Day 6: I have spent many hours now listening and playing with tunes I recorded about two years ago with friends in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The tunes recorded from fiddle players (mainly Nathan if memory serves me correctly) are easier to pick up without having to actually have my fiddle there....the flute-only tunes will come, but I think because there's no tone change to tell me what string the notes are on, my head doesn't translate them quite as well yet. Especially flute tunes that have a low B or C that I don't expect. Wednesday night on the way back from the Erie session, I found I could finger nearly all the tunes on the Twin City Tunes CD I'd burned. When I tried them out today, sure enough, nearly all of them were under my fingers. Several even came out on their own while I was playing tempo movement games with my students!
Speaking of Erie, there was one distinct set I started which turned into a total surprise. Began with a reel (can't remember which one) and had all intentions of going into The Piper on Horseback (as learned after I Wish I Never Saw You). Instead, Cliffs of Moher (as a reel, doh) came through. Zina glared at Pete (WHY ME?? IT WASN'T ME!) and I laughed as it was a totally unexpected (but smooth!) transition.
I had all intents of ending with Tommy People's reel in bm....as I jumped into the third tune, something that started on a b came out, but it was totally different. A tune I didn't even realize I could start at all, forget in the middle of a set.
Leading sets makes me nervous. I have a hard time, unless practiced specifically, transitioning smoothly to the next tune. Even when I can do them on my own, when I get in front of other players or other people, they tend to get really messy. To smoothly do a complete set that I hadn't practiced, and hadn't even intended (even if I DID intend some tunes that didn't make it out), was a great eye opener that tunes are progressing. And playing every day makes me feel so good. Whole again.
Funny to read this one - I find the exact opposite. I can hear the tone changes on flute & can feel exactly where my fingers should go, but it takes me longer to learn from a fiddle player. I can usually tell the high As and Bs, as the sound gets thinner up there, and the notes that go below my range. The A and D strings, though, those are tough!
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