Adam Rafferty’s Blog – Guitar and Spirit

The Message in the Music – Part One

Good Morning Gang!

I very much enjoy listening to interviews of quantum physicists, thinkers and just about anything that bridges science and spirituality.

Last night I listened to a very cool podcast episode of Kelly Howell’s “Theater of the Mind” podcast. Her guest was Rob Bryanton, creator of “Imagining the 10th Dimension” blog and video podcast.

I am subscribed to Rob’s channel on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/10thdim) and love listening to him. Sometimes it’s a little over my head, but when I get it, I like it. He has a real smile and sense of humor throughout his work.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkxieS-6WuA]

In the interview last night I learned something new about Rob. He told a story how for years he simply had these creative thoughts about how our universe is built sitting quietly as his inner thinking. After he had a near death experience (he almost bled to death on an operating table) he knew, upon coming back to consciousness a day later – that he had to “get his message out” and started his book, blog and more.

I found this to be fascinating, and it resonated with me. I have never had an NDE, but I did realize that at some point I had the feeling that no matter what, I had to get my “message out there.”

Many of us have this, and it’s the gusto of life – to live with an ideal, and get our message out there, even if it makes life a little less comfortable sometimes.

“What the heck is my message?” I thought. Then I reflected on my past as a kid, on up to the recent Michael Jackson project.

It then occurred to me. As a little kid, my mom encouraged me to use tracing paper and trace comics like Spiderman, Batman. It was great hand-eye coordination, and f you’re little (3,4,5 years old) it gives an enormous sense of accomplishment to finish a tracing.

As I did it I’d always have the feeling that there’s no “me”. It’s the pencil, the paper and the comic. Yet, when I’d look at the finished product I’d see that there was another “force” or “personality” in the tracing that I did not try to put there, yet it slipped in. This seemed beautifully odd.

Music and drawing (when I did draw) has always been that to me, honestly. I don’t try to put “myself” into it. I simply try to deliver the elements as best I can with the highest degree of accuracy – and that includes the feeling I get from listening or observing.

When I step back and listen to myself recorded, I am amazed at exactly the same thing…that somehow, magically a soul (mine? you decide…) imprints it’s essence onto what was an effort much like using tracing paper.

When others then say “it’s soulful” or “you played with feeling” I secretly know that all I’m doing is trying to do it “right”. The soul-personality-infusion aspect of playing music is a weird, unintentional, magical by product of just trying to be a good cratfsman (or woman).

So, for example with all the Michael Jackson fingerstyle recordings my job efforts were simply to “trace”…to convey the lines of the music, to convey the rhythmic concept, and to watch in amazement as “a personality” or “emotion” makes itself known.

That’s one of the messages in my music…to line up physical reality as perfectly as I can…and behold the unintentional expression of the Unknowable, the Omnipresent, the Omniscient.

Technical Perfection Invites Spirit

By Adam Rafferty 3 Comments

There is an age old argument about music. What do we prefer, someone who is technically brilliant, or someone who “plays with feeling”?

Most all of us will say “the player with feeling”. I remember as a teenager we’d have our back-and-forth about Eddie Van Halen vs Jimmy Page, saying Jimmy had feel but Eddie had “technique”.

There’s more under the hood than meets the eye and ear though. Back when I was learning about African Rhythm from my music mentor Mike Longo, he taught me how to play a single drum rhythm to which I could perfectly count 12/8, a 3/4 a 6/8 a latin 4/4 (and 5/4 and a 7/4 too.)

The hands would stay the same, but one could perfectly sing these rhythms over the top…like gears meshing. Like a rhythmic Escher sketch, if you will.

The real magic is a focus brought about by the 3/4, 6/8 and 12/8, called a “hemiola”. When the 3 and 4’s lock up, I would experience (and still do) a profound, indescribable inner joy and a shift in perception. Words can’t describe it.

Mike would tell me the 3 and 4 are like male and female, and when they “lock” it gives birth to life. It’s called a “hemiola”.

Was I trying to put “feeling in?” No. However, a technical perfection acted as a catalyst to invite spirit into the music and bring “life” to the music.

This is not unlike a baby’s conception. Hey gang, that too is very technical…the sperm hits the egg, and a myriad of biological events need to happen…yet, soul, spirit and life (YOU) are invited to rush in, if the technical aspects line up properly.

At least that’s one way of seeing it.

So, practicing something technical, is in fact preparing and inviting something soulful and delicious to dwell within.

