Choice Cuts: Blog Prompt D

MANDARIN ORANGE PIECE

Peel a mandarin orange.

Share the segments evenly

between yourself and two others.

If one piece remains, put it in your sock drawer and forget.

 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PLAYING BACH

Begin to play a piece by Bach.

Before the first sound is heard,

begin again.

 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITING BLOG PROMPTS

On the day the Blog Prompt is due,

place your computer

in a mirrored

dome.

Stare at the sun until you are blind.

 

MUSIC FOR THE BUS

Listen to the engine noises on the bus.

Quietly sing a major third above the first note you hear.

As the engine makes higher and lower sounds, continue to listen and sing intervals.

Slide or leap from one note to the next.

Thank the driver.

 

MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE

Drive through an area where people are walking outside.

Play music in the car.

Imagine everyone you see is dancing

to the music.

 

MUSIC FOR THE CHICKENS

Create a document entitled “MUSIC FOR THE CHICKENS.”

Feed the chickens a mandarin orange

and tell them

anything.

 

MANDARIN ORANGE FOR THE MUSIC

Collect records. Tell your friends you are collecting vinyls.

Read ‘em and weep.

 

My thoughts on performing INSTRUCTIONS FOR PLAYING BACH:

This piece can be taken two ways: the first is that the performer is experiencing the liminal space between playing and not playing. This term, my voice teacher has been encouraging me to sing as though I am continuously searching for what to say next, and this exercise is actually something I do before I start singing, to embody that feeling of anticipation. I’ve recently started doing this exercise where I sing a phrase, re-starting every time I lose focus or a sense of direction. This piece is about how the process of making music begins before any sound is heard.

The second way to interpret the piece is that the performer is procrastinating.

My thoughts on performing MUSIC FOR THE BUS:

This is a great way to practice the kind of listening that John Cage or R. Murray Schafer might encourage, especially when your phone dies on the bus. It’s a liberating way to sing, because there are no wrong notes; all you are required to do is pay attention to the bus and engage with it. “Thank the bus driver” is part of the piece because it is important to be polite to other musicians you perform with.

My thoughts on performing MUSIC FOR THE CHICKENS:

By performing this piece I discovered that chickens don’t like oranges. It’s hard to say whether or not they like music. I had a chicken who learned to play the xylophone because I gave her corn whenever she pecked it. Chickens like corn more than they like music. Did my chicken eventually start to like playing music, or was it still just about the corn? Do I really like music, or do I like it because it reminds me of happy moments in my life? Do I need music like I need to eat?

Bonus piece: MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE EXCEPT IT’S FOR CHICKENS

(The chickens in this piece are my chickens.)