Music is the cup that holds the wine of silence

October 31, 2014 8:42 AM

“Select a note,’’ [Robert Fripp] told them, “and then, in silence, establish a relationship with that note. Keep it within you until you can no longer contain it and must give it voice.’’

"Surviving a Weekend with the Wizard of Prog Rock"
posted by oakroom (19 comments total)

Aside from being a fine story, this article just introduced me to the Roches.
posted by Palindromedary at 9:05 AM on October 31, 2014 [1 favorite]

Thanks so much for this. As a beginning guitarist back in the '80's I would read accounts of Fripp's Guitar Craft course, and had no way to know if it was the start of some kind of a revolution in musical training or a mass delusion. I'm not sure I've decided yet, but man, would I love to see this lampooned in some feature-length movie.

I remember Fripp would have someone assigned as the "provider of silence". What does the provider of silence do? Well, he just sits there. Can anyone be the provider of silence? Oh, no, no, no.
posted by superelastic at 9:15 AM on October 31, 2014 [4 favorites]

Oddly, I found myself bursting into tears at the end of this article.

I've been making music all my life. I have no idea what it means to not even be able to hold a beat.

But this guy, he lacks things which to me are second nature. And he found a context in which he could overcome them and actually stand in a group on stage and perform and receive wild applause for it.

This is deeply profound to me, and I've still got tears on my face while I type this. Truly beautiful. Thanks so much for posting!
posted by hippybear at 9:19 AM on October 31, 2014 [11 favorites]

Ended better than I would have guessed from the way it started.

Perhaps he did learn something from the experience.

I wonder why they topped the article with a 40 year old photo of Fripp.
 
posted by Herodios at 9:20 AM on October 31, 2014 [2 favorites]

I always find photos of white man afro era Fripp to be disconcerting, as if King Crimson covered "La Grange" as an encore
posted by thelonius at 9:24 AM on October 31, 2014 [2 favorites]

But this guy, he lacks things which to me are second nature. And he found a context in which he could overcome them and actually stand in a group on stage and perform and receive wild applause for it.

Funny you should say that, HB. When I first read your comment I thought you were talking about Fripp rather than the writer! Because that's exactly the story of Fripp's life.

He's gone on record many times as having starting out unable to carry a tune and having no sense of rhythm. His explanation is that Music so wanted to be heard that it chose even such an improbable -- yet receptive -- channel to realization as This Fripp.
 
posted by Herodios at 9:27 AM on October 31, 2014 [3 favorites]

40 year old photo of Fripp

The author is recalling an event from three decades ago--that makes the photo pretty much right.
posted by yoink at 9:28 AM on October 31, 2014

I always find photos of white man afro era Fripp to be disconcerting

Really? If I'd been a curly haired bastard like Fripp I would have gone with that look in those days, too. I had to settle for the "That Jesus Dude" look.

40 year old photo of Fripp

The author is recalling an event from three decades ago--that makes the photo pretty much right.

My point exactly. At the time of the story (1985), Fripp looked nothing like that. Wore his hair short and had ditched the NHS specs for contact lenses.
 
posted by Herodios at 9:32 AM on October 31, 2014 [1 favorite]

Having been a drummer for 15 years, I can tell you there is nothing more joyous to be a part of, or more annoying to be next to but not part of, than a shaggy drum circle jam. Glad this guy got to find that out.

man, would I love to see this lampooned in some feature-length movie.

Holy crap yes! Christopher Guest, you haven't made us a movie in eight years! This is your wheelhouse!
posted by echo target at 9:45 AM on October 31, 2014 [3 favorites]

Great article. Thanks!

I, too, was thrown off by the picture of Mr. Fripp. I met him briefly, back in his League Of Gentlemen days, when he looked a lot like an insurance salesman, and "enigmatic" doesn't begin to describe the guy. He's definitely unique. I've been hearing about some of the stuff described in the article for many years, and I've never been able to decide if RF was completely serious about it or not. Not that it matters, really. I've met a number of musicians over the years, some quite famous and most of them as flakey as the sales staff at your local Guitar Center. But Robert Fripp is totally For Real.

