[Musicians] Musicians Digest, Vol 25, Issue 6
Martha Wild
mawild at sbcglobal.net
Fri May 17 20:51:06 PDT 2019
Re: Dots and Jigs
In one of our old time bands, we had a claw-hammer banjo player who insisted she couldn’t play jigs. One day the hammer dulcimer player suggested we play Ship in Full Sail, and launched into it. The rest of us obliged, with the banjo player looking at the chords since she didn’t know the tune. She did a wonderful job, and at the end I turned from the piano and said “I didn’t know you could play a jig!” She looked at me and said, astonished, “That was a jig?” After that we started playing jigs in the band. She said she’d noticed it felt sort of odd at first, but then she found some way to bum-teedle it that worked. So it can be done!
Martha
> On May 17, 2019, at 8:17 PM, musicians-request at lists.sharedweight.net wrote:
>
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Dots & Jigs (Thomas Verdot)
> 2. Re: Dots & Jigs (Meg Dedolph)
> 3. Re: Dots & Jigs (Thomas Verdot)
> 4. Re: Dots & Jigs (Erik Hoffman)
> 5. Re: sheet music Musicians Digest, Vol 25, Issue 5 (Jonathan Werk)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 17 May 2019 19:14:58 -0500
> From: Thomas Verdot <tverdot at socket.net>
> To: musicians at lists.sharedweight.net
> Subject: Re: [Musicians] Dots & Jigs
> Message-ID: <361e85b4-346b-d8b3-7210-16743bd6c951 at socket.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
>
> This is an aside from the conversation & I hesitate to start something
> new that is bottomless, but since you mentioned it...
>
> Why have jigs been discarded over the decades by most "old time"
> fiddlers? They were certainly used by many up to the early part of the
> 20th century but in most places they have almost completely disappeared.
> I love starting a dance with a jig & transitioning to to a reel or
> hornpipe (both as a player & a dancer).
>
> Regards, Tom Verdot
>
> On 5/17/2019 6:37 PM, Meg Dedolph via Musicians wrote:
> But I made an offhanded comment about how a particular dance
>> worked well with jigs and the fiddler recalled a New England jig that he
>> knew, but hadn't played for a while and decided to try it, but the
>> guitarist was not comfortable backing jigs and ... the band did not
>> sound as good on that tune as they did when they were playing old-time
>> reels.
>> Meg
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 17 May 2019 19:21:15 -0500
> From: Meg Dedolph <meg.dedolph at gmail.com>
> To: Thomas Verdot <tverdot at socket.net>
> Cc: musicians <musicians at lists.sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Musicians] Dots & Jigs
> Message-ID:
> <CACs7sFVPH8COAdbF=zMmZEvxeG7BTgRAMYS4O8THa7Bvu0aSwA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> you know, this is something I've wondered about as well. There's this
> thread on the Fiddle Hangout that has people putting forth some ideas.
> https://www.fiddlehangout.com/archive/22858
> A couple people in that thread mentioned that jigs are hard to play on
> clawhammer banjo, and so maybe that has to do with why they are not really
> part of the old-time repertoire? That seems like a good theory to me ....
> meg
>
>
> On Fri, May 17, 2019 at 7:15 PM Thomas Verdot via Musicians <
> musicians at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> This is an aside from the conversation & I hesitate to start something
>> new that is bottomless, but since you mentioned it...
>>
>> Why have jigs been discarded over the decades by most "old time"
>> fiddlers? They were certainly used by many up to the early part of the
>> 20th century but in most places they have almost completely disappeared.
>> I love starting a dance with a jig & transitioning to to a reel or
>> hornpipe (both as a player & a dancer).
>>
>> Regards, Tom Verdot
>>
>> On 5/17/2019 6:37 PM, Meg Dedolph via Musicians wrote:
>> But I made an offhanded comment about how a particular dance
>>> worked well with jigs and the fiddler recalled a New England jig that he
>>> knew, but hadn't played for a while and decided to try it, but the
>>> guitarist was not comfortable backing jigs and ... the band did not
>>> sound as good on that tune as they did when they were playing old-time
>>> reels.
