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:



















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:

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

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