Musiphobia

Why I have “musiphobia:”  The casualties of a conservatory education

What is “musiphobia?”  Kenny Werner, in his amazing book Effortless Mastery, coined the term and its definition is fear of music.  While reading this book, his description of this condition seemed to resonate with my experience, but I couldn't say why specifically.  Shortly after finishing this book, I experienced a revelation that my unnamed experience was indeed a crippling musiphobia.  I haven’t composed much since graduating from Peabody exactly five years ago and have made every excuse:  I’m too busy, I’ve moved on to other areas of music, I just need some quiet time.  However, these surface excuses didn't delve into the deeper problem that I have just come to discover.

I used to compose during every free moment I had.  I wrote things that I had never heard before and have not heard since.  I had an intimate connection with my music and the time spent creating it was sacred to me.  I felt like I was truly myself.  I had begun to write when I was 12 or 13 (with one or two pieces written when I was younger) and did so without resistance until my first lesson at Peabody.

I will give an account of what I encountered while studying composition at Peabody.  Out of respect, I won’t name the people I criticize specifically.  I studied with my first teacher for two years.  Here are some of his most damaging criticisms and how they contributed to my musiphobia.  He said to “never change the number of voices in an instrument part.”  I felt that this made sense in a purely technical way but it happened to invalidate a lot of the unique solo guitar ideas that I had conceived.  He also implied that my harmony, which was mostly triadic, was boring and I needed to spice it up with 4, 5, 6, 7, and more note chords.  These harmonies certainly would have expanded my musical vocabulary but, once again, his criticism had invalidated a majority of music I had already written. It was as if he ignored the fact that both figures in popular music (a category in which I include some jazz and progressive rock) and modern composers have found ways to use triadic harmonies in striking and original ways.

With a vast majority of my pieces, I suffered through the frequent criticism that “this section of the piece doesn’t make sense, it’s making the piece too long.” Rather than hearing my music on its own terms, he was trying to force my music to conform to popular trends or his own musical preferences.  Finally, his instruction on idiomatic writing was completely unsound.  For instance, I wrote a piece for guitar and harp - the harpists that looked at the piece told me that the harp part was unplayable.  My teacher had let it pass.  I had learned nothing about writing appropriately for the instrument.  All in all, his advice confused, overwhelmed, and angered me.  At the time, I took his advice to heart, simply because I didn't know any better.  As a result of him imposing his arbitrary musical views on me, I began a transformation.  I started to hate almost everything I heard and, in my insecurity, I developed incredibly elitist views.

My next teacher spent a lot of time making sure my quarter notes were tied to eighth notes followed by eighth rests.  He had zero understanding of “popular” music and wanted no part of it.  He fell asleep during my lessons.  He gave me a "B" the semester I studied with him.  When I asked how I could have done better, he said "it is a fine grade, nothing to worry about."  How was I supposed to improve if I didn't even understand his standards for grading?  May he rest in peace.

Finally, the most destructive of all of my teachers claimed that he avoided repetition like it was the plague.  No sequencing was allowed.  Serial and through-composition were the only ways to compose.  Wrestling with his narrow-minded view may have led to my complete creative shutdown.

You may ask, why didn’t I ignore or disagree with my teachers at the time?  Well, being young and trusting, I thought that since I was paying so much money, everything that my teachers said to me was something I should take to heart.  I felt that I was lucky to be hearing it.  To disagree would be to either disrespect my family’s decision to have me study here or to disrespect what amounted to a god of music!  I wanted to do neither.  Of course, I know now that no one is infallible, but I only recently realized that maintaining these types of teachings as law is absolutely poisonous to the growth of an artist. No matter how harmless or purely technical one's advice may seem, if it is not tempered with a desire to understand the student it is, at best, unhelpful and, at worst, psychologically destructive. Truly superior to imposing ideas on a student is to respect each students' independent voice.

Flannery O’Connor said, “Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.” The quote is intended partially to be humorous, but I couldn’t disagree more with the sentiment.  Students are being creatively stifled and it’s a serious, serious problem.

Frank Zappa also makes note of this phenomenon in his keynote speech at the 1984 ASUC convention  (http://otg.brainiac.com/fzfull.htm). He attests that the conservatory mindset champions one set of completely arbitrary rules over another, the choice of which is based not upon objective aesthetic merit but the preferences of kings, dictators, and, now, corporations. In the conservatory, pop music is derided but in the world of popular music the same rules seem to apply. Thus arises two opposing, yet still arbitrary, musical establishments. The casualties from this war are the students and their artistic development. With this iron-clad set of rules, these students inherit the prejudices of the establishment and their latent talents become further buried. While I personally don't discredit every "classical" or "pop" work ever written simply based on its genre, I do agree with the sentiment that completely artificial constructs are passed down as greatness and is questioned all too rarely.

On David Rakowski's site he has posted a lighthearted view of his psychological hangups.  He calls them "buttstix," figurative "sticks in his butt" about what constitutes a "superior" musical idea.  After he identifies them, they lose their superiority and seem much more ludicrous. At this point, he can finally begin to deal with them and accept ideas that are not part of the system he inherited.

What is absolutely abhorrent to me is the mindset of “you’re doing it wrong” that permeates what I, and many others, dealt with in studying composition.  To quote Kenny Werner again,

"Nachmanovich makes a great statement: 'to educe means to draw out or evoke that which is latent: education then means drawing out the person's latent capabilities for understanding and living, not stuffing a passive person full of preconceived knowledge.'  Therein lies the reason why so many are overwhelmed... They're very likely to be stuffed with preconceived knowledge rather than having had their latent capabilities drawn out.

