The 'day before the move' day

Several successive days of packing has me pretty worn. Nonetheless (or perhaps due to this) I was looking forward to working at Trinity today, for the chance to engage with music. When I walked in the door for calisthenics, Curt was working with Ian on a form employing the root, 3rd, 5th and 7th of each note - in C Major, (later in the hour we moved to C Harmonic Minor (Flat A and F). It was at a tempo that was beyond me, so Curt suggested I drone the root of each chord in the progression. He then suggested - for a little variety - that I try the 3rd, then the 5th and eventually the 7th. I added my own variations by moving into octaves higher and lower, and then added a double drone by playing the root and its octave. Given how little energy I possessed, this was just about the right level of work for me. I used the simplicity of this exercise to see if I could notice how a change in the left hand has a habit of disrupting the right hand - even though the right hand's work is unchanged.

After sitting, the team gathered to hear the news about the new 'trial' venue. We may have a season by mid-April. I didn't bother complaining about the short lead time. I have enough work just to get through my move, and find a job. I hope my last poster/postcard design is accepted by the producers so that my work on that front is manageable. Exciting and daunting.

The house team began with a circulation. It sounded pretty perfunctory and mechanical to me. We weren't playing with each other. So I asked if we could do it again, this time with some attention given to the person passing a note to us, and then to the person we were passing a note to. It began somewhat forced and stilted - but we endured. It was probably the longest circulation we have ever played by far. We then followed up on Ian's request from Wednesday - to play Eye of the Needle. We butchered it. We tried it again with the metronome. This time, we didn't butcher it, but it was still pretty bad. Ian was ready to let it go, but I pointed out that it wasn't going to get any better until we gave it some attention. So we worked on the 4/4 section. When it wasn't getting any better, I suggested we play only the first note of each measure, then after a while, the notes of the first measure were added, then the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in succession. We looked at left-hand fingerings and found improvement possible there too.

During the hour between the house team's work and the beginning of the Monthly Open Circle, I took a break to drop a load of boxes off at the new place and grab my lunch which I'd left at home. Loaded up the car again and returned for the Open Circle.

We were fortunate to have exactly 12 in attendance - so we became a tone clock for much of what we worked on. I was lucky enough to be the root! Curt had us divide the clock in half, into 4ths, into 3rds, into 6ths, and it was only as we got near the end of the thirds that I began to understand how we were moving through the chords. In the last few minutes, Curt distributed notes that resulted in a sweet, circulated arrangement of Gary Jules 'Mad World' . As soon as recognition hit my ears, I let out a 'yesssssss!' - which coincided with a need to play my note.

Another stop at the new place to unload the boxes I picked up with my lunch - and then home to meet with someone who answered my Craigslist posting to sell my dry mount press. One less thing to move!