Derek Bailey's Practice/Practise

In this article I attempt to outline some features of improvising guitarist Derek Bailey's practice, not only in the sense spelt with a "c" (as in "artistic practice") but also the other, more familiar musical sense, spelt (in British English, at least) with an "s" - as in what he "practised" on his instrument. I focus on the way in which Bailey constructed his mature improvisational vocabulary according to very specific criteria which did not aim at sonic novelty for its own sake, but rather submitted willingly to certain musical and physical constraints with the intention of pursuing that which was continually malleable.