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"Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
"Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Reading the "Throw in the towel" thread reminded me that there's one aspect of playing which I'll probably never master.
I've noticed that many young musicians..especially women/girls can play wonderfully fast and intricate tunes while having a conversation with their pals at the same time. Occasionally, they can even find time to send a text message on their phones.
Whereas I can watch TV or have a glance around the room while playing relatively easy tunes, I generally feel the need to concentrate. I certainly find it very difficult to talk during tunes although I can "shout out the key" when absolutely necessary but, preferably at the end of a phrase.
I'm aware that others also have this difficulty and I can understand how this might affect their progress in certain areas, e.g with piano accordion. Not everybody can easily play the basses and melody simultaneously. Also, many guitarists cannot sing and accompany themselves/or play at the same time(B.B. King was one famous example) although I can do this with practice and some preparation.
Anyway, how many of you can easily "chew gum and run at the same time"?
How big a drawback is it to have difficulty in multi-tasking? I realise that it's not the end of the world by any means but it would be interesting to get your views on this.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I can play the harmonica and drink beer within milliseconds of each other. I can also go into a trance-like state whilst playing familiar stuff. I feel I'm almost drifting off. I thought that was just me 'til one day a fiddle player told me that the same thing happens to him. Like that thing when you're on the motorway and you suddenly realise you haven't noticed the last 60 miles at all. Scary!
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I always thought BB King's style was down to economy of expression - you know, sing a bit, then play expressive vocal lines on the guitar in answer to the singing, and pretty redundant to play chords when you've got a big band with brass section behind you. Make it all mean something.
I'm too busy chewing my tongue to speak while I'm playing but can always nod my head if someone's buying
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Apparently, the man admitted that he had difficulty in doing both things at the same time. However, I'm sure he was being a bit modest about his abilities.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I find that if I'm playing an instrument - fiddle, cello or piano - it's impossible for me to eat at the same time. So when I stop playing I'll find I've got a mouthful of unmasticated food - yuk. I therefore try to avoid eating while playing. Likewise, I can't talk when I'm playing. It gets worse the older I get.
At the other end of the scale one of my contemporaries at school could sight-read a full orchestral score (with all its different clefs and transposing instruments) at the piano keyboard while simultaneously talking about the music to people standing around him in awe. No one was particularly surprised when a few years later he got a D.Mus at Cambridge.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I play whistle. Obviously talking and playing at the same time are not going to happen. Why then do punters try to have conversations with me in the middle of tune? Perhaps that's a trick to get me to stop playing? Or am I giving them too much credit? And why does my dentist also try to have a conversation with me while he's drilling my tooth?
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
If someone phones me while they are obviously watching television, I will hang up. Show some respect for the music, and just play. Multitasking means getting away with botching everything.
OK, I could chew gum and run at the same time, that is if I chewed gum.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
With a little practice I learned to say "Thank You" in the middle of a tune while busking. When I'm on the piano, however...... you're lucky to get a grunt out of me, ever.
My father-in-law (speaking of dentists) used to be able to draw diagrams with one hand on the chalk-board while writing text on same chalk-board with the other hand. I did trust him with my teeth, however.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Two weeks ago, while playing a house party, one of the guests asked me the name of the tune I was playing. I just smiled and nodded, as I can't speak much while playing. I can listen to someone talk on and on, and absorb it all, but not respond. When I finished the tune, I explained to him that I couldn't answer him, and it turns out he was upset with me because I didn't answer his question. He proceeded to talk trash about me, telling other guests that he asked me a question, and I just made stupid faces at him. Damn punters.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
My brother can hum one melody and whistle another at the same time.
Oldstrings, I have to disagree. Some people are fully capable of doing the music justice while discussing which pizza toppings they'd like or debating the planetary status of pluto. Neither part is done half assed. It's freaky, but I've seen it.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I mess up just putting my foot out to indicate a change in tune ('hup' is more difficult yet while playing the whistle).