>>> Meg
>> _______________________________________________
>> Musicians mailing list
>> Musicians at lists.sharedweight.net
>> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/musicians-sharedweight.net
>>
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Fri, 17 May 2019 19:31:43 -0500
> From: Thomas Verdot <tverdot at socket.net>
> To: Meg Dedolph <meg.dedolph at gmail.com>
> Cc: musicians <musicians at lists.sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Musicians] Dots & Jigs
> Message-ID: <dfdca662-77a1-effb-9350-1cb5453ac572 at socket.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
>
> I used to play with a great banjo play (Clarke Buehling) who played jigs
> but getting them up to dance tempo doing any sort of down-stroke is
> hard. It was done in the 19th century however & these show up in the
> old banjo tutors of that era.
>
> Tom V.
>
> On 5/17/2019 7:21 PM, Meg Dedolph wrote:
>> you know, this is something I've wondered about as well. There's this
>> thread on the Fiddle Hangout that has people putting forth some ideas.
>> https://www.fiddlehangout.com/archive/22858
>> A couple people in that thread mentioned that jigs are hard to play on
>> clawhammer banjo, and so maybe that has to do with why they are not
>> really part of the old-time repertoire? That seems like a good theory to
>> me ....
>> meg
>>
>>
>> On Fri, May 17, 2019 at 7:15 PM Thomas Verdot via Musicians
>> <musicians at lists.sharedweight.net
>> <mailto:musicians at lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
>>
>> This is an aside from the conversation & I hesitate to start something
>> new that is bottomless, but since you mentioned it...
>>
>> Why have jigs been discarded over the decades by most "old time"
>> fiddlers?? They were certainly used by many up to the early part of the
>> 20th century but in most places they have almost completely
>> disappeared.
>> ? I love starting a dance with a jig & transitioning to to a reel or
>> hornpipe (both as a player & a dancer).
>>
>> Regards, Tom Verdot
>>
>> On 5/17/2019 6:37 PM, Meg Dedolph via Musicians wrote:
>> ? But I made an offhanded comment about how a particular dance
>>> worked well with jigs and the fiddler recalled a New England jig
>> that he
>>> knew, but hadn't played for a while and decided to try it, but the
>>> guitarist was not comfortable backing jigs and ... the band did not
>>> sound as good on that tune as they did when they were playing
>> old-time
>>> reels.
>>> Meg
>> _______________________________________________
>> Musicians mailing list
>> Musicians at lists.sharedweight.net
>> <mailto:Musicians at lists.sharedweight.net>
>> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/musicians-sharedweight.net
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Sat, 18 May 2019 01:54:07 +0000
> From: Erik Hoffman <erik at erikhoffman.com>
> To: "musicians at lists.sharedweight.net"
> <musicians at lists.sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Musicians] Dots & Jigs
> Message-ID:
> <BYAPR11MB330412B970895E4DFDA5D7DFD0040 at BYAPR11MB3304.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Jigs have certainly not fallen out of the contra and New England square dance repertoire. Just listen to Rodney Miller, Mark Simos. Andre Brunet, Eden MacAdam-Somer, Claude Ginsberg, Cathy Whitesides, and many more modern contra dance musicians, and they'll mix jigs with reels, no problem. I realize that one problem with these Americans is, uh, happily, they're still alive.
>
> But in the Trad Square world, such tunes have fallen out of favor. Kathy Anderson, that great square dance caller, said for Southern patter squares, "I call in 2/4, not in 6/8," thus a preference for reels for fast Southern squares. Other bands I work with never play jigs. At an early dance weekend I asked the band, who stuck with Old-Time reels, to play Rory O'More, as it's a great dance, and a wonderful tune. They grudgingly acquiesced, and threatened to do it, but with bags on their heads. I never asked them to play a jig again...
>
> Here in the bay area, when our local David Brown is playing 5-string banjo, if a jig gets started he pulls our a flat pick and wails! Stefan Curl, another wonderful banjo player, has worked out jig playing claw-hammer style, as has virtuoso Steve Baufman.
