Of all the topics that philosophers ring their hands over, this is the one that interests me the most. That is to say, I’m fascinated by the question of the existence of “free will”. Don’t worry, I’m not about to expound the arguments for or against its existence - I would not presume the philosophical pedigree - but I’d like to explain why I find it interesting.
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A recent thread on an internet forum got me thinking. The original poster criticised guitar players who concentrated too much on technique and not enough about putting their heart into it. Good point. Perhaps it’s a lack of confidence in playing accurately that causes some players to become a bit mechanical in their execution of their music. Perhaps some simply don’t have an “artist’s soul” (I don’t buy it either). I get nervous sometimes on stage and that sure inhibits getting in the groove! On the other hand, it’s seems to me that to play challenging pieces requires a certain amount of due care and attention to what your fingers are doing. Gifted players, or players who have the time or dedication to practice six hours every day, may have their stuff so well under their fingers that they don’t have to think about it and can put all their concentration into expression during performance. But for us mortals it’s a different story.

To let go while remaining in control. That reads like a paradox, all right. But I take it to mean being “in the zone”. It’ll be good for me to keep it in mind and by doing so perhaps I’ll achieve it more often.

        

… is at The Rolling Hills Folk Club in Melrose in the Scottish borders.

See ya there!

        

Whatcha reading right now?

I go through phases. I get pulled in opposite directions: I spend half my time feeling guilty because I’m not reading enough, and the other half of my time feeling guilty because my time would be better spent (for example) practicing guitar instead of wasting it reading. Tough old life.

When I’m in the neutral zone between these apposing guilt-feelings I normally have a few books on my bedside table of different types. Probably a science fiction novel, or something by JG Ballard; something on philosophy; maybe a popular science book on cosmology or quantum physics; a novel by someone I’ve heard about on the radio; perhaps a more academic book on some aspect of music…
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One of the effects of my listening to so much classical music – particularly symphonies – is that I appear to have developed an ear for forms such as rondo, sonata, minuets, etc. Out of curiosity, I’ve also read a little about the historical development of these forms. Even more curiously, I’ve been pondering how they might be exploited in my writing.

For example, I’ve been noodling around for a couple of years (yup, a couple of years) with an extended tune that includes a verse and a refrain. The interesting feature for me is that it moves pretty seamlessly from the minor tonality in the verse to the major in the refrain. Now, with a little bit of imagination – or flight of fancy - this combination could be construed or reinterpreted as a “sonata exposition”! A school form of the sonata may be written down as follows:
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I’m going to pop along to Stonehaven Folk Club tonight to see some friends and play a few songs. Stonehaven is my favourite club hereabouts. Nice folks and some good singers and players.

The only down side of sessions is that they are like song circles where everybody gets to play one song in turn. My problem with this is associated with my chops – I’ve always needed to warm them up before they feel good and they do what they’re supposed to do. It happens that in song circles that although my chops get nicely warmed up with one song, they get cooled right back down again by the time it’s my turn again to do something. So I never quite get into the swing of anything. I’ve always had this way with my chops and it doesn’t improve with age.

Oh, and there’s another downside: ‘coz I’m drivin’ - no drinkies. Just fizzy mineral water.

But that’s all a minor quibble. The most important thing is being there, having fun and sharing.
Then back home over the “Slug Road” to Banchory, a bottle of wine and some noodling into the wee small hours. Magical.

        

These are areas of self-promotion that send a shiver up my spine – and not in a pleasant way. But I guess I should get (back) down to it. Independent musicians mostly need any tool they can lay their hands on.

I have one experience of podcasting, though. I had signed up to an OMD (Online Musical Distributer) which, as part of their service, distributed (“syndicated” was the term they used) any podcast you would make. All I had to do was record my podcast in my ‘umble studio and upload to their server. They would take care of the rest. To be fair to them, they were as good as their word and I found I had a few subscribers around the world to my podcast.
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