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Treat you better than me because that's the heavenly key
To unlock the inner strength where my essence will be
It's the knowledge of self, understanding of the things around me
That becomes the wisdom that I need
Living this life to the best of my ability
Channeling energy to my thoughts into your symmetry
Remember me because my clothes remain gold
I got the gift of gab like them pimps in Kangols
Feather - Modal Soul
- Nujabes, Cise Star, & Akin Yai -
Had a print similar to this in my room growing up that read, “I have no fear nor animosity towards others, as long as I know I’ve put forth my best effort.” Print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.
Been contemplative and have been creating space to dig into old thoughts to see how they have steeped with time. I was recently drawn back to Gorin no sho, commonly known as The Book of the Five Rings, and started thumbing through some of the pages I annotated and stumbled on this gem. Known as one of the greatest swordsmen of all time, Miyamoto Musashi’s writings give us insight into practicing a discipline through the zen frame of mind. He labels the fourth section of these writings Scroll of the Wind where he talks about other schools of thought. While he largely talks about swordsmanship, The Way is not fettered to one discipline. Let the ideas be a mirror into your own mind.
In questions of strategy, what is meant by surface and what is meant by depth? In the different arts, there is a manner of distinguishing the depth from the entry that refers to the ultimate teaching or the secret transmission. But as to the principle that comes into play at the time of combat with an adversary, you cannot say that you fight him with techniques of the surface and cut him down with those of the depth.
In my school’s teaching of strategy, you teach techniques that are easy to assimilate for those who are beginning in the study of the way, giving them an explanation that they can understand right away. Observing the degree of their advancement, you progressively give them explanations that direct them toward more and more profound principles. However, in general you teach them things that correspond to situations they are really in; there is no need to distinguish between depth and entry in the teaching. This can be connected with the adage according to which if you continue to go deeper and deeper into the mountains, you will come out by a different entry.
In all the ways, it might turn out that the depth technique is effective or that the entry technique is.
With this principal of combat, why should you hide one thing in order to show another? That is why, in the transmission of my school. I do not have written oaths, accompanied by penalties.
Observing the student’s level of intelligence, you teach him the correct way and help him to free himself of the five or six bad ways of strategy. You cause him to enter naturally into the true way that conforms to the principles of the warriors, so that his mind will be free from doubt. Such is the way of teaching strategy in my school.
You should train well in this.
-Miyamoto Musashi
The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts. -Marcus Aurelias
I have slowly been thumbing my way through Meditations by Marcus Aurelius to gain a deeper insight into stoicism. I love the perspective and have enjoyed reading his thoughts while thinking of the context of being a “good leader,” of such an influential culture. The parallels in naturalism, balance, and temperance to Daoism resonates with me as it was the first philosophical exploits as a teenager. I have found that reading short snippets of something like the Dao De Ching or Meditations are best served with time to contemplate and internalize. Not every idea is a good idea. Reflection can help us navigate what is essential to our beings and acknowledge what is not.
So here is the first thing I read when I opened up Meditations this morning. I found it to be relevant to the world’s current state of affairs and, by comparison, even something seemingly insignificant as learning to play an instrument. Oh how you have to love the paradox! It keeps us grounded yet grants us freedom from our own thoughts.
In every pain let this thought be present, that there is no dishonor in it, nor does it make the governing intelligence worse, for it does not damage the intelligence either so far as the intelligence is rational or so far as it is social. Indeed in the case of most pains let this remark of Epicurus aid you, that pain is neither intolerable nor everlasting if you bear in mind that's has it’s limits, and if you add nothing to it in imagination: and remember this, too, that we do not perceive that many things that are disagreeable to us are the same as pain, such as excessive drowsiness, and being scorched by heat, and and having no appetite. When then you are discontetnted about any of these things say to yourself that you are yielding to pain.
This too shall pass.
Keep on walking.
(just 6ft apart)
So I was just updating my calendar and decided to do some house keeping around my website and do a few updates. I stumbled upon this start of a blog post I wrote after finishing up my banner teaching/performing year in 2018. As I re-read this I realized that my thought process, while it has evolved and changed since, has fundamentally stayed the same. Within the past 10 months I have done even MORE teaching than ever before and have felt that I have grown pedagogically in surprising and enlightening ways. I spent the first half of 2019 teaching as a resident artist at Thorton Creek Elementary School where I got to work with approximately 170 young minds. I knew that it would be a change of pace for me but I didn’t realize just HOW it would change me as both a teacher and an individual. Now as I am finishing some of my larger events this summer and planning for the rest of the year, I feel as invigorated as ever to continue growing musically for myself and the wonderful people who have a deep fascination and love of music.
Our 3rd graders performing at the Seattle Folk Life Festival 2019. So nervous and equally excited to be on the main stage this year :)
That being said I have left my original post below. I thought there are a few interesting points that “2018 Neal” made that I want to keep intact (at the minimum to document process). However, with a bit of a new mind I wanted to continue my thoughts and offer an updated perspective. Mind you, these are my musical musings and by no means something dogmatic to follow. I enjoy being the a tinkerer of my thoughts and ideas and encourage you to do so too.
So I just finished up the longest summer of work to date. Did the most traveling I’ve ever done and have taught the widest range of skill levels, approaches, and just straight up attitudes I have ever done before. It has been immensely illuminating to look back on my lessons with a fine tooth comb and make augmentations and dimishations (sorry, couldn’t resist). My philosophy as a teacher has been to meet the student at the halfway point of their interests and empower the student so that they can continue to grow. The individual is more important than any system for the sum of our efforts has the potential to exceed what we are. Harmonious individualism.
