Face to Face is a piece for two people which proceeds in exactly the same way as the Triangle piece does, except that instead of listening to a duo (a stereo effect) you are listening to only one person.

A PIECE FOR 2 PEOPLE

Face to face means exactly that. When two people perform it, seat yourselves to allow the instruments to be approximately on the same level. Face each other and play to each other allowing the music to take place somewhere in the middle. This is very much an outward process. Try to be a total ear to the other player, allowing your own playing to be of secondary importance, apart from enabling the other player to follow the same process - the main priority being to hear the other player totally. Both players are working at this simultaneously. At this stage you are not aware of the total sound of the two players. When you arrive at hearing the other player completely, and playing (almost subconsciously) for their sake at the same time, allow yourselves to bring into focus the duo sound. Up to this point you've let your own personal playing function in an unconscious way. From then on you start to converse naturally, retaining the group awareness that has developed. Free group improvisation is the aim, and a preparation piece like this is an aid to achieving the concentration required for the best results. The actual process, loosely described in these notes, may only take a few seconds, but those few seconds are significant in getting the players beyond themselves and into the music ...