The article mentions Fripp's smile as "conspiratorial and mocking" - which strikes me as only a small part of the story. Something I picked up on very quickly was that, for a guy who seemed at first glance to be very staid and poker-faced, his face communicated volumes. I saw him smile a number of times, and there was some different, nuanced, subtle meaning to each one. Except for the last time I saw him smile, which is while he was onstage - sitting on a stool, of course - and playing for a crowd, everyone was having a great time (including drug-free me), and I was about 10 feet away from the stage and chanced to lock eyes with him for a fraction of a second, and he smiled at me with what I can only call complete and unrepentant glee.
posted by doctor tough love at 11:56 AM on October 31, 2014 [5 favorites]

Thanks so much for this. As a beginning guitarist back in the '80's I would read accounts of Fripp's Guitar Craft course, and had no way to know if it was the start of some kind of a revolution in musical training or a mass delusion.

I don't know how generally wonderful they were, but the most memorable concert I ever saw was Robert Fripp and the League of Crafty Guitarists in a show at the Power Center in Ann Arbor, MI. I can't even find a date for the show -- there's another show that was in May of 1990 but this wasn't that: on the night in question the town was snowed in and the roads were barely passable, the band was an hour late arriving at the venue because of the weather, and I talked a friend into going with me because just about everything else in town was shut down.

From the opening note it was amazing -- cascades of notes, complicated emergent patterns, and really, really different than any performance I'd been to previously (or since.) I subsequently bought every live recording I could find of the League, but none of them come even remotely close to what we heard that night.

So.. I can't say what the value of Fripp's Guitar Craft project was in general, but on at least one memorable winter night they managed to produce something fantastic. My friend and I still talk about it occasionally, and wonder whether it could really have been as good as we both remember it being. There's no answering that, but our recollections seem pretty closely matched and I'm convinced it really was that good.
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:44 PM on October 31, 2014 [2 favorites]

Dug the article, thanks for posting it, oakroom.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:11 PM on October 31, 2014 [1 favorite]

1985 was ages ago. Get with the times. For those who are interested, Guitar Circle is afoot.

"...This course is open to anyone, even those without any prior experience on the guitar."
posted by j_curiouser at 11:59 PM on October 31, 2014

I remember Fripp would have someone assigned as the "provider of silence". What does the provider of silence do? Well, he just sits there. Can anyone be the provider of silence? Oh, no, no, no.

Bill Bruford, about as brilliant as drummers come, received writing credit for the song Trio, on which he did not play. But it was a live gig and he was there sitting at his kit. He could have played at any instant, but chose not to, feeling the piece didn't need him. He contributed his restraint.
posted by philip-random at 12:05 AM on November 1, 2014 [6 favorites]

to be clear, that's a King Crimson story ...
posted by philip-random at 12:41 AM on November 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

"Every time I strummed a big six-note chord - and there were a lot of them, in perfectly predictable places - Robert would let loose with a sound resembling a sick cow in orgasm..." (from a description of Guitar Craft XII by Eric Tamm)
posted by ovvl at 10:46 AM on November 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

Tamm's book is largely considered self-serving tripe by those who attended that course as guitarists, not surreptitious journo-gossips.
posted by j_curiouser at 7:10 PM on November 1, 2014

Tamm's book is largely considered self-serving tripe by those who attended that course as guitarists, not surreptitious journo-gossips.

How so?
posted by Sebmojo at 5:07 PM on November 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

I liked Tamm's book, and I got the impression that he's fascinated by Fripp's music and Fripp as a person, prickly personality and all. That said, Tamm presents an irreverent take on Guitar Craft culture, one which would not go smoothly with the serious and somewhat spiritual mind set of those personally involved.

In my personal opinion, I would have loved to attend those sessions, and the League of Crafty Guitarists live recordings are among my favourite Fripp projects. But I'm not overly reverent about it.
posted by ovvl at 3:20 PM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]