In a previous post I discussed the profound influence that Sean "Day[9]" Plott has had on my way of thinking. Day[9] is a former professional gamer and current "shoutcaster" for StarCraft II, a real-time strategy game that has become the world's most popular e-sport. In addition to being a hilarious lad, Day[9] makes an effort to find universal life lessons in the world of gaming, much as I attempt to do with music.
It would be difficult to succinctly summarize StarCraft II in its entirety, but the most important aspect to understand is, arguably, the vital importance of multitasking. At any given moment, a player might need to produce units, purchase upgrades, construct buildings, attack his enemy's base, and defend his own base all at the same time. In order to make this happen seamlessly, high-level players must move their hands with incredible precision and speed, racking up hundreds upon hundreds of key presses and mouse clicks every minute.
When a lower-level player wants to improve his control over a particular action, such as building mineral harvesters, Day[9] suggests a fairly simple remedy: bring that action to the top of your priority list and keep it there. Even if there are much more important actions to deal with at any point in time, you are not allowed to attend to them until after you have completed the action at the top of the list. If done correctly, the player will experience two effects as a result of this exercise: one is a series of crushing defeats as a result of their skewed multitasking. The other is a rapid improvement in their handling of one gameplay element, to the point that they can consistently do it well without even having to think about it anymore.
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Today at around noon, I got back to Boston after spending Thanksgiving weekend in Connecticut. With only a few weeks until finals start, I've got a lot to do in the next 72 hours: I've got the final draft of a paper and a real analysis problem set due tomorrow afternoon, lighting designs for six dance performances that need to be done by Tuesday night, a group theory quiz on Thursday morning, and a computer science project due on Thursday night. So what was the first thing I did when I got back to my apartment? I played guitar for two hours and wrote a blog post, of course. Why? Because music is at the top of my priority list, plain and simple.
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Week 22 total: 18 hours
Grand total: 536.5 hours
Required pace: 423 hours (+113.5)
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
The Simplest Things
"What was it you wanted to talk to me about? Getting stuck with your research?" asked the professor. The graduate student shook his head. "No, I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to generalize Nishimura's work on singularities of one-parameter pedal unfoldings in R-3," he replied, the words gliding smoothly out of his mouth. The professor nodded slowly. "I assume you intend to analyze pedal unfoldings with more parameters?" he asked. "Actually," said the student, "I wanted to look at R-n." The professor cocked his head to one side and frowned. "That's... quite ambitious." He stared blankly at his whiteboard, as he often did whenever his seasoned gears began turning. After a few moments, he pulled himself back to reality. "So what are you having trouble with?"
The graduate student looked away, idly scratching his head. "Well, I'm grading homework problems in my calculus class, and there's this one exercise I can't figure out..."
----
At some point during the past few weeks I was lying awake at night, pondering the various things that one ponders, when a question suddenly popped into my head: "What is the simplest thing that I cannot do consistently?" Over the days that followed, I continued to think about that question while practicing guitar, searching for those exercises and patterns that were deceptive in their level of difficulty.
After a few days of noodling around, I devised a series of exercises designed to improve independence between the fingers on my left hand and those on my right. Using my roommate's bass, I would take a finger pattern on my left hand, such as index-pinky-middle, and play it at each position on the fretboard twice. The tricky part is that I would play the notes using an arbitrary pattern on my right hand, such as middle-ring-index. When the two finger patterns are similar, the exercise is easy. When they are completely different, as is often the case for the four-finger exercises, it becomes very tricky to coordinate both at the same time. Overall, there are 1296 exercises total, of which I have completed 816 in the past three weeks. Thrilling, as you can imagine.
In the past, I've discussed the philosophy of only working on one's strengths, which has been fervently advocated by the legendary Steve Vai in many of his interviews. It may seem that these two ideas are contradictory: if one is working on the simplest thing that one cannot do, then one must surely not be working on one's strengths, right? When I first realized this, I thought to myself, "Hmm, you're right, you rugged man-beast." But after thinking it through, I no longer agree that there is a contradiction. "Actually, you're wrong, you useless bag of cocks. Go back to the dumpster from whence you came."
