What to play?

How about a free arrangement of a classic?

We are always casting about for new things to play.  I am forever looking for tunes to add to my repertoire that meet my criteria...

So this week, the tune I’ll share with you is a classic traditional tune – well-known, well loved, and currently well used.  Everyone should have this one in their toolbox. 

Come read the whole post on the website.  This arrangement is free to subscribers.  Not a subscriber?  It’s easy, just sign up here and each week you'll get a direct link to the blog, the occasional freebee and more. 

Expand your musical reach – another stretch (or 7!)

We have talked about stretching through making art and stretching our bodies.  There’s another place we need to stretch and that is in our music.  And it’s the perfect time to think about it – it will be the winter holidays and all the lovely opportunities to play will be coming.  I mention the holidays because they are the perfect foil for stretching our music.

Read more and get all the details on the website: https://www.jeniuscreations.com/expand-your-reach-another-stretch/

Off to Ohio

Blogspotters - I have been gradually nudging you to move over to the blog on my website.  Please go over there and subscribe (on the upper left of the screen) so you don't miss anything.  That platform just gives us more functionality, so after 30 June I'll post the link here to the blog posted there.  Save yourself the step and head over to subscribe - which gets you an email reminder of the latest posts, the occasional free content, and more as we continue to grow.  As always, sharing my thoughts, occasionally offering a travel opportunity, book or CD. 

Is not a tune title (although it could be!).

I’m so excited to be leaving for Ohio soon.  I'll be teaching at the Ohio Scottish Arts School!  An entire week of tunestunestunes and funfunfun!  I have some cool tunes, some new lesson items, and a crazy idea that just might work (a la McGiver).

Loads of excellent people, wonderful music, and lots of learning – can’t wait!  Oh, and snacks :-) 

And before that, the Ohio Scottish Games hosting this year's US National Scottish Harp Championship^TM.  It's going to be a jam-packed week!

And a long drive - what a great time for a variety of types of practicing.  There's listening to music, rehearsing in my head, "tapping out" the melody against the steering wheel, and my favorite - listening to something completely different looking for new ideas for arranging.

How do you use your car time? Let me know in the comments.

Next week – scenes from OSAS!

How do you know that you know what you know? The trap of the large repertoire

Blogspotters - I have been gradually nudging you to move over to the blog on my website.  Please go over there and subscribe (on the upper left of the screen) so you don't miss anything.  That platform just gives us more functionality, so after 30 June I'll post the link here to the blog posted there.  Save yourself the step and head over to subscribe - which gets you an email reminder of the latest posts, the occasional free content, and more as we continue to grow.  As always, sharing my thoughts, occasionally offering a travel opportunity, book or CD. 

There is a false freedom in having a large repertoire:

• You feel more confident when every tune in your set is a well-honed workhorse.
• You don’t have to work too hard to play a wedding, a funeral, a tea party, and a concert back to back because you have the rep in hand.
• The looks you get from other musicians when you play a three-hour gig with just a set list (yes, it is juvenile and silly…but also honest (and lighter than carrying a music stand and a binder or ipad)).

But that same large repertoire is a trap!

• Because you are “set” to play just about any set, the motivation to add tunes can be pretty low. 
• Because when you play the same stuff all the time, it will get stale, no matter how much you love it.
• Because when you put a long time between learning new tunes, it begins to feel harder to learn the tune, to master it, to smooth it out, and to eventually perform it.
• Because when you’re not growing…you’re dying!

So, you need to walk the line between settling into a large repertoire you can confidently and comfortably pull it out at a moment’s notice and living (maybe on the edge while learning new stuff that you may not have completely comfortable with it before you walk it out on stage!*)

If you’re going to escape this repertoire trap, you need to do a couple of things:

1. You need to know what you already know.  Write down that repertoire!  You can make a list, or you can make a caldron: For each tune you know (and eventually those you are learning) write an index card.  Include the title, composer (if appropriate), tune type, the key you play it in (or the number of sharps or flats to set), the source, and if you need it, copy the first couple of measures (and anything else that will help you remember the tune so you can play it).  You can file the cards any way that helps you – alphabetical by title or by tune types (all jigs together, all reels together, etc.), or by use (all wedding prelude tunes together, all “party pieces” together, all tunes “in progress” together (helpful hints – don’t mix filing types (some by title, some by tune type); no matter what language the title is in, and no matter how many titles the tune might have, file the card under the  title that you think of for the tune (for instance, although it is best titled “Crodh Laoigh nam Bodach”, I know it as “Old Man’s Young Calves” so I filed it under “O” not “C”).  Once you have it going, you have a representation of your repertoire in one place and in a form that will help you make up set lists, practice, and know what you know. 
2. You need to know what you do not already know.  Make a list – of all the tunes you don’t know, but wish you did.  You can wish you did because they get played in your session all the time, or because you really like the tune, or because someone has requested you play it, or because you need more hornpipes.  The reason is immaterial – so long as you know what you’re going to work on next!  This list will always be dauntingly large, will always grow, and will be constantly reshuffled.  So, it might be a good idea for these to also be index cards (so you can seamlessly move them into the learned pile!).
3. You need to move tunes from one group to the other.  Use these lists to organize your practice – you already know you don’t keep that much music in your head without refreshing it – but now you can actively structure your practice to include refreshers and just plain fresh (or maybe “under-ripe”?) – but this way you’re learning and building and keeping up with yourself.

What are your repertoire traps?  How do you escape your repertoire traps?  Let us know in the comments below.