>
> I figured I can call in either 6/8 or (the more natural) 2/4.
>
> I've often thought it was weird: play a recently composed tune by a died-in-the-wool "Old-Time" musician and it's "old-time." Play an Irish tune that's been played for more than a 100 years, and, well, it's not "Old-Time," it's Irish...
>
> Erik Hoffman
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Musicians <musicians-bounces at lists.sharedweight.net> On Behalf Of Thomas Verdot via Musicians
> Sent: Friday, May 17, 2019 5:32 PM
> To: Meg Dedolph <meg.dedolph at gmail.com>
> Cc: musicians <musicians at lists.sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Musicians] Dots & Jigs
>
> I used to play with a great banjo play (Clarke Buehling) who played jigs but getting them up to dance tempo doing any sort of down-stroke is hard. It was done in the 19th century however & these show up in the old banjo tutors of that era.
>
> Tom V.
>
> On 5/17/2019 7:21 PM, Meg Dedolph wrote:
>> you know, this is something I've wondered about as well. There's this
>> thread on the Fiddle Hangout that has people putting forth some ideas.
>> https://www.fiddlehangout.com/archive/22858
>> A couple people in that thread mentioned that jigs are hard to play on
>> clawhammer banjo, and so maybe that has to do with why they are not
>> really part of the old-time repertoire? That seems like a good theory
>> to me ....
>> meg
>>
>>
>> On Fri, May 17, 2019 at 7:15 PM Thomas Verdot via Musicians
>> <musicians at lists.sharedweight.net
>> <mailto:musicians at lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
>>
>> This is an aside from the conversation & I hesitate to start something
>> new that is bottomless, but since you mentioned it...
>>
>> Why have jigs been discarded over the decades by most "old time"
>> fiddlers?? They were certainly used by many up to the early part of the
>> 20th century but in most places they have almost completely
>> disappeared.
>> ? I love starting a dance with a jig & transitioning to to a reel or
>> hornpipe (both as a player & a dancer).
>>
>> Regards, Tom Verdot
>>
>> On 5/17/2019 6:37 PM, Meg Dedolph via Musicians wrote:
>> ? But I made an offhanded comment about how a particular dance
>>> worked well with jigs and the fiddler recalled a New England jig
>> that he
>>> knew, but hadn't played for a while and decided to try it, but the
>>> guitarist was not comfortable backing jigs and ... the band did not
>>> sound as good on that tune as they did when they were playing
>> old-time
>>> reels.
>>> Meg
>> _______________________________________________
>> Musicians mailing list
>> Musicians at lists.sharedweight.net
>> <mailto:Musicians at lists.sharedweight.net>
>>
>> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/musicians-sharedweight.net
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Musicians mailing list
> Musicians at lists.sharedweight.net
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/musicians-sharedweight.net
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Sat, 18 May 2019 03:17:41 +0000
> From: Jonathan Werk <jaydub_42 at hotmail.com>
> To: "musicians at lists.sharedweight.net"
> <musicians at lists.sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Musicians] sheet music Musicians Digest, Vol 25, Issue 5
> Message-ID:
> <YTOPR0101MB10840B9175D169DDAEB217E597040 at YTOPR0101MB1084.CANPRD01.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Playing from sheet music won't make it harder to create excitement. But the sheet music cannot be a substitute for listening and responding to what's happening around you (in the music and elsewhere). If there's no listening and there's no motion or life or flexion or growth while playing, maybe it won't be exciting.
>
> In English Country Dance we almost always play from sheet music, but the good players won't stick to the page (that applies for both melody and chords). This could be a reflection of my personal style, but if I have sheet music of the melody, I can improvise much more striking harmonies or counter-melodies, which makes it even more exciting. I generally don't use sheet music for contra, and as a result, my improvised variations are more generic and more safe, but I still take every single chance I can to briefly wander away from the melody.
>
> I think the culprit is not listening and not adapting. Sheet music makes it possible for some people get away without listening or adapting. Taking the sheet music away might help them, or maybe they'd just stick to the tunes they have memorized and still not adapt.
