I did my educational stint today at The New School of Lancaster, PA:
toddlers through eighth grade, in small groups by age. My simple, home-made
gurdy was positively a hit with the youngsters. The toddlers danced to some
Susato Champagne Branles; the older kids wondered about strings breaking and
how the wheel makes the string sound (drag out the old stick & slip
routine).
Asked how the music (medieval, French traditional, nursery rhyme)
made them feel, I got:
"Sleepy"
"Like there's a bird in my head" (?!)
"Like I'm flying"
"Like I'm dreaming"
"It sounds like farm dancing"
I think perhaps some of the appeal of the hurdy-gurdy is that it's
mechanical yet organic. Those pure fifths and thirds in just intonation
can't be beat (no pun intended).
I was given 15 minute time slots to work with, which unfortunately
was barely enough time to answer questions, play some tunes and allow for
"gentle touching" (I cranked, they keyed; the toddlers just wanted to look
inside the tuning head which opens into the body of my HG). If you do one
of these gigs, ask for a longer period, possibly open ended to a degree.
The hurdy-gurdy opens a variety of discussion topics: music history and
theory; physics of sound; styles of music -- melody driven v. chord driven;
and on.
All morning my setting up held steady: no fussing required. Until
that is, five minutes before the "big kids" were due to show: the sun had
come around and had begun work its charm on the chanterelle. Does anybody
make negative shim papers? It all worked out with a little hopeful use of
rosin to grab that escaping string.
To those who were able to respond to my plea for advice two months
ago: thank you for the encouragement!
Regards,
Leonard Williams
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[: :]
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!~¿
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