Afterburners

Published: Apr. 12, 2007 at 6:26 AM
I never enter into my practice journal the best part of violin: afterburners. After finishing a couple hours warm ups and practice (exactly 2:38) to get through my current basic program, I jam!

Many pieces are coming together all at once for me:
Air On G String silky smooth.
Witches Dance--God bless my violin!.
Bist du bei mire--more silk.
In the Arms of the Angels--in the que.
BWV 997--sheesh God almighty, and it's just a baby.
Boccherini--silk became migration.
Martin Gavotte and etc.

So after doing many of those formally for improvment, I let loose like a Ninja truly as Kurt Sasamanhaus says, "putting it all together" at more and more times--at least on my level.

But it's not the progress that whips my tail, but the actual jammin. I was diggin in to Humoresque tonight and thought of the benefits of having a lot of company over the holiday--I show off ;).

But again the point here is the jammin. Being exhausted fighting the Gods over the cold snaps in the gardens, a house full of people who get to see me spraying things at 7am and without a thought sending one of them up the mountain to water the raspberries, I've had a few nights of just really really smooth jammin.

This afterburners thing has been the best part of violin. I think back at the I'm sure at least 'well' over a thousand hours so far in the jammin part of my violin journey beyond practice,

Of course jammin got me in trouble from day one, with everyone involved--my uh, teachers, myself, my progress, but nobody will ever get to take the fact that as God modest at is was early on, I can think back today and remember a few measures here and a few measures there that sounded like one jammin.

I started to put this in my practice journal, but chose this venue for no particular reason, other than for adult beginning students of violin who work very hard, they confound the system that they more than any other student of music, let the music lead the way. And, it is also important because teachers who teach serious motivated adults need to learn how very important jammin is to adult students--the discipline to persist is far closer linked to jammin for adults than recognized I think, and go far beyond "Three Blind Mice" in this importance.

A poem for Yixi:
Playing not, jammin!
Violin will stay on stand.
Jammin or be damned.