>
> Jonathan Werk
>
> ________________________________
> From: Musicians <musicians-bounces at lists.sharedweight.net> on behalf of musicians-request at lists.sharedweight.net <musicians-request at lists.sharedweight.net>
> Sent: May 17, 2019 7:37 PM
> To: musicians at lists.sharedweight.net
> Subject: Musicians Digest, Vol 25, Issue 5
>
> Send Musicians mailing list submissions to
> musicians at lists.sharedweight.net
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/musicians-sharedweight.net
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> musicians-request at lists.sharedweight.net
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
> musicians-owner at lists.sharedweight.net
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Musicians digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Dots (Thomas Verdot)
> 2. Re: Dots (Martha Edwards)
> 3. Re: Dots (Meg Dedolph)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Hi Jeff,
>
> While I understand your point & agree with the outcome that you suggest,
> I see a sheet of music more like a dashboard in a car - the gauges are
> there to glance at once in a while as need be but the important thing to
> watch is the road. For myself, the best example is the (thankfully)
> rare occasion when we are asked to do an unending grand march. We
> string 3-6 tunes together, in different keys, 6/8 & 4/4, etc to keep it
> interesting. I always scribble out the first couple of bars of each
> tune, in order, so that I don't blow a transition or start into the
> wrong tune in the agreed upon order.
>
> As for "playing by ear", do we really mean learning by ear? If that is
> the case it doesn't matter much to me. Whether I learn a tune from a
> friend, a recording or a piece of paper, by the time it gets used it is
> memorized & has entered into a state of constant flux.
>
> Finally, It is guys like you, the "rhythm section", who can most easily
> create excitement via rhythmic & chord moves. If that is solid &
> driving, the melody instruments can float on top & add the filigree. As
> proof, I can remember you with the Synchpaths going several times in a
> row through a tune with no melody at all & without a single dancer
> looking perplexed. Maybe all of us fiddle players should just pack up,
> forget about the tune & go out on the floor & dance.
>
> Regards, Tom Verdot
>
> On 5/17/2019 8:52 AM, Jeffrey Spero via Musicians wrote:
>> I?m in complete agreement with Jeff Kaufman. If you have the music in front of you, you?re much more likely to play exactly what you see on the page as opposed to being in the moment and playing WITH the other musicians and FOR the dancers. For those that can play by ear, I encourage them to do so. And for those who are uncomfortable with that, I encourage them to learn the music off the page, and then put the music away while playing.
>>
>> The other Jeff
>> Culver City, CA
>>
>>
>>> On May 17, 2019, at 3:53 AM, tom hinds via Musicians <musicians at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> I?d like to know people?s opinion of using music while playing for a contra dance. Is it easier to create excitement if the musicians play by ear? Thanks in advance for your opinion, Tom Hinds
>>>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 17 May 2019 16:49:22 -0500
> From: Martha Edwards <meedwards at westendweb.com>
> To: Meg Dedolph <meg.dedolph at gmail.com>
> Cc: Jeffrey Spero <jeff at syncopaths.com>, "A musician's discussion
> list" <musicians at sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Musicians] Dots
> Message-ID:
> <CAJjmMcMfcwipyGyED1kag=Vu_yyywAreaU4aJWeiyb14m1SjiA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Oh, dear. You got me. I have strong feelings about this, largely because,
> being lazy, I have never learned to play immediately by ear. But, having
> made my living sight-reading for 25 (now 50?) years, I find no barrier
> between me and music just because the dots are, well, lines and dots.
>
> The important things, however, that the non-dot players mention, ARE
> terribly important - that is
>
> 1. watching the dancers
> 2. listening to the other musicians
> 3. playing "musically" (by which I mean, knowing how to phrase, that is,
> figuring out where the music is coming from, and where it's going to)
> 4. listening to great players in order to learn "style"- that is,
> figuring out the character of each tune, and being able to vary that
> character if wanted or needed
>
> That said, the dots don't have to get in the way. An orchestra player, for
> instance, MUST watch the conductor while playing, and a symphony violinist
> MUST listen to all the other violinists and play *exactly *with them, and
> MUST listen to the whole orchestra and understand the character of the
> piece. That's totally like watching the dancers, listening to other
> musicians and learning to play with style.
