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Old-time practice group 1

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a group who encourage and motivate one another to stick to, and get the most out of, our practice time

14 Members, Created 5/7/2014 -

Administrators: skiptomylou (owner)

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From laertes22 on 12/4/2014 5:59:29 PM

Well, I have had a lot going on music wise the last week or two. As you may have noticed from the additions to my page, my fiancee and I did our engagement photo shoot. We wanted to do a kind of retro/vintage/old timey thing featuring our hobbies. I got myself an old suit, with suspenders, dress boots, a bowler/derby hat, and of course my banjo. She got a 50's style dress, heels, pearls and had her stylist work her afro into a pompadour (it's a big thing for us that she keeps her hair natural, no chemicals, no relaxers, and I love the way her hair turned out with the rockabilly pompadour look), and brought her knitting along. We rented a vintage couch and shot in front of an old, dilapidated house out in Concord, North Carolina (outside of Charlotte). Vid and pics are on my page, if you haven't seen them.

About the same time, I found a fiddle shop with strong ties to Charlotte's Old Time community and asked them to do some setup and adjustment work on my Chuck Lee openback banjo. (I also wanted an excuse to go out there and try out some of their fiddles and bows). The guy who worked on my banjo apparently does old time banjo and fiddle lessons and liked my chuck lee enough to call me up. After sending him a copy of my engagement vid, he liked it enough that he wants to meet up and keep in touch. So, my plan is to hopefully meet up with him for some jamming, picking, and bowing over Christmas break. Also, since the Old Time community where I live in SC is nonexistent, I have a potential teacher to do live lessons with once I get to Charlotte (I'll still do skype lessons with Clawdan, cause he's awesome, but I'm also thrilled about having someone in the same room that I can play along with and jam). So, real excited about that.

I feel like I've made a lot of progress in the last few months, and so I am re-evaluating the way I practice. I still fiddling with the format (no pun intended), but I came to 2 realizations.

1) I need to spend more time listening to Old Time music. I've ordered some new cds and mp3's and am working on some playlists, and just trying to allocate more time to listening. I started running doing the Couch 2 5K program a couple months ago, and am about to enter the final week of the program, so I figure I will listen to Old Time while I am running.

2) I need to not just play by myself. Easier said than done, since I don't have people to play with in my area. Hopefully things will work out with the guy who worked on my banjo in Charlotte. But also, I've started playing along with songs on some of my Old Time albums, using the Old Time Jam app for a partner, or using Amazing Slow Downer. I should have done this long ago, but I think my playing skills were not good enough for me to play along with albums, at speed, and play cleanly. However, since I've started, things have started to click. As I listen to the fiddle and play along, sections of the rhythm or licks that I struggled with started to "click". It's pretty great.

Anyway, I notice I'm the only one posting the last couple of weeks. If anybody has anything they are working on, I'd love to hear about it. Hearing about the things you guys are working on, struggling with, or overcoming really encourages me to keep trying.

