Faith and achievement

[Thumpalumpacus]

Well, whatever the process is, or whether it should be called "faith" or not, this thread has reminded me that I care a lot about getting in touch with that deeper part of myself.  I'm playing piano more, trying to get myself to lucid dream again, and in general taking an interest in my mind again-- instead of just going to work and looking foward to drinking a beer and watching Seinfeld reruns or whatever.

Honestly, when I'm hitting it right, making music is both a conversation with myself and a conversation with the audience, if I have one. And for me the best thing is the old Yoda thing -- there is no try, there is do or do not. I let go of effort as much as I can, precisely because I want the music to sound effortless, unburdened.

And yes, it does mean I fall on my face, publicly, with a mic to pick up every detail. It's a chance we take. I get inspired by guys like Jimi or the Allman Brothers, who'd improvise with their bands in front of thousands of fans, lay the occasional clunker, and just keep on groovin'.

There's a real deusie in the live cut of "Mountain Jam" from the ABB on Eat a Peach. Duane Allman starts his first solo at about 2:40 and very quickly, at about 3:05, hits a big clunker -- he's playing in Mixolydian and grabs a b9. He immediately turns the line into a bit of Phyrgian musing for about 14 seconds until he can wend his way back to Mixolydian:





I'm inspired not just by his aplomb on that night on that stage, not shitting the bed over it, but also the fact that the band chose to release it, warts and all -- and there are a few others, as you can imagine in a 34-minute song. Those are the parts where I'm onstage going "ohshitohshitohshitohshit" only to surprise myself by puling something out of my ass that I might have done six months ago and shouldn't work, but does. Or sometimes it doesn't, and you just crack a smile at the audience and keep on playing.

Me, I know that when I'm in the Zone, it's the best drug I've ever had, bar none. And it's pretty goddamned addictive. It's too rare. All the more reason to practice.