>
> The problem comes when you first learn to play. If it's done right, you
> have a good, musical model to follow (sounds like playing by ear, doesn't
> it?) instead just playing one note after another, with no shape. The Suzuki
> method's brilliance, IMHO, was in providing the children with recordings of
> people playing Twinkle Twinkle (and all the other tunes) and getting their
> parents to play those recordings over and over for their kids even before
> they started learning to hold a violin. Then, when the kids start reading
> music (late in the process) they automatically played what they had heard
> (i.e., real music), and were able to figure out pretty quickly that those
> "dots" are not just little lego pieces, but large sculptures of something
> beautiful.
>
> There's more, of course - improvisation, understanding harmonic
> progression, etc. - and whether you read music or not influences those
> things, too, in different ways, some useful, some not-so-useful.
>
> And there's playing with others - if you give me your dots, we can start
> playing together right away, but if I have to memorize your repertoire
> first, we may have to wait a while.
>
> Don't get me wrong. I totally admire people who can learn immediately by
> ear, and if I had it to do over, would have learned how when I started
> playing for dances, but please don't blame boring playing on reading
> music. Instead, figure out how to play interestingly, no matter how you do
> it, with or without dots.
>
> M
> E
>
> On Fri, May 17, 2019 at 9:12 AM Meg Dedolph via Musicians <
> musicians at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> Agreed. When I'm learning chords to a tune, if I have them in front of me,
>> I tend to rely on the paper and play the same thing over and over. The
>> melody players in my band agree as well - we all try to learn things by ear
>> first, and use paper in a pinch.
>> Meg in Chicago
>>
>> On Fri, May 17, 2019 at 8:52 AM Jeffrey Spero via Musicians <
>> musicians at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>
>>> I?m in complete agreement with Jeff Kaufman. If you have the music in
>>> front of you, you?re much more likely to play exactly what you see on the
>>> page as opposed to being in the moment and playing WITH the other musicians
>>> and FOR the dancers. For those that can play by ear, I encourage them to do
>>> so. And for those who are uncomfortable with that, I encourage them to
>>> learn the music off the page, and then put the music away while playing.
>>>
>>> The other Jeff
>>> Culver City, CA
>>>
>>>
>>>> On May 17, 2019, at 3:53 AM, tom hinds via Musicians <
>>> musicians at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I?d like to know people?s opinion of using music while playing for a
>>> contra dance. Is it easier to create excitement if the musicians play by
>>> ear? Thanks in advance for your opinion, Tom Hinds
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>> _______________________________________________
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Fri, 17 May 2019 18:37:08 -0500
> From: Meg Dedolph <meg.dedolph at gmail.com>
> To: Martha Edwards <meedwards at westendweb.com>
> Cc: Jeffrey Spero <jeff at syncopaths.com>, "A musician's discussion
> list" <musicians at sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Musicians] Dots
> Message-ID:
> <CACs7sFWN5F8K-t2n0vDTNvhwLjPGcJP9_CksvVxWpX0OOnPvJA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Well, having played dances with you, Martha, I think that nobody could
> reasonably accuse you of being too dependent on the dots. :)
> And in the spirit of confession, everyone in my band either has a music
> degree or has studied a lot of classical music before coming to traditional
> music, so there are some foundational educational elements we all share
> that are based on reading music.
> But in thinking about Tom's initial postings over the course of the day,
> boring music is boring music, whether it's written down or not.
> If his bandmates have their noses stuck in the music at the expense of
> listening to the other players, that might be a problem.
> It also could be that they're not playing good tunes for dances. It's hard
> to tell what would make a band "more interesting" to dance to without
> hearing.
