Anton Sokalski

Blog Post 7

Choice Cuts: Expanding on the importance of the role of Participatory Discrepancies in Music

The first piece Polacca is full of participatory discrepancies that truly make the listening experience a fun and exciting journey. Right from the beginning of the piece it seems the drums and the vocal group are in a different meter or tempo. The drums arrive on the beat a fraction earlier than the vocals. The piece grows and evolves in many different ways, layering on futuristic ostinatos (repeated motifs). This piece reminds me of a sort of call and response as it seems the musicians are almost have a conversation. This is emphasized by the chant like vocals. The group of vocalists are often not singing pitches but rather following the natural inflection of the voice and language while still communication musically and rhythmically with the other musicians. These aspects make for a very lively composition that makes any listener want to get up and dance.

Sly and the Family stone’s Space Cowboy has many resemblances to a blues jam. The Bassist and the drummer lay the foundation of the groove while the keyboard lightly playing over top in a slap clav style. The vocals are the clearest example of participatory discrepancy as there are multiple vocalists singing in different octaves and the lead vocalists often switches between rhythmic speech and melody. The mix of speech and song gives the composition a sense of story. The piece reminds me of a campfire jam, where everyone is participating in the experience.

The final piece ‘Agua due va caer’ by Patato and Totico seems as though almost all musicians are playing at their own tempo. The vocals seem to flow over top of the drums independently but complementary. The piece does not feel like it has any bar lines time signature instead; a groove layered over top of the energizing drum beat. This piece like the Polacca really makes you want to dance. You also feel as though you can sing along when the group of singers responds to the lead singer, another example of how Participatory discrepancies allow the audience to feel they can participate as well. 

Although classical music has found beauty in precise rhythm and intonation, genres such as jazz, Prague rock, rock and many more have embraced what we call participatory discrepancies. Participatory discrepancy can be difficult to recognize but is often a crucial aspect of an effective musical performance. Examples of this are most  recognizable in live performance, and I think is a major factor in why we as humans are so invigorated by live music. I think the hint is in the right in the name— Participatory— 

These discrepancies arise because the musicians are communicating and creating the music in real time as individuals in a collaborative effort. In other words they are actively participating in the creation of the colour and groove of the piece.  I believe this is why audience become so enamoured with live performance, because they are participating in the experience simultaneously. In the examples all the pieces feel as though each instrument is acting and reacting to each other, leading to slight variations in timing, tempo and intonation. This is what makes live these pieces feel so real, causing you to act and react with the music and musicians. These styles of music move away from the ideals of ‘perfection’ in classical music, performed only by experts and professionals, allowing everyone to feel included from the musicians, audience, sound engineers, all the way to the clean up crew. One style of music that is my personal favourite to engage in as a performer or lister, is also the best example of participatory discrepancy; ‘Jamming’. 

Jamming is when musicians come together usually without any music, maybe with a few musical ideas they want to build on, or maybe just their instrument, and they play music together building off each others musical ideas. Due to the spontaneous nature of this style of playing, their tempos are loose and change with the musicians, slight bends in pitches create new colours. When I first heard people ‘jam’ I was in awe of how they were able to build off each others individual styles to make their own feel and texture. I was positive that I would not be able to participate successfully in a ‘jam’ until I had mastered my instrument. For a long time I was too scared to even try and was terrified of playing music that I didn’t learn and practice, how would I know what to play? When I finally ‘jammed’ I moved passed that fear because I realized that no one knew exactly what music would be made, which meant any note or rhythm was possible, there were not wrong notes and right notes. Participatory discrepancies  may not always be as pretty or precise as Mozart, but it is an unrefined form of expression that makes everyone feel included in the creative process bth the musicians and the listeners. 

Great article on the importance of the role Participatory discrepancies play in music.

http://musicpsychology.co.uk/feeling-groovy-microtiming-in-swing-and-funk/

Video on Participatory music and music care.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T64AouiF7A4

Expanding on ‘free time only works if you steal it’

We often think of free time as something to be desired, we all want free time! That means we get to relax right? Well not always… During the covid pandemic people have had more time on their hands than they know what to do with. Without having to commute to work, go shopping or going out with family and friends we are left with a lot of spare time on our hands, but all that free time hasn’t given people the opportunity to relax and take a breather from the stress of work or school. In fact during the pandemic stress and depression levels have skyrocketed. So why aren’t we able to relax in this forced time of “leisure”? There are some obvious reasons: we are in a global pandemic and have a lot of social injustice and unrest, which can certainly lead to many unwelcome feelings of stress. However I think one of the main reasons why we find difficulty relaxing during our free time is because we feel an obligation to do something useful and productive with this excess time, Such as; learn a new instrument, clean out your closet or workout to name a few. So I began to wonder do we really have free time? A time where we are not expected to do anything by anyone including oneself. Or is  “free time” simply time wasted?