I had a punter ask me how long I have been playing in the middle of a tune. Wasn't it obvious that my mouth was occupied? Now, had I been able to use my foot effectively during a tune, they may have found themselves doubled over
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
John, here's a fine example of masters of the art of multi-tasking - "Tuvan Throat Singers"
A Chinese Choir arrived in Tom's one night & I must admit, I had high hopes that they were about to treat us to some of this .............. instead they sang "Danny Boy" ... bummer!
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I tried to learn the D/G melodeon a few years ago thinking that the blow-draw would relate quite usefully to the harmonica. I ended up breathing in for every draw note and out for every push note. I fear that nothing short of extensive psychiatric help will get me out of this (and my inability to play the thing is an even bigger challenge).
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Can't talk and play simultaneously at all. Maybe on a good day I can yell "D!" or "hup!" but the risk of a trainwreck if I do that is substantial, so I usually switch tunes without saying anything, just trying to make eye contact with other players and hoping the rest of the session figures it out eventually.
Key changes alert people's ears pretty quickly to a new tune. Going from Rolling in the Ryegrass to Wind that Shakes the Barley does not. Of course, this method can also lead to trainwrecks, but at least it's everybody else and not me derailing.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
There's a South American band in Melbourne called Sonida de los Andes....and each band member plays the pan pipes, plays some little South American guitar thing, the drums with their feet AND sings! I have NO idea how they do it. It's the pat your head and rub your tummy thing at the same time thing tenfold!
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I once saw someone being taught the guitar and their teacher had them playing quite a difficult tune whilst reading a simple book to stop them from having to concentrate so hard on the tune, which seemed like a useful exercise. I think it is important to be able to do this so you can play more freely and I find that many of the best performers are able to communicate on stage with the other musicians whilst playing.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I find that I can talk at the same time as playing though sometimes I end up talking in time with the music :S I don't think talking at the same time is showing disrespect for the music though... You can always come back in for the next time round the tune!
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Djones' point rings true for me. I remember that when I learned to sing while playing the guitar I quickly became a much better guitar player. I used to encourage my students to learn some songs for that very purpose, even if they were only interested in playing tunes. It occurs to me that I should apply that insight to myself more consciously.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I was watching a St. Patrick's Day showing of Celtic Woman (A New Journey) on our local PBS station. Yeah, I know it's not ITM, but it's still a pleasant show.
What I had a hard time believing, though, was the fiddler. She appeared able to play, quite flawlessly, while running and dancing all about the rather complex stage setting.
I've seen the step-dance-and-fiddle tricks of folks like Natalie MacMaster and others, but the fiddler in the show was *really* covering some ground....
I generally feel that if I must concentrate so hard to play a tune that I couldn't have a simple conversation that I don't really know the tune well enough to be playing it in a session. I *can* walk from room to room while playing, but, I can't even imagine running around (up and down ramps) while playing.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Rzaikoski, none of the women are performing live on "A New Journey." They all wear mics, for some reason...I guess we're supposed to think they're actually singing. None of the musicians are actually playing either...it's all a recording.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Only in the past few years have I become able to both sing and play guitar at the same time. And that is only rudimentary accompaniment, nothing fancy. One thing I soon realized is that the singing is more important than the guitar work, so if I was going to compromise on one element or the other, it should be the guitar.
I always thought Bob Dylan was a lousy harmonica player, until I bought a holder and tried to play it while I was on guitar like he plays....
I can carry on conversation easily while playing guitar, but not while playing accordion. Because I am still getting the mechanics of that down (even though I have been playing it on the side for a couple of years), even saying 'hup' can throw me off.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I can carry a small conversation and play guitar, but I forget sometimes and ask my partner in crime, a flute player, a question, and she starts laughing and shrugging her shoulders.... I do know a fiddler who if we sit together at a session can, we can ask a few questions and answer... but not all the time through the whole tune.