> I think familiarity with repertoire makes a big difference. I called with a
> band recently that mostly plays old-time music, and they sound great. But I
> made an offhanded comment about how a particular dance worked well with
> jigs and the fiddler recalled a New England jig that he knew, but hadn't
> played for a while and decided to try it, but the guitarist was not
> comfortable backing jigs and ... the band did not sound as good on that
> tune as they did when they were playing old-time reels.
> Meg
>
>
> On Fri, May 17, 2019 at 4:49 PM Martha Edwards <meedwards at westendweb.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Oh, dear. You got me. I have strong feelings about this, largely because,
>> being lazy, I have never learned to play immediately by ear. But, having
>> made my living sight-reading for 25 (now 50?) years, I find no barrier
>> between me and music just because the dots are, well, lines and dots.
>>
>> The important things, however, that the non-dot players mention, ARE
>> terribly important - that is
>>
>> 1. watching the dancers
>> 2. listening to the other musicians
>> 3. playing "musically" (by which I mean, knowing how to phrase, that
>> is, figuring out where the music is coming from, and where it's going to)
>> 4. listening to great players in order to learn "style"- that is,
>> figuring out the character of each tune, and being able to vary that
>> character if wanted or needed
>>
>> That said, the dots don't have to get in the way. An orchestra player, for
>> instance, MUST watch the conductor while playing, and a symphony violinist
>> MUST listen to all the other violinists and play *exactly *with them, and
>> MUST listen to the whole orchestra and understand the character of the
>> piece. That's totally like watching the dancers, listening to other
>> musicians and learning to play with style.
>>
>> The problem comes when you first learn to play. If it's done right, you
>> have a good, musical model to follow (sounds like playing by ear, doesn't
>> it?) instead just playing one note after another, with no shape. The Suzuki
>> method's brilliance, IMHO, was in providing the children with recordings of
>> people playing Twinkle Twinkle (and all the other tunes) and getting their
>> parents to play those recordings over and over for their kids even before
>> they started learning to hold a violin. Then, when the kids start reading
>> music (late in the process) they automatically played what they had heard
>> (i.e., real music), and were able to figure out pretty quickly that those
>> "dots" are not just little lego pieces, but large sculptures of something
>> beautiful.
>>
>> There's more, of course - improvisation, understanding harmonic
>> progression, etc. - and whether you read music or not influences those
>> things, too, in different ways, some useful, some not-so-useful.
>>
>> And there's playing with others - if you give me your dots, we can start
>> playing together right away, but if I have to memorize your repertoire
>> first, we may have to wait a while.
>>
>> Don't get me wrong. I totally admire people who can learn immediately by
>> ear, and if I had it to do over, would have learned how when I started
>> playing for dances, but please don't blame boring playing on reading
>> music. Instead, figure out how to play interestingly, no matter how you do
>> it, with or without dots.
>>
>> M
>> E
>>
>> On Fri, May 17, 2019 at 9:12 AM Meg Dedolph via Musicians <
>> musicians at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Agreed. When I'm learning chords to a tune, if I have them in front of
>>> me, I tend to rely on the paper and play the same thing over and over. The
>>> melody players in my band agree as well - we all try to learn things by ear
>>> first, and use paper in a pinch.
>>> Meg in Chicago
>>>
>>> On Fri, May 17, 2019 at 8:52 AM Jeffrey Spero via Musicians <
>>> musicians at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I?m in complete agreement with Jeff Kaufman. If you have the music in
>>>> front of you, you?re much more likely to play exactly what you see on the
>>>> page as opposed to being in the moment and playing WITH the other musicians
>>>> and FOR the dancers. For those that can play by ear, I encourage them to do
>>>> so. And for those who are uncomfortable with that, I encourage them to
>>>> learn the music off the page, and then put the music away while playing.
>>>>
>>>> The other Jeff
>>>> Culver City, CA
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> On May 17, 2019, at 3:53 AM, tom hinds via Musicians <
>>>> musicians at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I?d like to know people?s opinion of using music while playing for a
>>>> contra dance. Is it easier to create excitement if the musicians play by
>>>> ear? Thanks in advance for your opinion, Tom Hinds
>>>>>
>
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