FBSMC 3, Video 10, Instruction 6, Personal Art, more personal

I speak very openly in this video about my first approaches in Personal Art. The first aspect of Personal Art if you recall from the other videos, was to 'play' in various territories like tone and articulation and discover their properties. Here I talk about how I used the instrument to express any emotion that was going through me. I also talk about my mother's influence on me as a person and as a teacher. She encouraged freedom of expression and to not be afraid to have big dreams of what you want in your life.

Most people that I know who wanted to be in music, felt something very personal in the music. 'It' spoke to them. Then with wanting to get a job, comes the intense work of refining our basics in a certain kind of way. Even if one just wants to get better on the instrument, it takes a lot of technical practice. Wanting control, stability and consistency, if not balanced with a musical element, can be very stifling for many people. That is why it is important to allow yourself to 'play' in the territory and to find the spectrum and freedom in the mechanical aspects. This finding the freedom will not happen right away. Each person needs to find their own way. If the passion and desire are great enough, and the person manifests this passion and desire into action, much will happen organically over time.

The development of the Personal Art is a choice. Just think for a moment if some of the great painters just thought about technique only. They would not have been able to capture the essence of the subject matter and make their painting seem so 'alive'. I'm sure many students of painting and drawing get very captivated by the world's great artists and wonder how they did it and what techniques they used. That is natural to want to know how and if it is motivated by the love of art, not just for the love of art itself but what it can express, anchor and transmit, then the desire for the technique has a real purpose.

Here to highlight a few of the important points of developing our Personal Art, I made a small list of things to keep in mind:

1. Allow yourself the freedom to let go of judgment and heavy standards so you can have the room to find your Personal Art. A little bit at a time.

2. 'Play' with your sound, articulation and phrasing like a child plays with something they love and can't put down.

3. Pick up your instrument and play the way you feel, mentally emotionally or physically. It could even be one note or a phrase.

4.Here are two different ways of approach at making your playing more personal:
a) Start with trying to access your own emotions and/or experiences and put them into your music.
b) Try to capture the nature of something outside yourself like a plant, animal, person or situation and play whatever comes to you about it.

5. Find important personal things in your life and play a piece that you think expresses your feelings or thoughts about it.

Personal Art in it's higher form is the person being instrumental for something else to play them.
This is being in service to a higher need. As my wife and partner in the Frequency Band Carol Viera says, "The most important instrument is the human instrument." You can use these thoughts if you wish, as a contemplation.

Enjoy, discover and quest on!