This question  made me think a lot about the term “free time”and the many definitions we attach to it. Some say free time is simply time not in school or at work in other words time spent on hobbies, side hustles, or time with your family and friends. In this case free time is not time wasted because it is spent on people or activities that you enjoy and find passion in. Some might think of free time as a chance to sit down and watch a Netflix or scroll through Instagram. In this case, people (myself included) often feel they have wasted their free time. Personally I believe that the best way to explain free time is; simply time for which you have nothing planned, and it is up to you how effectively you use it.  

So why do we have to “steal” free time?  To tackle this concept I thought about how I usually spend my free time. Unfortunately I found that a sizeable chunk of my free time is spent on Netflix, Youtube, or Instagram. However when I binge a few episodes of my favourite tv show I often don’t feel relaxed afterwards instead I find I’ve wasted time. I think this is where the idea of stealing time comes into play. In order to have free time we need take steal time away from other aspects of our lives. We have to steal time away from other aspects of our lives (like netflix or social media ) and redirect that time into something more useful. Personally I’m always looking to fill my free time with an experience, or by taking part in one of my passions. When I find myself without work or plans, I will go rock climbing, or slacklining or play music. I think this is my way of trying to steal free time, however I wouldn’t use the word “stealing”.  Time is a gift and it is up to us how we use it, you can spend it staring at a youtube screen and scrolling through instagram or by going on a walk, learning a new art form, or spending time with loved ones. When I don’t pursue my passions with my free time I will often fall victim to social media and youtube rabbit holes that leave me feeling like I’ve wasted time and energy. The idea of ‘Stealing’ implies that we are taking the time from somewhere or someone else, but everyone around the world is gifted the same amount of time in a day. Everyday we have 24 hours to do with as we please, it’s up to you whether you waste it or develop life long skills, and create life long memories.

Ted Talk on effectively using free time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3kNlFMXslo&t=524s

Article on the benefits and harms of ‘free time’

https://www.ubyssey.ca/opinion/mind-your-mind-how-to-make-having-too-much-free-time-constructive/

There are a number of ways that I believe music schools around Canada could evolve over the next five years. I think the main way in which universities could grow would be by embracing modern music. Most music schools either offer Classical or Jazz programs however we have had many musical revelations since the golden age of Mozart and Buddy Bolden. From Jimmy Hendrix, to Stevie Wonder, Janis Joplin, to Beyonce, all the way to Toupac and Kendrick Lamar, musicians have continued to innovate and redefine what we perceive as music. Unfortunately universities have not placed emphasis on the way these musicians have influenced music and the world. Although some universities offer classes studying the History of Rock, and on rarer occasions the history of Rap, these genres are often overlooked and passed over quickly in an optional course lasting only one term. Why are all students required to learn about the Classical, Baroque, Renaissance and Romantic periods in detail for the first 4 semesters of their music education but never required to take a course on Jazz, Rock, or Rap? Many people would argue that it is more important to study the works of Bach and Beethoven because their work laid the foundation for all future musicians. Although it is true that the works of Mozart and other great composers served as the foundation of music today, that does not mean that those who continued to revolutionize music should be left in the dust. 

