Festive Fiddling

My fiddle group played at today at a festively decorated cultural center, a former mansion, made elegant again by a community group. It is a wonderful place, full of music, art, and Christmas spirit. I really haven't been practicing fiddle tunes lately (focusing more on orchestra and Messiah music), but the group is very welcoming, and love playing this music, or what I can of it. The photo above is the first tune ("Old Joe Clark," the tune we traditionally start with), before a friend found me a chair.

Fiddling?

I haven't played any fiddle music in ages, yet there are a couple of fiddle performances coming up that I would like to participate in, and the women's fiddling group is starting to meet again, after a summer-long hiatus, so I am starting to think about getting back into playing fiddle music.

I was talking to a fiddler (violin) about playing Celtic music with a small group, which might be more satisfying than playing old-time music at top speed. I have a hard time keeping up, as I have mentioned countless times, but I like the camaraderie of fiddling, and, when I know the tune, I love knowing it, playing it from the heart.

Some Celtic music is slower, or more melodic to my ears, than the old time music we usually play, and I think it might be fun to work out some arrangements with a small grouping of four instruments, maybe a cello, fiddle, flute, and guitar. Someday when I have time.

For the time being, right after the upcoming classical concert (Friday and Sunday), I plan to refocus on fiddle music, well, for at least a week. Then I'll need to work on the music for Handel's Messiah. Our town does a community sing-in, play-in every year, the Sunday before Christmas. I attended last year and was overwhelmed by the intensity, the relentlessness of the cello playing. Still, you know, it might be fun to give it a try.... (forgetting for the moment how long it takes to really learn the music)

Bluegrass afternoon

Here's what Sunday's bluegrass festival looked like. This was after our group of 17 (fiddle, guitar, mandolin, banjo, dobro, string bass, and cello) played. You can see the stage in background on the right, and the seating off to the left. Not a huge venue, but there were also people sitting in the grassy area. I do think the audience outnumbered our large group of musicians. In any case, they were appreciative, and it was fun.

Fiddle Women

I attended the second gathering of the women's fiddle group last night. Before the gathering I spent some, but not enough, time learning "Booth Shot Lincoln," which the larger group has been playing for a few months now. It is a perky little tune, despite its name, and repetitious, which makes it both easy and initially confusing to memorize. It's in the key of A, which is not so easy on the cello as it is on the fiddle. I'm playing around with the octaves on the B part of the tune; I like the low sound on the cello, but the high octave might suit this tune better.

It took me forever to tune my cello last night. Perhaps it did not like the journey out into the cold because it usually holds a tuning very well. I finally got it in tune as the group was finishing up "Booth." Because this is a kindly group, we played it again later so that I could practice it too. This is a good tune because it is played at a speed I can handle, though I didn't quite get all the notes last night. Obviously I need to practice the tunes every day, not just the day before the session. We played the Scottish tunes I brought to the group last time, as well as some others we've been working on. All in all it was a good session, except that the host's dog insisted on barking loudly at the cello. Frequently. I've never had such a negative reaction to my playing!

I like this group for many reasons, not the least of which is that we are focusing on a small group of new tunes, rather than playing a whole selection of new (to me) tunes each time. The people (9 women tonight) are good and dedicated players, we tolerate sheet music, we play a little slower than the main group of fiddlers to better learn the tunes, and we meet only once or twice a month, which fits into my schedule. All I have to do is remember to practice between sessions, and all will be well.

Eight Female Fiddlers

The women's fiddle group met for the first time today. There were eight of us, two fiddle players, two mandolin players, a guitarist, a tin whistler, a bodhran player, and me, on cello. The idea behind the group is that the women want to spend a little more time learning tunes and sometimes feel intimidated by the male players, who tend to play faster and louder. I enjoyed the women's group. It looks like it will be an opportunity to learn new tunes together and work out problems people might have with various tunes, in a friendly, low-key way. We remain part of the larger group; it is just an extra practice and learning session.

I brought three tunes from Scottish fiddle camp for people to learn, and they were well-received. I have been wanting to play these tunes with others, as they are more cello-friendly than some of the fiddle tunes. The fiddlers struggled a bit with the one in F major, but I think we can do it. We will meet twice a month, which seems doable. The only drawback is that I can hear the cello much when I play with this smaller group. I am going to have to practice more.

Ten Tunes

Cello-eye view of Coonamessett farm, where we performed outside last evening.
Click to see better pumpkins.

