well put Topher, makes sense to me...
________________________________ From: Topher Gayle <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, January 5, 2010 2:59:13 PM Subject: Re: Alex playng Old Time Last summer at the CBA music camp, I attended a workshop from a guy who seemed to have studied OT & bluegrass music quite thoroughly. I forget his name. He did seem to know his stuff, and brought along recordings, and had interesting references and personal stories from his discussions with the old-timers and so on. And he played both types of music professionally. So I felt his opinions were worth listening to. His main theme was that Old-time music was primarily music for dancing to and for participating in, and that bluegrass was primarily a musical form that showcased the musicians in a concert setting. Both styles of music derived from similar, though not identical, roots. Mainly the stylistic differences evolved from the differences in the performance setting and purpose. I mention this now because I think it may shed a little light on the discussions here lately. The comments that young folks often just jam as many notes into a period of time is certainly something I've seen, too. But some commentators here were I think comparing the musical content of those kids' flashy playing to Old-time playing, and I think that's a little bit apples to oranges. Here's why I say this: If bluegrass is mainly a concert performance art (and I accept that), then the highlighting of individual performers is a significant part of the show. And flashiness certainly pleases the crowds. I've seen it over and over (and no, I can't do it myself, and yes, that's a little bit sour grapes). So when a young performer with amazing chops get big applause for playing zillions of fast notes, you can bet he's gonna do it again. Showmanship is the name of the game - that's why the bands wear dark suits or matching tie-dye overalls or whatever. In old-time, as it's evolved, the goals of the group are melody, and drive, and can't-keep-your-feet still dance rhythm. Typically no performer is highlighted. As a member of a contra dance band, I know this is mighty fun to do. (And whether you play the right notes or chords or not is not as important as getting the toes tapping - I like that!) Old time bands often carefully dress in unmatched overalls. (joking, joking) I just thought I'd add these ideas to the conversation - they make sense to me. What do you think? Topher On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 11:39 AM, Mark Seale <[email protected]> wrote: > Yes it has. The difference, IMO, is that the OT music purveyors hold much > more tightly to playing it in its original form. In fact, they get down > right offended if you take one of their beloved standards and do much with > it. While some musicians find that limiting, it does, by its very nature, > preserve the music in close to its original intent. > > M > > On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 1:25 PM, Don <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> What about the culture that gave rise to OT music? Hasn't it also faded? >> >> -- >> 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. >> >> >> > > > -- > 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. > > -- 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.--
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