Because of the way music curriculums are constructed, many young artists choose not to go to school for music because their passions lie in playing synths, electric bass, or electric guitar, etc. They don’t see the value in learning about how to write a Gregorian chant, but might see the value in learning about how to create a synth sound, or how to construct a piece of fusion music. This is not to say that there isn’t a lot of real value in learning classical music theory and performing classical music, there are many valuable skills and techniques to be learned from these genres. However there are equally as important and arguably more relevant genres which more equally represent BIPOC communities, that we could study and perform.  Universities should require students to take a course on BIPOC influenced genres, such as Soul, Funk, or rap (fulfilling a history credit) as well as a theory course focusing on these same genres. Not only would implementing these changes grow and diversify the community of music schools, it opens the door to students learning about more BIPOC musicians. This is an issue that arises with studying classical music as many BIPOC musicians were not given a platform to express their music in the classical era. We find most music that is performed and studied from the classical is written by white men, in fact all of the composers we have studied at length in the first two years of history have been white male composers. This limits a lot of musicians in school trying to learn about BIPOC Composers and musicians. Today there is no shortage of BIPOC musicians to study, but sadly they are often still pushed to the shadows by looming systemic racism. Universities are an integral part of changing the landscape of the music world. Universities and teachers have a responsibility to change the way that classical music has suppressed the voices of BIPOC musicians, by encouraging the students to expand their studies and performances to include these more contemporary and underrepresented groups. Educational institutions have the most important role in changing the systemic issues we face today. They are largely responsible for the way future minds develop and how they form their opinions. Therefore it is crucial that universities require students to look beyond the canonical world of classical music. Another advantage of studying more recent genres is that it opens up many more career opportunities. Classical music is a very competitive and relatively small field of music in todays world, expanding curriculums to include more current styles of music would also allow students to widen their range of options and increase their chances of having successful career in music, as genres such as hip hop and indie music are two major giants in the music industry. Not educating students about these aspects of the musical world damages an already suffering industry. Students are the future of music and restricting musicians to these genres like classical music, places them in a bubble with a lower chance of success. Universities have the ability to help students towards a more successful and well rounded music career as well as work towards equal representation of all cultures and people in the world of music.

Adam Neely on what you didn’t learn in music school

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD3Qo5DKM2s&t=247s\

Article discussing BIPOC musicians 

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2020/09/14/school-of-music-makes-commitments-to-racial-equity/

Blog prompt option B

The story of Igor Stravinsky’s  Rite of Spring ballet has always fascinated me because it provoked such an intense and emotional reaction. I believe that music is the most effective art form to affect the passions of humanity. This is because music makes us feel our emotions much more intensely, revealing emotions that otherwise may have remained hidden, or maybe even emotions we wish to suppress. Music not only has an affect on our emotional state, it also has many physical affects. Music can send shivers down our spines, raise our heart rates and even raise our blood pressure. Most composers before Stravinsky aimed to tug the listeners heart strings, with songs conveying love or sadness, however rarely did composers infuse chaos into their musical compositions. Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring was one of the first compositions to completely abandon traditional conventions of composition and introduce anarchy to the ears of listeners. The way that the infamous premier is described makes it seem as though the audience was overcome with a delusional violence. People were screaming,  breaking out into fights, there are even stories of people ripping out the seats of the concert hall and throwing them. It was almost as if the entire audience was dosed with an intense stimulant. This always made me curious as to why the human brain reacts in such an intense way to this jarring percussive style of music. The reason is because when listening to music the brain releases Endorphins such as dopamine, the same chemicals released in the brain when we have sex or consume food or drugs. 

When a musical composition presents unfamiliar and shocking techniques our brains are much more active and release higher quantities of dopamine. Stravinsky’s Rite of spring used many techniques to achieve this overload of endorphins in his audience. Stravinsky frequently used irregular time signatures as well as polyrhythmic sections (where instruments are playing in different time signatures simultaneously) This makes listeners feel uneasy because there the piece is all tension and very little release. The brain has difficulty following and understanding the musical intention without knowing where the beat is. Many of us when we are unable to understand something we become frustrated, like a baby toddler having a temper tantrum banging his hand on the floor. Stravinsky emphasizes this feeling of frustration in his listeners by making the main focus of the ballet percussion as opposed to melody. There are 4 tympani’s  and numerous other percussion instruments and even the strings are asked to play percussively. The irregular and loud percussion ensued chaos in the listeners which was emphasized by the primal and aggressive movements of the dancers. Stravinsky’s goal was to create something that no one had ever imagined before, and in doing so he paved the way for countless future musicians who would lean into this idea of participatory discrepancy. It also gave rise to a new purpose for music; to provoke. 

