Repetitive Recording Sessions Paving the Way to Social Media Fame

Look, we've all heard that it's a good idea to record yourself playing music so you can gauge your progress. My problem has always been planning to record myself maybe once every few months and then failing to follow through. However, over the last six weeks, I've been a pretty good streak. 

I have recorded myself on banjo or fiddle seven times since Feb. 9. Good or bad, I've also been sharing my videos on my Instagram account, which kind of makes it feel like there are stakes involved. I already don't like recording myself, but now there's that feeling like THIS IS A PERFORMANCE FOR MY FOLLOWERS. But let's be real, I get about 30 views and maybe 10 likes when I post these videos, so it's not big stakes. But it's enough to keep me working hard to play well.

A big thing for me is I'm not recording multiple takes to get it perfect. If I get through the tune without going off the rails, then that's the one I post. If I need more than three attempts, then I'll stop and try again next time. 

So far, I've been alternating banjo and fiddle videos. On banjo, the recordings are mostly noodling or playing old favorites, but I plan to start recording the new tunes I'm learning. On fiddle, I've been using the recordings to track my progress with Michael Ismerio's Online Fiddle Course. When I first started with this instructional program, I was going really slowly. I would force myself to spend a month or more on one tune. Now, I've ramped up my progress, dedicating at least seven practice sessions on a tune before recording myself and moving on to the next one. 

My biggest hope is that my repetitive recording sessions will not only help me identify areas for improvement, but also help me get over the stage fright I feel when playing with others. If social media fame comes with it, then so be it! 

Early Quarterly Report

It's still more than a week before the end of the month, but I figured I'd might as well provide my progress report on my 2022 goals for the first quarter of the year while I'm here. 

Hourly goals: I'm aiming for 125 hours for the year on both banjo and fiddle. That would be about 10.5 hours per instrument, per month. Right now, I'm sitting at 13.5 hours for the year, so a little behind. I got off to a slow start in January, but have been on a pretty good run since the second week of February. I'm making some headway in catching up, but it's going to take some work. I'm hoping some extended sessions at the festivals returning this year will help. 

New banjo tunes: My goal was to break out of my stagnation and learn something new on banjo. I've been obsessed with the tune "Martha Campbell," which I'd really like to learn on fiddle, so I learned it on banjo instead. I've also been working on "Kitchen Girl." In other banjo news, I installed a new bridge and new strings. I'm now playing with an 11/16-inch Koa Sampson bridge with Crowe spacing and medium Pisgah Banjo Co. strings.   

New fiddle tunes: I spent the first part of year reviewing the tunes I had already learned from the Ismerio fiddle course. I began learning new tunes on Feb. 28, with "Flatfoot in the Ashes" from Harvey Sampson and "Money in Both Pockets" from Charlie Bowman. My fiddle really needs new strings. I'm hoping to take care of that before the Lake Erie Folk Festival at the end of next month. 

Consistency goal: Like I said above, I got off to a slow start in January, but I've been pretty consistent since February. Sticking to my regular recording sessions and preparing for those upcoming festivals has kept me motivated to play as much as I can.