It is true that many of the answers to the question "What is the simplest thing I cannot do?" lie within the realm of my weaknesses. My pinch harmonics are not consistent, I can't sweep upwards for shit, and I find rapid alternate picking to be much more difficult on the higher strings than on the low strings. But the exercises I described above are intended to improve independence, something I consider to be one of my greatest strengths as a musician.
I find it helpful to think of individual skills and techniques as vectors. Developing one's strengths often means extending the vectors that are already relatively long, but it's important to remember that the number of directions in which a vector can extend is infinite. This means that no matter how good you are at a particular set of skills, there will always be a very similar skill that is not as developed.
----
The graduate student finished writing out his work on the whiteboard. "So this is the answer I got, but it doesn't agree with the answer in the back of the book. At first I thought it was a typo, but almost all of the students got that answer, and none of them had the same answer as I did. I know I'm integrating correctly since my answer is only off by two, but I can't figure out what I did wrong."
The professor looked over the calculations for just a few moments, then slowly turned to face the student. "You do realize that cosine of pi is negative one, not positive one, right?" The graduate student blinked. "Oh. Yeah, I... that was... well, thanks for the help!"
----
Week 21 total: 25.5 hours
Grand total: 518 hours
Required pace: 404 hours (+114)
The graduate student looked away, idly scratching his head. "Well, I'm grading homework problems in my calculus class, and there's this one exercise I can't figure out..."
----
At some point during the past few weeks I was lying awake at night, pondering the various things that one ponders, when a question suddenly popped into my head: "What is the simplest thing that I cannot do consistently?" Over the days that followed, I continued to think about that question while practicing guitar, searching for those exercises and patterns that were deceptive in their level of difficulty.
After a few days of noodling around, I devised a series of exercises designed to improve independence between the fingers on my left hand and those on my right. Using my roommate's bass, I would take a finger pattern on my left hand, such as index-pinky-middle, and play it at each position on the fretboard twice. The tricky part is that I would play the notes using an arbitrary pattern on my right hand, such as middle-ring-index. When the two finger patterns are similar, the exercise is easy. When they are completely different, as is often the case for the four-finger exercises, it becomes very tricky to coordinate both at the same time. Overall, there are 1296 exercises total, of which I have completed 816 in the past three weeks. Thrilling, as you can imagine.
In the past, I've discussed the philosophy of only working on one's strengths, which has been fervently advocated by the legendary Steve Vai in many of his interviews. It may seem that these two ideas are contradictory: if one is working on the simplest thing that one cannot do, then one must surely not be working on one's strengths, right? When I first realized this, I thought to myself, "Hmm, you're right, you rugged man-beast." But after thinking it through, I no longer agree that there is a contradiction. "Actually, you're wrong, you useless bag of cocks. Go back to the dumpster from whence you came."
It is true that many of the answers to the question "What is the simplest thing I cannot do?" lie within the realm of my weaknesses. My pinch harmonics are not consistent, I can't sweep upwards for shit, and I find rapid alternate picking to be much more difficult on the higher strings than on the low strings. But the exercises I described above are intended to improve independence, something I consider to be one of my greatest strengths as a musician.
I find it helpful to think of individual skills and techniques as vectors. Developing one's strengths often means extending the vectors that are already relatively long, but it's important to remember that the number of directions in which a vector can extend is infinite. This means that no matter how good you are at a particular set of skills, there will always be a very similar skill that is not as developed.
The graduate student finished writing out his work on the whiteboard. "So this is the answer I got, but it doesn't agree with the answer in the back of the book. At first I thought it was a typo, but almost all of the students got that answer, and none of them had the same answer as I did. I know I'm integrating correctly since my answer is only off by two, but I can't figure out what I did wrong."
The professor looked over the calculations for just a few moments, then slowly turned to face the student. "You do realize that cosine of pi is negative one, not positive one, right?" The graduate student blinked. "Oh. Yeah, I... that was... well, thanks for the help!"
----
Week 21 total: 25.5 hours
Grand total: 518 hours
Required pace: 404 hours (+114)
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Identify
"Charlie, there are two kinds of thieves in this world: The ones who steal to enrich their lives, and those who steal to define their lives. Don't be the latter."
