DGM Live

13.23 Rising 06.00. Morning Exercising down the garden. I Advance Masked – Day Seventy-One… The street… Morning reading… … and down the garden… The Boo Monster… Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch, live at noon… https://www.facebook.com/toyahofficial/videos/560081861358733/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXErrpAHxkc&fbclid=IwAR075As2tpxlED0xfvfVfIcTv-WBSHVKPJ...

31 May 2020

The Guitar Circle

DANCEABLE MUSIC

… Robert asks Toyah’s advice on how to get more women to attend King Crimson shows. Toyah’s...

Jun 3, 2020

The Guitar Circle

08.59 Rising 06.00. Morning exercising down the garden, then to the Study. Morning reading and writing… Morning listening: Hanns Jelinek, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim. Then, c. 08.42, a tap on the back of my head: how had Toyah crept into the Study to make me jump? Then, was it that large fly, buzzing around yesterday? And then, acknowledging a presence that had passed by and said hello. This is a very active...

01 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

QUESTION FOR INTERESTED,...

From RF's diary, June 1st, 2020: Reflecting: in recent discussion with Dr. Andrew Keeling, on a...

Jun 3, 2020

The Guitar Circle

10.26 Rising 06.00 to a second grey day. Rainless and slightly black. Morning Sitting in the Study. Reading and writing… Professor Stone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Stone cites King Crimson in her argument (page 46) that progressive rock is “head” music, not “body” music; and suggests that the effect of Red is to “challenge our senses rather than provide sensory pleasure”. 12.34 &nbs...

04 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

DAY 23.400.275

I Advance Masked – Day Twenty-Three Million, Four-Hundred-Thousand, Two-Hundred and Seventy…...

Jun 6, 2020

The Guitar Circle

10.05 Rising 06.00. Morning exercising down the garden. Morning reading and writing… Reflecting: how do we judge a life? On its own terms? The public/private life? A public life is, mostly, available to research; but suffers the crippling weakness of adopting/accepting received opinion and shared commentary, not all of substance and without consideration of the wider context – time, place, person, circumstance. How may we come...

05 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

PERHAPS ONE SUNNY DAY...

...Perhaps one sunny day, as if by an act of grace, sunshine flew into the upper part of our smelly,...

Jun 7, 2020

The Guitar Circle

09.46 Rising 06.00 to greyness and not-warmness. Morning Sitting in the Study. Morning reading and writing… Morning listening: Morton Feldman. Another weird day ahead, then. Reflecting: what are the conditions that catalyse, support and encourage group creativity? What are the factors that inhibit group creativity? And onto The Guitar Circle. 16.42 Lunch and then to the Cellar for practicing. I Advan...

06 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

REFLECTING

Reflecting: what are the conditions that catalyse, support and encourage group creativity? What are...

Jun 8, 2020

The Guitar Circle

10.32 Rising 06.00. Morning Sitting in the Study. Morning reading and writing… Listening: Vincent Persichetti. String Quartets and Study In Sonority for ten violins. 13.25 Into action this morning supporting Toyah: a remote filming for a tv programme. Computer, camera and leads arrived yesterday, today all operated remotely at Channel Five central. T was in action for some two hours until c. 13.20. This...

09 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

RF'S DIARY, UPDATED!

RF's diary has just been updated: June 9th, 2020

Jun 11, 2020

The Guitar Circle

18.51 Rising 06.27.Morning Sitting in the Study. Morning reading and writing… Reflecting: continuing on from twelve hours of being interviewed by Toby Amies, over three days in March, for the KC DVD documentary. This has prompted me to return to articulating a detailed consideration of what-it-was to be a member of specific KC incarnations, particularly until c. 2009; where the shared intentions, interactions and perceptions of what w...

10 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

SOMETHING MIRACULOUSLY TAKES...

Performance is inherently unlikely. Performance in a context mediated by commerce, within a culture...

