Lecture Notes of Robert Fripp's Keynote Speech

February 2008 - California Institute of Integral Studies

I

In these strange & uncertain times, a reasonable person might despair. But hope is unreasonable; and love is greater even than this.

May we trust the inexpressible benevolence of the Creative Impulse?

Music is the cup which holds the wine of silence; sound is that cup, but empty; noise is that cup, but broken.

We are broken cups, unable to bear & to hold what is freely available.

NYC in the middle of 1981: F&E the cats. Woke just after 08.00 as they ran over my head. And then: I saw how music comes into our lives. Music is always available to us; but we are not always available to music. Music so wishes to be heard that it sometimes calls on unlikely people to give it voice, and to give it ears.

Just after that, a glimpse, a breath of a whisper, of where music comes from (it comes from Love).

After this, my life as a professional player changed. No longer did I chase music, seek to find it; now I knew it was always there. My concern was to make myself as available to music as music was, already available, to me.

II

The musician has three disciplines: the hands, the head & the heart.

The aim is to develop a balance, a harmony of parts, to integrate our different functional aspects.

The three disciplines are, effectively, one discipline while acknowledging different functional types: physical, intellectual & emotional types. In musicians, commonly referred to as technique, ideas, feel.

An established discipline confers effectuality in time: reliability, repeatability, response-ability.

A discipline is practised daily: 5/6/7 days a week. Establish an external structuring of the day to support the construction of an interior architecture. Example of the recommended GC practice.

III

Discipline is also a process: beginning, middle & end. Be very careful about the beginning; then be very careful about the ending. Then, be very careful about the middle.

A beginning is defined by our aim.

The middle is governed by our commitment.

The completion is recognition & acknowledgement of our understanding by those competent to make the judgement.

The overall stages correspond to injunction, application & verification.

IV Qualities of Musicianship: Novice, Professional, Master, Genius.

Reflect the quality of our attention, our capacity to bear suffering, our ability to respond to challenge. In a word, our being: the degree to which our symphony of parts works together in harmony; alternatively expressed, the degree to which our personal orchestra acts under one conductor – without rebellion & dissension in the rank & file!

Characteristics of each: different degrees of reliability, repeatability & response-ability. The present moment is vastly different.

V May also be approached as our station is determined by the quality, quantity & intensity of the energy supply available to us.

This then becomes a practical concern: we address the energy supply. Finding leaks & wastage; finding efficient techniques for the energy that is naturally available to us; techniques for generating & increasing energy – bought, borrowed, stolen.

VI

Good to Great:

The transition is possible when we can give away what we have for ourselves.

Assume the Virtue: what are the characteristics of a higher station? Unless we are able to describe these characteristics, the station is impossible for us to achieve.

Robert Fripp

If you are interested in discussing Robert Fripp as a keynote speaker please contact Patricia Fripp at pfripp@ix.netcom.com (415) 753-6556, (800) 634-3035, www.RobertFrippSpeaks.com, www.fripp.com