Reflections on practice priorities

I had a useful (and painful) revelation today while practicing. Specifically, the overwhelming majority of my “guitar practice” has little or no rational relationship to my goals as an artist.

Let me take a few steps back. During my most recent music lesson, Jay asked me to spend some time considering the “big picture” structure of my life as an artist. Specifically, Jay suggested I do quite a bit of thinking about what my ideal life as an artist would look like, and the core principles (“whys”) underlying that ideal artistic life. What follows would be selecting various projects, rooted in those principles, as real-world manifestations of the ideal life. Once that point is reached, I can decide what individual daily actions I can take to move those projects forward.

As to the first step, I’ve been working on articulating my artistic “first principles.” Even more fundamental than artistry or music, what I want most is to live my life in a way that adds as little as possible to the negativity and suffering in the world, while projecting positive energy outward. I believe that, toward that end, music is the area of my abilities with the greatest potential for success. My ideal artistic life would emphasize music performance in group settings. I feel most at home contributing to a group effort. I value diversity of experience, and would like the ability to perform in varied musical contexts. I’m also excited by the opportunity to improvise, and I enjoy creating landscapes for others to improvise over. My idealized musical life would not be complete without teaching, because there is no better way to improve the world than help others develop and utilize their gifts. And, of course, not too far from the top of the priorities list is generating sufficient music income to meet the financial needs of my family.

With that as a starting point, the next step is outlining my music projects. I play in a rock band most weekends. I do an acoustic guitar duo with my friend John, playing weeknights and the occasional weekend the band isn’t booked. A few months ago, I reconnected with my friend Ben, and we’ve been playing coffee houses as a classical guitar duo. And, I teach lessons at a music store. The new kid on the block is jazz guitar, and in coming weeks I’ll be planning how that might unfold.

As I see it, these projects are a good fit with my artistic first principles. So, the next question is, am I consistently engaged in daily actions that advance these projects? Upon reflection, I’d say I’ve really been falling short of the mark. Although I’ve been spending a lot of time with a guitar in my hands, that time has mostly not been directed towards my projects. For the most part, I’ve been doing a lot of etude-heavy solo classical guitar practice. Most days, I’ve been doing little or no work on my ensemble projects. For someone seeking an artistic life emphasizing varied ensemble performance, that is not practice time particularly well-spent.

I have another lesson with Jay today, and I’m looking forward to the process of building a better practice regime from the ground up!

Let’s talk gear: tool box!

My music life is performance-intensive and varied. Different gigs have different demands. It should go without saying that without organization and forethought, there are myriad problems that can arise at a gig. Simple problems can be a major pain if you’re not prepared.

Five or six weeks ago, I had an eye-opening experience while playing a job. John and I were playing PizzaPapalis. While setting up, we realized that between the two of us, we had only ONE functional mic cable. Then, I managed to tear a fingernail (index finger, right hand) and I didn’t have clippers or a file with me. And this is an acoustic gig where I’m playing freestyle. So there we were, our first night at PizzaPapalis, really hoping to impress the manager and get more jobs, and I’m stuck with a hangnail and can’t sing backups because three of our four mic cables don’t work. Real professional, man!

So at the next Rayz practice, I mentioned to the guys that I wanted to get more organized and be prepared when problems arise at a gig. Gary offered me a toolbox he wanted to get rid of. I had been shoving stuff into an old backpack and my guitar cases, so the toolbox seemed like a promising alternative. Gary brought the toolbox to next week’s practice, and it was just what I needed! It’s a lot easier to keep track of things when they’re in one place, instead of spread out between various instruments and a backpack. I’ve been adding stuff every week, and now have two vocal mics, plenty of spare mic and instrument cables, mic clips,batteries, packs of strings, etc. And, needless to say, I’m fully prepared to deal with a damaged fingernail.

And, it’s always a good thing when you can solve multiple problems with a single gear upgrade. Playing acoustic gigs, I’m always sitting on bar stools or high chairs. So, I couldn’t really reach my effects pedal and tuner while playing, which is kind of a pain. I had been thinking about finding (or building) something to elevate my pedals. But, as it turns out, this toolbox is a good height, and works really well as a stand for my pedals. Definitely a good acquisition!

Let’s talk gear: music stands!

To move my various music projects forward, I’ve really started to spend time thinking about stage setup. In particular, stage gear can affect multiple aspects of the performance experience. Great example: for playing in classical guitar ensemble (or solo classical), a music stand is a must. When I started playing gigs with Ben and Carol, I alternated between a standard size Manhassett stand, and a small folding stand. Having done six or seven coffee house gigs with our ensemble, I noted several issues affecting my ability to perform. First, we’ve been working on pieces longer than three pages, often without a good opportunity for a page turn. Second, the lighting in smaller coffee shops and restaurants is often suboptimal for reading music. Third, Ben plays a much nicer guitar than I do. Since we’re going unamplified, I’ve had a rough time competing with Ben as far as projecting sound.

Recently, I picked up a new music stand that addresses each of these problems! The stand has “side-out” extenders to display more pages of music than my old stand. An orchestral-style lamp solves the lighting issue. And, this stand is half the height of my old Manhassett stand, so now I’m playing over the music, and projecting more sound outward. I’ve already heard some positive comments about the balance of sound since I made the switch.

No doubt, always keep an open mind about stage gear. In this case, changing music stands directly addressed multiple factors affecting my comfort level while performing, and the sound heard by the audience.