At a recent fiddle session, one of the fiddlers admitted that, though he knew a lot of tunes, he did not know a lot of tunes well. He could play them in a group, supported by the other musicians, but sometimes had trouble with them on his own. So, he decided to learn ten tunes, really well. He learns all tunes by ear, as he does not read music or even know the names of the notes he is playing. But he is doing a good job with his ten tunes.

This seems like a reasonable strategy. I know a lot of fiddle tunes in a half-baked way: tunes I initially learned on the fiddle that I haven't really worked out on the cello; tunes I had memorized at one time, but keep forgetting; tunes I can play reasonably well at home, but not fast enough for the group. Tunes I fall apart in the middle of, for one reason or other. (This does not seem to be too uncommon--people agreed that the group sound is more than the sum of its parts and tends to make up for the inadequacies of the individual players.)

My first list of ten tunes to learn really well had more than twenty tunes on it. I eliminated the ones I know reasonably well and the ones that I need to rewrite for cello-friendliness, and just limited it to tunes my fiddle group plays with some frequently:

Over the Waterfall
Road to Lisdoonvarna
Spotted Pony
Jessica's Waltz
Westphalia Waltz
Golden Slippers
Two-Dollar Bill
Red-Haired Boy
Redwing
Girl I Left Behind Me

Then I added five Scottish tunes that I hope to add to the group's repertoire.
Kinrara
Da Old Rocking Chair
Wagonwheel notch
Crossing to Ireland
Sister Jean

Back to School!

This is the first year in a long time that neither of the kids is going back to school. No back-to-school supplies to buy, no tuitions to pay. I wish they loved school, or at least saw the value of it, but both have given college a try and found it was not for them, at least for now. I'm hopeful, though!

I am going back to school. Cello lessons resume next week, and I am also going to sign up for an art class. I used to take art lessons, and, while I know I could draw or paint without the lessons, it helps to take a class, just to find the time and space.

My husband is considering guitar lessons, and I am hoping he follows through, as it would be fun to play together. I may also attend a dulcimer workshop, to release my lonely mountain dulcimer from the closet for a few hours.

My concentration will remain on the cello of course, and I am going to try to retain the sense of focus I have had since Scottish fiddle camp and really work on intonation, learning by ear, and technique, trying not to be too distracted by the many musical opportunities that continually beckon me. And I ought to try not to keep forming new groups, but I do need sort of a Scottish cello group to play Abby Newton tunes with (perhaps some combination of cello, harp, flute, violin, guitar). :-)

I still have this urge to buy school supplies.... Since I already have buckets of art supplies, I will have to content myself with new highlighters, which I consume by the truckload in my work.

Fiddling goals update

We had a fiddle performance yesterday, which made me think about the two-month Fiddling Goals I set for myself on April 9. It's been four months, and I haven't done very well, though camp was very helpful. Here's an update:


So, my cello fiddling goals for the next 2 months:

• Go to at least 2 fiddle sessions a month (I have been attending only one).
• I have achieved this goal. We have had lots of performances this summer, and I go to most of them. But I still miss more practice sessions than I attend.
  

• Practice fiddle tunes as part of regular practice (not just the day before fiddle session).
• I have not been good about this, except when I get immersed in a particular tune. I have learned a few more tunes on the cello, but they are not always hesitation-free, or fast enough.
  

• Practice reading from treble clef and transposing an octave down mentally, to avoid having to transpose tunes on paper, just to memorize them.
  
• I have been able to do this to some degree, but it is still easier to read bass clef, unless it is a slow tune. I still like to write the music into Coda Finale in bass clef and put it in my loose-leaf notebook of cello fiddling tunes.
  

• Study the cello fiddle accompaniment books that I have (the best one, I think, is by Renata Bratt).
• I have not done much with this, except for an hour or so at fiddle camp. The information makes much more sense after camp.
  

• Learn a few more tunes in Abby Newton's book, Crossing to Scotland, even if they are not in the fiddlers' current repertoire. I love this book, and the group is usually happy to learn new tunes.
• This I have done. though they are not totally memorized. I do want to continue with this.

It is interesting that I didn't include learning by ear in this list, or learning to play accompaniment by ear, both of which were priorities for me at fiddle camp. Thanks to camp, I have made some progress with these two things.

So, I should add a couple of goals:

• Work more on learning by ear, from other players, from CDs, and from working out known tunes by myself.
• Work out and memorize accompaniments for some of our standard tunes so that I am not always guessing what the next chord is. I think this will make improvisation easier, eventually.
  
