There are millions and millions of musicians on this planet. Music is being played every instant the earth cruises through space and in every moment in time since the first notes were emitted from the original creative sparks. These brothers and sisters of music are united in a common goal of playing notes and singing songs to express themselves and communicate to our fellow humans, plants, animals, stars, moon and sun. Our entire environment is reflected in music. Every emotion can be translated and related to others through the melody as though by telepathy, clearly, instantly and thoroughly.
The satisfaction rewarded to the players and musicians is immeasurable but totally substaintuatable. It becomes deeper than obsession because the deep satisfaction and healing power attained from playing music grows exponentially!
Just try NOT playing for a while and witness the funk settling in. Watch any musician deprived of his or her instrument turn lost, irritable and at odds or the very least not working to their full potential. We need to express ourselves musically to maintain a universal balance. Even the down right dirtiest blues turns to elation once it is played, but keep it bottled up and it can hurt. Illness can set in, severe ailments and even bodily harm! NOT playing music is a sentence to a mediocre life.
In my personal experience I survived the severest test that life can offer and immediately found solace or at least temporary respite from my torment in playing my 12 String Acoustic Guitar. During those moments of actual playing I could detach myself the unbelievable pain I felt from loss. Depression and discomfort lifted from my body and soul during those exact minutes I engaged in playing. Singing freed my spirit!
In time, these breaks from my harsh reality helped strengthen me enough to move through the many stages of grief ahead of me.
I would like every musician to always have that power within their reach to transcend adversity, leap through the fire and live happy productive lives.
"I am, the String Surfer! I am the 12 String Man. I will stand to my accurser, I will play the only way I can!" are the lyrics to my theme song. In order to keep playing “the only way I can”, I not only have to grow and develop musically, but I need to able to physically perform accurately on my favorite instrument-the 12 String Guitar. My fingers need to be flexible; wrists and elbows need to be free from aches and unobstructed in their joints, and my shoulders need a total range of mobility and movement. My back needs to be strong and durable. My neck has to stay pliable and relaxed and my lower back needs to be stable and free of obstruction, temporary or chronic. AND I need to stand on a balanced and reliable foundation.
From my feet to the top of my head I am counting on unconscious cooperation throughout my body so that I can practice, rehearse, perform, compose and shine on my instrument. I need my entire body to be able to survive touring pressures and withstand the damage caused by travel, uneven sleep, unexpected disruptions, strange foods, and other diversions.
Needless to say we sometimes forget how much our physical condition allows us to successfully pursue the musical journey we embark upon. Seldom are we really cognizant to the importance of extremely great health to accomplish the monumental tasks we set for ourselves. A normal European tour for me is 60 to 70 gigs in 90 days and 16,000 Kilometers in an economy car! Much of our great power is overshadowed by the goals we create for ourselves and a lot is taken for granted until some necessary ingredient stops functioning! The health and power we rely on should be maintained for optimal results!
The rewards of playing music can be measured in how it raises the quality of our existence. Not only does it bring the immediate rewards of showering us with endorphins and groovy dopamine’s but fathomable long term life benefits! It warms our hearts, Catharsizes our souls and allows use to transform on a daily basis, the satisfaction of mastering or a least taming a piece of music is measurable.
Music can mask a lot of hurt, pain and heartache the we would otherwise have to face head on. Playing the blues certainly can get you over an ex-lover! Somehow it helps both player and listener. Concentrating on a large piece of music such as a symphony rewards the orchestra as well as the audience.
Our common goals as musicians are to mine the wealth of emotional experience and to play forever.
And why NOT!
Well, we are asking an awful lot from our physical capabilities. We are asking our backs to hold heavy objects for long periods of time. We ask our shoulders to support every kind of instrument. Our arms are positioned in uncanny poses for long periods of time and way up, too. We ask our butts, backs and legs to sit through long performances supporting opposite ends of our bodies to flourish in Olympic Decathlon levels. We hammer our fingers into keys, valves, strings, sticks and crash our hands together separated by cymbals.
Musicians endure every kind of physical abuse in order to practice their craft. Ignoring blisters, back pain, rashes, chronic rheumatism, arthritis, and bursitis. Ignoring calluses, cramps, Charlie horses, sciatic nerve pain, headaches, earaches and swollen lips from brass sections. Then living with long term uncomfortable conditions caused by overuse, misuse, lifestyle, long hours not to mention being asked to play in the cold outdoors or hot stifling indoors under lights. Sorry I do not mean to exaggerate these physical stresses musicians are faced with but too many of us at least one or many of these conditions exist! AND I do not intend to ignore this either.
How can I, after 40 plus years of unencumbered playing and reaching for a physical peak performing level not have encountered the reality of my body’s limitations? This Olympic marathon of performing, practice as well as travel and survival on the road has demanded the price of instant physical retaliation. Pain in the form of cramps and throbbing pulses, followed by numbness, cramps and prickling discomfort in my fingers and lower arms. Elbows aching and hurting, Back aches leading to sciatica. Necks stiffness, leg cramps, weakness in muscles leading to stiff joints. In numerable ways my body revolted to the Herculean tasks set for it. I soon hit an impasse in my career as a musician, with choices limited to stopping completely or suffer complete annihilation.
