Thursday, October 21, 2010
Christmas Jam
For all the Kids Jam kids and fans, here are some songs for our Christmas Jam. Some of the chords are completely wrong, such is the case in Frosty the Snowman. But, the melodies are all good, and that's what counts for most of the kids. As soon as I find the time, I will review and simplify the chords for the songs that are wrong, and repost them all, so that our guitar, mandolin and bass players can accompany us without a problem. You can find the files on the link below. Oh, and by the way, Rapidshare is my file hoster. There are no viruses related to this site... At least I've never come across any. It's the only reliable site I found to share larger files easily. If you have any trouble opening these files or downloading them, don't hesitate to e-mail me.
See you at the Jam!
http://www.box.com/s/1x8yqu8ogkr09x3ck316
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
First Impressions
This is a short I wrote for English Comp. class at PPCC and it's all true from memory - for whatever that's worth.
Here is also a copy of Fisher's Hornpipe with a 2nd Voice part here. It wrote the 2nd part for Mando or Fiddle, but it's not tablature, so go ahead and pull out the oboe. (I'm kidding)
The ring in the center of the pavilion was lackluster from close up, and the dark blue wooden crates that surrounded it were old and dirty. The people sitting beside us in the white plastic chairs were friends of friends and must not have been acquainted at the time since I hardly remember their names, although I'm sure I got to know every one in the year to follow. Somewhere in the middle of the seesaw act he caught my eye, and I saw him walking slowly towards me to my left. I hardly gave him any thought or attention – it must be part of the act – I thought. Only when he was getting dangerously close did I point him out to the man sitting beside me.
Fernando was the one guy in our group whom I knew pretty well. We had worked together for almost two years in an eight- piece band for two corny singers who sang sort of a cross between traditional Mexican music and American country. Of course there are many elements to their style which are quite unique, but to unfamiliar ears that description fits nicely. He was a great guy: Dependable, calm, passionate, handled criticism well, and was a pretty good keyboard player. He stood about five and a half feet tall, had short dark hair and dark skin – like most Brazilians – and wore a great smile and as the song suggests, had a way with women. He was the one who had brought me there.
Apparently Fernando knew some people who were related to people who were good friends of powerful people and who just happened to own three of the biggest itinerant circuses in South America. One of these circuses was about to be renovated, and a live band was to be added to the show in the fashion of the Canadian and European shows of the time. That's why we were there; we wanted the job.
The big cat stopped for a moment about fifteen feet from where we sat, and by this time we were not the only ones to have noticed him. One of the acrobats hurried behind the curtain while one of the clowns tried to get the leopard's attention by gesturing in front of him, and as it was pretty obvious he had no idea what he was doing, Luke – yes, that was the cat's name – just ignored him.
There might have been more of a sense of fear if there had been more people at the show that night; it seemed very empty. It must have been a Tuesday or Wednesday, and we were sitting in what they called the “VIP Area”, which was the area directly in front of the ring, off the bleachers.
Maybe because I initially thought it was part of the show, I wasn't really afraid... until a little girl a few feet away from us jumped up and screamed. Of course men don't scream... or jump up. Men calmly stand up and move their chairs away from danger, so that's what we did, although we didn't sit back down until Luke was gone.
After a few minutes, the bald clown – he was truly bald – responsible for not locking up the animal safely, had chased Luke back into his cage, but not before a little growling and complaining from the detainee. Sadly, it was a small cage and he spent all of his life in there. Even during his only stage time, he would be featured in that cage for a mediocre magic trick. He behaved like a grouchy seventy year old man who lived by himself with no living relatives, and it was pretty obvious that he had become tired of fighting and had settled for that fate.
Now I'm not going PETA all the way here – some of the circus animals such as the elephants were pampered like babies – but I felt really sorry for the old cat and many times thought he'd be better off dead.
