This excerpt was inspired by a conversation I had this week with my wife, Dr. Carol Viera. Carol was talking about a "conflict" she believes people have between wanting to play in an essencely connected way and playing how they think they have to play to get a job, which they think are two different things, although "integration" is possible. Fostering this kind of integration is an important part of Carol's work with the Frequency Band and outside the FB. It is something we both feel very passionately about!
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Master Manlon was talking to a young musician named, Ortia, who was torn between becoming a professional symphonic ensemble player or an artistic medium of essence transfer, not realizing she could be both.
Ortia: "Sometimes I feel torn between two worlds."
Master Manlon: "In what way Ortia?"
Ortia: "Will the training that you are giving me prepare me to get a real job in an ensemble of the symphonic kind or... will I just end up with all this incredible knowledge and not have what it takes to get employed?"
Master Manlon: "I do see your predicament. To you, at this point in time, it seems like a choice between art and employment. Can a person who is training to be an artistic medium of essence transfer be employable? Does this correctly state what you are in conflict about?"
Ortia: "Yes... and I feel almost ashamed to admit that in front of you. You have opened my eyes to so much,that I do not want to disappoint you... I ...
Master Manlon: "You are not going to disappoint me, Ortia. I am hoping that there will be some people who can take the bold step and integrate this special training into their 'professional' life. It can be done, but I would say it certainly could be a challenge to do. But, if your own relationship with our work becomes alive in you, if you have made it your own work, then it will be integrated naturally and offer a relief and inspirational encouragement to the other musicians you are working with, as well as to all who come in contact with you."
Ortia: "But the way the instructors work with us at PMMP (Professional Musicians Manufacturing Plant) puts so much emphasis on the raw mechanics that I feel like a robot who can only carry out orders or churn out notes and phrases like they were isolated pieces of a puzzle. I can't find myself in it."
Master Manlon: "So after you make the processed phrase, be the fairy, like in the old classic children's story "Pinocchio." Breathe the spirit into those wooden phrases and make them come to real living life! It can be done, and has been done, and you can do it too. Try! Oh try! From the love that it should be so, try!"
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Other excerpts from my book in progress, "The TAC Legend Writings," can be found throughout this blog. Here is a sampling:
Trombone Sci-Fi
Excerpt from "The TAC Legend Writings"
Blinded by Sound
Another Excerpt from "The TAC Legend Writings"
More from "The TAC Legend Writings"
More Trombone Sci-Fi
More from Master Manlon and "The TAC Legend Writings"
Truth or Agenda? From "The TAC Legend Writings"
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1 comment:
This is part of the daily project of being a musician isn't it? Sometimes it's a big struggle, but always worth the effort.
When I am at my best, playing music in a way that is connected and integrated makes the mechanics easier, less effortful, and more accurate.
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