jamey Faulkner

In this article, I am sharing some views about creatively approaching guitar studies.

So far we have explored the Integral Model, & designed an introductory Integral Guitar Model. Like everything, my ideas about the model & its musical applications are developing – always developing.

I sincerely hope you will take a look at the system & see what it may have to offer you, and where it might be going. I think it is important that you are aware of the integral approach, as it is being implemented in a number of disciplines.

It is not the only organizational system or theoretical system (approach, framework) I use, yet it is relevant, comprehensive, & very effective.

I’ve been playing guitar for 28 years – a degree in Classic Guitar, fingerstyle, blues, & rock. I’ve been teaching for 22 of those years.

It always amazes me that I am still doing this – playing, writing, & teaching. It hits me now & again, that yes, I am still at it.

Even when I tried to change fields at shaky points in the quest, I returned again & again to this craft that engages me like no other – Music.

My take at this moment is that when we play music, this is only one facet of a larger system of the musical life. In my approach, when we are developing a musical craft, we are also creating a music & life ‘philosophy’, & playing the guitar is only a part of that noble endeavor. A part that is whole in its own right, yet a part of a wider story.

We can’t avoid creating an approach to playing. When I give talks on this topic, there is always an advocate for, “I just want to play, I don’t want to think about the ‘theory’ or the ‘whys’ or the ‘philosophy’ of why I play.” This, is an approach to playing.

At the beginning of learning to play guitar, the how of playing & changing chords, strumming & fingerpicking, playing songs, & making sounds are at the forefront of our mind & activities, as they should be.

As we develop & the actual physical playing part isn’t as big of a deal, the mental and the energy side of the street emerge as important areas of exploration.

If you a beginner, just keep in mind that there is more, much more, beyond playing tones and chords and songs. There is the ‘spirit’ of playing that is dynamic, intense, and very real.

The longer you play, the more access you get to wider dimensions of musical experience.

At some point in every musician’s life, they question why it is they play. It’s part of the fun of it all. Questions might be, “why do I play?” or “am I satisfied?” or “am I missing anything?” or “do I like who I play with?” At least, in my view, some why questions should arise; should take place, naturally.

It seems to me to be a choice-less situation. It just happens, and this is good news. That this may take place later in a player’s life should not deter one from acknowledging these intuitive moments, however they emerge.

I’ve always approached teaching guitar from a wide angle perspective. A student of guitar should be able to tune and change strings, and maintain his or her equipment. A learner should practice and perform alone and with others (as in a band).

A player should take lessons, yet keep independent thought as his or her code of engagement. A guitarist should develop mind and body as to express self and feeling in music.

Through the years, my approach to teaching and learning has taken many forms – some dead-ends and some endless highways. Through a variety of groupings and re-workings of categories, I reached a point where things fit into action segments – things to do or not to do.

I have found that if a student covers all these areas concurrently (walks around the circle), they grow faster and never stop growing. They are never bored and their abilities expand endlessly. They never stagnate. They always have something to do. They stay focused and enthused for the craft of guitar.

Focusing on a balanced approach to playing, students can learn faster and with more depth and meaning (and more fun) for a lifetime.

So, the Integral Model. It fits very well with my teaching methodology. In myriad ways, Ken Wilber’s writing and work have accelerated my understanding of life and creativity. His work has assisted my teaching theories to include more of what I intuited to be there.

Integral studies have given me the opportunity to understand the vast territory of life and sound and others and creativity with increasing depth and insight. (and I thought I was covering quite a bit before. After nearly 30 years of playing music, I’m really just getting started).

I have learned to lean into the consonance and dissonance of creative growth; to sit with the creative self while it makes sense of the vast openness it calls home. I’ve learned to use my attention in new ways, understanding that I may ultimately be borrowing the tracks that have been set down before me, possibly leading to the next, wider, level of artistic expansion and vision.

There is an endless field of creative energy awaiting every person that picks up a guitar or any instrument. If you have the drive, and decide to play, the universe supports that decision.

Overview by Jamey Faulkner based on work of Ken Wilber. Note: This is version .05 of the Integral Guitar Model (Integral Music Model).

The Integral Guitar Model is using the Integral Model developed by Ken Wilber, to teach, learn, understand, and play music (in this case, guitar).

(The Integral Guitar Model can also be called the Integral Music Model – you can substitute each instrument’s specific techniques, traditions, mental approaches, etc., but the core is the same. For this overview, we will use them interchangeably).

As mentioned in the Integral Model overview, music is a line in the integral framework. It is considered an auxiliary module or practice to the core modules (mind, body, spirit, shadow) in Integral Life Practice.

When using the map for the guitar, we can call the practice, Integral Guitar Practice, and for any type of music, Integral Music Practice. The Integral Music Model (for guitar) uses the Integral Map to learn and experience music.

As a line, music can also use the framework of the map. In a sense, this is the map within the map. The line music, which is a module of the Integral Life Practice, is using the Integral Map to create a system of learning, much like the cognitive line using the map to explore different perspectives of awareness.

The Integral Guitar Map utilizes the same 5 dimensions of awareness of the Integral Model: Quadrants, Lines, Levels, States, & Types.

