I've been recently accepted into an Irish band (non-profesional) as the replacement for its very capable whistle/flute player, who has moved away from the area. The group recorded a quick-and-dirty demo CD with 25 of their best tunes in order to practice with it.
I already know 4 of those 25 tunes, and I've been working hard to learn the other 21. I've averaged about 2 hours of practice every day for 3 weeks, which is about all I can manage what with working full-time and having a very nice husband that deserves a bit of my time.
Anyway, I'm not "quite there" yet on a few of the tunes, and I'm getting discouraged and even worried, because our first official practice is is 6 days! I'm even getting a complex, because the gal I'm replacing is a good musician (and a music teacher) who is only about 28 years old. I'm 55, and I'm beginning to wonder if I'm too old to learn to much so quickly.
Anyway, can anyone give me either a pep-talk or constructive criticism about this? Bear in mind that by constructive criticism, I'm hoping that I have't subjected myself to an open-season bashing, so please be kind!
I would break the job down into smaller components rather than just trying to slog my way through 25 tunes as quickly as possible. Select a number of tunes (I'm assuming they're arranged in sets) that you can comfortably handle and really nail them. When you go to rehearsal, be candid about what you could and couldn't do and tell them what you plan to have completely prepared for next time. If your bandmates have preferences to what you do next, do what they'd like you to learn.
I'd rather hear someone who had really mastered a part of the material than someone who is stumbling around through all of it. If they see you're intent on getting everything right, you'll probably not have a problem.
The band ,must make allowances for you.
surely the practice,is a practice,they cant expect you to be perfect ,before the practrice.
if you show that you have put alot of work in, that should be good enough,
keep up your schedule two hours a day,youwill probably find they are very pleased.
If this band accepted you, they must know that you can play well. Its pretty much impossible to get an "instant replacement" for a band member who has left, especially if they have been with the band along time. Hopefully whoever is running this band should understand and appreciate this.
No-one working full-time could be expected to put in much more than two hours of practice per day, so hopefully that point would be accepted as well.
Why not let this band know how many tunes you will be able to play really well at the first practice, mentioning that you will be working hard on the other tunes afterwards?
How many tunes can you learn in one day? Depends on lots of things. e.g. polkas are a lot easier to learn than reels. Can you read music, and (if you can) would it help to have it in front of you as "a prop" on the day of this practice?
I would add that I run a band myself, and I have to recruit new members from time to time (people leave for various reasons). I would always prefer to have someone with potential who would be loyal to the band, as opposed to someone who was instantly brilliant but might leave the band at short notice on a whim.
And finally, don't get hung up about your age! I'm older than you are (oh dear, what an admission!) and I can still manage to learn new tunes most weeks ...
Now to address the question, 21 tunes in 6 days is pushing it, a whole lot, and one would think your band would realize that and be accommodating.
Another thought. Not sure how 'good' the band wants to sound if they're expecting their brand new whistler/fluter to crank out 25 tunes she's never heard before in a few weeks. Most people don't feel like they 'know' a tune until they've lived with it for a while, taken it out for frequent runs in many a setting, rubbed the stink of it all over themselves in some sort of primitive, shamanistic fashion
I've been in that situation before. You're not going to get through all 25 tunes the first rehearsal -that would take hours and hours. Set some priorities and work harder on, say, 10 (but realistically you'll probably not get through that many). Be in communication with the band leader about what you want to rehearse first. Then have six more for the next rehearsal. When's the first show?
Yeah, the best way would be to call the leader, tell him frankly how much you will be able to do, and ask which sets he would want to have prepared. This way you will spare the band unpleasant surprises and, if they are normal people, nobody would give you a hard time - they would certainly appreciate your attitude and take into account that you need some time to accomodate.
Somebody should alert Jeremy. The person posting as llig leahcim is clearly an impostor and should be dismembered immediately.
QI - If you're looking to impress, concentrate on learning a handful of tunes from the band's repertoire and learn them well. You will probably find that the ones that you like the best will be the easiest for you to learn. In turn, you might have a few favourites of your own to introduce to the band.
If the band has imminent bookings and needs you onstage with them immediately, then learning from the dots might be the quickest route - if that is *your* quickest way of learning (You don't mention that you can read music) - even discreetly using sheet music onstage, if necessary.
