I Take Music Workshops...

Decades ago I had picked up the electric bass and was getting to where I could play a little bit on it. A friend tells me he has a friend who plays bass and is coming from Shreveport to jam this weekend. I immediately think of the rich rhythm and blues history that springs forth from that part of Louisiana and I think, "I bet that dude is good." 

   The dude came down and jammed. I don't think he played a right note all weekend. I don't think he even knew it. He was happy as a clam playing music. At least at the time if I could not play a right note I didn't play a wrong one and I reverted back to that strategy this past weekend as I got totally out of my musical element taking workshops in old time music at the Old Mill Music Festival this past weekend. It was energizing to learn something new and like that Shreveport bass player I was happy as a clam. 

Cathy and I both took a shaped note sacred heart singing workshop. This kind of singing developed when someone decided it would be easier to sight read a song if the notes of the do, ri, me scale were each assigned a shape such as circle, square, triangle and so on and you used a four part staff for sopranos, altos, tenors and basses all singing different parts. 

Here's the class singing in some kind of old sawmill apparatus called the burner where the acoustics we very good. Other workshops on this were sometimes held in an open field where it also sound good.     

I enjoyed this class and by the end of it I was at least recognizing the notes. As far as staying on my part that's hard because I kind of sing the part of next as I singn whatever the person standing next to me sings. I they are singing melody that's what I sing but if they suddenly switch to harmony don't expect me to stay on the melody.  

I took a mountain dulcimer class from Stephen Seifert. He travels around the country playing these festivals and giving workshops. I took this photo during his performance of him playing with Lloyd and Elijah Wright. I did not get a chance to take a photo in the class as I was sitting between Stephen who plays with symphony orchestras and Margaret Wright who is probably some kind of national dulcimer grand champion and I had sweat running down in my eyes trying to keep up. 

I have owner a very nice McSpadden dulcimer for years that was a gift from my parents but have only strummed it in a way that amused my self. It was amazing that at these jam sessions you could often find a a group of 6 or 8 fiddle or dulcimer players all playing the melody of some old reel in unison.      

It was the old fingerpicking guitarist Brownie McGee who claimed his dad never let him play slide guitar because he said if you start sliding you never go back. That's what I did on discovering open E tuning. For this workshop with Gary Mortenson of the band Rosebud teaching I got away from the bluesy and rock sounding E tuning to the more country G which took away all my licks from the places on the fretboard where I found them and and forced me into working on little two note grabs and pull ons and offs Those are techniques I have wanted to learn and can use on lap steel as putting everythng in open E is what makes me sound the same whatever instrument it is I'm sliding on. 

Cathy sat in on this class on rhythm guitar playing tunes like I'll Fly Away and Life is Like a Mountain Railway giving us something to sol against.     

Gary and a local player, Josh, I met who works in Lufkin. 

Cathy took the recorder class offered by Don seated on the left. Somehow I did not snap to this and I had a pile of recorders at home I could have brought but Cathy bought one and is well on the way to learning to read music. They had so much fun the managed to work in one unscheduled workshop and she has practiced every night since the festival.  

Even though I forgot recorders I managed to use every instrument I brought, the resonator, the dulcimer and I used the acoustic bass (plenty of string basses around here) backing up the ukulele workshop. Cathy plays a bit of uke and I'm going to bang a couple of these around here into shape for her.   

Playing the old time music was maybe not totally out of my comfort zone but I definitely spent the weekend not only enjoying listening to good music but getting my hands and fingers it also. Seems like I might have kind of developed myself into a stunt guitarist over the past decade or so and it might be time to search the roots of things again. 

I don't remember that Shreveport bass players name and I never saw him again. I'm headed out for some woodshedding so no one gets us confused.