Yamaha DX7, Prophet 5, and Roland Juno 60 to name a few. reflective thinking skills of teachers and how they perceive themselves and their teaching.
Starting a new pastime such as playing tennis, learning to paint, riding a horse, or listening to new types of music can provide a fun opportunity to reflect on what and how you are thinking and learning. In DeMarco’s case, the oldskool aesthetic cries out for beat-up old guitars, reel-to-reel tape recorders and more than a handful of authentic vintage synths to make us drool. Learning can occur in many forms and situations. (Yes, we are aware of the irony/hypocrisy of a music tech company saying this!) I think that this will be a superb addition to my personal Masonic practice, and I am very curious if others have built similar spaces for themselves.
This second novel in the series also involves a game of Jekyll and Hyde via some of the other main. Small enough to serve as my personal Chamber Of Reflection, yet large enough to be able to gather two or three together for mentoring through the Degrees. DeMarco’s choice of retro instruments and equipment further such an organic and casual take on recording, quite a refreshing change to most of today’s digital obsessed creatives. Of course, since this novel is intended for young readers (although adult readers also find it fascinating and alluring), Harry’s decisions reflect his moral upbringing and are tinged with knowing the right thing to do under most circumstances. Listening to DeMarco’s music, you get the sense that this is all taken in his stride, an easy going, relaxed approach, living life as it happens and not stopping to worry about it. (That’s the kind of dedication we don’t fancy doing!) For this week’s guest artist, the road of hard work was actually a literal one, as a struggling backing musician Mac DeMarco paid the bills by working as part of a road paving crew, and even participating in medical experiments for money. So often I look to my own experiences to justify my opinions of things and in the case of this class there are areas that I felt confident. The path to ‘making it big’ is certainly a road filled with hard work and perseverance. This class was beneficial to me because in some of the areas it forced me to think outside of what I already know an in other areas it forced me to rethink the way I was seeing situations.
For many of us, the dream of becoming a professional musician in any capacity is an illusive one.