As always, the show must go on! So we sat through the rest of it, ate popcorn, made dumb jokes, and wondered where we would find our guitar player if the meeting scheduled for after the show went well. I had never been to a circus before and was pretty excited to be that close to those kinds of performances. After all, we had 'VIP' seats. To say I felt like a child at the time would be presumptuous: I was a child. I was in my late teens and living the life of an old musician with nothing to show for it but a handful of violin students, weekend weddings and a boring gig with some boring music. I wanted to see the world, travel, learn, but still maintain the financial independence I had grown accustomed to, and the circus gig was perfect for all of that and much more, as I later found out.
To be continued... (hopefully)
Here is also a copy of Fisher's Hornpipe with a 2nd Voice part here. It wrote the 2nd part for Mando or Fiddle, but it's not tablature, so go ahead and pull out the oboe. (I'm kidding)
The ring in the center of the pavilion was lackluster from close up, and the dark blue wooden crates that surrounded it were old and dirty. The people sitting beside us in the white plastic chairs were friends of friends and must not have been acquainted at the time since I hardly remember their names, although I'm sure I got to know every one in the year to follow. Somewhere in the middle of the seesaw act he caught my eye, and I saw him walking slowly towards me to my left. I hardly gave him any thought or attention – it must be part of the act – I thought. Only when he was getting dangerously close did I point him out to the man sitting beside me.
Fernando was the one guy in our group whom I knew pretty well. We had worked together for almost two years in an eight- piece band for two corny singers who sang sort of a cross between traditional Mexican music and American country. Of course there are many elements to their style which are quite unique, but to unfamiliar ears that description fits nicely. He was a great guy: Dependable, calm, passionate, handled criticism well, and was a pretty good keyboard player. He stood about five and a half feet tall, had short dark hair and dark skin – like most Brazilians – and wore a great smile and as the song suggests, had a way with women. He was the one who had brought me there.
Apparently Fernando knew some people who were related to people who were good friends of powerful people and who just happened to own three of the biggest itinerant circuses in South America. One of these circuses was about to be renovated, and a live band was to be added to the show in the fashion of the Canadian and European shows of the time. That's why we were there; we wanted the job.
The big cat stopped for a moment about fifteen feet from where we sat, and by this time we were not the only ones to have noticed him. One of the acrobats hurried behind the curtain while one of the clowns tried to get the leopard's attention by gesturing in front of him, and as it was pretty obvious he had no idea what he was doing, Luke – yes, that was the cat's name – just ignored him.
There might have been more of a sense of fear if there had been more people at the show that night; it seemed very empty. It must have been a Tuesday or Wednesday, and we were sitting in what they called the “VIP Area”, which was the area directly in front of the ring, off the bleachers.
Maybe because I initially thought it was part of the show, I wasn't really afraid... until a little girl a few feet away from us jumped up and screamed. Of course men don't scream... or jump up. Men calmly stand up and move their chairs away from danger, so that's what we did, although we didn't sit back down until Luke was gone.
After a few minutes, the bald clown – he was truly bald – responsible for not locking up the animal safely, had chased Luke back into his cage, but not before a little growling and complaining from the detainee. Sadly, it was a small cage and he spent all of his life in there. Even during his only stage time, he would be featured in that cage for a mediocre magic trick. He behaved like a grouchy seventy year old man who lived by himself with no living relatives, and it was pretty obvious that he had become tired of fighting and had settled for that fate.
Now I'm not going PETA all the way here – some of the circus animals such as the elephants were pampered like babies – but I felt really sorry for the old cat and many times thought he'd be better off dead.
As always, the show must go on! So we sat through the rest of it, ate popcorn, made dumb jokes, and wondered where we would find our guitar player if the meeting scheduled for after the show went well. I had never been to a circus before and was pretty excited to be that close to those kinds of performances. After all, we had 'VIP' seats. To say I felt like a child at the time would be presumptuous: I was a child. I was in my late teens and living the life of an old musician with nothing to show for it but a handful of violin students, weekend weddings and a boring gig with some boring music. I wanted to see the world, travel, learn, but still maintain the financial independence I had grown accustomed to, and the circus gig was perfect for all of that and much more, as I later found out.