See, fingers do have memory! And a mind of their own.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I once heard some very nice piano music, from a distance, in a shopping mall and as I moved toward the sound, I noticed that the lady sitting at the piano was chatting away with someone standing beside her. For just a second, I thought maybe there was a recording playing and she would perform later, but then I saw her hands dancing away over the keyboard. I watched for a minute of two, just to see if she lost her place or had to stop talking. She never did. Just kept chatting away. It was slightly disorienting.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Yes, I can call a complicated dance like the Eightsome Reel while playing reels at full tilt. It took a bit of practise, though, not least because you have to say the next figure slightly before the dancers need to do it, so it's all slightly out of synch. But if the dancers are seriously coming unstuck and losing the plot, that will cause me to do the same, so I usually try to look away if that starts to happen.
However, I still can't cope with that thing where you're playing away and somebody approaches you and starts a conversation about how Aunt Mary would like to sing after the next dance (so do you know Dark Lochnagar - she thinks maybe in F) or the worst, it's the last dance and a very out-of-place looking guy approaches the stage and shouts something in my ear. Seems quite urgent. I haven't a clue what he said, I ask him to repeat it twice, still don't get it (I'm suppposed to be playing a set of jigs, but by this time it probably sounds more like Dark Lochnagar in F) then I realise .... wait for it.... yes, it a taxi for MacAllister.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I can nod and sometimes get out a word or two, but don't very often because I will almost certainly get messed up (in any case, I have to use very broken speech because I can only start certain words at certain parts of the phrase) But then, I also have trouble with "the foot thing" to change tunes (altough that is almost certainly from a great lack of practice since I have no one to play with!
I did once meet a hammered dulcimer player (And a pretty good one!) at a Rennaissance Festival who could carry on a complete, intelligent, look-you-in-the-eyes conversation, and say something alog the lines of "If you can't play it and do something else at the same time, you still have a long way to go". I don't completely agree, but I can't say it wasn't impressive!
When I play guitar, I almost always sing....but I only know about 6 songs on guitar, and I started learning just for the purpose of being able to accompany myself (and others, except for the fact that they would have to be singing Jesus Loves Me, Drunken Sailor, Puff the Magic Dragon, or We Like Tha Moon veerrrry slowly). Needless to say I am not a guitar performer (or really a guitarist at all), but I also probably wouldn't play guitar if I couldn't sing at the same time. That's just me though.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Ptarmigan - that guy is all well and good, don't get me wrong he is probably not a bad fiddler but that doesn't stop his tune being cheesy rubbish. It sounds like bad country and western to me
Anyway I am sure he missed a note. Didn't you spot that?
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I am pretty good at multitasking. I can listen to two things at once - even music in different keys, and still enjoy them both.
But I can't talk well while playing. I can watch Jeopardy on TV and know all the answers, do math problems in my head, or think of things to say when the tune is done... But I can't talk while playing without messing up my playing.
I sort of assume that the music is being processed my the same part of my brain as speech.
But I am actually getting better! I can spit out a 'hup' or whatever. And if something takes me by surprise, I can often say a whole sentence, like "Oh hey John, I didn't see you come in!". But only if the words come out spontaneously. If I try to think about what I'm going to say, then it's much worse.
The one thing I noticed that is absolutely the hardest is saying the name of a different tune than the one I am playing. But I think that has to do with the fact that I have some subconscious mnemonic device that associates the first several notes of a tune with the name.
My guess is that the more experienced I get, the better it will become.
And I have heard tale of a piper who could play one tune and lilt another one - eep!
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
He doesn't need to be chewing gum to impress, because you know those Serbs and Croats, if it's past noon, have already had canteen of slivovic. Standing and playing at the same time for them is impressive!
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
"how many people do you sleep with anyway" - its more "how far does the sound travel anyway?"
I sometimes am able to get round it by speaking in tune with the tune. Try "I'll have a pint thank you, a pint of Deuchar's IPA" to the opening bars of Sailor's Hornpipe, for example.Then you would see how useful hornpipes are!