Jun 11, 2020

The Guitar Circle

10.29 Rising 06.00. Morning Sitting in the Study.Morning reading… Morning listening: Dutilleux, Thomas Ades. Reflecting: the morality and ethics of group interaction. How, in a simple gesture or exchange of another, it is possible to see the Prime Movers in that person: in the small, is writ the large. And how, on seeing this clearly, there is astonishment that the person does not see this in themself: the Blind Spot. The impossibili...

17 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

MORALITY AND ETHICS OF GROUP...

Reflecting: the morality and ethics of group interaction. How, in a simple gesture or exchange of...

Jun 19, 2020

The Guitar Circle

18.07 Rising 06.00. Morning Sitting in the Study.Morning reading and writing… Once again: increasingly during the past decade, academics have begun to address matters of my practical concern. Two quotes from this morning’s reading… Prof. Mine Doganton-Tuck in Music And Familiarity:Commenting on one’s musicianship is a sensitive issue as it implicates the self and how it is perceived…The experienced performer...

18 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

TRAJECTORY OF A PLAYER’S...

On RF's latest diary entry, June 18, 2020: Reflectings: the trajectory of a player’s life,...

Jun 21, 2020

The Guitar Circle

12.34 Rising 06.30. Morning Sitting in the Study. Straight to writing. Firstly, a reply to an important query. Then to new material for inclusion in The Guitar Circle. The Cellar, practicing c. 10.45. Down the garden… … and lunch by the back door… 15.23 I Advance Masked – Day Ninety-One… … and back to the Cellar, a guitarist once more. 18.40 ...

20 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

18.10 Rising 06.00. In the shower room, seeing more clearly how a particular player sees themself, how this predicates all interactions with others, and how this led them to great disappointment: the world did not see that player as they see themself. Morning Sitting, and Advancing Masked onto the street… … returning straight to The Guitar Circle. The first time this season: picking our own vegetables for lunch…...

21 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

THREE DIARIES

Three new diary entries have just been published: Friday 19th, Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st of,...

Jun 25, 2020

The Guitar Circle

09.53 Rising 06.00. Shortly afterwards, in the top shower room, a sense of how to arrange new material in Chapter Four of The Guitar Circle. Morning Exercising down the garden, and reflecting. The same act, with intention and without intention, is two acts. A competent musician is asked to have the capacity to solo/lead, accompany / support, and Do Nothing / tacit. Each of these has seven distinct qualities /modes: seven degrees and approache...

23 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

AN ETHICAL UNDERTAKING

...The notion of a group We, or shared Individuality, has never been overtly discussed in KC. In...

Jun 28, 2020

The Guitar Circle

14.15 Rising c. 05.55. Morning exercising down the garden. Morning reading and writing… Morning listening: Beethoven – The Late Quartets. To The Guitar Circle. The garden at noon… Lunch by the back door… 16.45 Toyah and myself accepted an invitation to the Vicarage for tea, in an English vica...

24 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

TEMPERED ALACRITY

16.45 Toyah and myself accepted an invitation to the Vicarage for tea, in an English...

Jun 29, 2020

The Guitar Circle

Rising 05.56. Morning Exercising down the garden. Morning reading and writing… Anthony Blake… https://www.academia.edu/18319513/The_Systematics_Code?email_work_card=title. Reflecting: The direction of a player’s attention. Where the physical activity of playing is more important to the player than its musical meaning. At a King Crimson performance, greeting the Royal Package, the differentiation is made between Outsid...

25 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

THE RICHEST PLACE TO BE

Reflecting: The direction of a player’s attention. Where the physical activity of playing is...

Jun 29, 2020

The Guitar Circle

09.42 Rising 06.00. Morning Sitting in the Study.Morning reading and writing… Reflecting. I had begun to believe that my attention was mostly and currently directed towards being a working player, a member of the exceptional current King Crimson ensemble; and soon beginning-again with The Guitar Circle. Even given postponements to each, these are presently-ongoing creative activities. Director Toby Amies, of the KC DVD Cosmic Fu...

27 Jun 2020

The Guitar Circle

CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

Reflecting. I had begun to believe that my attention was mostly and currently directed towards...

