Who else plays 'til they drop? How much sitting can the body take? Did the grasshopper really play ALL DAY? Have you ever met a "moderate" ITM player? (Thx rockingbow, for the insightful vignette........)
Sitting in a creaky chair for hours on end untill my back is in pieces, breathing other peoples smoke, drinking to excess, eating piles of sandwiches, sausages, chips or anything else a kind landlord might provide, RSI in one hand and bleeding fingers on the other, putting up with prima donnas, egomaniacs and the just plain weird - I love it.
Actually, at the moment I am suffering from a severe general muscle pain after teaching some particularly difficult and exerting folk dance figures to youngsters for several hours on end, and playing guitar in a *sitting* positions seems the perfect choice for my well-being.
And yes, the doctor said that working on a computer requires some change of position from time to time. So for a change I turn my chair away from the screen and towards the instrument. At the end of the day I'm wondering why actually my back is killing me.
Well, vboyd, I noticed that when I started playing fiddle, the time I spent in healthy outdoor pursuits decreased rather dramatically. Now, pale, atrophied and pathetic, I sit in dark rooms (no smoke, thank god) and struggle with music demons. Creepy, huh?
Michele
I bin layin my deckin in the garden from 9.00am till 8.30pm, no breaks except for lagers, so I never did get out for my 4 or 5 mile run. i reckon I saved about 2000 quid doing it myself Nobody fax with me the DIY king of Sarf Lahndin. No energy left for flutation - only here to relax.
The serious answer is, though from my point of view, you definitely need fitness to play (or lead) long sets - the converse of your query. otherwise why is it that I'm dripping of sweat after I take up a rake of tunes?
I've just finished playing cello in the orchestra for a 10-performance run of one of the Gilbert & Sullivan operas - 2 1/2 hours of unremitting concentration every night, which is physically and mentally tiring. A 3 or 4 hour session is a doddle in comparison.
well, tunes, sitting, and beer do seem to be a yummy combination.
..the question is,, is the tunne an excuse to have the beer or is the beer a good reason to sit or is the chair a good motivator for the beer .. or, er, are we just a bunch of lazy sods......and dammit there seems to be no end in sight
(i am a gud girl andI do cardio every day and it seems to clear out any guilt that might otherwise start festering in my puritan corners..)
haha rocking bow and stewpot were discussing what was better,, to shower first , or play first,, as if playing worked up a sweat....... but actually it does sometimes....
Heh Vboyd - giz some a thon stuff yer on. Jist email it to me. Via this site.
Answer to yer question - laziness is a word that I forgot about - call it to me or my session mates & we'd look around, wondering who yer addressing. More like the opposite - keen, keen people, who play by compulsion, any small hiatus quickly covered by a tune from someone else. pure industry. Doubt me? If ever you can make it to Lewisham to observe, if not pure talent, then at least raw enthusiasm, yer welcome.
It builds up gradually, at first I could not play more than 2 tunes on the fiddle before getting exhausted and suffering pains in my left forearm. Two and a half years later, I've played intensively for up to 7 hours, because too keen to take a long break in between tunes by the way. Need hours of sleep afterwards but no other problems. Anywatm my arms are now strong. The rest of the body on the other hand...
No, no. Tunes, sitting, beer: BAD. Must get out and do the odd 5K on weekends. (How else do you acquire all those tasteful teeshirts for concertwear?) Training time: listen to new tunes on electronic device wedged in ear, do 5 miles, and by the time you get back to the house AND SHOWER, you have the new tunes down. And endorphins course through your body, powering bow arm. Whew.
Michle
H. Simpson: "A gaym? What is a gaym?... Ooooh, a gaym!
So when I finally leave the gaym after 4 hours of workout, with tight T-shirt torn on powerful biceps (not to mention triceps), I take a powerful shower to cool down the testosterone, gnaw through a coconut and sit down to steel-necked guitar (poor old rosewood would not survive my powerful grip) equipped with volframic strings, and take tytanium plectrum, of course held in an azbesto gauntlet, to prevent my superb hairy forehand from catching fire, so fast I play.
My favourite music Video tutorials: "Commando", "Rambo III", "Predator" and "Callanetics with Cindy Crawford"
ha ha.. knawing thru the coconuts pretty good,,,,
so yes we generally agree that some kind of regimented physical activity benefitsour long periods of musical industry.........
I mean, do you want to be one of those rockers that kicked at age 35 or 47 or whatever,, like jim morrison or janis joplin or...i mean , we rock too, right? in fact we rock with a rythem that has been rocking for Many many centuries,,, ha.. i mean , think of the old farts you know that play like gods christmas. this is my goal, to play like NObodys business when I am 95 years old....