• Practice fiddle tunes on a regular basis, perhaps according to a schedule.

I should mention that lessons, the early music group, and flute choir tend to take precedence over fiddling, even though I do not write about them as much as I write about fiddling. It is not that I am not practicing, just that my overcommitment to music ensembles tends to make finding time to practice anything difficult. There is a solution here (focusing, so very nice at camp), but I am not willing to give up any of the groups right now. (I've already dropped three groups this year!)

More Flowers and writing

More "Flowers of Edinburgh" tonight at fiddle session. We had a guest cellist from Manchester, England who happened to be in the string shop as we were setting up. She was not familiar with fiddle music, but was happy to have an opportunity to play cello. She was a very good cellist, and somewhat perplexed that we would play a tune more than once. We play them at least three times each because that is how we learn and remember them (I gave her sheet music, but we don't generally use it).

After a while, though, she said, "do you have any classical music?"

Ah, a fine opportunity to play "My Love's Bonnie ...." (Flowers of Edinburgh) which sounds like chamber music, yet can still be considered fiddle music. The sheet music has two cello parts, one melody and one accompaniment, so we played cello duets, with violins.

I've been enjoying the writing class this week, even though I do not have time to write much this week. I finally got my little story plotted out; then the exercise for the day was (1) change your main character; (2) change your setting. Oh, no, I can't, I thought. But I did, and I think the story is potentially much better now. Tomorrow is the last class. I may need an ongoing class to actually finish this story. I am impressed by the writings of my classmates. Most of them have been writing fiction for some time, and their story fragments sound good.

Yesterday, I attended most of a talk by Claire Cook, author of Must Like Dogs. Her main message was "write the book that only you can write." (write what you know). But she was funny and had lots of good information on how to get published (there are no rules), so I bought her new book, Life's a Beach. I've only read the first chapter, but it's funny, too. A good beach book.

Tuesday and Wednesday at fiddle camp

I’ve been writing these entries offline, in my room, rather than outside in the Wi-Fi center. Here’s an update on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday’s classes just ended (except for the electives, which I may skip today), and I will write about them later. I am catching on and learning much, but I am also getting tired, and the tunes are beginning to meld into conglomerate tune, or, as they say, “chune.”

Tonight is the clam bake (with lobster), a welcome break from standard camp food, which is often entirely yellow (corn, rice with leftover scrambled eggs mixed in, pasta, some other pasta, fish sticks, some sort of potatoes, and lemonade), with an occasional salad. I thought the world had embraced nutrition! The last two camps I went to had fresh organic fruits and vegetables, creatively cooked and presented. Oh well, the music is excellent here.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

In Beginning Fiddling, we reviewed our March tune and learned a harmony part to Lovely Stornoway. We will be playing this waltz Wednesday night at the Harry Potter dance. Since there are two cellists in the class, we will alternate on harmony and sometimes both play melody with other fiddlers playing the harmony part.

We had an open period prior to Cello class in which one of the other cellists and I worked on the tunes. He was very helpful, reminding me to sing the tune and listen for the intervals. I now have one of the tunes memorized and almost up to speed. The other still need some practice, but it is coming. Playing these fiddle tunes and accompaniment by ear requires a bit of knowledge of music theory, so there are benefits beyond “merely” fiddling and memorizing.

In Cello class, we reviewed the two earlier tunes, with accompaniment, and learned a new air. I am catching on a little faster now. It helps to do a slow tune, though this one, “Da Auld Resting Chair,” is not all that slow, and it seems to have many sections to it, not just an A and a B part. The tunes always seem more complicated when you are first introduced to them, then make more sense when you work on them. I have not had time to work on this tune, as the day has been busy, as always. I went over some of the fingerings in Abby’s book, “Crossing to Scotland,” with her. Abby’s fingerings are simpler than those my teacher gave me, and I am happy to have them. She will have another book out soon, by the way, with music from her other CDs.

I did not play fiddle in the March down to greet the visitors boat because I loaned my fiddle to a woman whose fiddle was hit and cracked by a flying Frisbee while she was practicing in the meadow. (This was actually a relief for me, not having to worry about playing both fiddle and cello here!) I spent some time relearning the March tune on the flute, barely getting down to the dock on time. I didn’t play, as they were already into the fast version of the tune by the time I got there. The march was fun though, even (especially) not playing.