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Rzaikoski, none of the women are performing live on "A New Journey." They all wear mics, for some reason...I guess we're supposed to think they're actually singing. None of the musicians are actually playing either...it's all a recording." -- irishfiddler32
Are you sure?
That's what I was thinking ... at least of the fiddler -- she just seemed to be TOO energetic to be playing so smoothly. But, I couldn't *really* point out a time where her fingering or bowing looked "off".
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Months ago a regular at one of the sessions asked me to play a certain tune . .. entirely neglecting the obvious fact that I was deeply involved in the middle of a set with one of the session's anchors. With punters, I can see an excuse. with a fellow session mate. . .god it P!sses me off. I would have told him to ___off but my mouth was full of flute.
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
On piano or organ I can play and sing. However this usually encourages a more talented vocalist to either take over, or suggest I find a quiet spot and have a pint.
"Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
"Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Reading the "Throw in the towel" thread reminded me that there's one aspect of playing which I'll probably never master.
I've noticed that many young musicians..especially women/girls can play wonderfully fast and intricate tunes while having a conversation with their pals at the same time. Occasionally, they can even find time to send a text message on their phones.
Whereas I can watch TV or have a glance around the room while playing relatively easy tunes, I generally feel the need to concentrate. I certainly find it very difficult to talk during tunes although I can "shout out the key" when absolutely necessary but, preferably at the end of a phrase.
I'm aware that others also have this difficulty and I can understand how this might affect their progress in certain areas, e.g with piano accordion. Not everybody can easily play the basses and melody simultaneously. Also, many guitarists cannot sing and accompany themselves/or play at the same time(B.B. King was one famous example) although I can do this with practice and some preparation.
Anyway, how many of you can easily "chew gum and run at the same time"?
How big a drawback is it to have difficulty in multi-tasking? I realise that it's not the end of the world by any means but it would be interesting to get your views on this.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Johnny Jay
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I cant, when I'm playing a tune I cant even say 'yes' when someone asks me if I want a pint.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by bb
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I can play the harmonica and drink beer within milliseconds of each other. I can also go into a trance-like state whilst playing familiar stuff. I feel I'm almost drifting off. I thought that was just me 'til one day a fiddle player told me that the same thing happens to him. Like that thing when you're on the motorway and you suddenly realise you haven't noticed the last 60 miles at all. Scary!
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Steve Shaw
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Weird thing is that I can talk just fine while playing tunes on banjo or mandolin, but barely manage a grunt or nod while on fiddle.
For lessons, I sometimes play tunes on mandolin so I can talk a student through the phrases at the same time. Then we'll play together on fiddles.
I like the built-in excuse when playing flute....
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Will Harmon
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I always thought BB King's style was down to economy of expression - you know, sing a bit, then play expressive vocal lines on the guitar in answer to the singing, and pretty redundant to play chords when you've got a big band with brass section behind you. Make it all mean something.
I'm too busy chewing my tongue to speak while I'm playing but can always nod my head if someone's buying
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Bren
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Apparently, the man admitted that he had difficulty in doing both things at the same time. However, I'm sure he was being a bit modest about his abilities.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Johnny Jay
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I find that if I'm playing an instrument - fiddle, cello or piano - it's impossible for me to eat at the same time. So when I stop playing I'll find I've got a mouthful of unmasticated food - yuk. I therefore try to avoid eating while playing. Likewise, I can't talk when I'm playing. It gets worse the older I get.
At the other end of the scale one of my contemporaries at school could sight-read a full orchestral score (with all its different clefs and transposing instruments) at the piano keyboard while simultaneously talking about the music to people standing around him in awe. No one was particularly surprised when a few years later he got a D.Mus at Cambridge.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Trevor Jennings
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I play whistle. Obviously talking and playing at the same time are not going to happen. Why then do punters try to have conversations with me in the middle of tune? Perhaps that's a trick to get me to stop playing? Or am I giving them too much credit? And why does my dentist also try to have a conversation with me while he's drilling my tooth?