Jun 30, 2020

The Guitar Circle

08.47 Rising 06.17. Toyah appeared shortly afterwards to make me jump. Morning Sitting in the Study.Morning reading and writing… Listening: a mix of string quartets. Reflecting. Q: Present in one sentence, as if speaking to a child, the essence of what you have learned from fifty-one years of King Crimson performing on an international stage.A: It is impossible for...

02 Jul 2020

The Guitar Circle

IMPOSSIBLE AND YET...

Q: Present in one sentence, as if speaking to a child, the essence of what you have learned from...

Jul 3, 2020

The Guitar Circle

TOYAH, SIMON AND BOBBY WILLCOX

Reflecting: on future writing. The final draft of The Guitar Circle is in the hands of editors...

Jul 24, 2020

The Guitar Circle

11.29 Rising 06.45. I Advance Masked – Day One-Hundred & Sixty Two… On the street to acquire T’s Sunday reading… A report on recent arisings, for those with sufficient interest in these diarisitic and journalising witterings, since the last DGM Diary entry for Wednesday 12th. August… https://www.dgmlive.com/diaries/Robert%20Fripp/rf-diary-august12-2020 https://www.facebook.com/notes/robert-frip...

30 Aug 2020

The Guitar Circle

RF'S DIARY, UPDATED!

...There may be leaders in the music industry who address their responsibilities as a spiritual...

Sep 2, 2020

The Guitar Circle

12.02 Rising 06.45. Morning Sitting in the Study.Morning reading and writing. A report, for those with sufficient interest in recent arisings here in Bredonborough, since the last DGM Diary entry on Sunday 30th. August. Me and a book is a party. Me and a book and a cup of coffee is an orgy. Mucho recent orgiastic activity here in the Home Study. More accurately described, a continuing orgiastic undertaking. Well read? Doubtful, despite the b...

19 Sep 2020

The Guitar Circle

MUCH MORE IS GOING ON

A report, for those with sufficient interest in recent arisings here in Bredonborough, since the...

Sep 20, 2020

The Guitar Circle

MORNING REFLECTING...

Nov 15, 2020

The Guitar Circle

INTRO TO GC WITH RF

The Introduction To The Guitar Circle with Robert Fripp's, postponed from last year, is going ahead...

Jun 14, 2021

The Guitar Circle

ON THIS DAY...

Today, An Introduction To The Guitar Circle begins: https://robertfrippsguitarcircle.com/ 14 years...

Aug 16, 2021

The Guitar Circle

A PRIMARY AIM...

A primary aim of work in The Guitar Circle is to generate, support and develop the arising of...

Aug 18, 2021

The Guitar Circle

ON THIS DAY...

Today, An Introduction To The Guitar Circle with RF completes. Everyone will be leaving through this...

Aug 20, 2021

The Guitar Circle

A SECOND GUITAR CIRCLE COURSE

On RF's Facebook today: We are preparing for a second Guitar Circle course at Glen Cove, Long...

Oct 13, 2021

The Guitar Circle

ST GEORGE'S CABIN

06.40St. George’s Cabin.A good night’s sleep. Morning Sitting at 07.15.09.12 Raining on the way to the Chapel for the sitting.Breakfast at 08.00.Words presented on quiet journeying: talking is expensive.Our Kitchen Co-Ordinator remarked on a violation of the kitchen rules. This has repercussions that spread out into the course. The gist was this: any action with care may honour the sacred. Any careless action, partic...

29 Oct 2009

The Guitar Circle

RF'S DIARY, UPDATED!

RF's diary has just been updated... On Sunday 5th. December, 2021: A Better Quality Of....

Dec 6, 2021

The Guitar Circle

09.38Bredonborough.Morning reading...… in the Home Study. Thomas Philpott’s new Bookshelves Of Wonder And Groaningness I...II...… tower above where I am sitting, at a sofa-desk of the period variety. No sofa is in sight, but the extended width allows me three computers in a row of whirring buzzingnesses; and a little more space to be covered with stuff, stuff and stuff. A mix of string quartets from Strauss, Verdi,...

