Well I finally got to recording a little tune that I have been messing with for a month or two now. I recorded this using my Zoom H2 microphone and Audacity. It took a couple of nights to get the sound somewhat optimized – and then of coarse I have to find a time when it is quiet – in my house usually around 10 or 11.
I named this Avalon Reprise because the guitar work is obviously in the style of Mississippi John Hurt. The song is really just a mixture of 3 or 4 different John Hurt songs. I play for my son every night at bed time, and many times I will segway from one John Hurt song, into some sort of “John Hurt Jam”, and then back into the original song. This song is a jam I keep going back to.
It took a couple of tries to get the mandolin part down. I am just noodling around on it. I discovered that it is much more difficult to get a satisfactory track when you are just jamming then when you have a written and set solo to play. I might like to go back and try a different mode like mixolydian and shoot for some Jerry Garcia type noodling.
So, the recording is not perfect, but I just wanted to get it out there and move on. And I had a blast doing it.
Enjoy!
Avalon Reprise
Filed under: Music & Mandolin Meditations, Music Clip, My Journal
Last Saturday I was able to go jam at the town square in historic downtown Garland, Tx. Man, I had fun. It was a genuine hopping good time. Nice Texas weather, good folks. There must have been 50 pickers out and another 50 people just there to listen.
Even better is that an independent coffee shop has opened on the square – The Generator Coffee House. They were brewing great Bolivian beans, but I had to help myself to a quadruple espresso. I have said before and I will say it again; nothing helps a bluegrass jam like caffeine and a little bit of sugar.
The Generator Coffee shop just opened a week ago, and already they are endearing themselves to the bluegrass community. Not only were they giving out the first cup of coffee free, but also, they were rotating in a different bluegrass band to play inside the coffee house every hour. A band would play, and then go outside to pick, and another band would step up. It definitely generated a lot of traffic inside the coffee house.
I was picking and grinning until about 12:30. I finally left at about 1:00 AM with my fingers were sore but my spirit light. Here are some clips from the evening.
These first two clips I am proud of. They are somewhat coherent and musical – I would not have been able to do this last year. I am employing Monroe licks that I have learned through Taterbug. I am still tense, but getting better
blog Garland clip 1
blog garland clip 2
The next clip – Whiskey Before Breakfast – I am proud of because of the speed at which we are playing. It is not the best solo, but I keep up with the beat at over 120bpm.
Whiskey Before Breakfast jam clip
Every little bit of improvement is good improvement – and most importantly, I had a blast.
Filed under: Jam Reflections, Music & Mandolin Meditations, My Journal
At the behest of Taterbug, I have been working on my left hand technique. I suppose that now is a good time to do it. I didn’t pick up my mandolin for most of the month of June, and so when I did pick her up last week, she felt like a disconnected piece of wood. So I might as well improve my form while I try to get my feel back.
The problem is that I was gripping the mandolin like a guitar. I was wrapping my hand around it and hooking my thumb over the top. The mandolin needs to be held more gingerly, like a fiddle.
The ball of thumb and the large knuckle of the finger should grip the neck. And the fleshy part of the hand should be off the neck.
It is so frustrating working on form. You try different things – they all feel awkward.
But last night I came to a bit of a realization.
The point of good form in playing any instrument is that you are playing comfortably and naturally.
If you are not comfortable, and you are not natural, then you are wrong.
So I have been focusing on this idea, and things are coming along. I have been avoiding the details and the visual. Instead I look for feel and comfort.
Surely this work will pay dividends.
Filed under: Music & Mandolin Meditations, My Journal