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by zoetrope
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
If someone phones me while they are obviously watching television, I will hang up. Show some respect for the music, and just play. Multitasking means getting away with botching everything.
OK, I could chew gum and run at the same time, that is if I chewed gum.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by oldstrings
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
With a little practice I learned to say "Thank You" in the middle of a tune while busking. When I'm on the piano, however...... you're lucky to get a grunt out of me, ever.
My father-in-law (speaking of dentists) used to be able to draw diagrams with one hand on the chalk-board while writing text on same chalk-board with the other hand. I did trust him with my teeth, however.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by morning star
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Two weeks ago, while playing a house party, one of the guests asked me the name of the tune I was playing. I just smiled and nodded, as I can't speak much while playing. I can listen to someone talk on and on, and absorb it all, but not respond. When I finished the tune, I explained to him that I couldn't answer him, and it turns out he was upset with me because I didn't answer his question. He proceeded to talk trash about me, telling other guests that he asked me a question, and I just made stupid faces at him. Damn punters.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by irishfiddler32
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
My brother can hum one melody and whistle another at the same time.
Oldstrings, I have to disagree. Some people are fully capable of doing the music justice while discussing which pizza toppings they'd like or debating the planetary status of pluto. Neither part is done half assed. It's freaky, but I've seen it.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Will Harmon
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I have trouble talking period. I can communicate better musically, but not both at the same time.
— heavy sigh
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Lint - upon - Tweed
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I mess up just putting my foot out to indicate a change in tune ('hup' is more difficult yet while playing the whistle).
I had a punter ask me how long I have been playing in the middle of a tune. Wasn't it obvious that my mouth was occupied? Now, had I been able to use my foot effectively during a tune, they may have found themselves doubled over
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by feardearg
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
John, here's a fine example of masters of the art of multi-tasking - "Tuvan Throat Singers"
A Chinese Choir arrived in Tom's one night & I must admit, I had high hopes that they were about to treat us to some of this .............. instead they sang "Danny Boy" ... bummer!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11864618/site/newsweek/
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Ptarmigan
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I tried to learn the D/G melodeon a few years ago thinking that the blow-draw would relate quite usefully to the harmonica. I ended up breathing in for every draw note and out for every push note. I fear that nothing short of extensive psychiatric help will get me out of this (and my inability to play the thing is an even bigger challenge).
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Steve Shaw
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Can't talk and play simultaneously at all. Maybe on a good day I can yell "D!" or "hup!" but the risk of a trainwreck if I do that is substantial, so I usually switch tunes without saying anything, just trying to make eye contact with other players and hoping the rest of the session figures it out eventually.
Key changes alert people's ears pretty quickly to a new tune. Going from Rolling in the Ryegrass to Wind that Shakes the Barley does not. Of course, this method can also lead to trainwrecks, but at least it's everybody else and not me derailing.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by DrSilverSpear
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
There's a South American band in Melbourne called Sonida de los Andes....and each band member plays the pan pipes, plays some little South American guitar thing, the drums with their feet AND sings! I have NO idea how they do it. It's the pat your head and rub your tummy thing at the same time thing tenfold!
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by FiddleFancy
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Apparently I can grind my teeth and snore at the same time. If only they knew that I'm using backing tapes!
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Bren
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
"If only *they* knew"!!!
Jeeeez Bren ... just how many people do you sleep with anyway, ...... if it's not a personal question?
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Ptarmigan
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I once saw someone being taught the guitar and their teacher had them playing quite a difficult tune whilst reading a simple book to stop them from having to concentrate so hard on the tune, which seemed like a useful exercise. I think it is important to be able to do this so you can play more freely and I find that many of the best performers are able to communicate on stage with the other musicians whilst playing.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by djones257
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I find that I can talk at the same time as playing though sometimes I end up talking in time with the music :S I don't think talking at the same time is showing disrespect for the music though... You can always come back in for the next time round the tune!