The march led to an open-air concert featuring our stellar teachers. Abby played in many of the sets, and I enjoyed that particularly. All the teachers are outstanding players and multitalented. My beginning fiddle teacher, Anne Hooper, also plays with the Boston Philharmonic. Hanneke Cassel, who will teach the beginners on Wednesday, teaches at multiple fiddle camps, plays with Rushad Eggleston, and is sort of a female version of Rushard, in that she plays chops/grooves and is a little loony. But she is much more articulate than RE and shares the stage much better than he does. She is behind the Harry Potter theme, and has assigned each fiddle class to Hogwart Houses and given roles to various teachers and administrators. She is energetic and creative and always seems to be having a good time. Catherine Fraser is an excellent fiddler from Australia. She’s probably my favorite fiddle player: lyrical, musical, expressive, and makes it look so easy. There are guitar and piano teachers too, but I haven’t gotten to know them.

Lots more playing tonight. In other camps I have attended, there are individual and small group performances, usually daily. Here, the focus is on playing in the larger ensemble. So we all played various tunes that each class has been working on as well as other Scottish session tunes. The cellists did have group performance though. I played accompaniment, as I do not have these tunes up to speed yet. I love them though and will continue to work on them, though I am getting increasingly snowed under with tunes as the week progresses.

I like the fact that this camp is so focused on one genre of music. At other camps, I have felt torn in many directions. But here, especially now that I loaned out my fiddle, I play only cello (except for that brief flute diversion), and I play only Scottish tunes. I am trying to decide if I would come back here next year. I would have to build a repertoire of Scottish fiddle tunes over the coming year. Not Abby Newton cello-oriented tunes, but standard session tunes that everyone else is playing. That means I would have to find someone to play Scottish tunes with throughout the year. We have Celtic groups on the Cape, but not specifically Scottish groups (except for the bagpipers).

Once I get back home, the other genres of music in my life will clamor for attention, and I don’t know if I will have time to learn even a small Scottish repertoire. I’ll keep working on learning by ear and accompaniment. I can teach the Scottish tunes I have learned to the Old Time fiddle group I play with, as they also play some Celtic music. I am inclined to come back here, just because it is so well-organized, friendly, and focused. Of course, it will depend on who is teaching cello.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Beginning Fiddle was taught by Hanneke Cassel today. She has a completely different approach from Anne. We started with physical rhythm exercises to prepare us for the new tune, “High Road to Linton.” This involved standing, stomping one’s feet while clapping out a 1-4-7 rhythm. (There are eight 8^th notes in a 4/4 measure, and the accented notes are on the 1^st, 4^th, and 7^th eighth notes.) We have do something similar in cello class, which just involves counting one-2-3, one-2-3, one-2, while playing a rapid accented accompaniment. We also did a little primal screaming, something Rushad did frequently in the camp I attended with him.

Hanneke played the tune and we sang it. Then she asked us to close our eyes and listen while she played the first few notes of the tune and asked up to copy her. She gave us no clues and we weren’t supposed to look at her fingers to see what notes she was playing. We did this for about 20 minutes, repeating sections of the tune, building on them, adding to them, until we could all play the A part of the tune. Amazing. I found the tune easy to learn this way, and it was a very soothing, comfortable experience.

Next, in cello class, we decided to play a waltz for the big Hogwart’s Ball this evening. We selected the “Tombigbee Waltz,” and I closed my eyes, listened, sang it, and learned it fairly quickly, without too many clues. I was so proud of myself, even though this is a much easier tune than the others we have learned this week. Then we worked out a couple of accompaniments, which the others had no trouble memorizing, but I wrote down the chord names.

Later in the afternoon, I was worried that I wouldn’t remember the tune, so wrote it down, listening to the recording I had made in class. I realized I had made a couple of mistakes, including not recognizing when two notes of the same pitch followed each other. I had that problem with two of the other cello tunes we learned this week too. At dinner I mentioned it to two fiddle teachers I was eating with. One said that that was one of the most common mistakes people make, not hearing repeated notes of the same pitch correctly. Whew! So, it is not just me.

Excitement about the Harry Potter party built during the day, with everyone trying to remember details from the book to create costumes and activities. Our cello band, for instance, was called Hagrid and the Magical Beasts (the beasts being the cellos, not us). The fiddle classes were named for the houses at Hogwart’s. The Beginner class was Griffindor because we are so brave. The costumes were varied and creative. I simply wore mismatched clothing, as did several others.

