Sunday, May 20, 2018

Here I am, But Where am I

This is now May, 2018. I discontinued playing with the Beginning Strings Band shortly before the Holidays. The main performance was to be at Winterfest at the same time as the dulcimer group was performing, so I opted to go with the dulcimers. At least I can play something on that instrument. I didn’t really enjoy the band rehearsals. First of all, I felt I should learn to play better. The idea, as they say in the catalog, that you don’t have to know anything to play with them is total hokem. Maybe you don’t need to know how to play with an orchestra, but you need to know how to play the instrument. They offer no instruction on instrument playing. The other thing was that the rehearsals were about 9:00 downtown right off of route 490,which meant driving down there in rush hour with no way out if a traffic problem developed. It wasn’t much fun getting there.

I joined Fiddlers of the Genesee. They were very nice to me. I went to a jam session, bought their book of tunes, paid our dues, but never went back. Again, I felt that I ought to know how to play better. I really want to get back there, but I better do it soon, because the jams stop at the start of  the summer season.

I am still taking lessons from Alex and I continue to think that he is an excellent instructor. I know the lessons are expensive. When I turned 75, I wondered if I should buy myself a better violin. When I retired from work I treated myself to a decent five string Banjo. So, I thought, why not treat myself to a better violin. Instead I decided to treat myself to lessons reasoning that if I had a $3,000,000 violin it wouldn’t sound any better than the one I have in my hands. I think that was a smart choice. When I get the tone right, my violin sounds pretty decent and I find the lessons very valuable. As I said before, I am learning not only violin technique, but about music and performance as well. The hour lesson goes by very quickly. So, I will continue to practice, but, I still have to decide where I am going with the music. What about the keyboard? What about the other instruments I have, like the Irish tenor Banjo, mandolin and octave mandolin? Oh me O my!