“The blues”, the perfect tone on an instrument, the groove that makes you dance, the melody that makes you cry, Bach’s perfect counterpoint….all do in fact have a Divinely perfect technical basis, but when they “lock” they invite spirit to rush in. When spirit comes, the music gets wings and can soar in the heavens.

So, sharpen your tools, practice – and be mindful of when Spirit rushes in.

Then, give thanks. You have just experienced a miracle.

Feeling the Warm Fuzzies

By Adam Rafferty 9 Comments

I recently dealt with 2 companies regarding customer service issues. One company totally and completely gave me the “warm fuzzies” while the other made me so sickened that I have vowed to never do business with them again.

Marketing & customer service always fascinate me as a musician. I think that all of us could stand to take cues from companies that provide fabulous products and services to customers. After all we’re providing a product or service for other people, aren’t we? 🙂

Let’s get the crappy company out of the way first.

Case Study: United Airlines

I recently flew home from Denver International Airprot with a guitar in one of my Casextreme.com road cases. It’s big, but very light…the entire guitar comes to 23 lb or so.

It’s bad enough to pay extra to get it on the flight, but I’m used to that. However, the lady at the gate insisted that it was oversized. Mind you, skis in cases which are way longer are not considered oversize. When I interrupted her and said I’d never paid for oversize for this item, I was threatened that they’d call security. Gimme a break.

She got her tape measure out and proceeded with fuzzy math. It’s triangular but she measured as if it was a rectangle…length and width.

With her plastered on smile and customer service phrases out of a book, it was clear that I was dealing with a very scared little sheep who was afraid to think.

The point is..I fly all year. No one ever ever has charged me oversize for this. She was worried about keeping her job, not a customer.

Fun Facts

Their fee: $100 on top of the baggage fee.

What did they get?: $100, and lost a customer

What did I get?: To take a plane ride that I thought I already paid for.

Their consistency: All airlines pretty much decide at the gate what your fate is and don’t have a standard. Sucks.

The “Warm Fuzzy” Factor? I now despise them and never want to fly on their airline again, I feel cheated.

If I didn’t use the big case, this would be the alternative, more than likely:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo]

Case Study: Apple

A few years ago I paid $300 for Apple Care – Apple’s service contract for repair.

Last week, my laptop screen went black AND the keyboard and trackpad died. I went to the NYC Apple store and dropped it off.

First off, when you go there, all the workers have uniforms so that you can pick ’em out of the crowd. Every one of them has a personality and loves computers. Every one has intelligence twinkling in their eyes. And it’s a diverse bunch. Tattoos, piercings, black skin, white skin, short, fat, old, young…Apple’s diversity speaks volumes.

They took my MAC and diagnosed it. Wrote me an itemized list, and then the bill had a big, fat , delicious $0.00 at the bottom.

7 days later I picked it up. (I am typing on it now). When I picked it up, I tried it out, and dealt with another smart dude at the Apple Genius bar.

Fun Facts

Their fee: $300 on top of the price of the computer

What did they get?: $300 but with their service I will buy again

What did I get?: A no-questions asked repair policy, and I have a brand new screen, keypad and mouse on my laptop. They did the mental ju-jitsu with me…even though I spent $300, it feels “free” and friendly.

Their consistency: 100% no questions asked. If you are their customer, YOU and your product is taken care of.

The “Warm Fuzzy” Factor? I now love then even more. Will buy again.

In Conclusion…

Apple got me for $200 more, but it’s not about the money. It’s not what they did, it’s how they did it.

The question we all need to ask ourselves is….what are we giving, what are we taking, how are we making our customers feel, what is our “warm fuzzy” factor.

Musicians – this means you (and me). No matter what the gig, be it teaching, small gig, big gig, CD, book….how warm and fuzzy do we make people feel?

I wish I could do even better than I do. Let me know how.

Long live the fuzz.

The Michael Jackson Fingerstyle Guitar Sessions – A Musical Mastermind Meeting

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My buddy Paul Beaudry and I started doing 2 person “mastermind” sessions in 2007. Even though we are musicians, we realized that chatting in the car rides after gigs was not enough, and that we needed non-music time to sharpen our minds and lives.

“Mastermind” meetings have been done by the greatest businessmen of all time like Ford, Rockefeller, Carnegie and other great leaders. They are described and recommended in many of today’s success books by authors like Jack Canfield and Brian Tracy.

The concept of a “Mastermind” meeting is that the group, collectively harnesses divine, cosmic intelligence to bear on a problem or issue and helps solve it.