Yeah, that's a lot to ask. Get as many as you can get, and work on those ones in practice.
At my best, I can learn about a tune a day, on average, but after a week, the brain starts to get 'full'. Or it could be that I'm always trying to do this at festivals, and my brain is full of other things, like whiskey and lack of sleep
I can learn a couple tunes in a day, but then I can only go a couple of days at that pace before I need a break.
A lot of it depends on whether you're at all familiar with any of those tunes too.
If Michael had first read QI's bio, I'm sure he would have advised her to just concentrate on bodhran.
I can't imagine the laid-back Swedes getting tense about a new band member not knowing all the tunes immediately.
What's their alternative? They have presumably engaged the musician of choice, and have perhaps allowed for a settling-in period of several months or longer.
Is there a Swedish speaker on the Board who could make independent enquiries?
Know a few well, that means steady and with interest. The rest will follow ~ quality over quantity, even with 25 tunes. The band, if they really care, will appreciate that better and I'm sure will allow you time to add the same magic of understanding and familiarity to the remaining numbers.
Hi again, it's Quarter Irish, the one who started this discussion. Here's a couple of quick comments:
1. SWFL Fiddler, I loved your description of knowing a tune well enough to get the "stink" of it all over you. I do know from years of experience that you really do have to play it a few times in different settings before it gets really locked into your brain, so I'm comforting myself with knowing that.
2. Yea, Swedes are generally pretty laid back and forgiving. The leader of the band knows me from my bluegrass band, which is part of the folk music circle here in town.
3. I have at least 45 tunes from "my playlist" that I could perform tomorrow if I had to, and another 40-50 that need a bit of brushing up before I could play them this weekend. So, they boys in the band will definately have to learn some of mine, too.
4. The only gig we have so far isn't until February, so I'm confident that we'll have plenty of tunes for at least a couple of sets ready to perform by then.
5. To Wounded Husser: The other bands aren't super-active. If we get 5-6 gigs per year, per band, we're donig good. Also, the Swedish band (actually an orchestra with about 25 members) is great fun, but low priority for me. I basically never practice at home, but just attend the weekly group practice instead. With at least 95% of the band having 20+ years of experience playing Swedish folk music, I have neither any chance nor the desire to be the star of that gang, so it's pretty low key for me.
6. I'll list the tunes later, but now I've got to get back to work (evening shift at the hospital).
Oh llig, you have made me sooooo happy; given me that lovely inner grin.Good for you.
And as far as encouragement goes...you'll be all right. I like the idea of being honest with your new music mates. After all, and this is something I tend to forget about the great ones I play with - they have had to struggle to learn too. There were not always, musically, where they are today. I can't imagine that struggle is forgotten. If it is forgotten that says far more about them than it does about you.
QI, I think the best way to learn is to listen to the tunes ... over and over and over.
Do you have recordings of them? (Ideally from your new band; if not, from other sources.) Do you have an iPod or similar device? Load them up and listen at every waking moment until you can hear them in your brain with the recording turned off. Use the "shuffle" mode, if possible, so you hear them in random order.
My favorite trick is to burn a few tunes I want to learn onto a CD and then play that disk (over and over and over ...) as I commute to/from work or run errands around town.
I don't know that the dots speed things up, zippy, there's plenty of anecdotes from people in the forums here about not being able to retain tunes as well when they learn them from the dots, as they do when they learn them by ear...
But we've had this debate (over and over and over and over...)
It's me again, the discussion-starter. I admit to peeking at a few dots just to get me over the hard-to-get-it parts. And, as csharpd mentioned, I took a small CD player with headphones with me on the bus and listened to the CD the band gave me both to-and-from work, which is a 45-minute ride one-way. I know that more than half the battle is won after you get the tune in your head, so that helped a lot.
Actually, if any of you want to see some of the tunes I'm learning, just go to my profile and look at my tunelist here in Sessions. I searched for those tunes for this very reason.
Again, thanks so much for some really great advise and a few good laughs, like SWFL Fiddler and his suggestion to "rub the stink" of a tune all over you in order to really know it. LOL!
Answer to ceolachan: No, I haven't given them the list yet, but I will when we meet next Monday for our first practice together.
That's why I mentioned in another recent discussion that I've just updated my repetoire list.
