(August 16, 2016 at 3:06 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: I don't think that's faith as much as it is confidence in one's abilities, at least in my experience.
I'm a good guitarist, not great, but I've spent many many years honing the ability to improvise in a group setting. I'm not afraid to improvise onstage in front of an audience. I don't have faith that my mind will take me there; I've done my homework (learning multiple scales, training my ears, learning how to translate what I hear in my mind's ear to my fingers in useful time), and I've done it many, many times before.
I also know that I have good nights and bad nights, and that the possibility of failure exists every moment we're blowing (indeed, that's one reason why I love improvisational stuff -- you know you're dancing next to the edge, and you know it's very possible to fall off).
But I'm confident that I can pull it off most times, and that when the inevitable mistakes occur, that I can recover -- because I know things like key and groove, how to play outside and bring it back in, and other musical technicalities that would bore most reading this post.
If you're defining faith your way, great. But I don't agree with it, myself. I'm not crossing my fingers when I'm improvising. I'm using what I know to go places I haven't been.
You improvise too, most times you talk. Do you have faith that your mouth will speak the thoughts in your brain accurately? Or have you spent your life practicing the art of improvising language, and building your confidence?
I take my hat of to you sir. And anyone who can improvise. I played the pianie for 15 years and sax for 12 and could never improvise. I was a good technician (music awards left and right) but not creative.
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental.
