So, I went to see “Clarice” the other day….yin, yang, all that other stuff….
“Clarice,” as you may remember, is our long-time family psychologist, the one who has helped us deal with our interesting children all of these years. Her name is not really Clarice, but I call her that, particularly now that I see her occasionally for my own sanity; I treat her as the naive FBI agent Clarice Starling, from the film The Silence of the Lambs, and I fall rather easily into the Hannibal Lecter role. It’s just a game that we play, but hey, you know how weird shrinks are. Seems to work, though. And I can flare my nostrils exactly like Anthony Hopkins.
I told her that I had just taken a guitar lesson the other night…she was wide-eyed….I used to give guitar lessons. I’m a pretty good guitar player. Why was I taking one? Because I needed to get out of a rut. This guy was a great player, but it was all about the interaction that made it work. We talked and danced around each other for about five minutes, and then he said “let’s just play a simple 12-bar blues and see what happens.” What happened was great fun. I was so happy when I left, and I told Clarice that Jim was much more cost-effective therapy.
Clarice was fascinated. “Why would playing the blues be exhilarating?” I told her “it’s just what guitar players do, it’s like dogs circling and sniffing. It’s the exact equivalent….how do I know what you know and who you know and where you’ve been?” The guitar lesson was one of the best things I ever did. We are going to work on some Knopfler stuff next week, playing and thinking about his musical ideas. It feels really good. He asked me why I wasn’t in a band; I said I’m still trying to get back in touch with my inner-teenager.
And then I was sparring yesterday…I fight twice a week, real in-the-ring stuff, not boxerobics. My teacher/partner is a brilliant athlete. We were working on evasive maneuvers, Muhammed Ali stuff. Dodging from the waist, fighting while moving backwards. He told me to slow down at one point, and just concentrate on a set of moves.
It was like a gong went off in my head. I said, you know, that’s exactly what Jim said yesterday while we were playing guitar. “Slow down, I know you can play fast, let me see you solo using only these five notes….make a melody, and keep it going within that constraint.” Very hard at first, but then, very mind-expanding once you get there. What works in the ring works on the neck of a guitar, as well. It’s not the same as just getting in the ring and fighting, nor is it the same as sitting down with another musician and jamming. It’s about getting serious and thinking about what you’re doing, instead of just coasting. Same dang thing.
Eh,…I must seem crazy. But I’m not. There is a method here, and you’re just getting to see some of the sausage being made. My method.
Adding this only because it keeps screaming to be here….[Because I'm thinking of all the jealous liberal women like Maureen Dowd, Geraldine Ferraro, Ellen Goodman, and Margaret Carlson who have been fulminating about Sarah Palin Week....so predictable]
Hindoo:
There’s a valuable life lesson embedded in there … I think. I’m trying hard to apply something of this to my writing … my thinking, without much success. I’ve been in a frantic, angry whirl lately on a number of levels, like a rabid hamster with bad hair, crazily spinning its wheel. … Need some exhilaration in my life right about now.
19 November 2009, 5:47 pmStickerShock:
Hindoo & Driver in the ring. I’ll take bets.
19 November 2009, 6:10 pmHindoo:
Oh, Hell, Sticker. It would be 1,000-to-1 against me–Driver would kick my arse from here to eternity and back again. … I’m a whiny old pacifist anyway.
19 November 2009, 6:38 pmStickerShock:
Yeah, I’m no whiny pacifist, but I’m sure Driver would kick my arse, too.
20 November 2009, 9:54 amCM16:
I’d hop into the ring with Driver, but when she came at me I’d throw her off by giving her a huge hug. That would teach her to never try and kick my arse again. Come and get me… just don’t do it in front of Howie.
As to the rest of this post… yep, you can achieve useful accomplishments when you discipline yourself enough to apply some very deliberate focus.
20 November 2009, 8:01 pmkentuckymom:
I stopped playing the piano when my daughter left for college. I don’t know why; for some reason I couldn’t bear to go in the “music room,” where her portrait, in a formal black gown with her flute, hangs next to the piano.
But I began again, a few days ago, working on the same old Christmas music I’ve had for years. Part of the tradition.
I was trained Classical. I always thought that the faster, more complicated, and impressive-sounding pieces were the only ones worth spending my time on. But the other day, something else clicked.
I found some simple pieces, beautiful melodies, best played slowly and with much expression. And wow, in many ways, so much more difficult to play than the most complex Chopin fingering.
Because I had to really listen. Slow down. Feel the music, instead of just playing it. Not relying on “muscle memory”, really getting into every single note, and appreciating it for what it was.
And I realized how beautiful these simple songs were.
I know what you mean.
21 November 2009, 10:37 amdriver:
I keep learning this lesson over and over, no matter where I turn. Go back to what you know, the roots, the basics, and the complex then reveals itself as if by magic. It’s such a metaphysical “Duh,” I don’t know why I have to keep relearning it, but I do.
22 November 2009, 2:24 pmMM:
Hi Driver! I was listening to some vintage DS/Knopfler yesterday, “Once Upon a Time in the West,” so naturally thought of you and your candy-apple-red strat. The guitar master classes sound sweet, esp. the bit about the melody. (Hannibal Lecter, Hey, not so much!) Hope all is well!
30 November 2009, 12:20 pmdriver:
Hey there, MM! Great to hear from you! Things are fine….don’t worry, I’m not really crazy, I just look crazy on the Internet.
“Sunday driver, never took a test…” Yeah, we’ll be working on “Once Upon a Time in the West” at my lesson tonight. A very satisfying piece for a strat-lover.
The things that Knopfler is doing are really, really cool if you sit down and think them through with a good teacher. It’s making me very happy, getting into a space I haven’t quite gotten to before.
30 November 2009, 1:01 pm