Hey all-- I'm curious how others handle this dilemma of mine, or if it's even an issue. When I practice tunes out of books (my primary books are the Phillips vol. 1, O'Neils music of Ireland and the Fiddler's Fakebook) I struggle to make the tune sound "informal." I have a classical background, on guitar and the oboe, and it's hard for me to play off of sheet music without sounding like a presentation.
When I learn a song from a person, I don't have this problem. Same with the handful of tunes I've written. But out of the dozens of tunes I've worked on out of books, only a few don't sound like a recital when I play them. I've actually hit a point where the fiddle tune books aren't that much more fun than exercise books, for how stiff they can sound under my fingers. I keep coming back to them though, because I figure it's good for me to work on 'em anyway. I also got a few classical mandolin books so I could read through some sheet music and be happy with the "formality" of my playing. I got a hunch the answer to my question is "practice," but I wonder if anyone has some other tips or suggestions. I normally don't think of myself as a stiff player, but most of my focus is on creating rhythm parts for the original songs my band does. On a related note, how do folks decide to "set" a tune where all the information that might be available about it is its title and the name of the fiddler the book's author collected the song from? just curious, erik --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