This is an important point.  It is common practice to give weekly assignments rather than support the student in understanding the material. I firmly believe that educators should rethink this approach. Burying the student in assignments will often sink him. Sometimes it is necessary to just discontinue lessons until the student regains his bearings. But since many were taught this way, as a result, they teach this way. Fear and anxiety are passed on from generation to generation. Also there are those who occupy positions of authority, but are incompetent and that too causes fear."

Hindsight is 20/20.  In retrospect, I should not have been seeking “improvement” of my music, but I should have been seeking the best ways to get my music on the page, and onto performers’ stands.  I should’ve known that finding my voice was priority one over learning senseless rules.  However, I feel that expecting young musicians to have this level of clarity is setting the bar impossibly high. Teachers are the ones that should be aware of this and must be if they are to help a musician find his or her true voice.  My conservatory experience made me feel that my voice had been squashed and thrown away and, as a result, it has been that much more difficult to find it again.

I have some ideas for solutions:
1.  Don't tell your students to stop what they are doing.  Try to understand what they’re doing.  Recommend that they listen to similar sounding composers.  Ask the student what they’re trying to achieve in specific spots.  Start being nicer.
2.  Make mandatory counseling meetings that focus on whether the students feel as if what they are learning is aiding them in finding their voice. Whether performer or composer, most of the people I know that are attending conservatories or have graduated have serious issues with practicing, writing, whatever.  It’s sad.  We should be artistic powerhouses as a result of a long, rigorous music education.
3.  Understandably, it seems that conservatories don’t hire professors based on their teaching expertise but rather, their credentials (degrees or notoriety in their field.)  The fact of the matter is a lot of those who are good at what they do are miserable teachers.  Hire only those who are expert teachers, as well as experts at what they teach.  It sounds too simple, I know.

Not all of my teachers had a negative impact on my musical development.  Shafer Mahoney, Libby Larsen, and Kevin Puts were outstanding.  I also love their music.  There were many others, not in the composition field, that made a very positive impact on me.  I won't forget that!

The Health Food Kick

For most of the summer, I've been on a health food kick. My mother was diagnosed with Celiac's Disease in early June, and since then, everything about food I was used to had suddenly changed. There was a real chance that I also have this disease.

It all sounded so simple - just stop eating gluten, and all of the symptoms disappear. But, I'm a compulsive researcher, so I had to read everything I could find on the disease. Someone with Celiac's disease is so sensitive to gluten, that a fraction of a teaspoon can harm their system. My mom was at a point where she could barely swallow any food. Gluten is found in many foods including breads, pastas, certain sauces, dressings, beer, soy sauce, and many other things. This condition remains undiagnosed in many people - between 1 in 133 and 1 in 84 have Celiac's, while many more may have a gluten allergy, intolerance, or sensitivity. If someone in your family has Celiac's, it puts you at a 1 in 22 chance in having it.

I have had many health issues over the years which have kept me from living a pain-free life. General fatigue, joint pain, and tendonitis have unintentionally kept me from seeking out projects, practicing, and just having fun in general. Much would be explained if I have Celiac's. I have gone through all the testing and am waiting for results. As of now, they haven't found anything, but I've taken matters into my own hands.

I stopped eating gluten to see how I'd feel, and I felt a huge increase in energy and my migraines have disappeared. I'm hoping that in a matter of months all of my aches and pains will clear up. I've gone another step further and have eliminated even more things from my diet including dairy, sugar, any non-organic fruits/vegetables/meats, nuts, beans, white rice, and many other things. I will slowly reintroduce things while noting their effects on me. It's been rough to say the least, but I need to know if I have any other food allergies. So far my digestion and general health has been much improved.

I am hoping that anyone who thinks they have a food-related condition (or just feels crappy for no good reason) will contact me to take advantage of the fact that I've done a ton of research on nutrition, the most common food allergies, and Celiac's disease. Did you know that 3 in 4 people are lactose intolerant? I'm trying to get word out there about this stuff, especially gluten intolerance. (I have a nice 20 page PDF on the subject that I can send to you.) Just know that there may be a way to find out if you have unexplained medical things.

attitude and practice

Steve Giordano has some great stuff on his youtube page. In a lesson which is a basic improvisation primer, Steve says outright that consciously trying to use licks and patterns that we've learned during practice in solos is musically unsatisfying. An entire solo in which you give everything away in "an avalanche of ideas" is not artful. Also, getting caught up in a competitive thing where you're trying to outplay someone or just dazzle with speed is unproductive. What really matters is playing a melody that comes from your innermost being. A first word of advice is to suggest a dialogue in your phrasing. Set up a "question and answer" or "call and response." This way, your solo has plenty of space to breathe and grow. Often we simply try to "make the changes" but miss out on the best parts of improvisation. The next point is while practicing improvisation to "pretend as if you had all of the time in the world to compose a wonderful solo." That way, the practicer is linking the idea of composition with improvisation. The improvisation will eventually become "spontaneous composition" which I believe is the "goal of improvisation."
Steve's lesson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h65R7Vth1Xo
Steve's youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/jzguru1

