I think it's a common problem for classical players: my neighbour is a professional cello player - and she came to see us play one time (which was a little worrying actually) and afterwards said that she would really like to play the type of music we did, but that we would have to write it down for her...
I also showed her how it was supposed to be done, by looking at Monroe at the Opry on youtube and she said that she could definitely play that music, but again needed something written.. I think there are probably two completely separate skills here: reading music with your eyes and figuring out how to play it, and listening to music and figuring out how to play it. In the first skill, it helps to listen to someone else doing it, and in the second it helps to have the written music as a shortcut to getting the notes, but the basic input is what counts. Obviously classical players have the first skill massively developed, but the second less so. Folkies are the other way around. I guess if one wants to be a well rounded individual, and an upstanding member of society, you need to do both.... On Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 3:02 PM, MinnesotaMandolin <[email protected]>wrote: > > 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