10 Dec 2014

The Guitar Circle

THE GUITAR CIRCLE 2022

The Guitar Circle with Robert Fripp 2022 is confirmed! An invitation by RF... Anyone...

Dec 10, 2021

The Guitar Circle

CASA STELLA MARIS CAORLE ITALY

09.12Casa Stella Maris, Caorle, Italy.Rising 06.12.Introducing the Practice of Doing Nothing to the Beginners at 07.30.Breakfast at 08.00.Silence visited strongly.Q. How do you teach Silence?A. By being silent.Q. How do you become silent?A. By allowing space for Silence to enter.Director Nunez suggested a guitar meeting for the Beginners. This has been called for 10.00 in t...

14 Jan 2014

The Guitar Circle

ENLIGHTENING DEEP-DIVE...

The Guitar Circle book by RF has been reviewed in the latest issue of Prog Magazine... The...

Sep 13, 2022

The Guitar Circle

QUINTA TONANTZIN RETREAT,...

09.37Rising at 05.59.Morning Sitting with the Intro Team: 07.15 for 07.30.Breakfast at 08.00. After perhaps 25 minutes, Silence visited and was accepted. Out of the Silence, reports on the Acting From Initiative work of the Intro Team yesterday evening, taking turns to be in the middle of the Circle.When assuming the role of leader of the Circle, we don’t claim to be any better than anyone else, but we have a role to assume.Whether the lead...

01 Feb 2013

The Guitar Circle

WRITINGS BY RF

Writings by RF continue to be published weekly on guitarcraft.com - the publishing day has been...

Feb 10, 2023

The Guitar Circle

17.01 Rising at 05.30 at Chez Horse in Chiswick, final closing of the suitcase at 05.55, kissing the Little Luvvie goodbye, and in the car and off by 06.10. However one might choose to drive to Stansted Airport from Chiswick, the route sucks. The North Circular is an obvious option, but it sucks. The main alternative – M4 west, M25 clockwise to Junction 27, M11N to Junction 8 – is longer at around 72 miles. But it has the promise of...

23 Jan 2002

The Guitar Circle

08.47 Rise at 06.45, sitting at 07.30, breakfast at 08.07. Frank Sheldon has arrived, a significant addition to the course. Frank is the senior Alexander Teacher in Guitar Craft and all GC courses, although that description doesn’t accurately reflect what Frank does. More properly, it doesn’t describe what Frank is. Frank was at Sherborne House & Claymont, and has been part of Guitar Craft courses from the early days. He current...

24 Jan 2002

The Guitar Circle

CONVENTO DI S. MARIA DELLA...

07.09 Up at 06.28 after a succession of disturbed dreams that I do not own for mine. Now, showered, exercised, off to the Practice Of Doing nothing: do nothing – as much as you can. 09.05 Hernan has just left after delivering a list of participants in these courses; then bringing me up to date on various arriving students & the progress of various Crafties who have visited Europe from distant locations. Our I...

25 Jan 2002

The Guitar Circle

07.08 Up at 06.30, now gently exercised & showered. There was the strange case of the dog barking in the night. But, unlike Watson’s comment to Holmes, there was a dog barking in the night. It must have come from the village nearby & been horrendously loud for its keeper. Here, it was loud enough to wake me up around 02.35 and keep me awake for a while. Now, off to the sitting. 08.51 A busy morning ahead for all:...

26 Jan 2002

The Guitar Circle

07.09 There was the strange case of the dog was barking in the night, again. The strange thing was, it is still barking in the night. The barking was going at 05.07 and also at 07.00. I wonder who lives near this dog. Up at 06.30, showered & exercised, now to the Sitting. 08.41 Hernan & Frank chatting about Crafties from the early days, several of whom crop up in the Dear Crafty letters which I am collating. The history of the Re...