I've been practicing guitar every day for a while now. I've been keeping a very watchful eye on my technique. I've abandoned the idea of adding something odd and crippling but "cool looking" to make me stand out. I've embraced the absolute most economical ideas on technique, which I believe is how classical guitarists are taught. I've been practicing on a classical guitar of a medium size and keeping it on my left leg. I've been using the Principles of Correct Practice for Guitar, but not exclusively. I've individually examined almost every possible angle in which one can hold the guitar, my arms, hand, fingers, and everything can be used. I've been using the "heavy arm" as Jamey calls it, but squeezing with my thumb when necessary (legato and almost any pinky or barre work.) Both of my hands/wrists are absolutely in line with my arms whether I'm playing pickstyle, freestyle, blues bends, or jazz slides. If I can't achieve this, then I consider myself unable to play the passage. I've been moving my hand side-to-side while picking, instead of bending the wrist or rotating my arm - which I only do if I need an accent or power. I've also been warming up for at least 20 minutes. My warmup is where I "align" with the guitar. If I don't feel the physical aspects of playing happening correctly, I put the guitar down, stretch my legs or something, then pick it up again. Putting down the guitar is a very liberating thing. I used to force myself to hold it while I struggled to get to the end of something, my back in pain, my jaws clenched, and my fingers raw. Now, at the beginning of any frustration, I put it down, and remember that whatever is happening, it won't be the end of the world. As soon as I feel my elbows start to shoot with stinging pain, then I know I haven't done it right. The tendonitis is creeping back into my arm. I have a Thera-band flexbar which I must use before practicing, and sometimes in the middle of sessions. I realized that some posture remissions were issues of strength. The flexbar has strengthened my wrists, and sitting classical style with a footstool has strengthened my back.

Jamey Andreas' Guitar Principles: http://www.guitarprinciples.com
Thera-band Flexbar: http://www.thera-band.com/

I've also started to try to incorporate purely rhythmic ideas to my guitar practice. I am very consciously trying to bring whatever drumming insights I have to the guitar. The most significant so far is preparing the pick by placing it on the string before I play. This can be done in a rhythmic way: on the "ands" while you're playing quarter notes. As you speed up, it becomes impossible to prepare and you are simply playing the limit of your picking. I am no longer allowing myself to squeeze notes out with a tense elbow. I have to be light, loose, and playing with the "rebound" of the pick, if there is such a thing.

I think the most important thing I've achieved is all psychological-attitude related stuff. I MUST practice daily. I MUST warmup. I MUST NOT play with bad technique. I MUST STOP if I am frustrated or struggling. I just don't have any room any more for playing with a "limp" and I don't have time to regret not having practiced daily.

http://scraggo.blogspot.com

The Feng Sui of Composition - 3 Steps

Keeping track of everything that needs to be done with musical ideas is very difficult for me. I have thousands of ideas, ranging from little snippets to near complete works, but not enough skill to juggle all that needs to be done with them. I tend to abandon ideas for months or years at a time for one reason or another, then try to revisit the ideas without being able to find them. I feel a need to learn my system from scratch all over again - to go through everything step by step, as if from square one. I have to remember many things, which are often in lists scattered all over my house and computer.

To ease my pains, I'm attempting to hack apart my creative process. So far, it has offered me this insights - there seems to be three steps in order to get into the flow, or feng sui, of composition:

1. Idea Generation
The creative capacity is first discovered and developed on its own, as a free act. I call this free creativity (I also affectionately call this "free-ativity.") This type of creativity embodies the idea of one doing whatever one wants with no long-term goals in mind. It helps (in fact, it might be crucial) to be absolutely alone. Naturally, a stream of consciousness would need to be embraced for complete freedom (I play mostly guitar, but often improvise on the piano which can breakdown my pre-established patterns that I get into with the guitar.) If one needs, the boundless nature of absolute freedom can be tamed by imposing some limits/having some things in mind*: Experimentation with a theme (musical or otherwise) music theory idea (time signatures, a new chord, phrase structure, etc). Use of an unusual basis for a song, like a drum beat can get the creative juices flowing. Archive: write everything you can down (or record it) without judgement. Write down the date no matter what and time if necessary.

*One may need to plan when to have their idea-generation sessions and what limits they'd like to impose. See the next step for more.

2. Organization and Planning
Rarely does one have a finished product after the first step. It's very easy to forget an idea if you don't archive it somehow. Keeping loads of new ideas can become daunting and can get cluttered very fast. Organization of your archived material is crucial. One needs to make time to do this.
After becoming organized (sometimes, during organization), one can then plan which ideas are going to be visited again. One must listen to and study the previously generated ideas. Make lists of songs that you'd like to move to the next step. Inevitably, one must plan when to write lyrics, basslines, vocal harmonies, and all of those things that often forgotten until the bitter-end of a project. One also needs to plan which instruments need to be recorded in order to set up mics, move amps, warm up for days ahead of time, etc. I recommend setting up specific days/times in your calendar to get stuff done. This can of course be ignored if the moment takes you, but more and more I find that time needs to be allotted even for this. I find it difficult to plan more than 2-3 days in advance for creative work, but your style may be very different.

The first thing I have to tell myself is to not get frustrated by the infinitude of places that the next idea could be. If one has a long to-do list, and scattered ideas, it's very easy to get overwhelmed. Sometimes it helps me to write, as I am now, to organize my thoughts and think about my life in order to untangle the old brain.

3. Idea Refinement
Finish composition of songs (assuming that a work can ever be truly "finished"). Record them. This is not the time to choose what to do next, this is the time to focus - which has been allotted by the organizational step. There are many details of making a score look good, making sure the form and transitions flow properly, making sure one has a good take, etc. Your brand of perfectionism takes over here, and you decide what the song needs. Sometimes input from another person can be helpful here.

more to think about: Tim Hurson talks about Productive Thinking

http://scraggo.blogspot.com

Environmentally dangerous post

Face-washes have become very popular - especially ones with micro-bits to help exfoliate your skin. Many times these tiny tiny bits are made of plastic, and as they make their way down your plumbing, into streams, and into natural habitats, smaller and smaller organisms are eating these undigestible things and dying. Try to buy only organic, natural products and avoid any of these ingredients: polyethylene and polypropylene. Plastics plastics plastics - read The World Without Us by Alan Weisman to find out just how evil they are. I will probably review it at some point.