* here you need to be completely honest with yourself – don’t put yourself into the situation of having to perform something that just is not ready!  It is not kind to yourself, to the audience, or to the tune itself!

New Year – new repertoire? Eight places to look for tunes

Did you notice how far we are into the new year?  And still I haven’t encouraged you to set goals, or intentions, or to pick a word for the year, or any of the other ways we get around to identifying what we think we should accomplish in the coming 365 days?  Are you wondering if I am ill or when the other shoe will drop and I’ll be getting on you to set some goals and make some resolutions?  It is January after all.

Well, the answer is – I'm not!  You already know that stuff and even if you didn’t, you hear it everywhere you turn.  And, if you recall, last year I suggested you skip it all together. Instead, let’s talk about something else – your repertoire.  Yup – repertoire. 

I am often asked where tunes come from.  Everyone knows that – the Stork brings them.

Ok, maybe not.

Your repertoire isn't a solitary thing.  It is the backbone of your playing.  It stands as a culmination of your work.  And whether you’ve been playing for 2 months (and have a tiny but well-practiced set of tunes) or playing for 1000 months (in which case you may have a large and varied repertoire consisting of tunes you learned at the beginning but never played, tunes you’ve been playing the whole time and tunes you just learned) your repertoire is certainly one measure of your work.  And you can always add to your repertoire - because there are so many tunes out there still!

But where do tunes come from?  Especially the tunes that are cool, or captivating, or just plain fun.  There are l-o-a-d-s of places to get music!  Tunes are everywhere!  You almost can’t not find new tunes.  Here are eight places you might look for tunes to play:

1. From your friends.  After all, what are friends for?  And what could be more fun than sharing tunes?
2. At Harp Circle you’ll have at your disposal a collection of tunes clearly suited to the harp (and you can either combine this with 1 (above) OR make a new friends and then (see 1, above).
3. At sessions there are continuous tunes – some of which you’ll know, but loads of others that you’ll have never heard before!  And remember, just because you’re at a session doesn’t mean you have to play all the time – sometimes you can just listen and find some stuff you’ll want to play later.  Those are the tunes you can capture in a notebook or record them so you can find them and learn them for the next time you are at the session.  If you session regularly, you could learn 12 – 50 tunes each year.
4. Books! Harp books are full of harp tunes – and are readily available online.  If you’re especially keen you can even buy a download of a book – instant gratification!  There are loads of places to find these – I usually get mine from Sylvia Woods Harp Center* or the Virginia Harp Center**
5. Pipe and Fiddle books capture tons of tunes – most of them playable, all of them worth at least reading through.  Fiddle books are pretty easy to read – after all, they only use one line!  Pipe books are conveniently full of tunes.  You might have to work a little harder to find the tune, what with the tiny print, the sometimes odd font (some are typeset to look hand written (or that actually are handwritten)), and the omnipresent ornamentation (which could be viewed as a playing and fingering challenge, but often is just kludging up the page for the rest of us).*** 
6. Published collections.  There are a number of collections that have been published including the Athole, the Glen, the Mackintosh, the Marshall, and the Lochnagar Collections.  I purchased a number of collections from Thistles and Things****. There’s nothing quite as grand has having a real-hold-it-in-your-hands book copy of the collections.  And I find that every time I comb through one of the books, like magic, tunes appear that I swear were not there before!
7. Online sources. You can search the web for all kinds of tunes.  Weather you trust The Session or you are looking for J. S. Skinner tunes in his own hand (from the University of Aberdeen Library), music is available online.  Not looking for traditional music?  You can also find non-trad music online.  Having trouble finding what you want?  Change up your key words and keep looking beyond the first page of google results.
8. YouTube/Spotify or other video/audio tracks. Ok, technically these are also online sources, but they’re different from finding sheet music.  This is a great way to find tunes by bands you already know, by bands you’ve never heard of, in varying presentations (harp, fiddle, pipes, didgeridoo, other instruments).  Again – just keep looking. You might have to use the English name, the native name (the title of the tune in Scots, Scots Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, French, Spanish, etc.), or multiple titles (e.g. I love the tune “Over the Hills and Far Away” – do you have any idea how many tunes have that title?  No, I was not looking for the Led Zeppelin version, but I found it!).

All these sources will help you find new tunes to add to your repertoire.  There are so many tunes out there – let’s find as many as we can…and keep ‘em in circulation!  I’m sure you have other sources – let me know what you have found in the comments below and we can share that here soon!

* Oh, come on, who doesn’t buy stuff from SWHC?!?  She’s got a number of books that might just have exactly what you need – usually in a very approachable way. This is not a paid advertisement – don’t freak out.   

** It’s my blog, I can tout my local Harp store.  And they have a knowledgeable staff and good stuff on the books racks. This isn’t a paid advertisement or product placement – please continue to not freak out. 

*** Let's be fair, the pipers do use all that ink, it is just a little intimidating when you first start to look at it! I have gotten a lot of lovely fiddle and pipe books from Skye Music Shop and lately from Duncans Highland Supply - both lovely people and very helpful.  If you'd done well so far, I'd urge you to continue to not freak out at this point.

****Just a shout out to my friend Patti Tillotson who’s run a great little shop from Harpswell Maine for a long time.  This is not any kind of paid advertisement – you've done well holding off so far, still, don’t freak out.  She’s got great stuff! 

I do not receive any kind of compensation for any of these links – they’re just places I go and sources I use.  Please don’t freak out - I'm not trying to sell you anything nor are these affiliate links. If you elect to visit my suggestions, I am confident you will receive good service and excellent source material.  If you happen to mention that you saw them here, then maybe they'll be glad - I know I will be!