This month sure has changed the outlook on my yearly goals for banjo and fiddle. While I'm able to keep up my playing at home, getting out to play with others this year has been interrupted. I only made it to one old-time session and one festival before Ohio was ordered to stay at home because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Recent estimates show that we'll likely be asked to continue social distancing until May. That means no playing with others for at least another month, and it wouldn't surprise me if that lasted longer.
The pandemic has changed my music-making activities in other ways too. Since I'm now working from home, I'm not taking my usual lunch break to play fiddle in the park. Instead, my playing time is typically relegated until the evenings, when everyone else has gone to bed, or other spare moments.
The good news is that the weather is starting to warm up, and I've gotten to play outside on my porch a couple times in the last couple weeks.
One pre-pandemic highlight was seeing Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves in concert on Jan. 22. They were mesmerizing and inspiring. I also enjoyed seeing Mark Olitsky, Susie Goehring and Riley Calcagno play at the Lake Erie Folk Fest (see photo).
Now, let's take a closer look at my activities the last three months as it pertains to fiddle, banjo and blogging.
I also started working through Alan Kaufman's Beginning Old-Time Fiddle, which I bought second-hand from eBay last June. I had used it a bit to help me figure out "Mississippi Sawyer" last year. So far, I've worked through the first three tunes in the book, "Sally Goodin," "Ida Red" and "Eighth of January." The next tune in the book just happens to be the next tune on my 2020 list, "Soldier's Joy."
I got to play fiddle with friends at the Lake Erie Folk Fest in February. I also brought my fiddle along to a jam at the beginning of March, but only played one tune ("Julie Ann Johnson," thankfully) before switching to banjo.
My playing time goal was 52.5 hours, which I reached last night. I plan to tack onto that total tonight.
My next song is "John Henry." I haven't quite decided on which version I want to learn. There are lots to choose from.
I met my playing time goal of 18 hours for the quarter, and as mentioned above I played banjo at a jam this month for the first time in a long time. My new gig bag has made it easier to carry both my fiddle and my banjo when I go to jams and festivals, and I'm planning to make a point of playing banjo more with others. My jamming chops have fallen way off.
With that said, here are my Top 3 Glorious Posts of the Quarter:
The pandemic has changed my music-making activities in other ways too. Since I'm now working from home, I'm not taking my usual lunch break to play fiddle in the park. Instead, my playing time is typically relegated until the evenings, when everyone else has gone to bed, or other spare moments.
The good news is that the weather is starting to warm up, and I've gotten to play outside on my porch a couple times in the last couple weeks.
One pre-pandemic highlight was seeing Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves in concert on Jan. 22. They were mesmerizing and inspiring. I also enjoyed seeing Mark Olitsky, Susie Goehring and Riley Calcagno play at the Lake Erie Folk Fest (see photo).
Now, let's take a closer look at my activities the last three months as it pertains to fiddle, banjo and blogging.
Fiddle
My focus tune this quarter was "Julie Ann Johnson." I based my version mostly on the playing of Mark Campbell, whose YouTube video was a big help.I also started working through Alan Kaufman's Beginning Old-Time Fiddle, which I bought second-hand from eBay last June. I had used it a bit to help me figure out "Mississippi Sawyer" last year. So far, I've worked through the first three tunes in the book, "Sally Goodin," "Ida Red" and "Eighth of January." The next tune in the book just happens to be the next tune on my 2020 list, "Soldier's Joy."
I got to play fiddle with friends at the Lake Erie Folk Fest in February. I also brought my fiddle along to a jam at the beginning of March, but only played one tune ("Julie Ann Johnson," thankfully) before switching to banjo.
My playing time goal was 52.5 hours, which I reached last night. I plan to tack onto that total tonight.
Banjo
My focus song this quarter was "John Hardy." I based my playing on the version from Ken Perlman's Clawhammer Style Banjo book and singing on the Carter Family. Unfortunately, these two versions don't line up perfectly, and I've struggled marrying the lyrics to my playing. I've gotten closer this past month, but I still consider it a work in progress.My next song is "John Henry." I haven't quite decided on which version I want to learn. There are lots to choose from.
I met my playing time goal of 18 hours for the quarter, and as mentioned above I played banjo at a jam this month for the first time in a long time. My new gig bag has made it easier to carry both my fiddle and my banjo when I go to jams and festivals, and I'm planning to make a point of playing banjo more with others. My jamming chops have fallen way off.
Blogging
My blogging this quarter has been a bit uneven. This marks my eighth post of the year, which is decent output overall. However, I went about four weeks between posts from February to March. I'd like to be more consistent.With that said, here are my Top 3 Glorious Posts of the Quarter:
- Sustainable Banjos: An Interview with Pisgah Banjos Founder Patrick Sawyer
- 5 Years, 5 Questions: Talking to Laura Lewis About the Lake Erie Folk Festival
- RIP Mac Benford and Clyde Davenport
Comments
Post a Comment