  Ach!  Curses!  The disposition of a classical pianist coming through... that perfectionist attitude is really getting in my way!

I'm putting two on here today.  The first one is an attempt at doing something a little bit more rhythmic, which I haven't really been doing much of lately on here.  I'm not very satisfied with it, but there are a couple of nice moments.  You may hear some Prokofiev in there.  The second one is much more to my liking, but it is so much like so many of the other improvs I've been doing lately.  I suppose there's nothing wrong with that... maybe it's where I have some strength, but I do want to try to have a little variety.  It's more or less self-indulgence into the sonorities of the instrument, which I revel in.  Can't help it.  I love to hear the oscillations of the sound waves.

I had a nine-year old student over the other day for the first time.  He walks in, looks around for a moment and says, "You know, you're apartment is a bit small.  But for the size of the space that you have, you've really done a nice job with the place!"  Nine.

Here we go, Day 31: https://ia700705.us.archive.org/17/items/Improv91411/9_14_119_26Pm.mp3
and Day 31, Part 2: https://ia600708.us.archive.org/16/items/Improv291411/9_14_119_37Pm.mp3

Perspective.

It's all about perspective.  There's a lot I want to write about this, but seeing as how it's 3:08 am on a Wednesday morning, and I've still to do the dishes and get ready for bed, I surely can't fit it all in tonight (today).  Again, I have no excuse, except that I was, and will always be, a night owl.  That is, until I have kids, and then I will just rely on my poor, poor husband to help in the mornings when I become a bear.

But in short, I had a chat with McIntyre tonight, who is not really McIntyre, but was almost a McIntyre, and it was about stuff that I knew, but needed to hear out loud, and in words that held some weight from someone that's experienced it, and validated what I am trying to do, and where I am trying to go.

Vague?

Here we go, Day 30: https://ia700709.us.archive.org/1/items/Improv91311/9_13_117_12Pm.mp3

For the record, this still counts as Tuesday, September 13, 2011.  Because this recording was done on this day.  Just... do this for me.

Hear with eyes. See with ears.

I like the idea of starting with something that starts out just ho-hum, and then evolves into something I love.  I started today's improv without really having anything in mind except that I'd better get it down fast, because I had to leave.  While I was playing, I had thoughts of the northern lights, and so quickly the playing turned into cascades of pinks and purples flashing in entropic wavelengths across the sky, which somehow then evolved into a murky, green swamp where I could see flickers of a gold tail from some sort of fish in the water.  And I tried to show that.  I don't know if I did... but I like it!

Here we go, Day 29: https://ia600501.us.archive.org/8/items/Improv91211/9_12_116_37Pm.mp3

And for my sister's birthday today, a little tribute.  And a bundle of baby peeking out.

What it means to us.

It was a somber day in NY.  I wasn't here ten years ago, but I remember where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news about the World Trade Center.  I don't want to go on too long about this, but I think it's important to mention.  Because that feeling, that hung in the air today, was powerful and potent.  It wasn't energetic or pressing... but somehow trapped our breath.  A muslin atmosphere.

I practiced a lot today.  I pulled out a piece that is very close to my heart: one of Beethoven's last sonatas, the Opus 109.  All of the last sonatas have a special, contemplative quality to them, but this one in particular is, for me, so representative of acceptance, grace, dignity, life, love, beauty, humanity, perseverance.  Every time I hear it or play it, I go inside myself and connect with these raw emotions.

Today when I played Opus 109, it was new.  And I really, truly believe it is owed to these improvisations.  By nature, the piece already sounds very improvised, so in execution today, it really felt as though I could play it from my heart, have courage, and let go of any expectations.  It was as if it were all mine.  And it felt right, and good.

But today's improv is nothing like that piece.  Today's sounds a lot like many I've already posted.  I tried to fight it at first, but it wasn't right.  This is what wanted to come out.

Here we go, Day 28: https://ia700703.us.archive.org/10/items/Improv91111/9_11_117_50Pm.mp3

Yikes!

Another whirlwind! Now that my teaching schedule has started again, I think there are going to be a lot of these.

Here we go, Day 27: https://ia700707.us.archive.org/34/items/Improv91011/9_10_118_09Pm.mp3

achhh!

Tonight is a whirlwind.  Gotta go!!

Here we go, Day 26: https://ia700708.us.archive.org/17/items/Improv9911/9_9_118_28Pm.mp3

Passacaglia.

One of my favorite pieces is the Ravel Piano Trio.  It is utterly exquisite.  I once had a brief discussion about it with a former boss, who was also a pianist.  I said something about loving the Passacaglia (the third movement) the most, and he was surprised.  He said that everyone he talked to liked that movement the least.  That stunned me.

I have loved nearly every passacaglia I have ever heard.  Maybe even all of them.  I'm not sure what it is about them....  Give me Britten's Peter Grimes.  Give me "Dido's Lament" from Purcell's Dido and Aenaes (another all time favorite).  Give them all to me.  They're wonderful.