I also have at least 20 songs that I will bring to the group.
It's Quarter Irish again, with an added detail. One thing I neglected to point out about this band is that it seems as if I'll be the only lead player for about 85% of the tunes we play. Therein lies my feeling of panic.
There's a fiddle player in the band, but he seems to be an old "spelman", which is the Swedish word for a fiddle player who plays only traditional Swedish tunes. So, he's struggling to learn new tunes, too. So, since I've got a heck of a lot more experience with ITM than he, I'll be carrying the bulk of the melody until he can learn more tunes.
If you're going to be the major melody player, then surely you bring your melodies, your repertoire, to the band, rather than them say "This is our repertoire."
Llig asked what the others play. Well, the leader plays only guitar, but he's a real troubedor - loves to sing meaningful ballads and those rousing drinking songs that general audiences (that is, those who don't know or don't care if you're playing *real* ITM or not).
It's already been established that I'll play mostly lead on whistle, flute, and hammered dulcimer, as well as sing lead on about half the vocals we'll do.
Then, there's the "spelman" on fiddle, but he doesn't carry so much melody yet. He plays a bit of "counter-melody and/or droning on the tunes on which he can't yet play melody.
The fourth member is the group's percussionist. He plays something called a cajón, because he admits that he hasn't yet figured out how to play a bodhran. I promised to show him how, but I'm not exactly queen of the bodhran players myself.
I was feeling a bit wiggy about that cajón thing, but then I read on the link below that it's starting to gain popularity amoung some folk and world bands, including Gaelic Storm. Here's a link to this odd little box: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajon
So, we are a bit of a motley crew, but the band already has already managed to make a name for itself in town. Swedes love cultural stuff - be it food, music, or art, so they'll love us despite the fact that might not be the most authentic Irish band in Europe.
Oh...I forgot to mention that I play back-up guitar too, but since I'll be doing most of the instrumental breaks on songs, and since I'm lousy at picking out melody on a guitar, it's doubtful that I'll get to play so much guitar in this gang.
Sounds like you are headed in the right direction, QI, and learning the tunes faster than I would. With the right people, group playing can be lots of fun. Enjoy!
A little encouragement, please
A little encouragement, please
I've been recently accepted into an Irish band (non-profesional) as the replacement for its very capable whistle/flute player, who has moved away from the area. The group recorded a quick-and-dirty demo CD with 25 of their best tunes in order to practice with it.
I already know 4 of those 25 tunes, and I've been working hard to learn the other 21. I've averaged about 2 hours of practice every day for 3 weeks, which is about all I can manage what with working full-time and having a very nice husband that deserves a bit of my time.
Anyway, I'm not "quite there" yet on a few of the tunes, and I'm getting discouraged and even worried, because our first official practice is is 6 days! I'm even getting a complex, because the gal I'm replacing is a good musician (and a music teacher) who is only about 28 years old. I'm 55, and I'm beginning to wonder if I'm too old to learn to much so quickly.
Anyway, can anyone give me either a pep-talk or constructive criticism about this? Bear in mind that by constructive criticism, I'm hoping that I have't subjected myself to an open-season bashing, so please be kind!
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by Quarter Irish
Re: A little encouragement, please
Keep it going, but be realistic, I couldn't learn 21 tunes in 6 days.
I'd be lucky to learn 1 maybe 2 at a push and 3 if I was already familiar with the tunes.
Andy
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by Andyras1
Re: A little encouragement, please
I would break the job down into smaller components rather than just trying to slog my way through 25 tunes as quickly as possible. Select a number of tunes (I'm assuming they're arranged in sets) that you can comfortably handle and really nail them. When you go to rehearsal, be candid about what you could and couldn't do and tell them what you plan to have completely prepared for next time. If your bandmates have preferences to what you do next, do what they'd like you to learn.
I'd rather hear someone who had really mastered a part of the material than someone who is stumbling around through all of it. If they see you're intent on getting everything right, you'll probably not have a problem.
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by Steve L
Re: A little encouragement, please
The band ,must make allowances for you.
surely the practice,is a practice,they cant expect you to be perfect ,before the practrice.
if you show that you have put alot of work in, that should be good enough,
keep up your schedule two hours a day,youwill probably find they are very pleased.
