Echoes of Flavio's Ghost Dreaming

Ah, these guitar lessons - right now, very keen 8 year old girl playing almost to the end of the first book and also Ziggy Stardust, doing it for the first time and very well.

#guitarlessons #theseguitarlessons

First of five guitar lessons today done, keen and awake little 8 yo girl. Then lesson in Singapore; later on two in-person lessons and one last one online -local busy doctor who is a bit too busy and prefers the lessons online #guitarlessons

Only two guitar lessons today -need to get a little busier..- but interesting ones. The first one, an Indian lecturer in classical languages (latin, greek, etc) wanting to learn rock, classical and flamenco (the latter not my specialism but I have started him on Soleares and I'm learning a fair bit about this along the way). The second one, an eleven year old girl doing a Trinity Rock & Pop electric guitar Grade 5 exam. Very different lessons, both stimulating in different ways.

Flu finally going away (I hope -cough!)

Teaching in both schools resumed. The one in Islington (not to narrow it down too much) still a nightmare but hey, it is income and work. The other school involves getting up in the dark and a long drive. The world, alas, is not perfect.

Realising I haven't played in public for .. years now. I always found it difficult to 'sell the product', as it were, and it hasn't become any easier as I've got older. But I need to do that -not for any other reason, perhaps, so much as to keep myself able to prepare and perform a programme more or less of the level I feel I should maintain.

Waiting for several incoming money-blows to hit. An unexpectedly large tax bill, a large service charge bill where I live, a hidden threat of a very large one that I thought had been resolved but apparently may not have been. Plus the incoming rises in energy bills and, therefore, in everything else.

In relation to the playing in public, it also has resulted in me not really preparing a full concert programme. I can always play, but perhaps not things that I might find challenging or interesting in that sense.

Dabbled for a bit with AI text-to-image platforms like Stable Diffusion, etc. It is a whole lot of fun although I can see the issues around this sort of thing -I don't think they may replace artists and painters any time soon but many may lose work to these things.

Bibliogoth today with 'Legends and Lattes' by Travis Baldree. I hated the title, came to the book with a lot of anti-hipster prejudice but it was a good reading, light and fun.

Here, have a little bit of me playing an excerpt of  'Usher Waltz' by Nikita Koshkin. If you get a chance.

Getting ready for first guitar lesson in the day. First pupil is a lecturer on classic languages (latin and Ancient Greek). Then a couple of kids doing electric guitar (including a 9 year old girl doing Grade 5 Trinity Rock) and a veteran punk rock person in the evening. Can't say my working day is not varied and interesting #guitarlessons

I posted this first on Mastodon. Which, btw, is getting busier -more people seem to be moving over there from Twiter. I can't imagine why....

As per the title -I'm still here, even if I've been a bit quiet.

In reality, I have to say that it is difficult to keep sending these words into the void with practically no response back. This applies to a lot of what I put on the internet except, perhaps curiously, Facebook. If I put a picture I took in Instagram or similar it gets fifteen views and four likes. If I put a sample of me playing, it gets fewer views and perhaps two or three 'likes'. It is perhaps in the nature of these things that if you don't do a lot of homework on tagging and keywords you get little response. I have been telling myself that I do these things mostly for myself -it may be largely true but it still is a bit disheartening at times to find that a lot of effort (as it often is) results in ... not very much.

I have been doing a tiny bit more social life of late, been to a couple of small clubs (Dead & Buried, Reformation) and re-connected with a lot of people I hadn't seen for rather a long time. That has been good.

Guitar: no public playing. I have been studying the Prelude, Fugue and Allegro BWV 998 as well as a few minor pieces, plus some that my students are playing. Need a few more pupils but wouldn't want to undertake another school, I don't think I would have the time or energy for a commitment like that. Would like to do some public playing, indeed, as this does kick me forward, forces me to keep to the standard I feel I should be at. Not happening for now, at any rate and haven't been chasing gigs.

Health still is what it is, I'm more or less operational but not all my circuits are functioning perfectly. Will need to ask questions about some of those things at some point.

So that's the state of the flav. Not a lot more happening, apart from scales to a metronome, strange dreams at night, nightmarish (often) teaching days at one of my schools and walks to enjoy the sunshine while it lasts. Hope you are all well.

Flavio (that's me) playing a quick take at home of La Negra by Antonio Lauro, rather a long time ago (around 2008, I think). 1 minute version for IG.
Currently doing online guitar lessons!
for info on guitar lessons/performance:
flavio_matani@mac.com
camdenguitar.wordpress.com

... and there is an arepa on the griddle, bacon in the grill, orange juice and no hurry. Perfect.

Later, a first-time lesson, a guy who's done Grade 8 guitar a long time ago and had stopped. Then, the bibliogoth meeting, today discussing 'Saturn's Children' by Charlie Stross.

At the moment, reading a couple of other books: 'The Glass Painter's Daughter', by Rachel Hore (which is not perhaps the sort of thing I'd normally read but enjoying it a lot thus far) and 'It Ain't Necessarily So', by Richard Lewontin. If you follow the links you'll see they could not be more different. Variety is the spice, etc.

If the level of activity in my f-list page in Ello is anything to go by, it's pretty dead already. Shame. It is much busier in my flist page here.

ION, teaching a 16-year-old to play Beatles songs -at his request. Ain't the world a strange place.

Mostly for my own:

Today: first, rehearsal with Verity of those Dowland songs. A couple of samples of what we've been doing here and here.

Later, meet Krisztina for lunch at Regent's Park. Looks like it's going to be reasonably good weather.

In the afternoon, some guitar practice, hopefully, as well as a couple of errands.

Later still, a couple of lessons here and, later-later still, maybe the LGS meet at Zeitgeist -just possibly.