As is usually the case, I haven't been thinking about posting on my
blog. I should create a weekly reminder. But to be honest, I haven't had
anything to talk about, at least until I reach some of my short-term
goals. So this post will hopefully be a start to a trend. My biggest
interest is in music and it is that that I will try to write about on a
regular basis.
In 2004 I created a website that time-lined my progress at playing
the plectrum banjo. It expressed my enthusiasm towards going to my
weekly lessons and it highlighted my favorite banjo players. Slowly, I
started to lose interest in updating the site. Then I thought to use
some available software to create a new site. The amount of work
necessary to update it made it worse for the first site. Then spammers
were using it to spam. I put the old site back up and it remained static
until the information was so old I had to shut it down.
My love for the plectrum banjo has waned somewhat because the style
didn't fit well with music and musicians around me. This year I changed
to playing the tin whistle and flute, and started playing Irish
traditional music. Now I'm putting my feet into the fire and playing in
sessions. I'm cramming the tin whistle practice and fast forwarding my
skills, hopefully without crashing. My flute progress is slower but I'm
building my lungs and focusing on good tone. The whistle is my head
start and my current goal is to play the flute full time in one year.
The whistle is my head start program.
Between 2007 and 2008 I became musically depressed. I almost gave up
the banjo. I took my annual trek to the BBA St. Valentines Day
Banjo Fest and Massacre, but had no interest in participating in the
events. Somehow, I felt obligated to go, perhaps because I spent the
past four years seriously pursuing the craft. Later in 2008 I
participated in a variety show in my community and joined the
Clubsiders. This kept me going, but just on a steady course with no
goals or desires to further my musical skills. This year the Clubsiders
broke up.
2012 is a good year, musically speaking. I wanted to learn how to
play a flute, in particular because I was enjoying the music of Jethro
Tull and in particular, Ian Anderson's flute. I bought a student flute
and spent every day practicing to reach a point where I didn't sound
like a student. It was enthusiasm that blocked me from realizing that I
was not progressing. For me, lifting my left thumb and using my right
pinky insured a shift in the flute's position, losing my embouchure
position. I figured in time it would go away but it hindered me from
progressing anywhere else.
In the meantime I would listen to a Jethro Tull song called "The
Whistler." I thought the instrument he was playing was a fife. That is
until I saw the video. "What is that?", I thought as a witnessed an
instrument I never noticed before. It was a tin whistle, also known as a
pennywhistle. I ordered a Clarke Original (really made out of tin) from
Amazon and got several more that month. I discovered a website called
Chiff and Fipple and like my old website, the creator hadn't maintained
it. It is still a treasure trove of information though, and the forums
are the best on the Internet.
The tin whistle was my escape to something new. It was like starting over again. This time I focused on diatonic and modal scales. No chromatic scales to learn. No fingering variations for each key beyond the single flattened note that separates the primary key, in this case D and the secondary key, the G. The G is up one counter-clockwise on the circle of fifths and in the key signature, the C# is flattened to a C, the difference between the key of D and the key of G. As long as I can transpose a song to D or G (with exceptions) I can use the same fingering on whistles in other keys.
In May I started to play the whistle and learn about Irish
traditional music. Naturally, the flute was still in consideration and I
noticed that a keyless flute allowed for my left thumb and right pinky
to remain in place. I made a PVC pipe flute to test out playing one. The
decision to switch was almost instant and in August I got a delrin
keyless flute made by Walt Sweet called "Shannon."
Two weeks ago I attended my first Irish "session" and am preparing
to play the tin whistle in a "set" of jigs. That is jumping into the
fire, but if the others are receptive to it, this will take me where I
couldn't go on the banjo. If I could have played in weekly four-string
banjo sessions, I would have been able to avoid the funk of 2007-2008. I
have the enthusiasm to start a new website but this time it will be a
static archive. All updates will remain on the blog.
More to come...
