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!

No lessons until mid-September

Due to my vacation days and my teacher's scheduled time off, I won't have any more cello lessons until mid-September. I've had a particularly helpful series of lessons lately, working out small, but important details on various pieces, that I am sad we won't have any more for a few weeks.

I have lots of music to work on, that Scottish fiddle camp in August, and helpful friends in the early music group and the fiddle group, so I won't be entirely bereft of guidance, but I will miss those lessons!

Kneisel Hall Adult Chamber Music Institute

Today's Boston Globe has a great article about the Kneisel Hall Adult Chamber Music Institute in Blue Hill, Maine, written by a clarinet player who attended last year. It is a one-week program for musicians at intermediate level and above. One woman attended after only one year of cello lessons because she was told there was a shortage of cellists. She found it challenging. This year's program is Aug. 12-19.

The article includes information on other summer programs, including SummerKeys, which I attended a few years ago after one year of cello study. Blue Hill isn't quite so far a drive for me, and this camp seems better in the sense that multiple instruments are included in the same week, housing (cabins) and food are onsite, and, earlier in the summer, Blue Hill is a camp for talented and accomplished "pre-professional" musicians, so it has great facilities: practice cabins, a concert hall, a chamber music center and library. It also sounds more demanding than SummerKeys, which, at least when I went, was primarily a place to work on your own music, with ensemble playing as an extra.

The article is at: Pack Up Your Viola and Play, Play, Play

I'd like to go in a couple of years, once I feel more securely intermediate, in terms of Beethoven quartets.

Cats and chairs

Since my plus-sized cat is fully occupying my computer chair, I am off to the beach.

Rushad Eggleston leaps off the stage Grey Fox 2007

Always energetic, Rushad entertains at Grey Fox.

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.

Cellos are very, very expensive

I tried the online 20 Questions game the other day, which my daughter enjoys, and, of course, chose cello.

Based on my responses, the game first guessed ukulele and dulcimer. Odd choices, if you ask me. But maybe it assumes people try to pick unusual items.

Question number 20 was "Is it very, very expensive?" I said "no," thinking of my own cello, which was expensive, but not "very, very expensive."

The game finally guessed cello at question 23 or so, and told me that I was wrong about the cost of a cello:

You were thinking of a cello.
Is it very, very expensive? You said No, 20Q was taught by other players that the answer is Yes.
Contradictions Detected
The opinions of the 20Q A.I. are its own, and are based on the input of players. 20Q's answers reflect common knowledge. If you feel that 20Q is in error, the only way to correct it is to play again!