My beautiful Byron,

This Thursday finds me still in So Cal, a coffee shop in Newport Beach after a  chilly ride on my bike through the first of the winter winds. The big wildfire threat is over and it back to sleepy Pacific beach life. Words and music every day for me. Writing in the morning and recording in the afternoon. Almost exactly how I lived in England before my house and studio and rental flats and 4 year old son were stolen by corrupt family-law members. Also, I don’t have Wallace here as well, so that’s different, he was with me all the time, just like you were, but in terms of my work as a writer and musician, I am back in the groove after a lot of distraction because of what happened on fathers day in 2013. That is much to be grateful for. I love making music as much as I did when I first started about 40 years ago. And words. I love writing and telling stories. So here’s today’s story for you in our weekly visit on this blog.

Around the time I was your age, 10, I started to play the guitar a lot. Ten was a big year for me. Life changing events happened. Including spending 6 weeks traveling around Greece learning about being Greek. I also discovered I had a talent for music. And a passion for it.  I wanted to learn to play music and  soon I became aware of the coordination elements. The brain has to function in a new way, where the one hand does one thing and the other hand does another. To some extent, nature plays a part, and it comes easily to some people in the name of talent, but even for the most talented, there is an element of work that helps the process of coordination between mind and body.

I learned this fantastic exercise that helps free up the fingers. It is ideal for times when you have to wait in a line. You can practice it anywhere. In the end I got so good at it I can do it like super fast. So, I did some photos for you, so you can learn it and master the discipline involved.

Here’s how it works.
Start with your right hand. (Although eventually you will be able to do it equally well with both hands.)

This is photo one.

Right hand. On a flat surface like a table.

Number the fingers One to four. From left to right. Index finger is ONE. And pinky is FOUR.

 Now.
First movement is to bend fingers two and four downwards.
(You might need to use your left hand to help get the position right.)
Then straighten fingers one and three.  It may take a little while.
But that will build muscle memory and soon you will be able to bend two and four down and extend one and three to press down on the table. Just as in this picture.

Practice that for awhile until you can control alternating one and three out and then two and four out. Be patient. It may take you many revisits to this effort.

This is fingers two and four. You will see one and three are bent downwards. That’s the trick. Two up, two down, and then reverse. The other two up and the other two down.

Once you have the basics going then try it to a rhythm. Like a click. One two three four. Slowly at first. Each time, switch. One and three. Then two and four.

Practice whenever you get free time – especially wasted free time, like when you are standing in line, or driving in a car somewhere. Its a good way to use wasted time.

So – after years of doing that, it helped me with piano playing and guitar playing. And with not wasting time doing nothing. because even when I had to wait in a line, I could use that time productively.  Now, after all these years I can do it withe both hands simultaneously at a fast tempo.Its a cool exercise. A good mental discipline. I have the idea now to do it as a YouTube video for you. But first some work. Yaya is having some little issues and I need to get onto that. I may have to travel to South Africa soon. Boy I wish I could stop by and collect you and take you with. She would so love to see you one last time.

All letters are now in the book LETTERS TO BYRON. On Amazon

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