I don’t know what they do at Hogwart’s for fun, but we danced Scottish dances while various bands played. I played the “Tombigbee Waltz” with my cello group (five of us and an accordion player) and “Lovely Stornaway” with the Beginner Fiddling class with piano and two of us cellists. Both from memory and without too many mistakes, and I was comfortable enough to watch the dancers, not my cello. When you play a short waltz for dancers, you play it over and over again, maybe 10 times, so you have plenty of time to correct errors!

So, I feel pretty good about making progress in learning by ear this week, and it is only Wednesday. Two more full days of camp lie ahead. There will be more performances Friday night. The cello class with perform “Willie’s Auld Trews,” which I still have much work to do on. And there is another tune or two to learn tomorrow.

Friday, we will play 18^th century Scottish chamber music by James Oswald, from sheet music! I am looking forward to that. Oswald was a cellist and so made the cello parts interesting, according to Abby.

All my bags are packed....

I am leaving in the morning for Scottish Fiddle Camp. I'm carpooling in to Boston with another camper, a fiddler who lives nearby, and bringing a rental cello for a camper flying in from California. I've also had some e-mail discussion with another camper, and phone and e-mail conversations with various staff members.

So, I almost feel like I already know people and can just jump right into camp routine without going through that sometimes awkward and shy getting-to-know-you phase. :-)

This is a long camp: mid-day Saturday to mid-day Saturday. Other camps I have attended have started with receptions on Sunday night, followed by a Monday-Friday camp. We're going right into classes on Sunday morning. There are four classes a day, and three of them will be cello. I may take beginning fiddling (on the fiddle) in the 4th period, play cello with a beginning or intermediate fiddle group, or just take a nap. Evenings are for concerts, dancing, and playing [music] at parties. And naps.

Fiddling and Tenor Clef

I eagerly bought Latham Music's publication, Fiddling for Classical Stiffs (Cello Version) even though I already had the Fiddle Version because it includes a high percentage of tunes that my fiddle group plays and because Lynn Latham is a cellist, and I was sure that this book would include lots of great tips for cellists and good cello-centric ways of playing and accompanying fiddle tunes.


Alas, it is the same book, just in bass clef. I tried playing a few pieces and was surprised and delighted to find them quite easy to play. Suddenly it dawned on me: the tunes had been transposed to cello-friendly keys. Yes, they are easy to play, but you can't play them with a fiddle group. Every single one of the pieces had one sharp fewer than the fiddle book.

Then I had another realization: If I pretended they were written in tenor clef, rather than in bass clef (and added a sharp), all would be well, and I'd have lots of practice reading tenor clef. (Until I memorize the pieces, of course.)

That or return the book. I haven't decided, but am leaning toward keeping it. And writing to Latham Music about how they might make this book more useful for the fiddling cellist.

Anyway, I'd recommend the book (which comes with a CD) to anyone who wants to get the feeling of playing fiddle tunes without shifting too much (or buying a five-string cello), but is not playing with a fiddle group. Or for someone who is playing with instrumentalists willing and able to play in cello-friendly keys. The CD, by the way, features a viola, not a cello, and the fast versions ot the tunes are really, really fast. Too fast for me.

Another fiddle-related option for learning clefs: Rick Mooney's Thumb Position for Cello Book 1 contains a number of fiddle tunes too, in duet form, in treble clef with the accompaniment part in bass clef.

Playing By Ear

Playing by ear is not my forte, but I am currently intent on learning to learn by ear. The way that I have been learning unfamiliar tunes is to figure out the notes, sometimes by actually asking a fiddler what notes s/he is playing, sometimes with the help of sheet music that I have bought or found on the Internet, then writing down the tune in Coda Finale, printing it out, and memorizing it. This isn't efficient, and works against allowing yourself to learn by ear, especially in a session.

Learning by ear involves listening, initially learning a few notes or a phrase at a time from another musician. Eventually, you can just pick up the tune in a session, without specifically learning or memorizing it. Or so they say!

For others who may be interested, here's a link to an interesting article on learning by ear.
And related links on Irish traditional music.

A fiddle friend and I spent a few hours practicing together today. Not learning by ear, though. We are still using those old-fashioned methods: sheet music and memorization, but we worked out a few tunes one or the other or both of us were having trouble with. I'm doing accompaniment on some, melody on some, and some combination of melody and accompaniment on others. It is nice that fiddling allows all this freedom of expression!

This week, I am also working on pieces from Abby Newton's Crossing to Scotland book, as she will be my teacher at Scottish fiddle camp next week. (And always, though I don't usually talk about it, working on memorizing those Suzuki pieces!)

