Microcosmos en anglais 02-04-17 2/3

VIOLENCE

A few time before he passed away, André talked to me about violence.

I tried to understand what he wanted me to do.

This reflection allowed me to feel my own violence which can lodge in my way of speaking, playing, in the precipitation of my behavior.

Since my heart operation in 1999, I had not picked up my instruments, the guitar and the "Zarb" (Iranian drum). A former student, who came back to Israel 1 year ago, encouraged me.

For many years, as a classical guitarist, I have taken care of the nails of my right hand, these nails which help to play more precisely by sliding more easily on the strings than the pulp of the fingers.

Although there are a lot of ways to embrace the guitar, depending on the styles you want to play: flamenco, jazz, classical, with shoulder strap, standing or sitting, I continued with the one I had learned: The classic position (sitting with a small stool under the left foot).

I realized, after a while, that I was much contracted, my body hurt, and I played violently.

I then focused my attention on my sitting and how to embrace my guitar. I have paid very strict attention to mastering my body so that it does not bother me while I play.

To get into the heart of music, I have to focus on the sound my hands produce. I then noticed that the sound speaks to me and tells me the places of my body that are contracted or the muscles that are tense.

To get to have the pleasure of playing, one must also work to eliminate anxieties and the fear of making mistakes.

The novelty in front of the movements to be made, the reading of the score, all these new things that must be renewed each time I take the guitar, contracted me. The relationship with a musical instrument is not the same as that which one can have with a usual object.

To understand the nature of all these muscular or mental tensions, I spend a lot of time listening to or watching on "YouTube" the other guitarists.

I also focused my attention on the language that talks about how to play the guitar: the common language is "scratching the guitar".

For me, scratching is a form of violence.

People are used to scratching to avoid itching’s violence. In this case violence will be added to violence.

I currently like to use the term caress rather than scratch.

Caressing does not cause madness as itching can make you furious or crazy.

My idea is to make discover a play space with the guitar that is directly related to something we have received, such as the caresses of our mom. This will help us to go deeper into the mystery of music.

"Microcosmos for Guitar" includes 78 pieces.

I will play for this blog the pieces of Andre, trying with all my heart to make them feel in their depth.

To achieve this, I must day by day, forget that I have played and taught them for years. I have to be careful that my body is more and more pacified with my instrument.

I must have a great deal of patience to master myself and repress all the old habits acquired.

In the advance of this work, I have in view only music and its essence, the pedagogical and artistic view.

To help people who will watch this blog and want to learn through these pieces to play the guitar, I try to walk this path slowly step by step.

Work with the music lover on presence, here and now, in this moment when we are going to be together.

To make us aware of the reality of the word "present" to help us get out of our fantasies, to resume tireless study of these pieces without falling into sterile repetition.

Even if I ask to play on a single string, it is necessary to show how to draw sound, life. It’s important to transmit the movement from the first moments.

It’s important to introduce into the magic that to remain alive, to play with the life, is to make movement in the duration.

Death is static.

At first I will record the first ten pieces of André Hadju's book he wrote only for the right hand, on the vacuum strings.

In my opinion, they are little melodic wonders of sensibility and intelligence. I am dazzled to see how André understood the guitar and wrote for this instrument that he did not play.

To solve the problem of vision, especially that of music reading, I think that this blog would help us to understand that we must concentrate on gestures and listening, so that little by little we can sing melody.

I will also play each note with its name, so that people hear that name and feel freer when they see the score appear.

I will also use a musical language that I will detail on the blog to make understand the rhythm.