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Three sessions in 2 days.
Where there's a will there is a safe way. David
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Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary. -Cecil Beaton Think for a moment of your musical heroes, mentors, and villains. Did they exhibit these qualities? Did they express and live these qualities prior to obtaining success?
They never chased a sound; they created a sound. As my mentor Bill King said in response to listening to one more mainstream jazz recording presented to him by eager hopeful shiny faces, “haven’t we made the record already?” Have a great day. David Cognitive overload: Too much information, not enough context, too little time to process and reflect= stress, from the resulting inefficiencies in holding information in our memory for later retrieval.
A good example for musicians in memorizing music. Apparently as we age, we lose abilities with working memory. Memorizing becomes increasingly difficult. How do we improve our working memory? It's complicated, but decluttering the mind might be of help. Ten things to help lower this stress to free up our processing power, so to speak.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_load#Effects_of_heavy_cognitive_load David Ten Tips:
Best, David  My latest acquisition: An Autoria Microfreak Synthesizer. A recent release from Fade/Dissolve our cinematic noise trio
 I am sitting in North Bay Ontario looking at the lake through a hotel window. Damn it is beautiful. I'd forgotten how beautiful Northern Ontario is. Inspired by the Netflix series, “Cardinal”, I’m revisiting my old haunts in “Algonquin Bay”.
Yesterday I had a coffee with a former co-worker from Music City, where I was employed over 40 years ago. What a great time reminiscing on old times, forgotten bands, dead musicians, our youth with all its ribald triumphs, failures and near misses. I am feeling reenergized and full of beans going home today. It was a good idea to reach out. Thank you, Bob and Mike! This morning on my way out of town I will be having coffee with an old blues player, whom I jammed with around 1976-77. We’ll talk blues and music. I don’t know the guy, but I do know his work. And, I remember fondly his playing. Time is short, if there is someone from the past you want to play with, get on the phone and reach out. Time has passed, they will likely say yes. If you need to patch up some things from decades ago, it’s time. Cheers, David With my new updated 2020 playlists loaded with tracks of creative musicians half my age and who have none of my presuppositions, musical hang-ups, or history I'm going for a walk. A long walk, in a safe place, deeply listening to the tracks. Benefits:
David Ten things you might consider:
David Story Being internally driven when sitting at home takes some extra effort. Idleness, loneliness, cramped spaces, financial stress; it adds up. I've made a short list for musicians of positive qualities that may help us focus our efforts, deal with reality, be creative, and get on with it.
The short hokey video below is a good reminder that fitness, appearance, and conduct go a long way to preparing us what is to come. Combine this with professional pride and imaginative thinking will, I believe, move us forward. Good luck, David For more on this subject I suggest checking out this peer reviewed article: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-intrinsic-motivation-2795385 What is a good attitude in the midst of a pandemic? Good question. I. Stay in touch with others. Especially musicians who are still practicing, staying sober, practicing safe practices. This has really helped me: Jamming with social distancing in safe spaces. 2. Stay physically active. Keep the endorphins up. A challenge for sure. I'm drinking way for much coffee. 3. Taking lessons gives us another reason to stay musically fit. I take weekly classes on drums. For piano classes twice a month plus an online teaching course here and there. 4. Explore alternative routes for your career. I'm exploring drum teaching. This is a creative industry, let's get creative, we have no choice. As someone wiser than me said, "you got your war". This is our moment. David An external link: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html  Berklee Credo “Flexibility, improvisation, practicality, and the ability to recognize and respond to changing environments” This is a good time to revisit these thoughts from my old alma mater. We all understand the disruption of the pandemic. Now what lies ahead for musicians? Public performances are out until an effective vaccine appears. And, is widely adopted by the population. In this “age of the crazy” that may be wishful thinking. For established performers it may be time to consider alternative career paths. This is the path I took 20 years ago in response to the SARS pandemic. As the songs says, “you gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them”. For younger musicians though it is a whole new opportunity to reinvent the arts. The established crowd is hoping for a miracle, the younger crowd got one. The status quo is not likely to return. And, anyhow the young will not wait. They are filling the void with viable alternatives. The leviathan of public arts support will need to be reimagined and reallocated post Covid-19 I hope I live long enough to be a witness; it is going to be good. David  |
AuthorDavid Story: Professional pianist, drummer, composer, and educator. Well into his 4th enthusiastic musical decade, David works with adults pursuing musical dreams in the autumn of life, while he maintains an active presence in the Toronto arts scene. Categories
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