AQAL (short for all quadrants, all levels) is the inclusion of all of them.

By understanding each moment from these 5 touch-views, and how we can use these 5 to enact our experiences – looking at our practice through the map (I, We, and It – The Big Three) – we have an opportunity to grow in exceedingly progressive ways and shrink time-lines.

Quadrants

The Quadrants provide the structure for the perspectives (I, We, It, Its). For the Integral Guitar Model, on a very general level, we’ll substitute mind, body, mutual resonance, jamming with others (we’ll refine this more later).

For simplicity, these will shake down to the The Big Three (I, We, It), yet we will use a modified version of the graphic above:

For the perspectives (quadrants), Upper Left (UL) is our inside experience (thoughts, feelings, mental constructs), Upper Right (UR) is our technical abilities, and the Lower Left (LL) and Lower Right (LR) are our understanding and interactions with others. LL is our cultural understanding with others, LR is our social system.

It is important to keep in mind how we are using the Integral Model. One, for every instance, all 4 perspectives are present (from). Two, we can organize our efforts (through) by exploring each of the perspectives (even though when we do so, all four are still present).

Lines

For our Integral Music/Guitar Model, lines are the specific and multiple areas of development. Lines are present in each quadrant. Version .05 of this model, has divided the discipline of music into the following areas.

Upper Left

Upper Right (Techniques for Guitar)

Lower Left and Lower Right as One (We – You & I + Its)

Levels

Levels are the altitude in each of the lines. As we work to expand and increase our altitude across all of the lines, we see how each can strengthen the other. Of course, no one is at the highest level in all lines.

States

States for the Integral Music Model describe the types of altered states musicians get into while they/we play. The most description is the ‘being in the zone’, as if the music was being played through the player. Also known as ‘flow’.

Types

For version .05 of the Integral Guitar Model, types are still personality types, plus male/female, and cultural, but we will add styles. Styles include Eastern and Western, traditional, modern, postmodern styles.

AQAL

AQAL, short for ‘all quadrants, all levels’ refers to including all dimensions of awareness (quadrants, levels, lines, states, and types) as we learn to play and interact with others.

Any one of these points could be expanded Ad infinitum.

Overview by jamey Faulkner based on work of Ken Wilber.

The Integral Model can also be referred to as the Integral Map, Integral Theory, AQAL Integral Framework, or just AQAL (pronounced aw-qwal), short for ‘all-quadrants, all-levels’.

The Model is a map which provides a framework for any discipline or area of study, including music, art, science, medicine, among many others. We will see how music fits into the Integral Map, and how the map can be applied to music. First, the model.

The Integral Model consists of 5 dimensions of awareness: Quadrants, Lines, Levels, States, and Types.

The 4 Quadrants and Perspectives

Quadrants provide the structure, and each of the four is a perspective for any moment. They aren’t a ‘place’ that we put something, but a unified way to view any moment, occasion, or event. The Quadrants provide the structure for the perspectives.

The Perspectives:

The Quadrants are the ‘interior and exterior of the individual and the collective’.

These 4 ‘shake’ down into what Wilber calls “The Big Three”. Since Its is a plural It, It and Its can combine to just It.

The Big Three

Lines

Lines are particular intelligences, such as cognitive, moral, emotional, needs, interpersonal, values, musical. Music is a line within the Integral Model. It also would be considered an auxiliary module. (The core modules in Integral Life Practice are Mind, Body, Spirit, and Shadow).

Lines are present in all quadrants, yet one of the most important lines is ‘located’ in the upper left (UL) quadrant, the cognitive line. The cognitive line is important because it is ‘what we are aware of,’ or the ability to take perspectives. We’ll ‘place’ the cognitive line within the UL quadrant along with others (moral, affective, musical, etc) in a graph called the Integral Psychograph.

The idea is that all of us have these areas of development. Some of the areas are more evolved or developed than others. For instance, a person may be at a very high level of cognitive achievement, a relatively high level of moral and affective development, and a somewhat low level of musical development.

We all have a psychograph particular to us, and we are the best determiners of where we are strongest and where we can use some work.

Levels

Levels (Stages) provide a developmental scale; not exactly a ladder, but a sequence that each of us move through as we grow. The very basic stages are body, mind, and spirit (preconventional, conventional, postconventional).

Levels are waves of consciousness. Another term for levels is altitude. Each developmental line has a level. In music, common terms for early, middle, and later development is beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

States

States relate to either natural states, such as waking, dreaming, or deep sleep, or meditative, altered, and peak. States are ‘temporary and changing but powerful forms of awareness.’

Types

Types are different forms on a horizontal level, such as male/female, personality types (such as the Enneagram or Myers-Briggs), or cultural differences.

AQAL

AQAL stands for ‘all-quadrants, all-levels.’ As we experience an occasion, we can touch in on all the perspectives (quadrants), and relate to our experience at all levels (body, mind, and spirit).

AQAL is really short for ‘all-quadrants, all-levels, all-lines, all-states, all-types.’ AQAL is an inclusive model of reality.