Friday, August 10, 2007

Spending Time as Opposed to Practicing

Today, I had lots of time to myself. Me, my Self and the trombone. I am a very diligent practicer of basic routines and exercises. But, after an early warmup routine and rehearsal today, I went home and felt like, playing... playing what was in me. Unrushed, unscheduled, unroutined... playing simple, little melodies like: Bb, Ab, Gb, Db and Eb, slowly, at first, feeling and listening to what was inside the resonance. My feeling became the resonance of the sound. Then I thought if I had to do this in front of people, the environment and my state of mind wouldn't be what it is now. That's the problem, sometimes, in "performing." That's why I believe it helps to tune the audience so they become a supportive acoustic or supportive environment, so the connection can be made easier and deeper.

Spending time... building a close relationship with the process of playing. Not just focusing on results - "Is it good?" "Is it bad?" - just being with what is... you, the music, the moment, a moment in eternity.

1 comment:

Lise said...

Hello Norman.

It's so great you've made this blog!

What you say about 'spending time' feels to me like going to a special place. It inspires me to think of performing in public in a new way. Instead of "me and them" it's like "Hey", we could be going to this special place together. Food for thought and trying out!

Looking forward to making further inspiring discoveries here!