Wed, 26 Apr 2006
It looks like Music & More is having a student recital this Friday, April 28th. Sean and I have been asked to to play a tune during the recital. I think we’ll do Dawg’s version of Django Reinhart’s “Minor Swing”. I may have time to do a single tune on guitar as well. We’ll have to wait and see. So we’re going to do our best impression of Mike Marshall and Chris Thile as a mandolin duo. I hope to see you there.This story is from the
[/music/mygigs] department
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Last night’s Slow Jam was great. We had 8 people show up including 2 mandolin players and an electric guitar player. At first everyone was pretty tentative and very few people wanted to take solos. So I showed everyone the G pentatonic scale and pretty soon we had EVERYONE taking solos. It was great. And most importantly, that’s what Slow Jam is all about. It’s a positive environment that allowed everyone to explore their instrument in a friendly atmosphere. Slow Jam will be happening on the 2nd Tuesday of each month from now on so the next one is on May 9th. I hope to see you there.
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Sun, 23 Apr 2006
Many months ago I started this blog with the idea of having a central location where I could post information on lessons, jams, open mic nights, etc. At last I have something to talk about that aligns with the original reason for starting this blog. This Tuesday evening we will be having our first Slow Jam at Music & More from 7:00pm to 9:00pm All string instruments are welcome: guitar, banjo, mandolin, autoharp, fiddle, whatever. The Slow Jam is free and everyone is welcome. One of the things that I love most about music is the social aspect of playing with other people. But if you’re either beginning on an instrument or perhaps you’re just not as accomplished as you’d like, then most of the jams may be too fast or too intimidating for you. Slow Jam is here to solve that. On Tuesday I’ll be teaching some basic old time and bluegrass songs. We’ll start with simple two chord songs and move on to three chord songs. If you want to try taking a solo then you’re welcome to give it a try. If not, that’s perfectly alright. The point is to have fun and meet other people who also enjoy music. Starting in May the slow jam will occur on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. So mark it on your calenders. Once the Slow Jam becomes more popular we’ll move to the format that my friend and mentor Walt Richards invented when he started the original SloJam over 20 years ago. The standard format of a Slow Jam is to have 2 or more song leaders. After a brief introduction by the slow jam facilitator we split up into as many groups as we have leaders and each group goes off into their own practice room. Each song leader has chosen a song to teach the group. Traditionally, the song leader has photocopied the words and chords of the song and blown it up to poster size so everyone can see it. You have an hour to learn the song. After that we all gather in the main room and perform our new song for the rest of the group. After each performance the audience is urged to comment on the performance. There is only one rule: All Comments Must Be Positive. And that’s the purpose of Slow Jam: To get together to learn and play new music in a positive atmosphere among friends. What could be better than that? Come on by and bring your instrument. We’re going to have a lot of fun.This story is from the
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Thu, 13 Apr 2006
I’ve been MIA for a while due to the move. But we’re here in Northern California for good! At last I’m living in my little home in the mountains. I taught music for a week, but now we’re on spring break. So far I have 7 students, 5 guitars and 2 mandolins. I have to say that I’m happy and impressed with every one of these students. We’re having a lot of fun and I’m even making a little bit of money. I found a set of trails that starts about 1 mile from our house so I’ve been hiking a bit already. In fact, I’ve been a lot more active since we’ve moved here than I normally have. I hope this will help me drop some of the 50 to 60 pounds that I’ve packed on in the past 5 years or so. It has been raining almost non-stop since we’ve been here. On the news they said that we’ve had about 480% of the normal rain for this month. But today it’s warm and sunny so we’ll probably be out hiking again. My teaching studio at the house is nearly finished. In fact, I really just have to pick up various tools and empty boxes and I’m done. I have all my books there as well as my computer, my instruments and amps. I mounted 4 instrument hangers on the wall to keep a couple guitars a banjo and a mandolin handy. All in all it’s a pretty comfortable space. Thank goodness we have a wood stove in the front room. It’s been a bit colder than Southern California up here and the stove keeps us nice and toasty. So things are going well. I find myself spontainiously smiling for no reason at all. Every night before bedtime I go out on the porch and look at the night sky and listen to the frogs in the distance and realize how lucky and happy I am. It’s a good life.This story is from the
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Thu, 06 Apr 2006
We made it! After 9 months of waiting we were finally able to move up north for good. I can’t believe it. It’s taken so long that we can hardly believe that we actually live here now. I started working at Music & More this week. I have to say that I’m very happy with every single student that I have. I even have two mandolin students! So it looks like we’re going to have our second “Slow Jam” on the last Tuesday of April (April 25) at 7:00. I’ll be leading a slow speed jam session and all stringed instruments are welcome. It seems like after 9 months of planning and waiting I should have more to say now that I’m here. But it’s been raining for the past 6 days or so and today we have our first sunny day. So I’m going to go hike in the woods and enjoy my new life. Take care and keep strumming.This story is from the
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