Each member gets to take a turn presenting their problem and hearing about a possible solution. It’s more than a think tank though. Very special forces come into play when intelligent minds come together as one, in a cosmic focus, and are open to the power of the divine.

Advice can be personal, financial, psychological, informational – and in our case, musical.

This is very different from someone giving you a flip opinion about what you should do. Mastermind meetings take a spiritual aspect into account, and the minds present work as one and connect in ways we can’t comprehend intellectually. Egos have to step aside while the cosmic mind gets to speak through the group, which can be as small as 2.

Paul and I start each weekly meeting (yes, in the middle of Starbucks, usually) with a prayer, or incantation if you will. One of us says this out loud while we both hold our hands in prayer:

“We now ask to be filled and surrounded with light, and our hearts be open to receive guidance from the higher power.”

It’s from these meetings with Paul that all my DVD and CD ideas came into focus. I can remember coming into meetings with 10 ideas about what to accomplish next, and Paul might say “well the next order of business is the MJ CD.” Also – it is thanks to Paul that I went to a real recording studio to record this, and didn’t set up mics at home and do a hack, homemade job.

Even what appears to be mundane advice as shown above has a spiritual essence, just behind it. To leap into courageous actions brings up issues of one’s self worth, self esteem, vision of what life will be like, and goal setting.

A Musical Mastermind Mixing Session

Yesterday Paul came down to my 2nd mix session for my Michael Jackson Fingerstyle Guitar CD, so we had 4 people in the studio: Paul, Gene Paul (Les Paul’s son and mix / master genius) and his partner Jamie Polaski. Jamie has been appreniticng with Gene for years, and is just awesome with the ears and the tools. (Check them out at gandjaudio.com)

Paul and I stepped out for lunch, and I said to him “Wow this is a helluva mastermind session. 4 sets of ears and intelligent musical minds all bearing down on the problems and subtleties of this music. I’m lucky.”

We looked at eachother and laughed, because this was a textbook definition of the “Mastermind.” The group was harnessing the power of the cosmic mind, and revealing a “true” solution to each little song on this record. Every person brought a little piece of truth and intelligence to the sound.

I stepped back, and saw that this would be impossible to do as one person. Too much can slip past one guy or gal. I then gave thanks to God, realizing how lucky I was to be there and have these guys help make the next CD be the most excellent CD it can be.

Les Paul’s Son Gene Gives Me a Guitar Lesson

By Adam Rafferty 13 Comments

Two days ago, I dropped a hard drive off at my mixing and mastering studio for my upcoming Michael Jackson Guitar CD. Time to mix & master…I start tomorrow!

The “engineer” is more than just an engineer. He’s the one and only Gene Paul – son of guitar and recording legend, Les Paul.

Gene played drums in Les Paul’s working band for years, and of course was privy to Les’ genius, since Les was his dad. Later on, Gene became a top notch enginieer…now he primarily does mastering.

I was only there for about an hour, but I took a gander at the gold records on the wall. Does “Kiling Me Softly” by Roberta Flack ring a bell? Well, he was the engineer on the session. I’ll try to remember the others and post an update here…

As we chatted, he asked what I had been up to since the last CD. I told him: touring, practicing and perfecting the show and arrangements as best I can, so that I can provide a great night of enjoyable music for an audience.

That’s all he needed to hear, and my music lesson started. (I wish I had recorded him….I’ll see if I can get him to do an interview.) I sat with ears and eyes like sponges for soaking up his masterful words.

He went on to tell me stories of how his dad – every night – either audio taped or video taped his show, and then listened, and analyzed. He said that Les particularly paid attention to timing, the interaction with the audience…seeing what worked and what didn’t. It was all about the show.

Watch Les in action, how he communicates to the audience through the eyes, the music…watch what he does at the end. What a showman! So much is said with this simple tune…

At one point he told me Les got a Django record (yes record…LP…played with a needle) and worked on a Django lick for days. Suddenly, on the gig Gene heard this lick fuse into his Dad’s playing and asked him about it. Les would say “It was Djangos, but now it’s mine…”

A week between gigs? No problem…Les would take other gigs, even if they just covered hotels (between good paying gigs) just to keep the band and stage show razor sharp.

The point being that well into a ripe old age, Les Paul never stopped learning, studying, practicing, analyzing.

This should serve as inspiration to us all! It never ends…and if you ever saw the youthful life in Les’s eyes (I got to play with him when he was well into his 90’s and did see it – watch that video if you haven’t) you’d know…that youthfulness was surely due to an inquisitive, active and intelligent mind!

Ok. Time to stop blogging and start picking…Happy Monday!