To be continued... (hopefully)
Monday, July 12, 2010
Kid's Jam
There, kids of all ages get together and play. Fiddles, mandolins, guitars, basses and banjos are the most played, but we've seen flutes, harmoniums and drums show up for the jam as well!
I'll be posting below, the sheetmusic we use for the jam, put together by Hope Grietzer, the original founder of the jam.
As you would expect from a kid's jam, most of the songs are pretty simple but normally have some sort of harmony written above for accompaniment purposes. I sould mention that parents are more then welcome to play along (as long as they bring the kids, of course).
There are also many other tunes not in these packets that we play, so expect to see a lot more music posted here down the road.
Of course the jam is free, except for an occasional donation to the BRAS.
The Kid's Jam is a great learning enviroment for young musicians to get their feet wet playing in a group environment without the stress and demand of an orchestra or ensemble. It's supposed to be fun and relaxed and as it should be in grown-up jams, nobody cares if you blow the rhythm, melody, or harmony... There will always be somebody carrying the tune. Bring the laddies and check it out!
Click on the link below to get the files:
http://www.box.net/shared/1x8yqu8ogkr09x3ck316
Friday, June 25, 2010
Holding the Bow
A good bowing technique is one of the most important traits of a good fiddle player, and way too often overlooked. Maybe I can pass on a few things that I've learned.
First of all, although it's pretty obvious that you do hold the bow with your fingers, it should be clear that they ultimately decide the direction, the pressure, and angle of the bow. So always, as a general rule, try to keep ALL of your fingers (including your thumb) flexed at all times. This also includes the left hand, but we'll get there later. To do this, you'll need a certain amount of strength in your pinky, which 3 out of 4 people don't have. This does not mean you should not play the violin, or, that you should ignore this rule. It means you'll just have a little more work to do. :)
The pinky should support the bow when not on the string and while playing around the nut.
There are lots of exercises to strengthen your pinky and other fingers, but probably the best one I've found is the pinky push-up with the bow, which is explained in the video. It's also important to realize that your pinky will work better closer to your ring finger and to your hand, providing better support for the exercise itself.
A good idea is to just hold the bow without the fiddle, and see what you can do with it. Walk around with it and test your balance. Don't worry to much about it getting broken... it's not that fragile. And besides, the more it's laying around, the more you'll pick it up.
First of all, although it's pretty obvious that you do hold the bow with your fingers, it should be clear that they ultimately decide the direction, the pressure, and angle of the bow. So always, as a general rule, try to keep ALL of your fingers (including your thumb) flexed at all times. This also includes the left hand, but we'll get there later. To do this, you'll need a certain amount of strength in your pinky, which 3 out of 4 people don't have. This does not mean you should not play the violin, or, that you should ignore this rule. It means you'll just have a little more work to do. :)
The pinky should support the bow when not on the string and while playing around the nut.
There are lots of exercises to strengthen your pinky and other fingers, but probably the best one I've found is the pinky push-up with the bow, which is explained in the video. It's also important to realize that your pinky will work better closer to your ring finger and to your hand, providing better support for the exercise itself.
A good idea is to just hold the bow without the fiddle, and see what you can do with it. Walk around with it and test your balance. Don't worry to much about it getting broken... it's not that fragile. And besides, the more it's laying around, the more you'll pick it up.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Elijah Harper and the Vuvuzela
I'll be fair. You should need a license to own one of these... A prerequisite would be two semesters of classes with (also) a licensed vuvuzela teacher. The vuvuzela teacher's license would then cost thousands of dollars, subject to approval (of course) by the Afghan Government. (they'll get there)
Hum... They say - "It's an African Culture thing" (Bull. It's actually Mexican, but thanks to "globalization" it crossed the Atlantic) - and - "Let's not try to give it a European feel". So let's come up with an alternative, shall we?