Environmentally safe post

I'm always on the lookout for new ways for businesses to adopt environmentally-friendly practices. Wild Harvest Organic products http://www.wildharvestorganic.com/ use 100% recycled paper and vegetable-based environmentally-friendly inks for their boxes. The ink part is especially awesome. Sure, paper is biodegradable, but If you think about it, most paper that is thrown away has ink on it, and that ink will run-off with the rainwater, into streams, back into rain and into drinking water. Normal ink is a pollutant, and I didn't realize that there was a biodegradable alternative. Their food is also very tasty and organic, they boast:

Growing bodies are susceptible to pollutants. We keep unpronounceable ingredients out of our food and away from your family.

Unpronounceable ingredients are usually preservatives and super refined sugars and corn syrups. I'm not trying to advertise for this company, I really would just like to see more businesses to adopt environmentally-friendly practices.

Book Review The Tao of Physics

The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra reviewed by David E. Cohen

Anyone interested in both quantum physics and eastern philosophy, like myself, should feel very at home reading this book. Equally lucid in sharing the ins-and-outs of particle physics and basic tenets of Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and Chinese religions, Capra can appeal to theologians and physicists alike. Chapter one begins with the question, "is physics a path with a heart?" or in other words, is the pursuit of the knowledge that physics has to offer worthy? He offers some ideas into how we've split mind and body, beginning with the ancient greek "atomist" philosophers who were the first to finally declare that there is a separation between "alive" and "dead" matter. He believes this lead to a rift between man and god. He said that this led to an attainment of important rational knowledge, but the more "organic" views of the east are ultimately better suited for understanding the strange dynamics of particle interactions. While some of the western philosophy in the book is considerably lacking in depth, I found his insights to be useful.

In chapter 3, he begins to elucidate how light can not be viewed as one thing; it is a particle and a wave simultaneously. In this way, it defies language, and is similar to the paradoxes contemplated in Zen koans. Later, Capra reveals some of the perplexities brought upon by E=mc2 - the famous special relativity equation - and how it relates to speed of electrons whizzing and so forth.

Next, he treats Buddhism, Zen, Taoism, Hinduism, and Chinese religions in separate chapters, showing how alike, different, and rich these ideologies are. The book is worth a read just for the comparative religious study alone.

The rest of the book is devoted to drawing parallels between physics and the aforementioned religions. The parallels which stuck out to me most were drawn in chapter 14, "Emptiness and Form." Particles can be created and destroyed suddenly, as if from nothingness. This is akin to the void found in Buddhist thought. It's as if we are only perceiving a "macro" reality of concentrated energies. Capra believes that everything conceivable is happening and the void is where everything truly is interconnected. Ultimately, he argues for the "bootstrap" approach of Geoffrey Chew, which seems enticing, but I'm not sure how it holds up today. Finally, Capra calls for a cultural revolution where we adopt a practice of non-violence and becoming one with nature, rather than dominating it.

For me, this book was quite an eye-opener. It's a relief that there are others who believe that there is religious truth in the pursuits of the sciences. I am a fan of books that are a survey of one or two topics, and this one fits that genre perfectly. I had about 20 "aha" moments and ultimately agree with the authors claims. As for the negatives, there seems to be plenty of controversy surrounding this book. In retrospect, after reading a survey of western philosophy, I agree with some of the criticisms of how the ideas are presented in the greater context of the logic in his book. Sometimes, I believe the author doesn't draw enough parallels, but I can see the difficulty in doing this. The core controversy seems to be reducing science or mysticism, but I don't think the author at any point does this. He maintains that physicists don't need mysticism, nor do mystics need physics; but the common man needs both to better understand the world we live in. I believe the book is positive and tries to bridge gaps that many have not dared to attempt.

http://scraggo.blogspot.com

New Guitar and Amp

I'm excited! I've been jones-ing for this stuff for a long time now...I may even go so far to say that it's my dream setup. A 1973 Gibson SG Standard...it's a dark walnut brown finish, tobacco maybe, it has block inlays, nothing else really special. It's beat up and heavily modified, but it plays great. It needs to be fixed up a little, then I'm going to do some of my own modding, but she plays real nice right now even before a setup. Got it off of eBay for cheap, but I spent months staring, watching, waiting, and my sights kept coming back to this guitar. It came and went, was listed and relisted 2 or 3 times with no one buying the thing. I watched other guitars come and go, I was seriously considering buying a 1961 re-issue, but I got bit by the vintage bug. I emailed the guy and we squared the deal through paypal and skipped the ebay thing. It came in its original case, which is super beat up and moldy smelling, so I'm going to do a bleach job and air it out for a while. For some reason, these things have value, I may sell it and get a new case.

The SG model fits my body unlike any other guitar does. The lower bout is cut lower than most guitars and that seems to fit my leg really well. The neck profile is thin, but not paper-thin, and has a slim-taper: the neck profile on the lower frets is thinner than the med and higher frets. The nut is cut super narrow, about 1.6 inches, so the strings are really close together. I wanted a guitar that is barely there and really easy to play. The SG seems to be a really popular guitar, I'm sure many people wanted that same exact thing.