So today, without really expecting to improvise a passacaglia,

here we go, Day 25: https://ia600702.us.archive.org/14/items/Improv9811/9_8_114_44Pm.mp3

Existence.

Weird.  I was looking at those pictures from my last post, and thought to myself, "I was not alive when those were taken.  My family knows and experienced what life was like, and each other, before I was even born.  There was a time when I did not exist.  And now, here I am."

Is that not weird to anyone else?

??

I mean, not about me, but about you.

Today, you get to hear NY sound.  I never take too many pains to get a clear recording.  It would be utterly impossible with the equipment that I have (an iPhone).  Usually it isn't so very noticeable.  But tonight for some reason, maybe because of the nature of the improv, you can really hear all the NYC sounds.  I live close to Amsterdam, a pretty busy thoroughfare.  You'll hear the rain (man, has it been rainy), the traffic, the wind, people talking on the street (a woman exclaiming, "WHAT?"), my bobbly ceiling fan, and my little kitty cat, Scarlet.  She has an ear-piercing meow.  And she goes through phases where she meows incessantly for long periods of time.  For no reason.  That is what NYC sounds like from my apartment.

Here we go, Day 24: https://ia700703.us.archive.org/28/items/Improv9711/9_7_119_56Pm.mp3

Giacinto Scelsi

A few months back, I rediscovered a composer that I had once heard and loved on an all contemporary music concert.  It was Giacinto Scelsi.  (1905-1988)


Don't worry if you haven't heard of him.  When I mentioned him to many of my musician friends, they had no idea who he was.  But you may have heard some of his music if you saw Shutter Island.  It was on there with a bunch of other modern greats, including a few of my other favorites, Gyorgy Ligeti and John Cage.


The music puts me into a different world.  Meditative, transformative, transcendent.  He is best known for writing music based around only one pitch, altered in all manners through microtonal oscillations, harmonic allusions, and changes in timbre and dynamics, as paradigmatically exemplified in his revolutionary Quattro Pezzi su una nota sola ["Four Pieces on a single note"] (1959).  (I stole that last sentence verbatim from wikipedia.  I didn't use quotation marks.  I feel like a criminal.)  


During his "second period," Scelsi had begun composing through sheer improvisation, which was recorded and then transcribed.  Scelsi came to conceive of artistic creation as a means of communicating a higher, transcendent reality to the listener. From this point of view, the artist is considered a mere intermediary. It is for this reason that Scelsi never allowed his image to be shown in connection with his music; he preferred instead to identify himself by a line under a circle, a symbol of Eastern provenance.  (How about that.  I stole almost all of that, too!)


Have you ever felt saved by a piece of art?  Because I have... it was Scelsi's Krishna from Four Illustrations for piano solo.  And it's not that I think of Scelsi as god-like, or anything like that.  Just sometimes nothing makes sense, and then you trip on a piece of art, and suddenly everything makes sense again.  And I don't know why it makes sense... I can't verbalize, or even wrap my brain around what makes sense... it just feels like it makes sense.  This is the power of art, folks.  


So after I rediscovered Scelsi, I ordered some parts right away.  And tonight, I did a little sight-reading of Krishna.  And immediately plunged into this very Scelsi inspired improv.


Here we go, Day 23: https://ia600703.us.archive.org/32/items/Improv9611/9_6_118_17Pm.mp3


And my dad JUST sent these pictures to me with a slew of old photographs from the 70's when my mom and dad were visiting Thailand.  I wish they would come out a little bigger on the blog.  Oh well.

My brother, Aaron.

Hanging out the laundry.

Aaron making sure that kitty is still alive.

My sister, Joy, harassing kitty.

It's hard for me to tell who these people are, but I'm sure I'm related to them... and it's a cool picture.

Again, not sure who these girls are, but they are in my great aunt, Patra's, fabric store.

This is either my grandmother, or my great aunt holding Joy.  Mom, can you clarify?

I think this is my grandfather.  It's hard for me to tell, because I've only met him once, and he was much older when I met him than in this picture.  But it looks like him!

green.

Several weeks ago, I was up in Vermont teaching at a music workshop that my friend, Akiko, and I launched last summer.  In the last week or so before Lyra began (that's the name of the workshop), we took on a new student who happened to have autism.  His verbal communication skills were not very strong, but it was obvious that music is the way that this young man is able to communicate best with the rest of the world.

One of Jacob's traits is synesthesia.  I didn't know what this was before I spoke with Jacob's mom about it, but it is a pretty fascinating phenomenon, shared by some of the major classical composers (Messaien, Scriabin, et al).  Basically, whenever Jacob hears a pitch, he also sees a color.  So when I played a G on the piano and asked what color it was, he said green, in a very matter of fact way.  The guy could not be fooled.  Every tone registered the same specific color each time he heard them, and was consistently so.  I thought the color might change if I played a G with a different dynamic, but nope.  When I asked Jacob  what color that was with a very soft G, he looked at me like, "Uh, c'mon lady. I just told you, it's green."  Interestingly enough, a soft G is dark green, and a loud G is a bright green.