Throughout the 20th century musicians took after Stravinsky and started to take more chances with the subject matter and composition style of their works in order to provoke their listeners to have a more visceral  or perhaps even primal reaction. One of the most influential and controversial songs of this time was a Beatles song entitled ‘Helter Skelter’ . The song was written by Paul McCartney and was written in an effort to be ‘the loudest dirtiest song ever written’. Paul wrote the song with the intention of shocking the world with his aggressive style that many say birthed the metal movement.  Paul was often criticized for being the ‘soft’ one of the group, only capable of writing love songs and ballads. In order to show he had more musical depth, the piece goes against Paul’s typical writings style.  Although the song is in E major it never features the dominant and little tonal function, the piece is also played at a very high pace with echoing and detuning effects on the instruments and wailing vocals. Paul demonstrates a shrieking style of singing that causes the listeners emotions to rise and the brain to produce more dopamine creating a similar feeling as listening to the Rite of Spring. The piece also plays with your emotions as the piece fades out in a mash of noises and screeching vocals to nothing, however this is to create a false sense of security. Just when you think this intense piece must be over, the soundscape of terrifying sounds slowly fades back in, placing you back in the chaotic soundscape. Although there was not a riot in a concert hall when the Beatles performed the song live, people did react strongly to the piece including one of the scariest minds of our time—Charles Mason. Charles Mason interpreted the Beatles ‘white’ Album as a encrypted prophecy about an apocolyptic racial war. Charles Manson started a cult following which lead to the murder of at least 9 people. 

Although the Beatles never intended influencing anyone in this way, and Stravinsky probably didn’t imagine fist fights would break out due to his Rite of Spring. These composers set out to test the boundaries of music and see the effect on the listener. I think both composers probably realized that their compositions could affect their listeners much more profoundly than they had anticipated. It seems as though music is capable of producing the most profound feelings of joy and love as well cause feelings of anger and outrage. These pieces paved the way for Metal, Grunge and Rap genres which encourage audiences to release their pent up emotions and aggression through crowd diving and Mosh pits. These heart pumping audience behaviours are a big part of live performance experience when it comes to these genres. Some still argue that music that causes these aggressive behaviours is harmful and only encourages violence and conflict. However others argue that it is a healthy way to relieve ourselves of our pent up feelings of anger. It is very possible that both views are true, but what is undeniable is the powerful affect music has on our behaviour and emotions, it is a power that must be wielded with care and intention. 

Ted talk on the effects of music on the brain and body.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZFFwy5fwYI&t=40s

Link on anger in music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK29G9XbWrA&t=350s

Article on how the Rite of Spring shaped music over the next 100 years.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/may/29/stravinsky-rite-of-spring

Article describing benfits of listening to Heavy Metal music.

https://interestingengineering.com/7-amazing-mental-benefits-of-listening-to-heavy-metal

Blog Post #7

The first piece Polacca is full of participatory discrepancies that truly make the listening experience a fun and exciting journey. Right from the beginning of the piece it seems the drums and the vocal group are in a different meter or tempo. The drums arrive on the beat a fraction earlier than the vocals. The piece grows and evolves in many different ways, layering on futuristic ostinatos (repeated motifs). This piece reminds me of a sort of call and response as it seems the musicians are almost have a conversation. This is emphasized by the chant like vocals. The group of vocalists are often not singing pitches but rather following the natural inflection of the voice and language while still communication musically and rhythmically with the other musicians. These aspects make for a very lively composition that makes any listener want to get up and dance.

Sly and the Family stone’s Space Cowboy has many resemblances to a blues jam. The Bassist and the drummer lay the foundation of the groove while the keyboard lightly playing over top in a slap clav style. The vocals are the clearest example of participatory discrepancy as there are multiple vocalists singing in different octaves and the lead vocalists often switches between rhythmic speech and melody. The mix of speech and song gives the composition a sense of story. The piece reminds me of a campfire jam, where everyone is participating in the experience.

The final piece ‘Agua due va caer’ by Patato and Totico seems as though almost all musicians are playing at their own tempo. The vocals seem to flow over top of the drums independently but complementary. The piece does not feel like it has any bar lines time signature instead; a groove layered over top of the energizing drum beat. This piece like the Polacca really makes you want to dance. You also feel as though you can sing along when the group of singers responds to the lead singer, another example of how Participatory discrepancies allow the audience to feel they can participate as well.