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by Dick Miles
Re: A little encouragement, please
OK everyone, brace yourselves ...
Learn the tunes from the dots.
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: A little encouragement, please
The end of the world has begun!
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by Ramiro
Re: A little encouragement, please
If this band accepted you, they must know that you can play well. Its pretty much impossible to get an "instant replacement" for a band member who has left, especially if they have been with the band along time. Hopefully whoever is running this band should understand and appreciate this.
No-one working full-time could be expected to put in much more than two hours of practice per day, so hopefully that point would be accepted as well.
Why not let this band know how many tunes you will be able to play really well at the first practice, mentioning that you will be working hard on the other tunes afterwards?
How many tunes can you learn in one day? Depends on lots of things. e.g. polkas are a lot easier to learn than reels. Can you read music, and (if you can) would it help to have it in front of you as "a prop" on the day of this practice?
I would add that I run a band myself, and I have to recruit new members from time to time (people leave for various reasons). I would always prefer to have someone with potential who would be loyal to the band, as opposed to someone who was instantly brilliant but might leave the band at short notice on a whim.
And finally, don't get hung up about your age! I'm older than you are (oh dear, what an admission!) and I can still manage to learn new tunes most weeks ...
Hope this helps - and good luck ...
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by Mix O'Lydian
Re: A little encouragement, please
Famine, pestilence, earthquakes, Llig advocating dots.
It's the end, THE END I SAY!!!
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: A little encouragement, please
Reading your Bio, you certainly have your hands full with two other band committments!! Hope your husband plays a few tunes as well!!
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by the wounded hussar
Re: A little encouragement, please
Now to address the question, 21 tunes in 6 days is pushing it, a whole lot, and one would think your band would realize that and be accommodating.
Another thought. Not sure how 'good' the band wants to sound if they're expecting their brand new whistler/fluter to crank out 25 tunes she's never heard before in a few weeks. Most people don't feel like they 'know' a tune until they've lived with it for a while, taken it out for frequent runs in many a setting, rubbed the stink of it all over themselves in some sort of primitive, shamanistic fashion
What did I just type? I need more coffee.
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: A little encouragement, please
I've been in that situation before. You're not going to get through all 25 tunes the first rehearsal -that would take hours and hours. Set some priorities and work harder on, say, 10 (but realistically you'll probably not get through that many). Be in communication with the band leader about what you want to rehearse first. Then have six more for the next rehearsal. When's the first show?
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by reenactor
Re: A little encouragement, please
Yeah, the best way would be to call the leader, tell him frankly how much you will be able to do, and ask which sets he would want to have prepared. This way you will spare the band unpleasant surprises and, if they are normal people, nobody would give you a hard time - they would certainly appreciate your attitude and take into account that you need some time to accomodate.
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by Janek
Re: A little encouragement, please
Damn! I just felt a huge shock wave. What was that?!
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by Bob himself
Re: A little encouragement, please
Somebody should alert Jeremy. The person posting as llig leahcim is clearly an impostor and should be dismembered immediately.
QI - If you're looking to impress, concentrate on learning a handful of tunes from the band's repertoire and learn them well. You will probably find that the ones that you like the best will be the easiest for you to learn. In turn, you might have a few favourites of your own to introduce to the band.
If the band has imminent bookings and needs you onstage with them immediately, then learning from the dots might be the quickest route - if that is *your* quickest way of learning (You don't mention that you can read music) - even discreetly using sheet music onstage, if necessary.
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: A little encouragement, please
Just out of curiosity, what are the 25 tunes?
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by domnull
Re: A little encouragement, please
"OK everyone, brace yourselves ...
Learn the tunes from the dots.
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by llig leahcim "
Jaysus, the entire back of my cottage just collapsed. As someone before me once said: "A day that will live in infamy!"
Oh, Christ there goes whole street behind us right into the abyss.
Good luck 1/4 or two bits as it were, you'll do fine!
Peace,
Ed
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by ejsant
Re: A little encouragement, please
"You don't mention that you can read music"
Having just read your profile, QI, I see that you *do* read music.
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: A little encouragement, please
Yeah, that's a lot to ask. Get as many as you can get, and work on those ones in practice.