Finally, I got a great deal on a Peavey Delta Blues amp, all tube, 1X15, 2 channels, reverb, tremelo, very cool amp. Sounds great with my Samick Royale RL-3 Greg Bennett guitar as well.

http://scraggo.blogspot.com

How To Organize A Million Files

Most of my November and December 2009 have consisted of organizing files on my computer. Two months straight of clicking, dragging, and renaming files. (See my previous blog on tendonitis.) Why did I need so much time? I don't think I have anything short of a million files. I tend to keep everything, and I generate new ideas almost every day. These ideas may be sound files - me strumming chords into a computer, notation/midi, garageband, etc. They may be text files - lyrics, to do lists, research, teaching documents. I've got tons of pictures and images. My goal was to be able to find anything instantly. I'm sort of close to getting there, a lot closer than before. Here's a run-through of how I'm staying organized now.

First of all, I have a mac, and it's much more conducive to staying organized than a PC. (Those things turn into cluttered messes very easily.) I no longer keep anything on my desktop except for three aliases: my "documents" folder, my "DEC" folder, and my "to organize" folder. (I also put these 3 folders onto my dock for instant access.) I don't keep anything but the "DEC" folder in the documents folder, because various programs tend to clutter it up with nonsense.



The "DEC" folder is my main folder, and no loose documents are allowed in it. Here my main prefix system comes into play. Each folder is naturally organized alphabetically, and I have some folders which I always want at the top, so they get a - or a 0 beforehand, sometimes a -0. These 0 docs at the top are aliases for my most used folders and documents, about 5 things. The next prefix is DEC, which are my initials, and any folder with that prefix contains original thought or things that pertain to organizing my life. The next prefix is "To" for action folders: ToBurn, ToBackup, ToDo, Etc. ToOrganize is my most important folder, and I actually have an alias in the same folder that puts a "Z" prefix so that this folder is always at the bottom. ToOrganize is my main inbox/outbox for hot files that I'm working with. Within the folder are temporary storage places, a folder called "ToMove" and other such things.



This biggest challenge I have faced for many years is how to keep my compositions organized. I have decided that keeping stuff organized by year (starting in 1997) and in my unfinished compositions folder, each year gets its own folder. I have a bunch of various sound-creation programs, Logic, Garageband, Sibelius, Audacity, ProTools, etc, all of which are used for different sorts of idea generation. Each main program that I use gets a folder with a "1" prefix. So within each year folder, you'll see folders that look like this: 1-Garageband, 1-Logic, 1-Audacity, etc. Many files are in these folders and don't go much further. Once I begin to combine files, they leave their respective program folders and move into a "multiple file" folder, and this usually indicates that I'm taking this song more seriously. There are other folders within the year, like collaboration projects and practice sessions I've recorded.



Finally, I need to mention Spotlight, Quicksilver, Voodoopad, and Butler. Spotlight comes with the mac and is the instant way to search your mac by hitting Cmd+Space. I've downloaded two other free programs with immensely increase productivity, file navigation, and launch applications. Butler occupies Ctrl+Space and Quicksilver occupies Alt+Space, giving me 3 different tools at my instant command. Finally, Voodoopad allows you to create documents that easily link to themselves in a wikipedia-style way. I really really really recommend these programs for anyone who needs to navigate quickly and efficiently through their computers.

So, in conclusion, clean up your desktop. Stay organized with folders and date them. Find out how you work and make an individual work flow. Clutter is inevitable - try to keep it in one place and organize it frequently. Always remember to backup your computer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(click on a number to check out a link!!!!!!)
Desktop Organization Links: 1
2
3
Butler: 4
Voodoopad: 5
6
Quicksilver: 7
8
9
10
11
12

http://scraggo.blogspot.com/

Recipe For Tendonitis

Don't stretch or warm up
Winter (causes my joints to swell)
Have arthritis and other joint conditions run in your family
Play multiple instruments and bang on them LOUDLY
11 or more years of not so great technique on said instruments
Hundreds of pieces which are beyond your playing ability
2 or more hours of uncareful computer mouse and keyboard use per day

This all being said, I've finally discovered the causes of my playing discomfort. The computer use was a big one, even while taking long breaks without playing instruments, I found that my tendons were still in incredible pain, and I finally linked it to using a computer without taking breaks. Never again will I willingly type as fast as I used to...I just bought an ergonomic keyboard to help with this (The Microsoft Comfort Curve, I believe).

I need to investigate voice-to-text software, so that I don't even have to type. I have found that the bout on my guitar is quite uncomfortable for my arm, and I am obsessed with finding the lowest price I can find on a used Gibson SG 1961 Reissue, which fits my body like a glove.


I've also decided that winter isn't the best time to do intense musical projects...and I've dedicated it to theoretical ventures. This all being said, I've found some important discoveries about the chord shapes of the guitar, which I will share with the world as soon as I have formalized the concepts completely. Also, I will soon share some hand exercises that I've collected and discovered that have strengthened my arms/hands/fingers in the past few months.

http://scraggo.blogspot.com

stress is the animal within

What is meditation?
I used to think it was letting your mind wander to far-off lands and becoming one with mountains and other such silliness. Now, not only do I think it's not silliness, but I've greatly expanded my definition of meditation.

1. Think about the Japanese - they live all huddled together on that tiny island - so they very badly need something to withdraw from the worlds pressures. Thus, Zen is born.
2. Zen is the art of clearing your mind and controlling your breath. This is the first step towards dealing with stress, and ultimately, reaching enlightenment.
3. At first look, stress comes from social pressures. Up to a point, stress helps us learn and perform better. After this point, stress becomes damaging. This is the famous "Yerkes-Dodson Law." see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerkes-Dodson_law
4. According to Zen, all suffering comes from ignorance. Stress can be advantageous, but if you can not control it, you are damaging yourself, and are then suffering. My biggest realization is that thoughts cause stress. If you are thinking - your mind is sending signals to your body to prepare to move around - these signals are chemicals which are known as stress. To calm the mind is everything! So we must meditate.
5. Stress is the animal inside you - to be unleashed only at your will. If you let social situations and circumstances get to you - you are not leading a controlled, Zen lifestyle. Your inner animal is controlling you, and it is damaging you. Reclaim your mind by putting the animal back in the cage. You should reach a point where the animal only comes out when necessary; you are no longer preconditioned to becoming stressed-out.