Anyway, I decided that today I would play something very green.  It sounds a little more purple to me, but that's okay... I'm not gifted with synesthesia.

Here we go, Day 22: https://ia600705.us.archive.org/2/items/Improv9511/9_5_116_41Pm.mp3

Here's a photo of Jacob working with Jesse (my inspiration for the improv project) at Lyra.  Cool pic, no?

Water buckets have so many uses.

Gonna make this quick tonight.

Enjoying the last bits of summer.

Here we go, Day 21: https://ia801005.us.archive.org/31/items/Improv9411/9_4_114_18Pm.mp3

And a picture for you.

Through the page.

I realized today as I played a bit of Chopin that even after such a short time of improvising, my classical playing has been changing.

I'm not the best of multi-taskers... in fact, I'm pretty bad at it.  It translates into my music.  Something I've always struggled with has been to hear consecutive lines polyphonically over a long period of time while I play.  Of course, I've gotten better at it over the years through a lot of musical training, but still, not my strong suit.  So as I've been improvising, I've been trying now and then to play multiple lines in canon, usually failing.  I don't think I posted any of those.  ;)  But it's given me a real appreciation for the layering of lines when I am able to play them, and thus when I play through classical stuff, my ears grab that stuff a lot more easily.

I'm also breathing differently.  A handful of years ago, when I started getting into flamenco, I began to understand how important it is to listen to improvised music.  Especially to interpret composers that use folk music as a basis for their pieces, like Bartok, Dvorak, or even Chopin.  It made me realize that I have to access the music from the standpoint of someone who is sitting down at an instrument, making sounds that they like, and then somehow having to translate that onto the page.  I think when we're students, we try to play what we see there in the notes, but that's as far as it goes.  There is a disconnect from the composer who initially had to translate the sound onto the page to begin with.  And to any of us who have had to write music onto a page, it is nearly impossible to imply everything that we intend through the pen.  The timing and breath of music cannot be expressed exactly in written music.  Musical notation is just a loose representation of the intention.  So what must happen to interpret music through a score is to reach through the page and to try to play what that composer sat down and played as it was born in the first place.  Anyway, I could go on with this part, but hopefully I've gotten my point across with just this.  What I was getting at is that when I realized all of this, I still had to struggle to achieve it, whereas now, it seems to flow quite a bit more naturally.  I don't know how it happened.  Magic!

One thing that I have been bummed about in my improvs is that I have a tendency to always stay in 4/4 time.  Probably a side-effect of living in the late 20th century, early 21st, when virtually all pop music is in common time.  So today I went for a 6/8.  Not sure if it worked, but anyway, you'll hear it.

Here we go, Day 20: https://ia800501.us.archive.org/4/items/Improv9311/9_3_114_04Pm.mp3
and Day 20, Part 2: https://ia700706.us.archive.org/10/items/Improv29311/9_3_113_56Pm.mp3

because pretty things are pretty.

The Busking Project

It's funny that once upon a time, I did scales and arpeggios and things like that to warm up for playing classical music.  Now I play classical music to warm up for improv.  :)

These past couple of weeks, one of my best friends, Nick B., has been in town during a big project of his.  He has been traveling around the world since March, and will continue through December, filming and interviewing buskers around the world, and posting about them online.  So far, he as been through Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Greece, Italy, Turkey, India, Thailand, Japan, and I'm sure many, many more that I've missed here.  Such a cool project!  I'm so proud and excited for him.  Check it out: http://thebuskingproject.com/

It's not likely that you'll see me busking anytime soon, but then again, I never thought I could be an improvisor, either!

Here we go, Day 19: https://ia700707.us.archive.org/1/items/Improv9211/9_2_114_26Pm.mp3

And I think it's probably time for another picture, right?  I've actually got two.  Aren't you excited?

Do you know what these are?  They arrived at my home yesterday... a belated birthday gift from my amazing friend, Erica.  Tuning hammer, and mutes.  Now I know what you're thinking... the piano still was not in tune for the improv.  Well... *cough*... that's all I've got to say about that.  I'll take 'em for a spin soon enough.  :)

and

This is Marc.  Add this to the "urban idiot sports" album.

Days are numbered.

Sorry for all the sirens in the background.  It's just a fact of NY living.

How is it already September?  I'm gonna miss these summer days.  Breakfast: two fried eggs with a salad of red leaf lettuce, figs, raspberries, and honeyed goat cheese, doused in balsamic vinaigrette.

Here we go, Day 18: https://ia600709.us.archive.org/20/items/Improv9111/9_1_114_48Pm.mp3