Oh, and I added a little poll on memorization, just because it (the ability to add polls) was there. Vote if you will.

Learning and memorizing a tune

I attended a great fiddle concert tonight by the Kane Sisters, two Irish fiddlers. One of them, Liz, said she could learn a complicated tune in about an hour, by ear. Then, the next day she would have to learn it again. And keep at it until she had it down. It doesn't take her all that long: about five times playing the tune with her sister until they have it down. Less complex tunes take only a half hour (the first day).

This was reassuring to me, as they have been playing fiddle since they were young children. I can easily memorize a tune on the first day and almost completely forget it the next day. Yet, if I keep at it, it doesn't really take more than a few days to memorize a simple tune. Reliably playing it is another story.

Liz also said the first step was "listening until you are blue in the face." An interesting image! This is important. I used to do the reverse in a class--try to memorize the tune a few notes or measures at a time, before I really knew the tune well enough to sing it. It is so much easier to play a tune you already know.

I briefly attended a fiddle session before tonight's concert, in which the same subject came up. One of the fiddlers said he memorized about a tune a week, but it took him about a month to learn each tune. Thus, he's usually working on four tunes at once, in different stages of knowing the tune. This makes sense to me, as it is more or less what I do, but sometimes I'm lucky to add one new tune a month.

Here's a link to a good summary of fiddle practice technique.

Later tonight, after the concert, I got a call from a woman at the Scottish fiddle camp that I will be attending soon. She wanted to know my cello level so the teacher could prepare for the camp. There are only 4 cello students, including me, of a total of 75 students, and we're all over 40 and pretty much on the same level (I hope! All the others have attended this Scottish Fiddle Camp before, so they are a bit ahead of me on Scottish fiddling styles.) Turns out we will be learning by ear. I had a nice chat with the caller (a fiddler) about learning tunes, and she agreed about the importance of listening and the ease of forgetting. She also said that the cellists attending are the nicest group of people you could ever hope to meet. Well, I already knew that about cellists!

Fiddle practice and 5-string celli

A friend from the fiddle group and I got together this morning to work on some fiddle tunes. We started with "Bill Cheatham," a tune she wants to learn to play better, and I want to learn accompaniment for. I used the written out accompaniment from the Fiddlers Philharmonic series, which sounded fine, if a little sparse. It's a very simple accompaniment, based on chords. I am thinking of alternating playing the tune and the accompaniment, or writing a slightly more interesting accompaniment. Other tunes we worked on: Long Black Veil (which I think is particularly appropriate played on the cello), Whiskey Before Breakfast, Ashokan Farewell, and Old Joe Clark, which is the first tune we both learned, but you can always add something to it.

We're going to meet again next week and keep working on tunes. This is great, working with one other person at a similar level, so much easier than trying to work on tunes with 20 other people playing at the same time, and who don't have cello fingering issues to work out.

Which reminds me: I saw a five-string cello for sale at Etsy. A five string cello (with the addition of an E string) would make many fiddle tunes easier to play on the cello. On the other hand, they might not sound so good on a $195.00 cello. On yet another hand, if you are one cello playing with 20 fiddles, mandolins, banjos, guitars, and tin whistles (and are not Rushad E.), is anyone really going to hear you anyway?

I don't understand five-string cellos because I have never seen cello E strings for sale. Does one simply tighten up another A string? I wrote to the seller and got back this response, which makes no sense to me:

this is the same cello like you have, just add one more C string and EQ or you ocan turn to EADGEC like bass guitar. thanks

If anyone has any insight into this, I would appreciate it!

Cello accompaniment styles

Lots of music this week, though little time for practicing. So far, I've been to two early music rehearsals, a flute choir rehearsal, and a fiddle session. Tonight we have a fiddle performance, this time with lobster sandwiches as our payment. Yummy.

The first early music session, on Tuesday night was a little discouraging, as it felt like my week away from practicing had caused me to forget everything I knew about these pieces. Flute choir was different. The week away seemed to improve my playing and my sound. The second early music session seemed to go better, perhaps because we played a little slower. I need to find time to practice some [many] sections very slowly and work out some fingerings.

