spinning drum blog

I just realized touch typing was a 24 note song. Like playing a keyboard, it’s process reliant on kinesthetic memory. What finger goes where, what combination between movement, memory and meaning produce the desired form, be it song or story. So in a state of reflection the other day, it surprised me that in spite of being such a self-improvement junkie, I had not, in twenty years, improved my typing – something of which I do everyday and of which I totally rely, yet have developed little.

I’m ok around a keyboard. I’ve invented my own style that combines conventional strokes with my own improvisations now become reinforced habit. But when I think about it, amongst all my small scale athleticism, I had never really thought about the act of writing, be it typing, as a physical activity. In developing my turntable skills, for instance, I see a direct relationship between body and mind; yet, I had not applied the same perspective to typing, of which I must engage with daily and now realize have been doing so quite ineptly. When I think about the hundreds of hours spent behind a keyboard, I’m a little surprised at myself for not developing the skill to any level. I would never settle for this level of ineptitude behind the decks, yet as a writer , I seemed perfectly content with sluggish fingers and repeated typos.

Well no longer,
I hereby pledge 2006 is the year to improve my typing skills, maybe even get real good, well at least not totally suck.

For inspiration at getting good at anything, I read Jamie Andreas She is a guitar virtuoso, whose book “The Principles of Correct Practice for the Guitar.” bestows the keys to great guitar, which, of course, has a lot to do with sweat – meaning, you guessed it, practice. While there are no short cuts, Andreas herself is religious about practice, once playing 3-7 hours daily, her key point is practice all you want but what begets improvement is “correct practice,” and that, she says, comes through awareness. Another mind body music connector online. Check her out

http://www.guitarprinciples.com/

http://www.guitarnoise.com/authors.php?id=5#

I find her principles translate to the turntable as much as typing.

Related posts:

1. Zen & The Art of the Turntable pt 4 It’s all about being mindful. No matter where you are, what you do. Simple or complex, presence is to be mindful. Of what you do, pay attention, to detail and sensation, inhale through every pore. In the breath of this attention, requiring the broadest of mind and most enduring focus, arrives the no mind. In analysis to awareness, the conscious is lost. The me thinking about [...]...
2. ambidextrous take 3 The turntablist’s ability like that of any musician rests in their relationship with their body. A musician can be called a small muscle athlete, within whom the alchemy of speed, endurance and motor control underlie a skilled performance. In the morning when I step behind the decks to beat juggle or scratch, the image of a [...]...