At my best, I can learn about a tune a day, on average, but after a week, the brain starts to get 'full'. Or it could be that I'm always trying to do this at festivals, and my brain is full of other things, like whiskey and lack of sleep
I can learn a couple tunes in a day, but then I can only go a couple of days at that pace before I need a break.
A lot of it depends on whether you're at all familiar with any of those tunes too.
(Oh, and LOL, llig...)
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by Reverend
Re: A little encouragement, please
Llig:
>OK everyone, brace yourselves ...
Learn the tunes from the dots>
Michael, I didn't think you could get much higher in my estimation (which isn't to say I always I agree with you), but you just did.
- Chris
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: A little encouragement, please
If Michael had first read QI's bio, I'm sure he would have advised her to just concentrate on bodhran.
I can't imagine the laid-back Swedes getting tense about a new band member not knowing all the tunes immediately.
What's their alternative? They have presumably engaged the musician of choice, and have perhaps allowed for a settling-in period of several months or longer.
Is there a Swedish speaker on the Board who could make independent enquiries?
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by oldstrings
Re: A little encouragement, please
Know a few well, that means steady and with interest. The rest will follow ~ quality over quantity, even with 25 tunes. The band, if they really care, will appreciate that better and I'm sure will allow you time to add the same magic of understanding and familiarity to the remaining numbers.
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by ceolachan
Good one Llig, I needed a good laugh this evening, before stepping out...
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: A little encouragement, please
Take things s-l-o-w-l-y ~ the rest will follow...
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: A little encouragement, please
Hi again, it's Quarter Irish, the one who started this discussion. Here's a couple of quick comments:
1. SWFL Fiddler, I loved your description of knowing a tune well enough to get the "stink" of it all over you. I do know from years of experience that you really do have to play it a few times in different settings before it gets really locked into your brain, so I'm comforting myself with knowing that.
2. Yea, Swedes are generally pretty laid back and forgiving. The leader of the band knows me from my bluegrass band, which is part of the folk music circle here in town.
3. I have at least 45 tunes from "my playlist" that I could perform tomorrow if I had to, and another 40-50 that need a bit of brushing up before I could play them this weekend. So, they boys in the band will definately have to learn some of mine, too.
4. The only gig we have so far isn't until February, so I'm confident that we'll have plenty of tunes for at least a couple of sets ready to perform by then.
5. To Wounded Husser: The other bands aren't super-active. If we get 5-6 gigs per year, per band, we're donig good. Also, the Swedish band (actually an orchestra with about 25 members) is great fun, but low priority for me. I basically never practice at home, but just attend the weekly group practice instead. With at least 95% of the band having 20+ years of experience playing Swedish folk music, I have neither any chance nor the desire to be the star of that gang, so it's pretty low key for me.
6. I'll list the tunes later, but now I've got to get back to work (evening shift at the hospital).
Thanks so much, everyone, for your input!
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by Quarter Irish
Re: A little encouragement, please
Oh llig, you have made me sooooo happy; given me that lovely inner grin.Good for you.
And as far as encouragement goes...you'll be all right. I like the idea of being honest with your new music mates. After all, and this is something I tend to forget about the great ones I play with - they have had to struggle to learn too. There were not always, musically, where they are today. I can't imagine that struggle is forgotten. If it is forgotten that says far more about them than it does about you.
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by oriley
Re: A little encouragement, please
So, QI, after getting llig to advocate using 'the dots' what's going to be your next trick? Walking on water maybe? Curing the credit crunch?
I've nothing to add to the good advice given above only to go and enjoy yourself (you obviously are trying to give it your best shot) and don't worry!
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by john knoss
Re: A little encouragement, please
I hate to say it. The dots speed things up. Then a couple of times through, youget to know the peculiarities of the others
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by zippydw
Re: A little encouragement, please
QI, I think the best way to learn is to listen to the tunes ... over and over and over.
Do you have recordings of them? (Ideally from your new band; if not, from other sources.) Do you have an iPod or similar device? Load them up and listen at every waking moment until you can hear them in your brain with the recording turned off. Use the "shuffle" mode, if possible, so you hear them in random order.
My favorite trick is to burn a few tunes I want to learn onto a CD and then play that disk (over and over and over ...) as I commute to/from work or run errands around town.
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by boxist
Re: A little encouragement, please
I don't know that the dots speed things up, zippy, there's plenty of anecdotes from people in the forums here about not being able to retain tunes as well when they learn them from the dots, as they do when they learn them by ear...