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A few weeks ago, my good friend Tovah announced that she was planning to visit Boston this weekend. I freaked out with excitement for two reasons: the first was simply because I hadn't seen her in nearly a year, as she no longer goes to school here. The second was because she is one of a very small number of my friends who seem to effortlessly and fundamentally understand my ideals as a musician. None of this "Oh, that's nice, but it sure would be great if you played more big chords" bullshit that I occasionally have to deal with. And it's not "Holy dicks this is the most amazing thing I've ever heard in the history of forever I will worship the ground you walk on!!!!shiftone!!elevenfactorial" either. She just gets it.
Naturally, I assumed that at some point this weekend I would get to play some of my new music for her, as was the case the last time she visited. During my Group Theory class on Monday, I took a break from staring blankly at the wall and started making a list of songs I had finished that Tovah hadn't heard. Over the past week, I spent a good chunk of practice time going over those songs, refining difficult passages and, in some cases, relearning them altogether.
Earlier today, we wandered through Boston Commons and various other patches of green, something I would never think to do on my own, but which I always enjoy as long as I have some interesting creature to talk to. When we finally made our way back to campus, Tovah realized that there wasn't enough time for our traditional one-on-one concert, as she had to meet up with someone for dinner. And you know what? I was totally fine with that. In fact, I am glad of it. While I like being able to identify myself in terms of something that I am passionate about, it is nice to be reassured that I am capable of having conversations that serve a purpose other than to kill time until I get my hands on my guitar again. It's a wonderful thing when music can bring people together, but I would never want my music to be merely a gimmick upon which I construct one-dimensional friendships.
----
Week 20 total: 24.5 hours
Grand total: 492.5 hours
Required pace: 384.5 hours (+108)
----
A few weeks ago, my good friend Tovah announced that she was planning to visit Boston this weekend. I freaked out with excitement for two reasons: the first was simply because I hadn't seen her in nearly a year, as she no longer goes to school here. The second was because she is one of a very small number of my friends who seem to effortlessly and fundamentally understand my ideals as a musician. None of this "Oh, that's nice, but it sure would be great if you played more big chords" bullshit that I occasionally have to deal with. And it's not "Holy dicks this is the most amazing thing I've ever heard in the history of forever I will worship the ground you walk on!!!!shiftone!!elevenfactorial" either. She just gets it.
Naturally, I assumed that at some point this weekend I would get to play some of my new music for her, as was the case the last time she visited. During my Group Theory class on Monday, I took a break from staring blankly at the wall and started making a list of songs I had finished that Tovah hadn't heard. Over the past week, I spent a good chunk of practice time going over those songs, refining difficult passages and, in some cases, relearning them altogether.
Earlier today, we wandered through Boston Commons and various other patches of green, something I would never think to do on my own, but which I always enjoy as long as I have some interesting creature to talk to. When we finally made our way back to campus, Tovah realized that there wasn't enough time for our traditional one-on-one concert, as she had to meet up with someone for dinner. And you know what? I was totally fine with that. In fact, I am glad of it. While I like being able to identify myself in terms of something that I am passionate about, it is nice to be reassured that I am capable of having conversations that serve a purpose other than to kill time until I get my hands on my guitar again. It's a wonderful thing when music can bring people together, but I would never want my music to be merely a gimmick upon which I construct one-dimensional friendships.
----
Week 20 total: 24.5 hours
Grand total: 492.5 hours
Required pace: 384.5 hours (+108)
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Perspectives
At about 9:45 AM on Wednesday, the Northeastern University Health and Safety Inspector knocked on the door of room 303. Upon being let inside by the Lebanese tenant, he proceeded to examine the kitchen, bathroom, and one of the bedrooms. From the other bedroom came the sounds of electric guitar music, but nothing that the inspector recognized. After chastising the Lebanese tenant for hanging clothing from the sprinkler system, he knocked on the door to the second bedroom. "Health and safety inspection. Can I come in?" From within he heard the response "Yup, come on in. Actually, I should put on pants first... alright, we're good to go."
The formerly pants-free occupant had returned to playing guitar. He appeared as though he hadn't shaven in days, and hadn't gotten a haircut in months. He looked up as the inspector entered and, grinning, chirped: "I accidentally slept late, so instead of running to class, I decided to play guitar. I'm a productive college student." The inspector rolled his eyes and began his duties. He immediately noticed a massive pile of clothing partially covering a surge protector. "Is this yours?" he asked. "Uh, no, that's my roommate's." The inspector made a note of the blatant fire code violation on his sheet, which he then tore off and handed to the occupant. As he left the apartment, he called over his shoulder "Go to class!"
