Rising to the Art

What is art and what is not? This is an eternal question without resolution.

As one who is dedicated to the art of making music, I cannot possibly address the entire scope of such a question, but one thing is clear to me. There is a profound difference in attitude between artist and demonstrator.

This difference is important at the beginning of a planned career in music, beyond the instrument of choice. A different set of goals and objectives move the artist to make music.

With The Stick it is very easy to become merely the demonstrator, especially because there is a lot to show. This is the short road, however. We live in a world where novelties quickly cease to be novelties, and where the news runs like a trail of gunpowder.

Personally, I would not have been able to maintain a certain musical attitude over the past ten years if my inclinations had been those of a demonstrator. Those who focus on demonstrating their instruments and techniques become preoccupied with quantity, not quality, thereby neglecting grace of finger movement according to the musical line and concentrating instead on speed, the main goal being to stimulate audience admiration at the expense of contemplation. Such performances and compositions suffer from lack of spirit.

As a practicing musician with many concerts and recordings behind me, I have no wish to be mystical on this subject. On a practical level I am of course aware that the entire musical vocabulary is essential for making music, including "a need for speed" at certain passages. By way of metaphor, if your language consists of fewer words, then you must use many more of them to explain your thoughts.

There is also the issue of content versus style. Both are important to the artist, but style alone is not enough. A clear difference exists between those musicians who "posture" in stylistic attire and those who actually have something to "say".

The artist's attitude transcends his instrument and places him "naked in persona" on stage - an actor before his audience, a personality rather than a technician. This exceptional desire is property of the artist, manifesting in a form unique to each individual artist. In performance of the song, all vanity and virtuosity is swept aside, even at the sacrifice of the artist's own name and reputation!

Of course the artist must depend on an instrument to create music, but it is the artist's inner vision in its totality that inspires an audience, not merely that instrument's capabilities or that artist's skills. On stage, I must never forget my role to be exciting without getting excited, to place the focus on inspiring others rather than on feeling inspired. There is a difference. Too much inner excitement and self-centered inspiration can overwhelm the performer and frustrate everyone else in the room, thus blocking the fragile channel of relationship that exists between artist and audience.

In the service of my music I have to forget myself, even as an artist, and minimize my abilities in favor of the enhancement of the song for the audience. Thus my hands can be slow or fast on the fretboard, according to the song. The advantage I gain is daily inspiration to practice and grow in private, until that moment of connection with the larger artistic entity, the audience.

At the end of each concert, individuals come forward often to praise a particular song, each with his or her own interpretation of its musical essence - often a complete surprise to me. Thus, a single song turns into as many songs as there are people in the room.

The demonstrator cannot attain such rapport, except to promote his own name and skills. For this reason, I sought from the very beginning to be the artist first and foremost, an advocate of the music itself.

I have had many requests to demonstrate what is new about the Stick and its playing method, however, I believe that the best way to introduce and disseminate an instrument is simply to make music with it. Strangely, even today people in the audience will approach me after a set and never ask much about the Stick.

The music itself has taken charge of clarifying it.

G.C.