During covid times nearly everyones lives have been completely flipped upside-down. Many people now do their work from home and everyone is overwhelmed with zoom meetings. Musicians lives may have been one of the most affected professions in the world. Pre Covid musicians were generally busy folks, rushing from one rehearsal to the next and squeaking in practice time and meals in between. We would attend concerts and masterclasses constantly being surrounded by all types of live music. Unfortunately we took these times for granted, now we are lucky if we get to have an in person rehearsal, or lessons let alone a performance or a concert. This has posed a serious problem for professional musicians, many of us rely on pay checks from performances, and lessons of all varieties. However there are still a few creative ways musicians are finding to share there music with the world. Many musicians have started to use social media platforms such as Instagram, Youtube, or Twitter to live stream concerts around the world. Some musicians charge a fee to receive a link to the performance, others make an optional donation link. One of the biggest challenges I think musicians face is that it can feel awkward asking for money for a live streamed concert. Musicians tend to love to play their instrument and love to perform, we often practice everyday. Live streaming a performance can feel a bit like practicing, you’re just in your living room with no one but a camera recording. I think this can make musicians feel like they’re not providing a complete enough musical experience to merit payment. I think the best way for musicians to overcome this sense of guilt would be to donate a percentage of your proceeds to charity, Such as the black lives matter mouvement or environmental charities.  By donating a portion of your profits to charity musicians are not only able to regain some of the income lost during the pandemic, but they are able to help support an important cause and provide music to the audience; It’s a Win, Win, Win situation. Live streaming concerts is also extremely beneficial to musicians for exposure; it allows people from all over the globe to watch your performance as opposed to in person concerts, which can only have so many people, usually from the same city. This sends your music to many different corners of the world, and who knows maybe you’ll get lucky and go viral on tik tok and get a sony deal 🙂

I believe that the reason Dr Munarriz considers the term Latin American Music to be problematic is because it doesn’t offer a wide enough representation of all the styles of music found in Latin America. I understand his point of view, as there are many different styles of music found in Latin America. However I think the same could be said about any classification of music. When we speak of European music there are also countless styles to be found with countless different influences from around the globe. Even when being more specific about a style of music for example rap; we cannot say that all raps have the same style, there are countless forms of rap all with their own intricacies and textures. The reason we categorize specific styles of music into these larger groups is because they were inspired by similar techniques or melodies from a specific region or culture, not because we think all music in the category is the exact same. Latin American music is music from latin America, Latin music descending from Latin America but created in the United States of America. Ostinatos are a motif or phrase in music that is repeated throughout a piece. An example of the ostinatos used in latin American expressions  is the Habanera, the Tresillo, the Amphibrach, the Cinquillo, the cinquillo in two bar format, and the “three two” clave . The  habanera pattern is found and adapted in many latin American expressions. It can be found in the Cuban Contradanza, the Caribbean contradanza, the Tumba Francesa, the Danza, the Merengue and the Quadrille. The habanera pattern is the basis for many ostinatos used in latin American expressions.

There are a number of ways that I believe music schools around Canada could evolve over the next five years. I think the main way in which universities could grow would be by embracing modern music. Most music schools either offer Classical or Jazz programs however we have had many musical revelations since the golden age of Mozart and Buddy Bolden. From Jimmy Hendrix, to Stevie Wonder, Janis Joplin, to Beyonce,  all the way to Toupac and Kendrick Lamar, universities have not placed emphasis on the way these musicians influenced music and the world. Although some universities offer classes studying the History of Rock, and on rarer occasions the history of Rap, these genres are often overlooked and passed over quickly in an optional course lasting only one term. Why are all students required to learn about the Classical, Baroque, Renaissance and Romantic periods in detail for the first 4 semesters of their music education? Instead, have the option of studying soul, Rock, pop or rap. Many young artists choose not to go to school for music because their passions lie in playing synths or electric bass, etc. They don’t see the value in learning about how to write a Gregorian chant, but might see the value in learning about how to create a synth sound, or how to construct a piece of fusion music. This is not to say that there isn’t a lot of real value in learning classical music theory and performing classical music, there are many valuable skills and techniques to be learned from these genres. However there are equally as important and arguably more relevant genres representing BIPOC communities to be performing and studying. Not only would implementing these changes grow and diversify the community of music schools, it opens the door to students learning about more BIPOC musicians. As many BIPOC musicians were not given a platform to express their music in the classical era, we find most music that is performed and studied from the classical is written by white men. This limits a lot of musicians in school trying to represent BIPOC Composers, by encouraging the students to expand their studies and performances to include these more contemporary and underrepresented groups  universities will help to work towards equal representation of all cultures and people.