To reel it back in, I have been trying to observe what are the essential elements that make someone both a, “competent musician,’ and an artist. While the simple recipe would be diligence brewed with time, I believe that mentality can really separate an individual from the experience. This is not necessarily to lean into a lengthy and empirical list of traits a person must have to be a musician or an artist. Art belongs to the people so it shouldn’t be sequestered physically or mentally from the people.
That being said, I find it particularly invigorating to try and dig into the mind of the people I am playing with. It is a great exercise in learning a person’s musical vocabulary & can provide a musically cathartic experience. With the musicians I’ve played with this summer I have noticed a few common threads in the people who stole my heart. These are not tenets to practice by as much as they are ideas to exercise.
Courage
Something to Say
Empathy
Humor
Humility
So first I want to mention that these are distilled ideas that come to mind when I think of the people who I enjoy playing with. I think the operative word in the prompt is that they are ideas to exercise. From there we can loosen our posture and see what’s applicable to ourselves.
Courage - As one continues to play music, you develop a vocabulary that is a marriage between all the styles of music you have been both playing and listening to in both a direct and indirect way. Today, the world of music is wider than ever before with emerging styles and interpretations than can be accessed at our finger tips. More than ever with information being so readily available to us, it takes both a decisive and courageous mind to be creative. It’s taking the time to say I find this thing beautiful and letting the world make their own decisions if that’s true for them or not. This is not to close you off from the possibilities of other beautiful things, as the beauty of friend’s embrace doesn’t diminish the beauty of the night sky. It just takes courage to make a decision and say that I wouldn’t even notice the nice sky if I am held with love from a true friend.
Something to Say - This really builds off of and is intertwined with courage but is slightly more grounded in a lot of ways. Our experiences define and grace us with insights we could have never imagined. If the role of the artist is to experience and express the world through these perspectives, the more enriched our life experience is the richer our art will be. In high school when I first started digging into the blues after my initial stint of blues-rock, I remember talking with this seasoned blues musician about my endeavors. He chuckled when I mentioned that I love the raw emotion and the authenticity of feeling I was getting out of Muddy Waters, Son House, Robert Johnson, and Howlin Wolf at that time. He told me, “Blues is easy to play and hard to feel. Playing rock-n-roll is much easier.” I took his words to heart and to ponder with light understanding, even though I didn’t know what he was REALLY talking about. The folly of youth led me to then secretly wish I would have enough heart break and troubles to not just play the music but to live it too. While it is easy to see how naive I was (and my potential self fulfilling prophecy), I now carry my sadness and pain I have endured as a badge of honor and an essential element to who I am (not to mention the lesson of being careful what you wish for). It is in these stories and experiences that give us value to not just babble but to make an wholistic statement. Let your story empower your voice.
Empathy - One of the things that make us special as human beings is the capacity for imagination. This gives us the ability to live beyond ourselves and therefore be empathic to not just people we directly care about but also for those we don’t even know. Being empathic in a musical setting is both very functional and humanizing as well. Having the ability to understand the thoughts of another let’s us read idiosyncrasies in a person’s playing and posture, allowing us to respond and react accordingly. Just like having a conversation with someone, an ability to understand how a person thinks will give you greater insight and subtext to what the person is actually trying to say. That being say, allowing yourself to be vulnerable lets individuals reciprocate that empathy, furthering your connection in and out of the session. The capacity for human emotion is essential into describing our human experiences.
Humor - Probably the most esoteric of the bunch, I enjoy being around and playing music with people of great humor. Yes this does make for a lighter hang between songs or sets but is something that naturally bleeds into the music as well. Comedians and musicians are often kindred spirits as we frequently ride the line between work and play. I personally find that I operate my best when my spirit feels light as a feather and the people I am with are on the same or at least page. This lightness of spirit brings freedom as it often leads us away from ourselves and to the happiness of the people around us. There’s a reason why that many musicians laugh when they hear something they like from across the band stand. We could all use a tickling now and then :D
Humility - Most of us can stand for a bit of humility check from time to time. I find humility to be an acknowledgement of the vast wisdom that already exists in our world. The world of art expands on both axises of depth and variety respectively. Humbling yourself to the idea that we exist in a paradox of emotion and information gives room for the existence of everyone. This often may not be the most efficient or direct way to get somewhere if have a specific idea you are trying to arrive at. Yet, the routes we end up taking in life are seldom in a straight line. The artistry and the skill that comes with it often are clouded with competition and an acknowledgement of self. Now a little competition is good for growth, but perhaps from the stance that it is a catalyst for action and the only true opponent we have is ourselves, privies us to a posture of levity and leaves us room to elevate the music we are creating and not just ourselves.
I hope some of these personal insights resonate with you or at a minimum offer a perspective to contribute to the conversation about music as a whole. If you made it this far, I am curious to hear what you have think on the matter as well! Please leave your thoughts in the comments below :)
Music is the best!
- Frank Zappa
While recording and working on The Spotless Mind, I compiled a playlist of some of the inspiration behind the album. Some of the tunes had been old favorite recordings such as Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning and Joe Pass' All the Things You Are, while some were new recordings I fell in love with that year such as Nathan Aweau's Akaka Falls and Earl Kugh's So Many Stars. I hope these songs will bring you as much depth and wonder to your life as they have mine.
Pick up your copy of The Spotless Mind today!
Mahalo for the support and giving me the opportunity to explore my music.