Fiddle session went well. A helpful guitar/fiddle/banjo player helped me with some of the accompaniments and called out chords for me. After playing and talking to him, I decided that the best way for me to learn to improvise accompaniments is to memorize some standard accompaniments first. Then, as I get better at hearing chord changes, I can improvise with more certainty. There are lots of sources for written-out accompaniments. The Music for Three fiddle volume from Last Resort Music has some cello parts I like and have played with the flute group. We use sheet music in the flute group, but not in the fiddle group, so I know these accompaniments, but haven't memorized them yet. I played their cello part for Coleraine last night with the fiddlers, and it worked fine. The best book for devising fiddle accompaniments, and one I have been meaning to seriously work with, is Renata Bratt's The Fiddling Cellist. It has lots of great ideas for creating your own accompaniment in various styles. I also have her Celtic Grooves book/CD, and I just ordered her another of her cello accompaniment books, Backup Trax, which includes a lot of the tunes my fiddle group plays. I made plans to practice with a fiddle player, to help us both with repertoire, and me with accompaniment.

However, I don't just want to accompany. Chops and grooves are not my thing, at least not as a steady diet. I want to play melody or melodic accompaniment. Abby Newton is my role model here. I love her CDs, and am currently listening to her Castles, Kirks, & Caves CD of 18th century Scottish music. Beautiful. And perfect for me, combining early music and fiddling. So, in preparation for my Scottish fiddle camp with Abby Newton in August, I am immersing myself in Scottish cello and fiddle music styles so I have a better understanding of it when I get there. I am putting together a list of Scottish cello/fiddle resources, that I will post here soon.

Singing Along

These flowers were the backdrop for our performance tonight at an outdoor art sale. At times like this I really appreciate being able to look at the scenery, not sheet music.

My teacher says that one of the best ways to improve intonation is to sing solfege syllables while playing scales. I find this a little frustrating, as it is sometimes hard to tell whether it is my singing or my cello playing that is not on pitch. While I have sung in several community choirs, I do need to stand next to someone who can actually sing so I can match pitches. So, singing the scales is a struggle, but I do believe it is helpful.

The fiddle group I play with loves to sing. Usually, they are standing, and I am sitting, so I can't lean into the microphone with them and sing along. Tonight, we played a two-hour sit-down gig, so I was on and equal footing with everyone else. So, tonight, I sang. Barely audibly, but I sang, pleased with myself for being able to coordinate this complex task of singing and playing at the same time. Can't say for sure how it sounded though!

Several people complimented my cello playing tonight, including the guitar player sitting next to me, who said he like my "bass-playing" accompaniment.

He laughed when he said it though, reminding me a little of myself when I tell people trying out a string instrument for the first time that they really have talent. The first time I said this, I was trying to be funny, meaning just the opposite. The player took me seriously, and, beaming, continued to play and enjoy herself. Now, I tell everyone they have talent, and I think they all do. It's just a matter of what they do with it, and a little encouragement always helps.

I choose to feel encouraged.

Grey Fox Cellists: Ben Sollee

Ben Sollee played at last year's Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in the Masters (small workshop) Tent with Abigail Washburn and an unnamed group most of which is now the Sparrow Quartet. He seemed quiet, playing a calm and soothing background cello. At the time, he was the only member of the group that hadn't played in China the previous year.

At 22, he had just graduated from college with a degree in cello performance. This past year, he did go to China and Tibet. And this year, he is playing on the main stage with the Sparrow Quartet, which includes banjo player extraordinaire Bela Fleck, innovative fiddler Casey Driessen, and multi-talented Abigail Washburn, vocalist, banjo-player, and the reason why everyone went to China and Tibet.

My husband and daughter saw Abigail Washburn perform the first year we went to Grey Fox. I was off somewhere watching something else. They were so impressed with her all-woman band, Uncle Earl, that they bought the CD for me (even though there were no cellos in it!). Abigail still plays with Uncle Earl (they will be at Grey Fox this year too), but her focus seems to be more on the Sparrow Quartet this year, which I am looking forward to hearing, not only because there is a cellist in the band, but because I find the Chinese connection interesting. Abigail studied for a time in China and was inspired by Chinese traditional music to explore her own U.S. folk music heritage, and the group toured China and performs music from both traditions.

Not the greatest video quality, but a good performance by the Sparrow Quartet in China. Abigail sings in Chinese.

More videos on the Sparrow Quartet and the Chinese connection:

This video introduces the Sparrow Quartet and shows them jamming with a Mongolian folk band based in Beijing.

This video is a preview of documentary of the Sparrow Quartet in China and Tibet.