-Gen

5 Comments
	VioletMoon says: 12/4/2014 7:30:52 PM Well, first of all, I absolutely love your engagement photos. And congratulations on the Couch to 5K program. And it's great to hear that things are falling into place for you to be able to play with other people. When that works, it's such a wonderful thing. As for what I've been up to recently ... Dan Gellert led banjo/fiddle workshops in St. Louis a couple of Saturdays ago and gave a concert at night and I rarely do anything crazy or expensive, but I decided that if I waited for another chance, who knows? It might never come. And so my husband and I took the train to Springfield, IL, rented a car, drove part of Route 66 to St. Louis, and stayed at a KOA to make it happen. It was a really good weekend and I'm glad I went. We enjoyed the concert (parts of it are on YouTube) and I came home focused on some basic concepts for both fiddle and banjo that will keep me busy and invigorated for a while. On fiddle, I'm working on a couple of note-filled tunes that are a stretch for me, thinking about playing cleanly and in tune. On banjo, I have a chance to play some bluegrass-styled Christmas tunes for a church party with four people who are talented, well-trained musicians (fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bass) and so I've been working pretty hard to figure out how to contribute a bit of banjo to that. I've learned a lot about chording from the exercise which will come in handy and they knew up front that I'm an inexperienced clawhammer player, so it's all good. : ) And then, when I have a few minutes to really focus, I've been working on my 55 tunes for 55 years project. I've been trying to get out to more jams because I know it's good for me. I've had some really positive experiences recently--a post-house-concert jam with some really wonderful musicians and a Fiddle Club gathering with four fiddles playing in harmony-- and I've also had some where I came home really discouraged. Last one I pretty much sounded terrible. String and rosin issues and I just wasn't playing my best. Oh, well! Oh--and I got to stop by Elderly today. It's not the time for me to buy a new banjo quite yet, but I loved the Ome XX that I got to play. That's about it for the update. I just keep it! Cyndy
	VioletMoon says: 12/4/2014 7:33:32 PM Keep at it, I meant to say! C
	skiptomylou says: 12/5/2014 1:10:59 PM Congratulations Gen!! I love your pictures and video - sounds like life is very exciting and fun for you right now! Great that you're working away at banjo and fiddle and that you've learned from your practice sessions and are able to re-evaluate your methods etc - i admire that about you - you are constantly noticing what is working and what isn't and adapting. hope you are enjoying the mike seeger dvds. just now i'm practising one i learned a while back from one of the set - Bright Sunny South. i might try and do a recording at the weekend. thanks for updating us - it's great to hear your news. glad to hear your are stretching yourself on fiddle Cyndy - and playing with the four musicians sounds good - they say playing with others is the single most important thing to bring on your playing, something i don't do nearly enough of, best Jill
	Zischkale says: 12/8/2014 7:23:55 AM Loved the engagement video. Awesome news on all fronts for you, buddy -- I'm real glad you've got somebody to jam with. Good idea on listening, I'm betting you're getting all kinds of ideas and inspiration from that Art Rosenbaum book/DVD. Youtube's of course an option. Listen to some banjo/fiddle duets too! I've been working on my tune of the week for this week -- it's a simple one but I'm messing with a new (for me) tuning to put a little twist on it. Also playing a lot of guitar from Ken Perlman's fingerstyle book. Cyndy, congrats on getting to see Dan Gellert -- when it comes to old-time music I feel I'm in the wrong state! You're smart to get out to those jams, and not to be discouraged when you're feeling off. I get the same way, the best thing to remember is it'll click again if you stick to it! Jill -- good call on Bright Sunny South, that's one of my favorite Dock Boggs songs!
	laertes22 says: 12/12/2014 7:05:58 AM Thanks for the comments and the updates guys. I have been sick this week and not online much, but your updates encouraged me to practice some banjo and fiddle while I was out sick.
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	How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree) Linked by BanjoDino 10 years ago
	Roscoe Holcomb pt 1 Linked by laertes22 11 years ago
MP3: Whiskey Before Breakfast Linked by banjo50 11 years ago
	What Child Is This? Linked by VioletMoon 12 years ago: I worked hard on this one! Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday -- full of lots of time to practice. : )
	The Cuckoo Linked by laertes22 12 years ago: "The Cuckoo" This is my second attempt at recording a vid. Apologies in advance for the wrong notes and the rhythm/tempo issues.
	Cluck Old Hen Linked by laertes22 12 years ago: Kowtowing to peer pressure (after hearing myself play for the first time in my engagement vid), I have decided to bite the bullet and record/post some vids. Be gentle, it's my first time. :)
	banjo engagement Linked by laertes22 12 years ago
MP3: Rambling Hobo Linked by VioletMoon 12 years ago: I'm trying to keep a record of my banjo adventure. This is the latest slice-of-banjo-life recording. Cyndy
Blog Entry: The Project: 55 Tunes for 55 Years, Plus One Linked by VioletMoon 12 years ago: This will be the focus of my practice time at least through the end of the year. Cyndy
Tablature: I'm Gonna Sleep With One Eye Open Linked by Ted Heath 12 years ago