Rest assured that in this I do not exaggerate one iota.
How many of my fellow brothers and sisters of music have experienced some form of this in varying degrees or even extremes? How many friends have given up their instruments and playing?
Early retirement! This is certainly what I was facing and in this darkest of times I suddenly recalled a seemingly small and inconsequential experience from my past. In my early 20's I had taken 6 months of YMCA Yoga. In the past thirty years I had dabbled in exercising in small spurts but I had never done a serious daily routine.
So I began a long and _______ journey of blending standard yoga asana and common sense movements into a method of sports that methodically brought me back into a peak level of health and mobility I needed to continue my musical craft. I had entered the Ashran to be reborn…the String Surfer!
Even the simplest of Hatha Yoga Asana prove beneficial to alleviate discomfort and builds resilience and a reserve. Strength. Created by breathing and stretching one’s body brings immediate benefits by oxygenating the blood flow, cleansing toxins from muscles, and clearing brain activity. All very useful on recovering ones health and mobility. Not too mention immediate clarity of mind to help make the right lifestyle decisions for optimal energy. Almost miraculously but hardly magically since you are giving your body the time and a chance to rejuvenate and revitalize. Your mind has moments of rest to refresh your creative inspiration. You actually get in touch with your inner voice and find the peace to think through life’s complications. Opening avenues for artistic spark and sensible planning, calming mind and body is a great place to start to rethink much of modern life’s traps and dead ends.
Within your very own influence you create the power for change and inspired goals for your future. Attainable goals, not pure fantasy. Smaller achievable horizons lead to success much more easily than grasping for the golden ring each time and gambling away vital assets in misadventures.
Through a new system of exercising as well as Yoga and a much healthier lifestyle I tapped into the longevity of my chosen existence: playing music through the rest of my life. String Surfing was the logical next step to achieve freedom and complete mobility, the tools I need to master my instrument and my ability to physically pull it off.
Every problem area in my upper torso could now be addressed with a specific counter exercise designed to alleviate chronic carpel tunnel damage. Repetitive muscular overuse could be reversed through finding an opposite movement beneficial in relaxing stressed muscle groups. At the same time building strength and resilience to have a firm power base to work from.
Each of these new exercises is designed to prohibit problems from arising and realigning troubled areas. For optimal results please consider these guidelines:
The slower you make your first steps into this program the better you can access what is good for you specifically. Get know and understand your own body and situation and access what you are now ready for.
Listen to your own body and how it reacts, it will almost lead you to the areas you need to work in.
Slow and deliberate movements help you take a complete inventory of your own needs.
Do not overdo these programs and expect immediate super results, this may back fire on you and slow down your progress, requiring that you actually rest and recuperate first before continuing.
You need to slowly work out your own usable routine that woks best for you and this is best attained by deliberate c conscious exercising.
Use these 10 basic String Surfer Asana as you building blocks to a complete healthy lifestyle goal. Share your success with fellow musicians and even others challenged in their work and play space. Especially folks who use their hands, arms, shoulders, necks and backs in their day to day survival!
Share your small achievements and develop your own variation, tailored to your specific needs and become a String Surfer in your own image!
I use these exercises as a whole or just as a part of my daily routines to stay in a painless, mobile space!
Thoughtful, deliberate, relaxed enjoyment of this program will bring incredible joy into your musicianship and longevity into your career. Make this your first step into a lifelong commitment to excellence and health!
String Surfing:
The 12 String guitar has been my constant companion since 1976. Though I do remember having a Framus Electric 12 in '66 though it was soon stripped done to 6 and used because of it's really cool "Orgel Effekt" feature. In '68 and '69 I borrowed Ralph Smith's Italian made EKO to write and perform, occasionally even doing a style of Raga, probably more of an interpretation of Sitar and Music Influenced by India via George Harrison.
In '76 I first began using an acoustic Fender 12, made in the Philippines in the Bars, Saloons, and Lounges of British Columbia where I made a living playing and entertaining. During this highly productive time in terms of practicing daily and learning 10 to 15 new songs a week as well as playing them in the best possible style to show the huge variety of sounds to come out of a 12. Yes, they were all cover songs but each tune was placed in the key to best feature the open ringing strings and the most open widest, fattest chords to chime when picked or strummed. Soon I was hooked on the versatile, orchestive response in which this instrument allowed me to perform.
I owe a lot to this old Fender because we have been together for 35 years, over 10 Refrets, attenuated bridge, 4 sets of tuners, countless pickups, but mainly the Bill Lawrence Red one, epoxy on it's poor laminated top to keep it from getting the Willie treatment and the care and feeding of two of the Northwest's best and finest Luthiers: Chris Larson and John Bentley ( attenuated bridge was designed and hand carved by Mark Arnquist, no slouch either).
