Other Worldly

Last night brought a fantastic evening: Solo and Ensemble Festival went smoothly throughout the day, then a decent drive to Greeley, Chinese with Jackie, and The Outside Track concert (see side link).  Phenomenal concert - - so much energy, great arrangements of songs and tunes, and a wonderful variety of fast and slow pieces.  A hello to Norah during the intermission and an invite for tunes at the firepit at Blayne's house afterwards.

Jackie seemed fascinated by the music.  I felt re-inspired (which was great timing, the end of my one week toward 63 days!).  During intermission and after the show, she and I were talking about the music and the sessions.  I described for her the Other Worldly Feeling that happens when you get into a really amazing session with people you really enjoy playing with, friends or strangers.  The meditative quality of the tunes, the almost spiritual journey (though I don't think I used those exact words).  As I was talking, and probably getting a dozy look on my face as I reminisced about the best sessions I can remember, Jackie was giving me this quizzical look.  I suppose it's not something one would probably understand unless they've encountered a similar experience.

When we all arrived at Blayne's and were waiting for the fire to burn down enough to be comfortably around it, Jackie, Blayne, and I were chatting on their deck.  Blayne and I were sharing "most amazing session experiences" and how difficult it is to come by them, especially in this area.  He was telling me of several sessions he recently went to back east, and described them as Other Worldly.  I looked at Jackie.  See, I'm not crazy.  Just obsessed.  It's a good place to be.

Rediscovering the True Belief

Day 6:  I have spent many hours now listening and playing with tunes I recorded about two years ago with friends in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.  The tunes recorded from fiddle players (mainly Nathan if memory serves me correctly) are easier to pick up without having to actually have my fiddle there....the flute-only tunes will come, but I think because there's no tone change to tell me what string the notes are on, my head doesn't translate them quite as well yet.  Especially flute tunes that have a low B or C that I don't expect.  Wednesday night on the way back from the Erie session, I found I could finger nearly all the tunes on the Twin City Tunes CD I'd burned. When I tried them out today, sure enough, nearly all of them were under my fingers.  Several even came out on their own while I was playing tempo movement games with my students!

Speaking of Erie, there was one distinct set I started which turned into a total surprise.  Began with a reel (can't remember which one) and had all intentions of going into The Piper on Horseback (as learned after I Wish I Never Saw You).  Instead, Cliffs of Moher (as a reel, doh) came through.  Zina glared at Pete (WHY ME?? IT WASN'T ME!) and I laughed as it was a totally unexpected (but smooth!) transition.
I had all intents of ending with Tommy People's reel in bm....as I jumped into the third tune, something that started on a b came out, but it was totally different.  A tune I didn't even realize I could start at all, forget in the middle of a set.

Leading sets makes me nervous.  I have a hard time, unless practiced specifically, transitioning smoothly to the next tune.  Even when I can do them on my own, when I get in front of other players or other people, they tend to get really messy.  To smoothly do a complete set that I hadn't practiced, and hadn't even intended (even if I DID intend some tunes that didn't make it out), was a great eye opener that tunes are progressing.  And playing every day makes me feel so good.  Whole again.

63 Days

I have recently embarked on a new tune learning and playing endeavor.  In my yoga practice, I have this fantastic little application on my phone called the Mediation Helper (which I believe I've mentioned before).  A little widget on my homepage shows me how many minutes of my meditation/yoga goal I've met for the day, along with my current streak for meeting my daily minutes and my record streak.  It has been a fantastic device to help encourage me to do a little yoga or mediation each day.

Sunday I decided to take this application idea into my playing.  I grabbed some of my favorite paper (the only I have that isn't plain or lined right now) and drew a calendar with a spot at the end of each week for notes.  In big letters across the top I wrote Tunes with a goal of 20-30 minutes each day.  I counted up the number of days I'd drawn (fairly randomly) in my calendar.  Nine weeks.  63 Days.  I numbered each square starting that day.  And promptly colored in the first square.  Solid Black.  One day reaching my playing goal (by far)! I had worked on some old favorites that I'd never quite been able to dredge out at a session on my own: Maids of Mt Kisco (or Cisco), Over the Moore to Maggie, Dezi Donnelly's Gan Ainm track (found it's called Paddy Ryan's Nightmare and...... Gan Ainm. Doh.). Along with some others. Must've spent a good several hours playing tunes. Then I promptly texted Pete to check on the session on Wednesday. Yep! Was happening. Sweet!

So, I have just completed Day 5 of my Tune Day Succession. 58 more days to go. And although I made a goal of 20-30 minutes, I find I start playing and I cannot stop. There's one more tune and one more tune and one more tune I find I want to try out before I call it good. I feel so in-the-moment when I am playing. Time is lost, and I am happy there. I think I should count it toward my yoga practice some days as well :)