Robert Fripp's Diary

Guitar Craft Levels 1 & 2+ - St. Vincent de Paul Circle V Ranch, Santa Barbara, California

06.35

Last night, while pinning the notice of today’s schedule to the board, a Level One indicated that I had put the wrong date on today’s schedule – that of yesterday. Doesn’t time fly? Alternatively, Fripp’s brain has boiled once too often.

Rising at 06.00, showed and gently exercised, now to the sitting…

11.33  The sittings are remarkable for a second day, as was yesterday’s sitting for the first day. The superfluous & unnecessary movement among the bodies is very little.

Breakfast was a good opportunity to touch base with several of the Mentoring Buddies. News of the Seattle GC community & arising from Curt; Bill R. had a “small point of seeing” yesterday evening, in the Right Hand meeting of Level One & the MBs that was held in the dining room. Debra felt that music was hovering over the Level Two last evening before being driven away, and had two good ideas.

Walking from the dining room & up the hill: it was spitting. A small outbreak of raining threatened to disrupt the clean, dry & easy movement over the site and between buildings. Fortunately, this has not developed further.

At the Kitchen Team meeting, 08.45, Patrick presented an opportunity for the Team to engage to a greater degree with the kitchen work as a whole.

The Level One meeting at 09.30 attempted to count to 5, and then to 4, but were foiled by both these challenges. But the beginning two circulations were valuable. The first, with a note of the players’ choice within the scale of C major or A natural minor, was sloppy & disconnected. The second, with the recommendation that we listen to our note as we play it, was qualitatively different from the first. Comments were invited on the difference between the two, and the third comment suggested that “attention” was involved. Hooray! So, perhaps attention is a way of a crowd becoming a team? But from this point onwards the quality evident in the second circulation drained away. When the circulating dried up irremedially, we addressed lateral & vertical fingerings as ways of developing fingerboard knowledge directly within the left hand.

The Mentoring Buddies are offering 5 small group experiences this morning, with one-fifth of the Level One moving between each. Personal Alexander meetings with Frank & Sandra are also underway.

The Level Two meeting at 10.30 moved through G major; and, to invest the these small gains in knowledge, we also addressed lateral & vertical fingerings a way to develop a better grasp of the fingerboard. Several of those present had never heard of “lateral & vertical” they claimed. Then, a cross-picking exercise on G minor and we began to address the scale of G natural minor (B flat major).

Next for me, tea & computing.

14.23  A performance at lunch by Marc B. followed by the The Hell Boys and their classic “How Big Is Hell?”

Very good comments over lunch including the words “noticed” &  “attention”. One L1 noticed how their reaction in the circle, and the effects that had had in the circle, mirrored the effects that reaction had in their ordinary life.

Also comments on visual dependence.

Work this afternoon is personal, whether in groups large & small, or individually.

Ralph has visited on practicalities. The Mentoring Buddies, Debra & Hell Boy Tom at visiting Director Lodge 15.00.

17.43  At the 15.00 meeting I reported to the Team the current states of RF, DGM, KC & GC among other acronyms. We checked in and caught up on our various situations and circumstances. Spoke with Curt & Deb at tea.

20.31  A few words about sitting at 18.15. This was followed by burning questions, and some good ones too, that delayed our entrance to the dining room by 10 minutes. Performances by the Mentoring Buddies & The Hell Boys. The Hell Boys were actually a Mark B. solo piece within the protective context of The Hell Boys. This was a stunning & authentic Mark B. performance which was also was true to The Hell Boys as well.

Comments on the day’s work were offered and Brad B told a joke.

This evening’s work: anyone in the house who wishes to bring a guitar is welcome, subject to two criteria: being in tune & knowing the scale of C major. This large meeting is to be held in the dining room. Brad B is organizing the seating but says he doesn’t know C well enough. Ritual disembowelment was suggested as an alternative, but also that his knowledge of C is sufficient to include him in the group meeting.

Four pages of the more recent aphorisms were put on the board this afternoon.

22.11  Large meeting in the dining room with many guitars and an outer & inner circle of chairs. Circulations with single & multiple hits in C major / A natural minor, with a few accidentals thrown in. Also some massive chords in response to gesture. The meeting ended at 22.06 with available practicing time declared as 05.00.