Performance is a practice that everyone participates in daily, whether it is through speaking, driving a car, or playing an instrument. It is the practice through which we express ourselves, interact with others, and engage with the world around us.

Timothy Gallwey’s book, The Inner Game of Golf (similar to the more popular, Inner Game of Tennis), discusses these ideas of performance, and consequently, how to maximize our potential. Da---Da-Da--Da for solo clarinet in Bb is inspired by a technique in the book of the same name, which demands the golfer to vocalize “da” during certain points of the golf swing. In this case, the takeaway of the club (beginning of the swing), the highest point of the backswing, contacting the ball, and the end of the swing. With this technique, the critical part of your brain (“self 1” as Gallwey calls it) is distracted and cannot flood your mind with unnecessary thoughts. Instead, “self 2,” the instinctive and acting part of your brain, may swing freely.

Not only does the main motif of this piece reflect a musical embodiment of the timing and sensations of my own golf swing, but the entire piece represents some of the joys, frustrations, and focus I find in the inner game.