More reading - Highly recommended: The Breakout Principle


http://scraggo.blogspot.com/

Improving timing in life and the life calendar

Lately, my mantra has been to improve my timing in life - hopefully that will make my music playing more precise, rhythmic, and feel better. Anything that has to do with timing, scheduling, driving, speaking, eating...I'm trying to improve.

So, regarding scheduling, I've come up with this thing called The Life Calendar. I realized that the month-view of a normal calendar makes a lot of sense to me...so I made a year-view, where a season is a week (4 seasons in a year), and a month is a day (12 months in a year...so each season gets 3 months). This made me think, well, can we do this with a decade? Yes...there are 10 years in a decade - so I decided to make the half-decade a week...5 years in a half-decade...and 2 half decades in a decade. So, naturally, from there, I decided to make a life calendar of 100 years. I suppose I don't have to stop there...but that seems good for now.

http://scraggo.blogspot.com/

It's always both - the yin-yang interaction (YYI)

There seems to be a roadblock to understanding certain concepts. For example, if there is freewill, then how can there be determinism? Many philosophers take the stance of compatibilism, which says that both concept live together in sweet, beautiful harmony, we just have to let go of the idea of one being "right" and the other "wrong." (See Daniel Dennet's book Freedom Evolves.) This is the idea of a "false dichotomy" where two things seem to be opposites, but really are two sides of a coin that are complimentary, rather than conflicting. (Immanuel Kant's writings on the "antinomies" is exemplified here.) These complimentary things form a paradox - two conceptually opposite terms that seem intrinsically related to each other. I call one side of the paradox "Yin" and the other side "Yang." I refer to Yin as the negative pole and Yang as the positive pole.

From Wikipedia: "Yin–yang, thus, always has the following characteristic: yin and yang describe opposing qualities in phenomena. For instance, winter is yin to summer's yang over the course of a year...It is impossible to talk about yin or yang without some reference to the opposite: yin–yang are rooted together. Since yin and yang are created together in a single movement, they are bound together as parts of a mutual whole. A race with only men or only women would disappear in a single generation; but men and women together create new generations that allow the race they mutually create (and mutually come from) to survive. The interaction of the two gives birth to things."

The basic paradigm of a paradox is Unity versus Duality. The interaction of Yin-Yang is the Unity and Yin-Yang treated separately is Duality.

I assert that there is a limit to understanding/describing how both sides of a paradox work together, but we can experience their interaction. This forms a basic Yin-Yang Interaction (call it YYI). I have a huge list of YYI's that seems to grow everyday. Here's a top 10 list:

1. Love: Attraction (Romantic, Friendship, etc), Repulsion (Independence, Ego, etc)
2. Good, Evil
3. Infinitely large, Infinitely small
4. Freewill, Determinism
5. Feeling (experience, art, hedonism), Understanding (rational thinking, criticism, making distinctions)
6. Jung's Psychology: Introversion, Extraversion (etc). Subconscious, Conscious. Type A, Type B. Nature, Nurture
7. Mundane, Divine
8. Night, Day
9. Teleology, Goal-less-ness
10. Mysticism: Collective Consciousness, Personal Consciousness.

Within art is a load of YYI paradoxes...here's a short list:
Practice, Performance
Talent, Education
Form, Content

http://scraggo.blogspot.com/

Joe Diorio and John McLaughlin

Cruising the net one day...
I came across an article by Joe Diorio entitled "Keep Yourself Inspired."
http://www.visionmusic.com/diorio/rightbrain.html
From the great jazz guitarist himself comes advice on how to stay musically and creatively inspired every day of the week. (here is a brief version)
Monday: Gesture improvising, all day. Shut off the thinking process and let your fingers and your feeling or intuition take over.
Tuesday: Melodic playing. Simple intervals. Think melodically.
Wednesday: New chords. Experiment.
Thursday: New melodies and new chords. This day we take some of the melodies created on Tuesday and add some of the new-found chords from Wednesday and put them together.
Friday: Listen to music all day long, new and old CD's.
Saturday: Research. This is the day to investigate further and go deeper into the subjects that interested you the most.
Sunday: Repose, silence, and meditation. Be still this day and listen for the inner voice to guide you.

For now, I might add a day on rhythm. John McLaughlin has opened my eyes to indian rhythms. Here's a link to his stuff.
http://www.mediastarz.com/shopKonokolDvd.php - free PDFs on the left.
http://www.mediastarz.com/shopThisIsTheWayIDoIt.php - free PDFs here too.

http://scraggo.blogspot.com/

The Inspiration Box

If you are like me, you keep everything. You have been called a "pack rat." The specials on the discovery channel about "compulsive hoarders" makes you slightly uncomfortable because of how close to home it hits. I've recently come to understand why I keep so many seemingly useless things - for inspiration.

