"How you play guitar is how you live your life"

I woke up in the middle of the night with the words in my head, "how you play the guitar is how you live your life." I was so struck by this groggy middle-of-the-night thought that I made a note on my iPhone to blog about it. So here goes.

When I reflected on this idea this morning here are some thoughts that came up.

I can say that each morning I get up by 7:00 and after some coffee and reading, I start my guitar practice. I first warm up with technical exercises, then I review current repertoire. Next I work on my most difficult pieces to clean them up. Sometimes after playing a piece for many years, I am really playing by muscle memory and I'm on auto pilot.  Which sometimes means I have allowed places to slacken. A missed harmonic, a sloppy chord transition, a lackluster performance. Each day I address these ideas. I have to say some pieces have improved recently, which I am happy about!

I work to play with enough strength in my touch to produce a good tone but without tension and rigidity. I prefer to play standing up. I practice often without my hearing aids. I walk around the house playing guitar. I try to play the same pieces over and over again as if I am playing them for the first time.

I continue to learn things about myself through my guitar playing.  I play for a local Taize service and this past winter I recorded us and I heard how much I tend to rush ahead.  In examining this tendency, the rushing was not about "getting it over with"  as one might think of rushing in life. It was about the fact that I was so excited about this beautiful piece that I couldn't wait to show the congregation the surprises it held.  A unique chord, a majestic cadence, a haunting melody.

Upon listening to myself rushing in the music, I became like the child I was who could not keep a secret. When I found a beautiful place in nature to think, I had to find someone to show it to. When I found a great passage in a book, I had to read it to someone. When I learned a secret, I had to tell it.

 I realized upon hearing the recording of my rushing ahead of others that there is a lot to be said about gentle restraint and allowing others to find their own joys in what they hear, see, and feel.

I love learning new music and have several music friends I bounce things off of. I love to expand my horizons.
These are things I learn about how I play guitar and how I live my life.