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by squeezyjoe
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Djones' point rings true for me. I remember that when I learned to sing while playing the guitar I quickly became a much better guitar player. I used to encourage my students to learn some songs for that very purpose, even if they were only interested in playing tunes. It occurs to me that I should apply that insight to myself more consciously.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Bob himself
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I was watching a St. Patrick's Day showing of Celtic Woman (A New Journey) on our local PBS station. Yeah, I know it's not ITM, but it's still a pleasant show.
What I had a hard time believing, though, was the fiddler. She appeared able to play, quite flawlessly, while running and dancing all about the rather complex stage setting.
I've seen the step-dance-and-fiddle tricks of folks like Natalie MacMaster and others, but the fiddler in the show was *really* covering some ground....
I generally feel that if I must concentrate so hard to play a tune that I couldn't have a simple conversation that I don't really know the tune well enough to be playing it in a session. I *can* walk from room to room while playing, but, I can't even imagine running around (up and down ramps) while playing.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by KeepFiddlin'
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Would this guy really need to be chewing gum at the same time, to impress you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFJ7FSSk3eY
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Ptarmigan
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Rzaikoski, none of the women are performing live on "A New Journey." They all wear mics, for some reason...I guess we're supposed to think they're actually singing. None of the musicians are actually playing either...it's all a recording.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by irishfiddler32
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Only in the past few years have I become able to both sing and play guitar at the same time. And that is only rudimentary accompaniment, nothing fancy. One thing I soon realized is that the singing is more important than the guitar work, so if I was going to compromise on one element or the other, it should be the guitar.
I always thought Bob Dylan was a lousy harmonica player, until I bought a holder and tried to play it while I was on guitar like he plays....
I can carry on conversation easily while playing guitar, but not while playing accordion. Because I am still getting the mechanics of that down (even though I have been playing it on the side for a couple of years), even saying 'hup' can throw me off.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by AlBrown
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I can carry a small conversation and play guitar, but I forget sometimes and ask my partner in crime, a flute player, a question, and she starts laughing and shrugging her shoulders.... I do know a fiddler who if we sit together at a session can, we can ask a few questions and answer... but not all the time through the whole tune.
See, fingers do have memory! And a mind of their own.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by irisnevins
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I once heard some very nice piano music, from a distance, in a shopping mall and as I moved toward the sound, I noticed that the lady sitting at the piano was chatting away with someone standing beside her. For just a second, I thought maybe there was a recording playing and she would perform later, but then I saw her hands dancing away over the keyboard. I watched for a minute of two, just to see if she lost her place or had to stop talking. She never did. Just kept chatting away. It was slightly disorienting.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Bob himself
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Yes, I can call a complicated dance like the Eightsome Reel while playing reels at full tilt. It took a bit of practise, though, not least because you have to say the next figure slightly before the dancers need to do it, so it's all slightly out of synch. But if the dancers are seriously coming unstuck and losing the plot, that will cause me to do the same, so I usually try to look away if that starts to happen.
However, I still can't cope with that thing where you're playing away and somebody approaches you and starts a conversation about how Aunt Mary would like to sing after the next dance (so do you know Dark Lochnagar - she thinks maybe in F) or the worst, it's the last dance and a very out-of-place looking guy approaches the stage and shouts something in my ear. Seems quite urgent. I haven't a clue what he said, I ask him to repeat it twice, still don't get it (I'm suppposed to be playing a set of jigs, but by this time it probably sounds more like Dark Lochnagar in F) then I realise .... wait for it.... yes, it a taxi for MacAllister.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by kris
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I can nod and sometimes get out a word or two, but don't very often because I will almost certainly get messed up (in any case, I have to use very broken speech because I can only start certain words at certain parts of the phrase) But then, I also have trouble with "the foot thing" to change tunes (altough that is almost certainly from a great lack of practice since I have no one to play with!