Inspiration from nostalgia
Memories seem to give me inspiration. For instance, take a receipt for a bag of chips from a gas station on the way to the destination of a road trip. Mitch Hedberg would wonder "why do you need to bring ink and paper into this?" Here's why. I was in a "state of mind" that is not achievable any other way, besides being in the middle of a road trip. By looking at this receipt, I might feel more relaxed, more in anticipation of good things to come in life, just like I felt on the trip. Usually, though, I get this weird feeling that I don't know what to do with, then I shove the receipt back from whence it came. Upon realizing my 99% useless tendency, I found a solution to the problem. If I have a little something that I'm reluctant to throw away, I write down what I'd like to remember in a journal. That way, I develop the feeling, have a record of it, then I can get rid of the thing.

Lists, drawings, writings, fortune cookie fortunes, programs, and cards - I can not seem to throw these things away. My solution was to make a concentrated area for stuff that doesn't need to be in my immediate vicinity of productivity at my desk. I found this nice, blue fabric box to put little trinkets and pieces of paper in. I also put in a beat-up old folder for full 8+1/2 X 11 pages that I didn't want to get crinkled up. The programs and cards are in separate magazine holders. Now, whenever I want to feel nostalgic or need some sort of venture out of the ordinary, I go to this area.

So far, it's a seedling of a thing. I haven't been instantly inspired to go write a symphony or something from this collection of sheets - partially from leftover guilt and ambivalences. One thing that has happened though, has been to add things to the box that truly inspire me. I recently added a drawing of the sun, I realized how much I love it. Spring had sprung, and I've always had a fascination with the star that makes life on this planet possible. I've been adding little drawings and inspirational quotes here and there. I think it's getting better.

See my music theory blog for more on inspiration:
Joe Diorio and John McLaughlin
http://scraggo.blogspot.com/

Dipolar Cosmology and Positive Thinking

What I've been trying to resolve lately is how the world, or God, can be dualistic yet unified at the same time. How can there be unification when there is chaos? Why is there far more matter than anti-matter? Why are we not merely collapsing under the merciless powers of physical forces? My "explanation" is as follows.

The world must be kept in balance by a dipolar (two-poled) mechanism. There seems to be two poles, one positive and one negative, that steer the world depending on its current state of balance. You can attribute it to something mechanical, rather like a thermostat, that keeps the universe balanced, or you can attribute it to something with judgement and volition, like God, who seeks divine justice. The idea of a volition constituting the unity of the universe is a bit extreme (Aristotle, Hegel, many others), but I think an angel of justice certainly sounds cooler than an appliance. That's all a matter of personal preference, but I will continue to argue in favor of God (whether he is a conscious deity or not).

I believe that there are good people in the world, who feel it is their God-given duty to do good. They are the direct disciples of God who attempts to restore the balance of the world. I believe in freewill, and if a good person chooses to ignore the voice, the world will continually steer in the negative direction. Freewill is the main reason why I don't think we live in a purely mechanical universe. I believe that freewill truly exists and is outside of deterministic properties. It is how chaos balances with law - they come together in the momentary decision.

Embracing positivity and only positivity seems to be the path of God. I hate senseless positivity (like saying that everything is always going to work out without taking responsibility because "God wants it") and middle of the road thinking (Every one is right and things are always OK just how they are). So, I need to qualify what I mean by positive thinking.

1. Positivity is the way. Have faith in life - there is a reason you are alive. Your true inner voice is there and must be followed.
2. Take action - life is a process of doing, then self-evaluating. You must never insult yourself and always seek higher and truer standards.
3. Your place - do not live in excess, don't take on more than you can handle. Always go on your journey.
4. Learn everything you can. Learn how everything relates, yet is separate and distinct.
   
5. Love, trust, let go, laugh, live in the now, and treat yourself right.
6. Creativity - be an artist, teach, blog, organize, write, speak, walk, listen. Allow God to reward your creativity.

Whether you are religious or not, it is the human experience that binds us all together. We can only be comforted by the words of others, we can only love when we feel the love of others, and it is our duty to help humanity.

(Further reading - Rational Mysticism, by John Horgan)
http://scraggo.blogspot.com/

#4. The Diminished Scale and its Harmony

I've been thoroughly enjoying the 8-tone, dominant diminished scale lately. It's also called the "half-whole" (HW) diminished scale. Here's how it's built:

root-H-W-H-W-H-W-H-W or
1 b2 b3 3 #4 5 6 b7

What's cool is that it's a symmetrical scale and all kinds of weird parallel harmonies can be found in it:

1. Diminished Seventh chords can be found on every chord tone.
2. Dominant Seventh chords (with tensions: b9, #9, #11, 13) can be found on the root, b3, b5, and 6th scale degrees.
3. Minor Seventh (or Half Diminished) chords can be found on the root, b3, b5, and 6th scale degrees.

I find this mind-boggling, that both major and minor chords are found on the main chord tones of the scale!

This is a mode of limited transposition (thanks Messaien) so there are only 3 unique diminished scales!

There are some crazy harmony tricks you can use to add a diminished sound to your compositions/improvisations. Here's my favorite: A very wacky set of triads can work over a C7 chord if you use the dominant diminished scale. Each triad will resolve to a chord tone in F major.

