Practice as a Way of Life — Robert Fripp on Guitar Craft

'Perhaps the craft of being a musician and the craft of being a person are the same...'

Robert Fripp: Wikimedia Commons

I’ve been fascinated by Robert Fripp and King Crimson since their breakout album from 1969. Under Fripp’s leadership over many decades, the band has reinvented itself several times and consistently defied genre labels.

In his online writing over many years — and now in his Guitar Circle book — Fripp explores the connections between playing guitar well and living well. He takes this inquiry to a deeper level than anyone else I know. Following are some of my favorite quotations from Fripp on this topic.

Life as Craft

Perhaps the craft of being a musician and the craft of being a person are the same: a craft. The rules of one craft are the rules of all crafts.

The quality we bring to one small part of our life is the quality we bring to all the small parts of our life.

How we hold our pick is how we organise our life.

When I attempt to modify, gently, how a student holds their pick, I am confronted by the total energy of their belief system, personal agenda, prejudice, and attitudes, all recorded and established in musculature and tissue; that is, how they live their life.

Many of the necessities of becoming a musician can be practised away from the instrument: relaxation, attention, an alert sensitivity, and intentional activity.

Attention

Music is a benevolent presence constantly and readily available to all, but we are not constantly and readily available to music.

So, how to reach this point? The direction of attention is fundamental: little is possible without attention.

So, how much attention do we have? The quick answer, from someone who has been looking at this for a long time, is: not very much.

Self-Observation

One day…I realised that I was not my thinking. Neither was I my feeling, nor my doing.

A little time later, in the bitter cold of February 1976 — while pushing a wheelbarrow of compost past the woodworking shop — in a flash, I saw that Robert Fripp did not exist.

Sometimes, when Fripp is having a bad time, I say: Poor Fripp. He’s having a bad time. This by itself can change my state.

Effortlessness

…we work too hard: an enormous amount of effort goes into facial grimaces, twitching lips, forcing fingers onto strings by extravagant gestures of the arm and even of the legs.

We move from making unnecessary efforts — the exertions of force — to making necessary efforts, the direction of effortlessness.

In this the prime maxim is: honour necessity. We do what we must do, but no more.

This is the way of effortless effort: it is the way of the artist.

Relaxation

In a relaxed state with our attention engaged, we begin to be sensitive to the needs of the moment.

Relaxation is necessary tension. Unnecessary tension and we become tight; less than necessary tension and we fall over.

When releasing muscular patterns, experiences associated with them sometimes reappear. In relaxing the body, letting go of unnecessary tension, we also let go of unnecessary attitudes and feelings.

Suffering

Some suffering is unnecessary, some necessary. The rule of necessary suffering is: suffer cheerfully.

The first stage of suffering is in the recognition of our inept functioning: how badly we play our guitars.

The second stage of suffering is in the recognition of how little we can work from our own initiative.

The third stage of suffering is in recognition of who we are: unpleasant, selfish, unkind, smiling winningly beneath a veneer of manners, breeding, and politeness.

Doing Nothing

Before we do something, we do nothing. Do nothing — as much as you can!

If I ask my body to sit quietly for half an hour and do nothing, and it is unable to respond, there is little chance I can ask it to sit quietly for an hour while I practise.

While we are doing nothing, we watch ourselves doing nothing. It is crucial that this observation of ourselves is impartial. We see ourselves as we would a well-loved friend.

Loving the People We Dislike

I may have no freedom in my liking and disliking, but I do not have to act with hostility, and neither do I have to think hostile thoughts.

When we forgive ourselves, without recrimination, we forgive others.

When we abandon criticism of ourselves, we abandon the criticism of others.

Discipline

Practice will become stale unless our exercising is playful, spontaneous, and fun…discipline is a vehicle for joy.

Discipline, primarily, is our capacity to make a commitment in time.

If we are able to make a commitment in time — to guarantee that we will honour this commitment regardless of convenience, comfort, situation, and inclination of the moment — we are on the way to becoming effectual: a trained, responsive, and reliable instrument at the service of music.

Time

The aim is to hit the right note at the right time, in tune and in tone.

A musician with poor time is always suspect: they are out of touch with something fundamental within themselves, and so out of touch with others.

Poor time is often an indication of a fundamental egotism…This becomes obvious when playing with others: we may not wish to be part of a group, and so refuse to hear them, or to accept group time.

The Still Point Within

The challenge is to be present in the maelstrom and the nonsense; respond to its demands where necessary; and not react to its pressures.

The word for this is freedom, but not a freedom outside the bustle; it is holding a still point within the bustle. Outside: nonsense. Inside: purpose, poise, grace.

It is not our aim to drive out noise. It is our aim to invite in Silence.