Good morning GW fam!
It's a holiday week for many of us in the mid-North-American continent.
For us, kids are home; we have a big family meal planned for tomorrow with friends, I'm going to make two apple pies. :)
And sleeping in, love it.
I've been using this thread to organize thoughts for myself.
So far, since Oct/Sept,
I re-committed to guitar by:
* getting back to morning schedule,
* walking (almost every day)
* using visualization and abstraction (simulating Jerry & Bob's state of mind during formation years of the Dead.)
Then yesterday I read Intro plus Ch. 1,5,8:
Prepare Your Practice Environment,
Learn the Essentials of Triad Harmony,
Building Better Habits,
respectively, from "Guitar Wisdom",
Then also read Ch. 7,
Listening Like a Musician.
In Ch 1 and 8, throughout the book, making a video is required to see how you grow. I will make at least one for review video this week.
As I actually enjoy my fundamentals practice more, I'm feeling making the video is now not so imposing as barreling down a triple diamond run on the snowboard. It's becoming like a falling leaf slide down the bunny slope with my family. I can do it, fun!
During this time, I've started to develop a fundamentals practice:
*pick up guitar with joy 3 plus times a day.
Practicing:
* 1212 chromatic scale (FT02)
* blues shuffle (blue monk challenge, r37)
* scales (I can hear major now, slowly slowly incorporating minor...)
* triads (triad challenge)
This is reinforcing performance practice goals.
Danville music released next jam schedule at Meenar, Danville, for December 3rd (next Wednesday night, in one week).
It's an "Acoustic Holiday" playlist is Silent Night, Jingle Bells, All I want for Christmas is You, Rudolph, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Silver Bells, Last Christmas, Feliz Navidad, and Frosty the Snowman.
Also, they said they will have a small amp for electric, and at each on it seems, you can go up and perform your own song too.
I will go to this one and probably just hold my guitar again. Maybe I can do rhythm for at least one. I like Adam's rule, "you want to make sure you leave with good feelings".
So no pressure, it should feel good.
So for performance practice list, I have:
* triad challenge
* blue monk challenge
* kyoto challenge
I think I have 5 or 6 weeks left now before the next mid-Jan jam. So I need to review the last jam set list and begin with rhythm. Thats a good starting point for me.
Also another thing happening starting mid-jan right now, is what i call "Rich's Ultimate Lesson". Richard W. Kendrick was my first real guitar teacher, and he saved my 19yo life by just listening and being a friend, and being a serious guitar instructor. He was starting his master's for classical performance. I wanted to play finger-style jazz so he said learn classical first and I agreed.
I've been talking to Monica (Rich's wife), she still owns Rich's business, and wants me to manage it. This would mean I would have 90-days of financial support (also all of Rich's materials, equipment, building..., managing lessons with students with other teachers and myself, beginning electric. This also means I fill-in or reschedule, when teachers, or students cancel.
It's not about money or me, it's just to keep the school going. "To keep the lights on".
The benefit of doing this for me is just carving out more time for focus on guitar fundamentals, and performance eventually.
I just want to jam.
I want to know what the golden surfer experiences. Everything I do needs to support that goal.
Engineering will always be there, I think.
I an studying Tomo's method, Guitar Wisdom, so think I will be supporting students using GW. I think I will be supporting grade-school to high school aged students and adult beginners so one thing on my list is to find out requirements into accredited music programs in the bay area and beyond to flesh out a program that can prepare them for future work.
I need to find local instructors that will jive with me to teach intermediate and advanced students eventually.
I spent some time working with grade-school kids at ucsb, it was fun, and tiring. Never taught guitar lessons but I found some youtube videos of some people saying they taught lessons for 3 years but were not clear about barré chords or intervals.... So I think I can give beginner lessons for kids...
Maybe I will interview students like Rich did and make space for those truly passionate and ready to work with me on behalf of the truth for positive generational change.
Probably too much. It's ok.
That's how I learn.
This is good stuff, Sunil. I think you'll want to remember Adam's rule when it comes to teaching and managing, too :)
That is the truth my friend! Haha.
Thank you!
It's going to be like a ninety day surf camp for me. Never learned how to surf... :)
Sunil, Richard Kendrick's good works continue to resonate in this world, perhaps this time thru you. Give this some serious thought, since this would be a big commitment. Almost a life milestone. I read an old Zen saying..."When the teacher is ready, the student will appear."
Thank you Linda, my friend!
Exactly. It's about Rich not me, and keeping the space alive for artists/not-artists/players to take root in the field Rich cleared with his life.
That includes me. I'm just the beginning electric guitar guy (hopefully I hire myself)
Yes! Heard that one before I think,...takes a lifetime to hear that one haha.
I really feel like I'm hiking between two long parallel mirrors...very humbling, and free, I feel good!
:)