Just for the record, vboyd, Jim Morrissson and Janis Joplin died at age 27. As did Kurt Cobain. Although Cobain killed himself, you could say so did the former two rockers, with their lifestyle (drugs and alcohol).
I find a bit of Tai Chi before a session loosens me up and gives me the energy to play (and drink) to excess. Anyone else got any pre-session warm-up routines?
Orson, your Tai Chi routine reminded me of a story. My teacher's husband told me of one of his students who had to rush through her flute lesson and even cut it short in order to get to her yoga class on time.
She probably should have scheduled the lesson for *after* the yoga class.
Occasionally a couple of aquaintences come to Vermont from Pennsylvania to visit relatives, and they give my husband and me an invite to play tunes. We sit in the living room and play tunes for hours on end. I find I don't stop to eat, drink, pee, stretch, or even talk. And yet I feel invigorated by it all, and am bitterly disappointed when it begins to break up and we have to leave. That, and my gardening are my healthy activities. My winter job, that was dreadfully unhealthy. My gig last night was a painful one as a result of my steenkin four month factory job.
Tai Chi the p!ss up down the pub -
YIN AND YANG! Brilliant Orson
Rocking Bow, with you all the way on playing without stopping for anything, it's great that way. A session friend once told me he plays because he can't stop himself from doing so. Something you can appreciate.
As a non-fiddling mandolinist I would guess that it is much harder to play the fiddle lying down than the mandolin. Can any fiddlers out there give me any more insight into this?
I’ve just tried it I played the Bucks just to give it a proper test. Didn’t seem that different, but then I have got a death-grip left hand due to an unfortunate incident with a Stanley knife many years ago. I suppose if you were into all that changing positions stuff it might be difficult. I think my main problem would be trying to drink in that position
Dave,
I would think it would be next to impossible to play the fiddle lying down --- you'd bang your bow on the sofa cushions. (Hey Will, is that how you...oh never mind.)
On the other hand, depending on the amount of blood in your alcohol stream, you might do fine after all. The things I miss, having a dicky liver. ;)
Sara
I don't know if I am a fiddling mandolinist or a mandolining fiddler, but it is easier to play mandolin lying down than fiddle. I've done both in bed, but I prefer a Lazy Boy recliner. Kate
I like to combine my fiddle playing and exercise. I live a mile up the hill from the waterfront and whenever the weather is nice (read dry and warmer than 50 degrees) I walk down there to practice, and then walk back home.
It's actually been great for my confidence as well as my legs. Although I stay on the far end away from most of the crowds (I'm a beginner), people come listen to me play and say very nice things, appluad and even occasionally toss some money in my case (which I don't put "out". We have a microbrewery as well as a couple other pubs down there, how handy is that? ;)
As far as the 5K, the girls and I are trying to figure out how to do the "St. Patty's Day Dash" in Seattle with our band instruments. Someone would have to pull Molly's harp and Linda's bass in a wagon, but if we sign up for the slow wave, we might be able to pull it off.
music as healthy exercise......
music as healthy exercise......
Who else plays 'til they drop? How much sitting can the body take? Did the grasshopper really play ALL DAY? Have you ever met a "moderate" ITM player? (Thx rockingbow, for the insightful vignette........)
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by vboyd100
Re: music as healthy exercise......
Sitting in a creaky chair for hours on end untill my back is in pieces, breathing other peoples smoke, drinking to excess, eating piles of sandwiches, sausages, chips or anything else a kind landlord might provide, RSI in one hand and bleeding fingers on the other, putting up with prima donnas, egomaniacs and the just plain weird - I love it.
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by len
Re: music as healthy exercise......
Actually, at the moment I am suffering from a severe general muscle pain after teaching some particularly difficult and exerting folk dance figures to youngsters for several hours on end, and playing guitar in a *sitting* positions seems the perfect choice for my well-being.
And yes, the doctor said that working on a computer requires some change of position from time to time. So for a change I turn my chair away from the screen and towards the instrument. At the end of the day I'm wondering why actually my back is killing me.
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Janek
Re: music as healthy exercise......
Well, vboyd, I noticed that when I started playing fiddle, the time I spent in healthy outdoor pursuits decreased rather dramatically. Now, pale, atrophied and pathetic, I sit in dark rooms (no smoke, thank god) and struggle with music demons. Creepy, huh?
Michele
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Michele Sims
Re: music as healthy exercise......
I bin layin my deckin in the garden from 9.00am till 8.30pm, no breaks except for lagers, so I never did get out for my 4 or 5 mile run. i reckon I saved about 2000 quid doing it myself Nobody fax with me the DIY king of Sarf Lahndin. No energy left for flutation - only here to relax.