Mainly John Bentley understood my specific needs especially when I announced to him that I was going to tune the guitar down 3 half steps to C Sharp.
From then on John keep exact measurements and noted tolerances and kept track of whatever stresses these special tunings would cause and affect. For over 30 years I have come to count on him and his sidekick Bill Crow... thanks immeasurably Guys.
By the 80's I began expanding chords with Bass runs and lead stabs. Enhancing my repertoire into a Genre less field of "No style to be left unexplored". From Flamenco, Folk Classical to Standards, Rockin’ Oldies and the then currant synthesizer driven pop to Country classics and the original music of my first Long Play Record 'Marie Antoinette", I translated everything to my acoustic/electric 12 string. Meanwhile my own style was developing into what the world would soon call... String Surfing.
And that is exactly where I landed in the 90's. Thanks to great gig venues from Restaurants, Coffee houses and Bars with incredible scenic views (thank you Sun Mountain Lodge) where ambient playing was greatly appreciated or else formally ignored enough so that I could get away with Musical Murder. Sometimes I would play pieces lasting 20 plus minutes, constantly replaying passages to perfection, improvising new progressions and chords, literally rehearsing and writing music in from of an unsuspecting audience and getting paid for it!
For weeks, maybe even Months on end I would perform long drawn out instrumentals and shape them into pieces of music, original and instantly recognizable as String Surfing.
A creative process in a totally live situation with an extra edge because it was part of a performance, serving the ambient soundtrack of the room as well as an audience grooving on their environment and this new and exciting music. Some even occasionally noticing the Gymnastics I was developing to perform this stuff on the Neck of the 12 String and Jamming at break neck tempos. Though I was playing over newly developed themes and Melodies, it was still 90% Improvised.
That I made an impression on my peers was proved in '95 and '96 when I first won the Seattle Guitar Starz and then judged it and performed in front of a room full of 100's of the cities greatest guitar players. I had slaughtered 18 electric Guitarist with an acoustic/electric 12 through a Marshall stack and a Rack to win Seattle's Best Guitarist the first year and then muscled out of the competition onto the Judging panel the next.
I kind of made my mark and "string Surfer" stickers began showing up all over town!
Now came the time to record, so I repeated the process in the studio. Ripping through an entire CD of 8 to 14 minute works of structured, improvised pieces where the element of chance and surprise enhanced the excitement of the music. After these tracks stood, we went back and added drums, bass, keys, vocals, Saxes and other solo instruments and released "String Surfer" in record time.
Totally reversing this trend in the late 90's with an album of melodic, meticulously written gems, composed for the emerging new age/smooth jazz wave happening on the West coast. "Brindizi" was a true testament to the ringing bell tone of the 12 String as a solo voice in an ensemble of musicians. Searching for the right guitar to produce this was no easy task, but the Guild JF-65-12 fit the bill. Sunburst and brimming with confidence, this mammoth workhorse put out chiming tone galore. A minor masterpiece of a melodic Journey where each piece was a Jewel in the crown of this Instrument CD.
What followed were 5 releases dedicated to Lyrics and expressing the fantasies and realities that were my life for all the world to see. From '99 to '09, I explored, wrote and released the most assessable music I ever recorded and gained a world wide audience for David Lee Howard Singer/Songwriter. Through it all I remained faithful to Lee the String Surfer!
Presently I am marrying Lyrics to musical expression into a new frontier, yet nameless but with extensive possibilities. For the past months I have been writing text in all forms... Poems, Stories, Prose, Fiction, Autobiography, Rhythmic Metered Rap and even unexplored word play are my weapons. Again emphasizing a Genre less World in which I dwell. We are recording on tape as well as hard drives in layered tracking and in full 6 piece band format. I am taping solo project pieces with just 12 String guitars and nothing else and I am collaborating with great Keyboard Sound Wizard and old College Pal Dave Townsend on expanding soundscapes.
My goal is to record 20 to 30 trax including a children's music project and writing more stories to be later combined and edited into separate projects. Also in the works is a new DVD of exercises called "String Surfer's Guide to Musician's Health".
But for now I am caught in a frenzy of writing and recording. Creating the kind of music I personally would like to hear, the kind of music that I would buy if it were available.
I am not chasing trends, if anything I am paying tribute to my older roots and influences from Hendrix, Doors and Beatles to Crosby, Stills and Nash, Pink Floyd to Eagles, Supertramp to Pat Methany, Cash, Kristofferson, Nelson, to Alison Krause and Enja.
Ray Charles said it best when he said there are only two kinds of music in this world... Good and Bad, I will put no time limits on my new music, let it clock in 27 minutes if need be, album length epics would be my preference or else if the come out to be 2 and half minute gems for the world to sing along at sporting events, so be it.
So in this creative spirit I just wanted to let everyone know that I am back on track. Doing what I love and loving what I do. My destiny will be revealed in 2010 in the harvest of things planted NOW. I am lying low, got no time to spare and I am on a mission......... to put out the best music I have ever written, performed or recorded in my entire life.
God Speed, everyone
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