Notes

Technique is the foundation upon which we build our invisible house of music.  The decision has to be made well in advance of the reality, just like sketches and blueprints.

Do you want an ornate, antique-styled mansion, an art gallery of many floors, a cathedral, a sturdy bungalow or a one room school house?  Or are you a nomad, traveling lightly and surviving with your wits amidst the battering elements?

Whichever it is, the technique weaves the future shape of our particular dwelling.

And do we alter our methods as the building grows?  Do we make additions and adjustments, try new ideas, step back occasionally to look at the whole?  Or do we patiently, blindly build, block by block, until we have a prison or a tower? 

And do we practise only the techniques that we need, directly and squarely, or do we explore and discover that surprising combinations can happen if we pursue an idea far enough... clarity and quickness can lead to calmness and control. 

I love to perform and the path to performing is practising and making reeds, creating a technique that informs my instincts.  Sometimes I am quite worried that this lifetime is not long enough to follow the many paths that beckon

practise notes