Graduate Orientation: a great reminder of all the facts about music history and ear training skills that I have forgotten, lost, or never had at all. The only thing making Wednesday's placement exams endurable was the knowledge than I had a sweet ride ahead of me to get home. Home - I've lived here a week, in this room I rent, in a place I've never known and yet it's become a sanctuary and a welcoming sight as I turn the last corner onto our block. The mind adjusts quickly, I suppose. Sure, I miss Pittsburgh and everyone I left behind, but at the same time I've never felt more aware of my surroundings in the city.
As I left the test, I felt an urge to play and I hurried off to put in my obligatory hours of isolated practice. Scales, long tones, excerpts, solos...It all melts together eventually and just becomes playing. It's amazingly similar to riding: hills, downhills, sharp curves, pot holes, aggressive drivers...it all just becomes "the ride". It's why I can say I'm a cyclist and a bassist, not a climber and scale expert. In these moments of self-discovery, it's great to have kindred spirits, which I found, not surprisingly, at the railing where we all lock up. Upon leaving, I ran into some new friends, who at the time never struck me as the biking types, but there we were, putting away our U-locks and getting our bags squared away. After some geeky "what's your setup" talk, we rolled out together, taking almost the same route to our respective homes, and for the first time since moving, I felt connected. There's something beautiful about riding with new friends in a city where we're all strangers. Riding roads we'll ride everyday, and carry our adventures around like our bags on our back. Legs, pedals, cranks, gears, wheels, road, the globe. It's all connected.
Ryan
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