27 Jan 2002

The Guitar Circle

07.11 Waking at 00.25 after some 90 minutes sleep to guitar practising in the house and the dog barking. Went back to sleep around 01.05 and then woke with the convent bells at 06.00. Rising at 06.30, now showered & exercised. 09.02 Martin & The MBs are meeting the Level One at 09.15 for a morning of lateral fingering on C major / A natural minor, and personal meetings are erupting everywhere. My personal meetings begin at 09.30 a...

28 Jan 2002

The Guitar Circle

11.13 At breakfast I asked how I might help the various teams. A Level One student suggested I helped them with their attention. What to say of attention? Attention is a property of the will. What is will? Will doesn’t exist but acts on & through what does exist. Perhaps this is more easily understood as an urge, or impulse. So, we experience an urge to live & do through the body, an urge to be through the feelings, and an urge to...

29 Jan 2002

The Guitar Circle

09.54 Personal meetings with the Level One are underway. At breakfast Hernan reported that a Level One asked him how he could tell his wife that everything has changed. RF: clean the bathroom & do the washing up. The courses asked what they needed, at breakfast. Level One is learning Eye of the Needle in response to their expressed needs: work in small groups & in the large group. Level One are working in either a committed group for...

30 Jan 2002

The Guitar Circle

08.44 Hernan has dropped in to report on the rehearsals & preparations of The LCG last night, and how he sees the performance tonight. At breakfast the Level One character responsible for ringing the morning bell stood up and apologised for failing to do so this morning, offering to do the dish washing this evening as a gesture of apology; and promising to “try to do better” tomorrow. But this is not enough. A point of reliabili...

31 Jan 2002

The Guitar Circle

07.06 A sense of the next step for GC in Europe has flown by. It has become clearer than even before that, in order to accept my own responsibilities to the more experienced students within GC, that my attention cannot continue to be directed towards characters who have little alertness and a poor sense of personal presence. This is not a problem: it doesn’t matter that a large proportion of the Level One students are clueless, it matte...

01 Feb 2002

The Guitar Circle

07.52 The missing two Level One students appeared last night while the Staff were in congreting mode. The lick-slinger was very drunk, too drunk to stand. He was laid out on his bed. The second character told the House Manager that they had been “in an accident”. Whether or not this was before or after the “pizza and three bottles of wine” is not known. Their suitcases were put in the car. They were walking down the stair...

02 Feb 2002

The Guitar Circle

10.28 15.36 Ralph Verde, co-registrar with Bill Forth, collected me from The Upham in Santa Barbara at 11.26, 4 minutes ahead of time. We visited a bag shop at the bottom of State Street where I acquired a softcase for this Apple G4, to reinforce its traveling capabilities. The drive here, of around 30 minutes, is through some beautiful landscapes. A team of experienced Crafties were already here, the Kitchen Team preparing lunch for 13.3...

11 Feb 2002

The Guitar Circle

06.32 Rising at 06.00 to a chilly morn. The water was hot, here in Director Lodge and up the slope from the meeting cabins, but only after a very cold spirtle that brought the animal closer to life. 08.15 A full sitting withy roaring fire: this is a first. Also a first: the posting of the Guitar Craft House Rules on the notice board. These are called at the first meal, prior to the formal & official beginning of a course at the Inaugu...

12 Feb 2002

The Guitar Circle

06.35Last 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...

13 Feb 2002

The Guitar Circle

09.19 Valentine’s Day, even at a GC course! I’ve left messages on T’s mobile & at Chez Horse in London, although a call to her office tells me she’s in Leeds on a tv show, so I’ll call later. Also a call to my Sister in San Francisco. Breakfast – conferring with the MB’s regarding the day. Rob R. would like a course in the Atlanta area. Discussion with Tom regarding the future organization of Guitar...

14 Feb 2002

The Guitar Circle

06.32 The year long project, beginning in the second half of 2006, flew by to visit at 06.15 while I was in the shower. What for today, here, I wonder? 08.16 Very good & interesting contrapuntal performance by The Lab Rats at breakfast, and the first time I recall counterpoint being this explicit in a home-grown Guitar Craft piece. Rob Rushin, who seemed to be leading the group, formed the Atlanta Guitar Circle not long ago and,...