• C major triad
• Eb major triad (#9, 5, b7)
• Gb major triad (tritone substitution! #11, b7, b9)
• A major triad (13, b9, 3)

...bizarre, but awesome.
http://www.guitar9.com/columnist331.html
http://scraggo.blogspot.com/

REVIEW: Songs of the North & There and Back, by The Devin Arne Quintet

I'm excited to be reviewing the debut album of my good friend and fellow composer/guitarist: DEVIN ARNE

Songs of the North and There and Back is a journey through landscapes, emotional depth, atmosphere, and soulful groove. Devin Arne's debut album features an ensemble of fantastic musicians from the McGill University in Montreal, Canada where the album was recorded. Listen for elements of the styles of some of the jazz greats including Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Grant Green, Ben Monder, Jim Hall, as well as pop giants Radiohead, Zero 7, and Sigur Ros in Devin's work. One can find a dazzling variety of guitar textures and sounds accompanied by the expressive power of the trumpet and saxophone duet and stylistic brilliance of the drummer. Arne carefully balances his three-sectioned album with finely-crafted ballads and head-bopping jams. There is a feeling of continuity and unity as you listen to the album, along with myriads of harmonic and tonal variety. The album opens with "There and Back," which is one of my favorites - in a true jam style. Over a grooving ostinato that permeates the track is a unique call-and-response melody which can also be found in "Early Spring." The melodies, solos, and eventual final tutti jam all have the undertones of this awesome groove. Another favorite is "Sympathetic Vibrations" which tells of other worlds with its advanced harmonies and rich, singing melodies. One can not help but nodding their head along the bouncing 6/8 groove. "Broken Heat" opens immediately outlining the augmented scale and telling of deep, chilling sorrows. Free-flowing improvisation may catch you off-guard, but the track eventually swells to an all-encompassing depth that makes this track another favorite. The album closes with the sensitive "Ingmar," combining pensive melody reminiscent of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "How Insensitive" with some more modern harmonies. For sheer simplicity and beauty, this arrangement is another one of my favorites.

This album is available from the iTunes store and on Devin's Website:
http://www.devinarne.com/home.html
See more from Devin: http://nujazzinternational.ning.com/profile/1r0jctdse0is7
www.myspace.com/devinarneguitar
http://scraggo.blogspot.com/

#3 CAGED guitar system

Over the past couple of days, I've been working on the CAGED guitar system. It's an intense process of visualizing scales based on the 5, common guitar chord shapes: C major, A major, G major, E major, and D major. http://coldbrains.com/CAGED/index.html is a good resource. But anyways, I'm trying to get into the nitty gritty of logical scale fingerings on the guitar...my recent discovery was that most good scale fingerings for major are not the "3 note per string" thing, but the "3 note per string" with the exception of one string having 2 notes. There are 2 good 3 note per string fingerings...but I'm not sure how they fit in yet. The goal is to have an improvisation approach that is firmly based in a chord system...it may not be CAGED, because symmetrical scales don't really follow CAGED logic...but that's the goal.

http://scraggo.blogspot.com/

#2 Two tetrachords? I think not.

Why do we think of 7 note scales as 2 tetrachords? There are only 7 notes, so why would we think of the scale as piling 2 tetrachords (4+4=8) and include the top octave?
Let's see what happens if we think of it as 123,4567 - in other words, a trichord, then a tetrachord. Let's use the 7 modes of major (in intervallic order of "widest" to "most compressed"):

Lydian - major 1 2 3. 4567 belong to a phygian tetrachord
Major - major 1 2 3. 4567 belong to a lydian tetrachord
Mixolydian - major 1 2 3. 4567 belong to a major tetrachord
Dorian - minor 1 2 3. 4567 belong to a major tetrachord
Minor - minor 1 2 3. 4567 belong to a minor tetrachord
Phrygian - phrygian 1 2 3. 4567 belong to a minor tetrachord
Locrian - phrygian 1 2 3. 4567 belong to a phrygian tetrachord

What's interesting to note is "modes within modes," such as the lydian tetrachord in major, and the fact that Lydian and Locrian both have phrygian tetrachords, though they start on different notes.

This particular way of thinking seems to undermine the fact that major, dorian, and phrygian have dual tetrachord symmetry, which is pretty cool.

I think what this all comes down to is "tetrachordal" thinking...if you have 4 scalar notes in a row, it's some sort of tetrachord. I guess you can hack a scale into whatever bits you like, to expose particular mode pieces within a scale.

http://scraggo.blogspot.com/

Microcosm and Macrocosm

warning: deep stuff :)
Youtube: The Awakening http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T7346dFnkE
Your feelings are the key. Your feelings are the feelings of God, not consciousness. Grow your own food, take responsibility, acknowlege your feelings.
Thoughts and emotions directly affect the world around you. The one connecting principle is love, and disharmony is caused when we deviate from the rule.
There is a battle that has waged on since the beginning of time, it is a war between good and evil. At every moment, we must choose love and fight evil.

http://scraggo.blogspot.com/

Blog #1 = progressions in major to minor

it's finally here...
A place where people who like music theory can mention their deepest, darkest, nerdiest theory revelations.
I have much to share. Let's start with an idea I had.

Take progressions in the major key...let's do "Can't Buy Me Love" by the Beatles (this may become a recurring example.)
Chorus: iii | vi | iii | vi | iii | vi | ii | V
Verse: 12 bar blues in C, with dominant 7 chords

Let's transform it into minor keeping the relative chord placements:
Chorus: bIII | bVI | bIII | bVI | bIII | bVI |ii half dim| V |
Verse: 12 bar blues in C minor, with minor 7 chords

Wow, that really doesn't work! bIII will sound like a tonic chord in a major key! I think minor keys need more emphasis on that tonic minor chord, known as i.

Comments rock.

http://scraggo.blogspot.com/

I made this blog 100...maybe 1000 years ago.

warning: this blog makes no sense
Unfortunately for you, puny human, you have encountered the blog of the human (taco) -eating, mammoth (kinda skinny white guy), cyclops (musician), and you should cower in fear (hear my music http://myspace.com/dcohen18) as I salivate and rip you limb from limb (yes, literally that.)

http://scraggo.blogspot.com/