Just another lazy, messy, irresponsible college student who thinks life is a joke.
----
On 9:34 AM on Wednesday, I woke up. I blankly stared at my phone, my thoughts alternating between "Why didn't my alarm clock go off?" and "Balls, my Group Theory class is already halfway over." This was the first time all semester I had slept in late and, if I didn't go, the second time I had missed a class for any reason (the first time was because I was invited to give a presentation about Wikipedia to a group of psychology PhD's; no big deal). I thought I had set my alarm extra early so I would have time to squeeze in a half hour of practice before class. Wednesdays are frequently my busiest day of the week in terms of classes and homework, so as much as I would like to sleep as late as possible, I force myself to practice in the morning in order to reach my bare minimum of two hours per day. After a bit of mental self-debating, I decided that I should just skip Group Theory. It would hardly even be worth it to scurry over there for the last twenty minutes of class, and I still needed to get a head start on my practicing.
After a few minutes of left hand exercises, I heard a knock on my bedroom door. "Health and safety inspection. Can I come in?" I instinctively called out "Yup, come on in" before realizing that he probably didn't want to see me sitting there in my boxers. "Actually, I should put on pants first... alright, we're good to go." As he entered, I decided to break the ice by cheerfully exclaiming "I accidentally slept late, so instead of running to class, I decided to play guitar. I'm a productive college student." He asked about the pile of dirty clothes sitting on top of a surge protector, which, in fact, belongs to my roommate. I mean really, would I ever wear a purple shirt? The inspector handed me his evaluation sheet and, as he left the apartment, called over his shoulder "Go to class!"
He probably assumed I was just another lazy, messy, irresponsible college student who thinks life is a joke.
----
Week 19 total: 29 hours
Grand total: 468 hours
Required pace: 365.5 hours (+102.5)
The formerly pants-free occupant had returned to playing guitar. He appeared as though he hadn't shaven in days, and hadn't gotten a haircut in months. He looked up as the inspector entered and, grinning, chirped: "I accidentally slept late, so instead of running to class, I decided to play guitar. I'm a productive college student." The inspector rolled his eyes and began his duties. He immediately noticed a massive pile of clothing partially covering a surge protector. "Is this yours?" he asked. "Uh, no, that's my roommate's." The inspector made a note of the blatant fire code violation on his sheet, which he then tore off and handed to the occupant. As he left the apartment, he called over his shoulder "Go to class!"
Just another lazy, messy, irresponsible college student who thinks life is a joke.
----
On 9:34 AM on Wednesday, I woke up. I blankly stared at my phone, my thoughts alternating between "Why didn't my alarm clock go off?" and "Balls, my Group Theory class is already halfway over." This was the first time all semester I had slept in late and, if I didn't go, the second time I had missed a class for any reason (the first time was because I was invited to give a presentation about Wikipedia to a group of psychology PhD's; no big deal). I thought I had set my alarm extra early so I would have time to squeeze in a half hour of practice before class. Wednesdays are frequently my busiest day of the week in terms of classes and homework, so as much as I would like to sleep as late as possible, I force myself to practice in the morning in order to reach my bare minimum of two hours per day. After a bit of mental self-debating, I decided that I should just skip Group Theory. It would hardly even be worth it to scurry over there for the last twenty minutes of class, and I still needed to get a head start on my practicing.
After a few minutes of left hand exercises, I heard a knock on my bedroom door. "Health and safety inspection. Can I come in?" I instinctively called out "Yup, come on in" before realizing that he probably didn't want to see me sitting there in my boxers. "Actually, I should put on pants first... alright, we're good to go." As he entered, I decided to break the ice by cheerfully exclaiming "I accidentally slept late, so instead of running to class, I decided to play guitar. I'm a productive college student." He asked about the pile of dirty clothes sitting on top of a surge protector, which, in fact, belongs to my roommate. I mean really, would I ever wear a purple shirt? The inspector handed me his evaluation sheet and, as he left the apartment, called over his shoulder "Go to class!"
He probably assumed I was just another lazy, messy, irresponsible college student who thinks life is a joke.
----
Week 19 total: 29 hours
Grand total: 468 hours
Required pace: 365.5 hours (+102.5)
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