The serious answer is, though from my point of view, you definitely need fitness to play (or lead) long sets - the converse of your query. otherwise why is it that I'm dripping of sweat after I take up a rake of tunes?
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Rudall the time
Re: music as healthy exercise......
I've just finished playing cello in the orchestra for a 10-performance run of one of the Gilbert & Sullivan operas - 2 1/2 hours of unremitting concentration every night, which is physically and mentally tiring. A 3 or 4 hour session is a doddle in comparison.
Trevor
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Trevor Jennings
Re: music as healthy exercise......
Oh right trev. We just sit about drink beer and do the odd tune. mmm. When I grow up and become a REAL musician please may I play with you?
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Rudall the time
Re: music as healthy exercise......
well, tunes, sitting, and beer do seem to be a yummy combination.
..the question is,, is the tunne an excuse to have the beer or is the beer a good reason to sit or is the chair a good motivator for the beer .. or, er, are we just a bunch of lazy sods......and dammit there seems to be no end in sight
(i am a gud girl andI do cardio every day and it seems to clear out any guilt that might otherwise start festering in my puritan corners..)
haha rocking bow and stewpot were discussing what was better,, to shower first , or play first,, as if playing worked up a sweat....... but actually it does sometimes....
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by vboyd100
Re: music as healthy exercise......
Heh Vboyd - giz some a thon stuff yer on. Jist email it to me. Via this site.
Answer to yer question - laziness is a word that I forgot about - call it to me or my session mates & we'd look around, wondering who yer addressing. More like the opposite - keen, keen people, who play by compulsion, any small hiatus quickly covered by a tune from someone else. pure industry. Doubt me? If ever you can make it to Lewisham to observe, if not pure talent, then at least raw enthusiasm, yer welcome.
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Rudall the time
Re: music as healthy exercise......
It builds up gradually, at first I could not play more than 2 tunes on the fiddle before getting exhausted and suffering pains in my left forearm. Two and a half years later, I've played intensively for up to 7 hours, because too keen to take a long break in between tunes by the way. Need hours of sleep afterwards but no other problems. Anywatm my arms are now strong. The rest of the body on the other hand...
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Cath
Re: music as healthy exercise......
No, no. Tunes, sitting, beer: BAD. Must get out and do the odd 5K on weekends. (How else do you acquire all those tasteful teeshirts for concertwear?) Training time: listen to new tunes on electronic device wedged in ear, do 5 miles, and by the time you get back to the house AND SHOWER, you have the new tunes down. And endorphins course through your body, powering bow arm. Whew.
Michle
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Michele Sims
Re: music as healthy exercise......
H. Simpson: "A gaym? What is a gaym?... Ooooh, a gaym!
So when I finally leave the gaym after 4 hours of workout, with tight T-shirt torn on powerful biceps (not to mention triceps), I take a powerful shower to cool down the testosterone, gnaw through a coconut and sit down to steel-necked guitar (poor old rosewood would not survive my powerful grip) equipped with volframic strings, and take tytanium plectrum, of course held in an azbesto gauntlet, to prevent my superb hairy forehand from catching fire, so fast I play.
My favourite music Video tutorials: "Commando", "Rambo III", "Predator" and "Callanetics with Cindy Crawford"
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Janek
Re: music as healthy exercise......
ha ha.. knawing thru the coconuts pretty good,,,,
so yes we generally agree that some kind of regimented physical activity benefitsour long periods of musical industry.........
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by vboyd100
Re: music as healthy exercise......
hello len,, take note dear, and use discretion when knawing at your landlady's offerings (ie her sandwiches)
but as for the intensity and focus yes yes eys
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by vboyd100
Re: music as healthy exercise......
I mean, do you want to be one of those rockers that kicked at age 35 or 47 or whatever,, like jim morrison or janis joplin or...i mean , we rock too, right? in fact we rock with a rythem that has been rocking for Many many centuries,,, ha.. i mean , think of the old farts you know that play like gods christmas. this is my goal, to play like NObodys business when I am 95 years old....
.. ps batlady,, iam not far away,, in BC..
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by vboyd100
Re: music as healthy exercise......
Janek - you're rapidly becoming The Session Official Comedian. Don't tell me you play music as well?
:~}
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Rudall the time
Re: music as healthy exercise......
this helped me e great deal http://www.physiosupplies.com/acatalog/Physiosupplies_TEMPUR_PC_Seat_Wedge_274.html
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by lixnaw
Re: music as healthy exercise......
I do fatwah... now where did I put me shakeys?
