Tuning Slide 5.8-

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.
— Zhuangzi

I have talked before about Tai Chi/Qigong as great practices for musicians (and anyone, for that matter!) Tai Chi is a traditional Chinese martial art now practiced for its health benefits and meditation. Many forms of Tai Chi are done in slow, even, practiced movements. I have been doing variations of Tai Chi over the past 8 or so years, though never with the ongoing discipline that it takes to become more than just a beginner. I have found it nothing short of remarkable and able to build changes and a sense of serenity. In my readings and study of Tai Chi and its cousin, Qigong, there are a number of concepts that I have found important that come into play for daily life.

◦ Energy- Chi (qi)
⁃ Gathering- Part of Tai Chi movements is to gather energy and keep it moving around the body. Sometimes it is in the action that appears to be a gathering movement, pulling the energy into oneself. Other times it is an action of sharing energy with others and the world. Both are essential to healthy living- to give and to receive flow from and into each other. Isn’t that what music is about?

◦ Breath
⁃ Oxygen, flow- In the energy above is the movement of oxygen throughout the body. Breath is an essential part of life, but to do it mindfully in connection with movement allows the flow of the oxygen to happen. It infuses the body and all we do, including our music, with breath and spirit.

◦ Stretching, Flexibility, and movement
⁃ Not rigid or tense- It is much more difficult to play when rigid; everything comes out compressed and flat, choked off. In the movements of Tai Chi, we discover the ease of movement and learn to stretch physically and musically. Rigidity causes injury as it attempts to stand tough. Flow allows for movement- like a beautifully melodic, legato passage of the soul.

◦ Inner Cleansing
⁃ Turning it over. Get rid of the mental, emotional, spiritual toxins through certain movements and flows of Tai Chi. Picture the stuff holding you back as being cleansed from your system. If you can get rid of that before you play, it won’t come out through the horn!

◦ Balance
⁃ Grace, stay away from extremes. Under everything in Tai Chi is balance, the Yin and Yang of life. To go to any extreme of action puts us into the danger of injury or narrowed vision. A trumpet player who only knows how to play loud will find they are limited in what they can play. They miss the subtle beauty that the trumpet can also produce. To play too softly all the time means no one gets to hear the range of the instrument. Balance. In all things, balance.

◦ Openness
⁃ Hope, life opportunities, possibilities- As we become flexible, we see that we do not need to be held within whatever boxes we have made for ourselves. We begin to see new possibilities and embrace them, gather them in and become more flexible in what we think and do.

◦ Contraction and relaxing
⁃ Reaching & gathering, letting go and bringing in. Some movements in Tai Chi can have a number of these benefits. Actions of openness stretching, or gathering can also be movements of relaxation. The tightening (contraction) and relaxing of muscles or movements can be a combination of letting go and then bringing in new ideas and methods. Balance can always be found if we are ready for it.

◦ Centering
⁃ Overcoming restlessness, irritability, discontent, lack of focus. The mindfulness activities of Tai Chi allow centering to bring us into the focus of our music, our lives, our values. Those long tones we can start each day’s practice with- that is one of the best trumpet centering tools. Listen and notice the movement and then hear it (feel it!) center into the full richness it can have. Do a slow chromatic up or down, but don’t move to the next note until the current one is centered. Listen. It is amazing how it works within us as well.

When putting this together I found a couple of articles online with Joe Rea Phillips, a professional musician and martial arts practitioner. One was at Mindful Musician and the other at International Musician. They both talk about some of the ways Tai Chi and music go together, according to Phillips.

Here’s a list from International Musician:

Musicians can develop internal principles common to those in tai chi and enhance their musicianship and ability. Phillips states that shared requirements of tai chi and music performance are:
• relaxation and centeredness
• discipline and constant practice
• a clear mind
• visualization
• memorization
• slow practice
• rhythmic flow
• artistic expression
• being in-tune with one’s inner self

It’s easy to see how these fit with the thoughts above. Notice three things that are important in this list.
• A clear mind
• Slow practice
• Rhythmic flow

• Have you ever noticed that when your mind is cluttered or even just slightly distracted, that your sound falls away, you get lost in a piece, or something disintegrates? Keep the mind clear- and centered and this is less likely to happen. The experience of Tai Chi practice can help that mindful activity.
• How about that bugaboo of many of us who want to just practice the passage at speed? That doesn’t allow the music to move within us or move through us. It keeps us from being conduits of the music and turns us into music production machines. Practicing slowly is the way to get faster passages to sing.
• What about going with the flow, the rhythm of the music? That is as important as the sound. Fall into synch with the music, your neighbor in the section, the band as a unit, and you will struggle a great deal less with the music.

Look for Tai Chi or Qigong in your community. Practice it as you would your music. (I am still struggling with this one!) Let your music flow. What a gift of the grace of music.