I did once meet a hammered dulcimer player (And a pretty good one!) at a Rennaissance Festival who could carry on a complete, intelligent, look-you-in-the-eyes conversation, and say something alog the lines of "If you can't play it and do something else at the same time, you still have a long way to go". I don't completely agree, but I can't say it wasn't impressive!
When I play guitar, I almost always sing....but I only know about 6 songs on guitar, and I started learning just for the purpose of being able to accompany myself (and others, except for the fact that they would have to be singing Jesus Loves Me, Drunken Sailor, Puff the Magic Dragon, or We Like Tha Moon veerrrry slowly). Needless to say I am not a guitar performer (or really a guitarist at all), but I also probably wouldn't play guitar if I couldn't sing at the same time. That's just me though.
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by possumawesome
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Ptarmigan - that guy is all well and good, don't get me wrong he is probably not a bad fiddler but that doesn't stop his tune being cheesy rubbish. It sounds like bad country and western to me
Anyway I am sure he missed a note. Didn't you spot that?
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
WOW! That guy's pretty amazing... And he looks like he could chew gum while he's playing. Looks pretty effortless to be honest!
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by squeezyjoe
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
I am pretty good at multitasking. I can listen to two things at once - even music in different keys, and still enjoy them both.
But I can't talk well while playing. I can watch Jeopardy on TV and know all the answers, do math problems in my head, or think of things to say when the tune is done... But I can't talk while playing without messing up my playing.
I sort of assume that the music is being processed my the same part of my brain as speech.
But I am actually getting better! I can spit out a 'hup' or whatever. And if something takes me by surprise, I can often say a whole sentence, like "Oh hey John, I didn't see you come in!". But only if the words come out spontaneously. If I try to think about what I'm going to say, then it's much worse.
The one thing I noticed that is absolutely the hardest is saying the name of a different tune than the one I am playing. But I think that has to do with the fact that I have some subconscious mnemonic device that associates the first several notes of a tune with the name.
My guess is that the more experienced I get, the better it will become.
And I have heard tale of a piper who could play one tune and lilt another one - eep!
Pete
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Reverend
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Aye no cause, I did see that, but did you not notice him throw in an extra note later on, to make up for it!
# Posted on March 21st 2007 by Ptarmigan
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
He doesn't need to be chewing gum to impress, because you know those Serbs and Croats, if it's past noon, have already had canteen of slivovic. Standing and playing at the same time for them is impressive!
# Posted on March 22nd 2007 by zoetrope
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Steve Shaw - your problems with playing the melodeon were exactly parallelled by those of a friend of mine, so you're not the only one.
# Posted on March 22nd 2007 by nicholas
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
"how many people do you sleep with anyway" - its more "how far does the sound travel anyway?"
I sometimes am able to get round it by speaking in tune with the tune. Try "I'll have a pint thank you, a pint of Deuchar's IPA" to the opening bars of Sailor's Hornpipe, for example.Then you would see how useful hornpipes are!
# Posted on March 22nd 2007 by Bren
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Rzaikoski, none of the women are performing live on "A New Journey." They all wear mics, for some reason...I guess we're supposed to think they're actually singing. None of the musicians are actually playing either...it's all a recording." -- irishfiddler32
Are you sure?
That's what I was thinking ... at least of the fiddler -- she just seemed to be TOO energetic to be playing so smoothly. But, I couldn't *really* point out a time where her fingering or bowing looked "off".
# Posted on March 22nd 2007 by KeepFiddlin'
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
Months ago a regular at one of the sessions asked me to play a certain tune . .. entirely neglecting the obvious fact that I was deeply involved in the middle of a set with one of the session's anchors. With punters, I can see an excuse. with a fellow session mate. . .god it P!sses me off. I would have told him to ___off but my mouth was full of flute.
# Posted on March 23rd 2007 by wormdiet
Re: "Multi-tasking" or "Can you chew gum and run at the same time?"
On piano or organ I can play and sing. However this usually encourages a more talented vocalist to either take over, or suggest I find a quiet spot and have a pint.
# Posted on March 23rd 2007 by zippydw