But we've had this debate (over and over and over and over...)
# Posted on November 18th 2008 by Reverend
Re: A little encouragement, please
It's me again, the discussion-starter. I admit to peeking at a few dots just to get me over the hard-to-get-it parts. And, as csharpd mentioned, I took a small CD player with headphones with me on the bus and listened to the CD the band gave me both to-and-from work, which is a 45-minute ride one-way. I know that more than half the battle is won after you get the tune in your head, so that helped a lot.
Actually, if any of you want to see some of the tunes I'm learning, just go to my profile and look at my tunelist here in Sessions. I searched for those tunes for this very reason.
Again, thanks so much for some really great advise and a few good laughs, like SWFL Fiddler and his suggestion to "rub the stink" of a tune all over you in order to really know it. LOL!
# Posted on November 19th 2008 by Quarter Irish
Re: A little encouragement, please
Did you give them your list?
# Posted on November 19th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: A little encouragement, please
Answer to ceolachan: No, I haven't given them the list yet, but I will when we meet next Monday for our first practice together.
That's why I mentioned in another recent discussion that I've just updated my repetoire list.
I also have at least 20 songs that I will bring to the group.
# Posted on November 19th 2008 by Quarter Irish
Re: A little encouragement, please
I think llig will chime in with this one too - for the tunes you don't know, just accompany them as best you can on the bodhran.
# Posted on November 19th 2008 by Mike Floorstand
Re: A little encouragement, please
awe come on now ... there are limits to my flexibility
# Posted on November 19th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: A little encouragement, please
or strum along in DADGAD?
# Posted on November 19th 2008 by Mike Floorstand
Re: A little encouragement, please
It's Quarter Irish again, with an added detail. One thing I neglected to point out about this band is that it seems as if I'll be the only lead player for about 85% of the tunes we play. Therein lies my feeling of panic.
There's a fiddle player in the band, but he seems to be an old "spelman", which is the Swedish word for a fiddle player who plays only traditional Swedish tunes. So, he's struggling to learn new tunes, too. So, since I've got a heck of a lot more experience with ITM than he, I'll be carrying the bulk of the melody until he can learn more tunes.
# Posted on November 19th 2008 by Quarter Irish
Re: A little encouragement, please
What do the others play?
# Posted on November 19th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: A little encouragement, please
If you're going to be the major melody player, then surely you bring your melodies, your repertoire, to the band, rather than them say "This is our repertoire."
# Posted on November 19th 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: A little encouragement, please
Llig asked what the others play. Well, the leader plays only guitar, but he's a real troubedor - loves to sing meaningful ballads and those rousing drinking songs that general audiences (that is, those who don't know or don't care if you're playing *real* ITM or not).
It's already been established that I'll play mostly lead on whistle, flute, and hammered dulcimer, as well as sing lead on about half the vocals we'll do.
Then, there's the "spelman" on fiddle, but he doesn't carry so much melody yet. He plays a bit of "counter-melody and/or droning on the tunes on which he can't yet play melody.
The fourth member is the group's percussionist. He plays something called a cajón, because he admits that he hasn't yet figured out how to play a bodhran. I promised to show him how, but I'm not exactly queen of the bodhran players myself.
I was feeling a bit wiggy about that cajón thing, but then I read on the link below that it's starting to gain popularity amoung some folk and world bands, including Gaelic Storm. Here's a link to this odd little box: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajon
So, we are a bit of a motley crew, but the band already has already managed to make a name for itself in town. Swedes love cultural stuff - be it food, music, or art, so they'll love us despite the fact that might not be the most authentic Irish band in Europe.
# Posted on November 19th 2008 by Quarter Irish
Re: A little encouragement, please
Oh...I forgot to mention that I play back-up guitar too, but since I'll be doing most of the instrumental breaks on songs, and since I'm lousy at picking out melody on a guitar, it's doubtful that I'll get to play so much guitar in this gang.
# Posted on November 19th 2008 by Quarter Irish
Re: A little encouragement, please
Sounds like you are headed in the right direction, QI, and learning the tunes faster than I would. With the right people, group playing can be lots of fun. Enjoy!
# Posted on November 20th 2008 by AlBrown