15 Feb 2002

The Guitar Circle

08.03 At breakfast Matt G. played his solo, with woolly hat drawn down over his face, very honourably & enegetically; for which he received a standing ovation. House meeting for Levels One & Two at 08.45 to present the work of the day. 08.19 A sense of the 2006-7 project flew by in the shower again this morning. It is connected to a powerful dream I had during my first night at Sherborne House in October 1975. This was a few day...

16 Feb 2002

The Guitar Circle

HOTEL QUITE ACCEPTABLE, SANTA...

07.20 At the morning sitting, my place in the rear row was surrounded by a pile of pillows, sheets & blankets left by the departing team. Ralph V. appeared late last night during the packing & winding down to let me know that my `bus is now at 08.50. So, into a final de-vibration, packing & cleaning of the sink, then it’s about-to-be-becoming-having-been-gone time. Hotel Quite Acceptable, Santa Barbara. 14.11 My Wife is...

17 Feb 2002

The Guitar Circle

CONVENTO LA PACE,,...

08.53Waking at 06.00 with the bells, rising at 06.10.Morning Sitting at 07.15.Breakfast at 08.00.A wonderful new Gaucho aphorism was announced at breakfast: Welcome the expected.This aphorism is authentic, and carved on an inside wall of The Basement. It is precisely applicable to the strummers in last night’s Orchestra: pumping away at what they knew & would not leave; because to do so would threaten their sense of identity – the...

22 Mar 2010

The Guitar Circle

GC'S 38TH ANNIVERSARY

On this day, in 1985 the first Guitar Craft course began. A message from RF to the Guitar Craft &...

Mar 25, 2023

The Guitar Circle

MONASTERO S. MARIA DELLE...

09.33The Orchestra Of Crafty Guitarists V –Special Performance Project  - April 15th to 23rd, 2012 Foresteria Sorelle Povere di S. Chiara Monastero s. Maria Delle Grazie  - Corso Vittorio Emanuele III n. 68 01010 - Farnese (VT), Italy.Rising at 06.15.Morning Sitting at 07.15.Two new faces at breakfast. One is a Crafty from Italy; the other is Dr. Mike, who arrived last night from Vancouver. Dr. Mike was speaking at a North American conferen...

19 Apr 2012

The Guitar Circle

11.33 The sky is blue, the sun is shining, hard frost delineates the forms & shapes of buildings & garden. I am missing my Wife very much but this afternoon she will be home. Yippee! Meanwhile, our Wonder-Cleaning-Lady Heather & Wonder-Builder Mark have been at work, cleaning the downstairs rooms & clearing blocked gutters respectively. My own e-flurrying addresses various concerns from Crafties & the promotion department o...

07 Jan 2003

The Guitar Circle

VILLA MERCEDES / PADRES...

21.14 Villa Mercedes / Padres Claretianos, Calle San Pascual N 3, esquina travesía San Pascual, 28 460 Los Molinos, Madrid, España. The source of our knowing is of greater value than the extent of our knowledge. My suitcase didn't make the flight transfer from United & Los Angeles to British Airways & Madrid. But Alain & Martin were at the airport to meet me and we arrived safely at the house in Los Molinos, a small v...

21 Jan 2003

The Guitar Circle

18.49 Hooray! My suitcase arrived at the front door two hours ago. I am now warmer, with fleece & thermal vest, and with clean socks. My razor arrived as well. My night was mainly sleepless & I rose at 12.45. Spent this afternoon gently arriving with borrowed guitar & catching up with old GC compadres. The house is filling rapidly, and many of the very first Crafties are here: Curt Golden & Claude Gillet from the very first GC c...

22 Jan 2003

The Guitar Circle

09.14 A second almost-sleepless night although both nights have had dreams with my Wife in them. This is most welcome to me because I miss her terribly. To bed at 23.35, awake at 01.00. Perhaps I fell asleep about 05.30 or 06.00. The front door spring & many feet on the staircase had me awake at 08.06. For most of the night I found myself planning a Big Time Boogie and/or Big Time Blues for the Big Time Trio, all three of whom are here this...