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Janek
Re: music as healthy exercise......
Just for the record, vboyd, Jim Morrissson and Janis Joplin died at age 27. As did Kurt Cobain. Although Cobain killed himself, you could say so did the former two rockers, with their lifestyle (drugs and alcohol).
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Andee
Re: music as healthy exercise......
I'm 30. Does that mean I've achieved immortality?
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: music as healthy exercise......
Are you a rock star, David?
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Andee
Re: music as healthy exercise......
I find a bit of Tai Chi before a session loosens me up and gives me the energy to play (and drink) to excess. Anyone else got any pre-session warm-up routines?
# Posted on May 22nd 2004 by Just a person
Re: music as healthy exercise......
Orson, your Tai Chi routine reminded me of a story. My teacher's husband told me of one of his students who had to rush through her flute lesson and even cut it short in order to get to her yoga class on time.
She probably should have scheduled the lesson for *after* the yoga class.
# Posted on May 23rd 2004 by Andee
Re: music as healthy exercise......
Occasionally a couple of aquaintences come to Vermont from Pennsylvania to visit relatives, and they give my husband and me an invite to play tunes. We sit in the living room and play tunes for hours on end. I find I don't stop to eat, drink, pee, stretch, or even talk. And yet I feel invigorated by it all, and am bitterly disappointed when it begins to break up and we have to leave. That, and my gardening are my healthy activities. My winter job, that was dreadfully unhealthy. My gig last night was a painful one as a result of my steenkin four month factory job.
# Posted on May 23rd 2004 by rocking bow
Re: music as healthy exercise......
Tai Chi the p!ss up down the pub -
YIN AND YANG! Brilliant Orson
Rocking Bow, with you all the way on playing without stopping for anything, it's great that way. A session friend once told me he plays because he can't stop himself from doing so. Something you can appreciate.
# Posted on May 23rd 2004 by Cath
Re: music as healthy exercise......
As a non-fiddling mandolinist I would guess that it is much harder to play the fiddle lying down than the mandolin. Can any fiddlers out there give me any more insight into this?
# Posted on May 24th 2004 by showaddydadito
Re: music as healthy exercise......
I’ve just tried it
I played the Bucks just to give it a proper test. Didn’t seem that different, but then I have got a death-grip left hand due to an unfortunate incident with a Stanley knife many years ago. I suppose if you were into all that changing positions stuff it might be difficult. I think my main problem would be trying to drink in that position 
# Posted on May 24th 2004 by Just a person
Re: music as healthy exercise......
PS I've just had this very surreal image of all the fiddlers at The Session lying on their backs on the floor like so many beetles
# Posted on May 24th 2004 by Just a person
Re: music as healthy exercise......
Dave,
I would think it would be next to impossible to play the fiddle lying down --- you'd bang your bow on the sofa cushions. (Hey Will, is that how you...oh never mind.)
On the other hand, depending on the amount of blood in your alcohol stream, you might do fine after all. The things I miss, having a dicky liver. ;)
Sara
# Posted on May 24th 2004 by sara g
Re: music as healthy exercise......
I don't know if I am a fiddling mandolinist or a mandolining fiddler, but it is easier to play mandolin lying down than fiddle. I've done both in bed, but I prefer a Lazy Boy recliner. Kate
# Posted on May 24th 2004 by rocking bow
Re: music as healthy exercise......
hmmmmmmmm.....how about playing while running 5k? which instrument would be easist?
# Posted on May 24th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: music as healthy exercise......
tambourine, I guess.
# Posted on May 24th 2004 by Janek
Re: music as healthy exercise......
I like to combine my fiddle playing and exercise. I live a mile up the hill from the waterfront and whenever the weather is nice (read dry and warmer than 50 degrees) I walk down there to practice, and then walk back home.
It's actually been great for my confidence as well as my legs. Although I stay on the far end away from most of the crowds (I'm a beginner), people come listen to me play and say very nice things, appluad and even occasionally toss some money in my case (which I don't put "out". We have a microbrewery as well as a couple other pubs down there, how handy is that? ;)
As far as the 5K, the girls and I are trying to figure out how to do the "St. Patty's Day Dash" in Seattle with our band instruments. Someone would have to pull Molly's harp and Linda's bass in a wagon, but if we sign up for the slow wave, we might be able to pull it off.
~L
# Posted on May 25th 2004 by Lisa Lawrence
Re: music as healthy exercise......
hi lisa.yuo are just across the strait from me
# Posted on May 25th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: music as healthy exercise......
Cool !!!
I get up to Victoria every now and then
# Posted on May 27th 2004 by Lisa Lawrence