For this listening assignment I chose to listen to the kings singers singing Thomas Weelkes As Vesta was from Latmos hill descending.  By listening to this piece on a repeated loop I noticed a number of things I may not have caught only listening to the piece once through. The main difference I noticed in listening to the piece repeatedly was the relationship between the text and the music. In a piece like this full of polyphony with lots of different moving parts  I find it is often difficult to understand all the text however listening to the piece over and over allowed me to surmount this obstacle. It allowed me to understand the relationship to the text in a much deeper way. Wilkes love to have the music imitate the words, on words like ‘mingled’ there is heavy use of all voices moving in all sorts of directions. On the phrase ‘all alone’ Wilkes writes only a single high voice giving a sense of isolation. Similarily in the phrase ‘running down’ there is a flow of voices singing quick descending phrases and on the word ‘ascending’ the voices have intertwineing lines moving upwards in pitch. Another difference I noticed in listening to the piece on repeat was that I was able to pick apart the different voices and follow their vocal line.  Similarly to the text it is often difficult to follow one vocal line in a pice where they intermingle so frequently. Repeated listening allowed me to hear the piece enough times that I could follow along with the different vocal lines which gave me a fuller understanding of the harmony and texture of the piece. Finally this piece is relatively short so listen I was able to sing along to a few of the parts which made it interesting and a fun ear training expertise.

There are many complications with exclusively playing music from the past. Many of the most influential musicians are from the recent past; Robert Johnson, Miles Davis, Jimmy Hendrix, Bob Marley, Aretha Franklin, etc. These musicians not only inspired new musical ideas but also inspired social and political change that lasts still to this day. Music is a means of self expression and a very effective one, these artist used their talent and passion to provoke change in the way people were treated and perceived in their time. If we limit ourselves only listening to music of the past we would lose this powerful tool of self expression. The musicians of today would no longer be able to write music reflecting their feeling toward our worlds current state and those artists voices would never be heard. Past musicians worked hard to pave the way for future musicians and should be appreciated and recognized. However  to listen only to music of the past would mean losing the power that music has today.  Many of  the musicians of our time are the biggest BIPOC icons in history; Beyonce, John legend, lady gaga, kendrick Lamar, JZ, Snoop dog Stevie Wonder and countless more. Where would we and our future generations  find inspiration for change without the musicians of today? Where would we find  the courage to speak out and find the power to express ourselves?

As a singer and  keyboard player there are many current musicians to chose from who are inspiring in many different ways. I have chosen 4 pieces that are a good representation of my favourite current styles of music to perform;  Billy Joel, Stevie wonder, Boston (Tom Sholz and Todd Tejre.

There are many songs I love to play by Billy Joel; New York state of Mind, Vienna, Piano Man, The falling of the rain, scenes from an Italian restaurant. However Billy Joel released a classical piano album produced by Richard Joo with one of my favourite classical piano pieces. Although I am not good enough at piano to play  “soliloquy” I would love to be able to one day.

I chose this piece by Stevie Wonder because it is one of my personal favourites to sing. Stevie is one of the most influential artists of all time and this piece shows off his grove and his range.

I chose this piece by Boston because over the past two years I have become very passionate about rock music and Tom Sholz is one of my favourite rock organists. I love to play his organ solos to learn more about the rock organ style. Their vocalist Brad Delp is also one of my favourite singers.

Lastly I chose this song “Preben goes to Acapulco” by Todd Terje from his album “Album time” . nearly a year ago I purchased my first synth and I fell in love with the endless possibility of sounds. This album is explores so many different sounds and feelings and inspires my musical style.

“If you are to venture to interpret the past, you can only do so out of the fullest exertion of the present. Only when you put forth your noblest qualities in all their strength will you divine what is worth knowing and preserving in the past. Like to like! Otherwise, you will draw the past down on you.” 

My interpretation of this quotation is that Neitsche believed that to take anything valuable from the past we must be able to be fully present first, otherwise you will become the past. I believe that it is very important to have the ability to be present minded before we make evaluations about the past as the past brings up many emotions and can cause us to look at the past through clouded vision. This is why there is a growing trend of yoga and meditation.  Having the ability to look inward and experience the present fully allows us to observe the past, present, and future with a deeper understanding and take what lessons are important with us and leave what is not in the past.