I bought Ben Sollee's solo CD, Turn on the Moon, last year at Grey Fox. He sings and plays the cello and writes his own music. I don't really know what musical genre it is. Let's say alternative folk rock. The only song on the CD that he did not write was written by Prince. Kind of mournful and rambling. While I really admire anyone who can sing and play the cello at the same time, as well as write his own music, I can't say I am a fan of this particular CD. I enjoy his melodic cello playing, but the singing and the rhythmic cello playing (perhaps he is tapping on the cello?), not so much. One tune, "Bury me with my Car," is a nice statement on contemporary culture. He is a talented and creative cellist, but this is not my kind of music. Perhaps it is a generation gap, or a gap of a couple of generations. You might like it!

I do enjoy his cello playing in the Sparrow Quartet, being predisposed toward folk/bluegrass/improvisational ensembles with cellists. There just aren't very many bands around with a vocalist, two banjos, a violin, and a cello. I wonder why Abigail chose this particular group of instruments/players. I have found no explanation. It's a unique group with an appealing multicultural sound, and one of the groups I am most looking forward to seeing, along with Uncle Earl.

Falmouth Fiddlers

This photo of the Falmouth Fiddlers playing at the Arts Alive was posted on the Rhode Island Roots Music site, where it is much larger, but still somewhat grayed out. I'm there, in the back, near my trusty cello case.

More on the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival

This is for Donna and others who might be considering Grey Fox this year.

The photo above is from the Grey Fox web site. It shows a young, all-woman string band, Uncle Earl. Abigail Washburn, who sings/plays banjo in Uncle Earl, also plays in the Sparrow Quartet, which includes a cellist, Ben Sollee, as well as Bela Fleck on banjo. They will also perform this year.

My interest in bluegrass music is fairly recent and directly related to my attendance at Grey Fox. I have been aware of bluegrass music for a long time--my brother plays bluegrass banjo by ear and has always been a fan. I became interested when I started playing the fiddle 3 or 4 years ago.

So, two years ago, when there was a need for someone to bring instruments to Grey Fox for an "instrument petting zoo," I volunteered. My brother had talked about this festival, and I thought it might be fun to go, especially since he and his business partner and my good friend Doris (a fiddler) were going. My husband and daughter came with me that first year, though my husband has declined to come last year and this year. I understand: enduring the sometimes oppressive heat, the gentle or not-so-gentle rain, sleeping on a hill, even a slight hill, is not for everyone, and watching bluegrass day and night for four days straight can be a little overwhelming. My daughter continues to enjoy the event with me though, and I can't wait to see Doris there.

Because of Grey Fox, bluegrass music is much more meaningful to me now, having heard the groups at the main tent and seeing them up-close-and-personal in the smaller masters tent, and having a chance to talk to them directly after a performance and buy their CDs. It is wonderful having the musicians so accessible and learning a little more about them as people.

In addition to the performances, there's also a dance tent, a family activities tent, and workshops where you can learn fiddle techniques from the experts. You can jam with other musicians, and there are lots of them. The play all night long (except in quiet camping).

And, of course, it is fun for me to do the petting zoo, to introduce kids to cellos, violas, and violins. Other people bring banjos, dobros, guitars, and other instruments. Brian Wicklund, who wrote the American Fiddle Method books, runs the camp. I had the opportunity to talk to him about the cello version, suggesting more use of 4th position, maybe in a "more advanced" second volume. He said they might to that in a second volume, if people buy the first one. So, buy it. :-) It is a good intro to cello fiddling, especially if, like me, you are playing with fiddlers who use the fiddle version.

Grey Fox is a huge bluegrass festival, constructed for a week or so in mid-July in the middle of a parched cornfield in the hills of upstate New York. I don't know for sure how many people come, but the figure I have heard is 16,000. There are 4,000 campsites, tents smack up against each other sometimes, to cram more people in. Campsites is too formal a term. There are roads marked off to provide basic structure, but campsites are basically wherever you can put a tent, along with a canopy for jamming, a table, a cookstove, maybe a shower tent. There are no hookups, but there is a shower facility (long lines) and plenty of porta-potties. There are lots of vendors selling food, clothing, crafts, jewelry, CDs, and instruments.


For more information, see the Grey Fox site, or read the press release for this year's event. I am partial to the "new generation" string bands, mentioned in the press release, particularly Crooked Still, with Rushad Eggleston on cello (playing here with Casey Driessen on fiddle):


The Kruger Brothers, an "older" group playing banjo, guitar, and bass guitar, will be there this year. They are an outstanding group, melding bluegrass, classical, jazz, and contemporary music. I will write more on about the music later.