Come to think of it... Striking are the similarities between the violin and the vuvuzela... Both are loud, can be terribly irritating, and start with 'v'. Let's hope nobody comes up wit a 3 dollar plastic fiddle and starts selling them at stadiums... Maybe a few Banjos would do the trick.
I came a across an interesting tune the other day, called Elijah Harper's Reel, courtesy of one of my students. You'll find the sheetmusic for it here. I found it to be the exact same harmonic construction of another popular jig - Swallowtail. I love the "Celtic" licks and bounciness of it.
Traditionally, we would have a 1 and 2 ending for the first part, the 2 having the triplet leading into the second part. I'm not sure if this was written intentionally this way or not, but I found that playing that triplet to lead into the repetition of the first part also works very nicely. Be sure to play the bowings the way they are written, it adds so much to the rhythm.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Play vs. "Work"!?
Some people study as a commitment to discipline or a workout. Always striving for the next technical level, the next concerto. Hobby or not, having realized deep down inside that virtuosity will never realistically be achieved, and knowing that giving up is not an option.Others play for fun, to hear the ringing of the strings, occasionally playing for an audience, learning a tune or two here and there and in some cases even composing a few of his own.A handful, have it all. But I'm not even going there...
I guess it all depends on what music does for you. Are you a listener, a reader, a player, a composer, or all of the above? Whatever you do, if you play now, at some point you must have put some form of practice into it. Some form of a rough draft of what it now is, or at least what you imagine it to be.
I've given quite a bit of thought (and practice...), into the whole "practice" or studying thing, given that not too many people seem to be getting the best out of it. I believe that, at some point, we must separate work from play.Not to be a music nazi... You can still have fun while you work... But set goals, determine when and how you will practice, and when you do so, try to focus on solving problems and not making mistakes.
The more often you play it right, better the odds that you'll get it right every time, right? So the more often you make mistakes, better the odds that... well, you figure it out. If I stumble on a part, I'll try to go over it right at least three times before moving on.
Another good trick is to always try to break down a new or challenging tune into parts and tackle one section at a time. If one section remains too difficult, break that down into manageable problems.
For example, if there is a passage with difficult bowings, make sure you can easily play the same passage with up and down bowings. If you can't get it fast enough, work each hand individually.Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), most of these rules are pretty obvious and can be applied to any instrument, but sometimes, in the face of pain, excitement, curiosity, self-confidence (or lack thereof), or plain absentmindedness, we fail to remember or apply them.Use your creativity!! Make up your own exercises to fix your own setbacks... You might just turn that setback into your strongest attribute. But most important: Stay focused! It's better to practice half an hour with full attention to detail, opposed to hours "fiddling" around. Which... brings us back to our first dilemma: "Are you playing, or practicing?"Know how to do both!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Shameless Self-Promotion
Yes... That's basically what this is all about... I'll be sharing other information here of course, but just enough to keep your attention. :)
I've been a musician and a violin teacher for quite a while and making a living at it, so I thought it might be time to give a little back. So I'll be posting a little of what I learned, and I hope that you can make the best of it.
For a little bit of background, I've played in hundred's of weddings, serenades, bars, parties, receptions, inaugurations, concerts, cafes, funerals, hoedowns, etc... Basically anywhere you can imagine a musician. Even played in a traveling circus for a year. But to start, my Dad put together a bluegrass and country band, and I played the fiddle. Since then, I've played from celtic to jazz.
As for my instruction, I studied with a "classical violin"teacher for five years, plus a year in CCDMC, in Tatuí, SP, Brazil, and I am currently working on my Bachelor's degree in music education.
I now offer violin, fiddle and mandolin lessons in my studio at my home in Colorado Springs. I also play at weddings, parties... well... consult the list above (just not the circus gig, I'll stay away from elephants for awhile). To contact me, click on "My profile" to the left and you can find my e-mail me there.
I've also been playing with some great people lately... Check back and you should get to see them!
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