23 Jan 2003

The Guitar Circle

09.50 A third sleepless, or relatively sleepless, night. In bed at 22.45, awake at midnight, perhaps falling asleep around 04.00, waking again at 05.36 before rising at 06.30. At 06.30 in this house hot water for the shower is not yet hot. This assists an alert entry to the day. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the temperature brisk. Buffet breakfast took 20 minutes for everyone to file past & help themselves from the table. Frank poin...

24 Jan 2003

The Guitar Circle

14.26 The Level Two members are enjoying their lunch. At the end of our 12.15 meeting they were still somewhat undecided on which notes belonged to the scale of C major ascending & descending in alternating octaves, and opted for the Pig Crossing The Road Strategy - Total Commitment (based on a motivational story that my Sister used to tell). On this occasion it involved the Level Two staying in the chapel until the exercise was honourably d...

26 Jan 2003

The Guitar Circle

08.07 A long queue for breakfast outside the door, as usual, although serving has improved. But big excitements: this morning there was hot water in the shower! Not warm-cold water, or very-cold cold water, but very hot water. I used this sparingly, and emerged from the shower grateful. There is merit, and blessing, and reward for those who undertake necessary work; attenuated to the degree that this work is undertaken in the anticipation of me...

27 Jan 2003

The Guitar Circle

08.34 An earlier schedule for this morning: rising at 06.30 and sitting at 07.00, breakfast at 07.45. The dining room had been re-arranged to allow for faster traffic flows. Generally, this seems to have been successful. Today I have 7 hours of personal meetings, the first 3 hours with guitars. 14.38 Several performances at lunch, mainly of the therapeutic variety. Good comments on the morning's work, and particularly of yesterday evening's m...

28 Jan 2003

The Guitar Circle

08.33 There were late-night footsteps on the corridor above my head, the feet of guitarists aspiring to performance & rehearsing into the early hours. At breakfast: a superb performance of an octet circulating Bach, led by Martin; a new Hell Boys song played on Grace (Tom Hell Boy's post-coma guitar) and The Big Time Trio with In The Mood, plus a solo song. Victor leaves the course this morning for a gig in Boston, supporting The Californi...

29 Jan 2003

The Guitar Circle

07.43 Less numbers at the sitting this morning. The walk between buildings is brisk & snow is on the ground. Wind whistles. Outside my door, the breakfast queue queues, but in the anticipation of more rapid access to food & drink. 08.35 Comments over breakfast on the performance. A good one: what to do, after a performance, with the energy that becomes available in the performance? And some info from the large Kitchen Team that played...

30 Jan 2003

The Guitar Circle

08.00 Snow in the night: the path between the buildings was covered at 06.50. The breakfast queue has returned. 08.40 Breakfast service has returned to dysfunctional. Debra sang a song that, while not quite ready to be born, was pushed into active service nevertheless. For this the lights were turned off. Afterwards there was quiet and, as the shutters of the dining room were opened, the emerging light of day & snow whisked into flurries...

31 Jan 2003

The Guitar Circle

09.17 The team is moving out. Many have already left, some on foot for the station around 06.00, some in vehicles beginning around the same time & in several shifts since. Feet above my head and running water woke me around 05.36. Morning sitting in the ballroom at 07.00 for those that wished to be there, with breakfast available from 07.45. My own packing is now 97% done and I am on call with Martin & Fernando for an airport run at 10....

01 Feb 2003

The Guitar Circle

DGM HQ.

17.29 David & I are Tone Probing away in DGM SoundWorld. We have several concerns that are calling for our attention. Much to my ire, I had to cancel today's session at Studio Eno to be here and address those concerns. Unable to contact Brian at his studio, I called his mobile & found him huff-puffing away on his bicycle in Acton. Brian is, he suggests, busy enough to be able to fill his day without me & promised he will continue to...

04 Feb 2003

The Guitar Circle