My Nine Albums #my9albums

There's a thing going around called #my9albums where you select your nine most formative albums. Here are my nine.

Reckoning by Grateful Dead - Without this album, none of these others would have been as easy to come by. It’s the nucleus from which everything else springs.

Barren County by New Grass Revival - Before Leftover Salmon, before String Cheese Incident, before Yonder Mountain String Band, there was New Grass Revival. This album likely also led me to Norman Blake, Tony Rice, John Hartford, Red Clay Ramblers, and Hot Rize. And it also made me a fan of Flying Fish records.

John Prine by John Prine - Although I don’t listen to as much singer-songwriter music as I used to, there’s definitely a wide, wide cosmic portal that was opened just by listening to this CD on repeat, which has shaped my musical identity. I may not have gotten to Gillan Welch, Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith, or Cowboy Junkies without stopping here first.

Junta by Phish - What can I say? Thanks to my good friend Mike Goff, this was the first Phish album that I heard, before any live recordings. It was out of left field but it hooked me and almost 35 years later, and 70 shows later, has never let go! The four members of Phish set a standard of excellence by which all other music falls short. I’ve spent more time listening to Phish than any other artist or band. Just last night I watched their 3.5 hour+ live webcast from Huntsville, Alabama! Without Phish I may not have discovered Ween or My Morning Jacket. Who knows?

Telephone Free Landslide Victory by Camper Van Beethoven - Long before he opened Deep Groove records in Richmond, VA, Jay Leavitt made me a cassette copy of this album burned from vinyl. When I eventually started playing music of my own, the faux-ethnic instrumentals such as Yanqui Go Home, Mao Reminisces About His Days in Southern China, Border Ska, and Opi Rides Again would be very much in the back of my mind! And the irreverent and snarky songs would share a commonality with Richmond, VA’s Special Ed and the Shortbus who would later become a local live music favorite of mine.

Two Sevens Clash by Culture - This is another one that Jay Leavitt turned me on to. Not all reggae is good, but a few outliers such as this album stand out as exceptional. I consider it formative because it led me to Jamaican mento music as well as other music of the Caribbean islands. And it never gets old. Side A of the tape was Two Sevens Clash and Side B was Harder Than The Rest. It was just one big double album to me.

Lanquidity by Sun Ra - Henry Cook, a former co-worker of mine at Community Idea Stations, put this CD into my hands and forever altered my pathways. Henry also gave me a copy of Blue Breakbeats by Grant Green, which narrowly missed this 9 albums list. Lanquidity opened my mind as much as anything else I can think of. Sun Ra represents an eccentric, artistic freedom and a permission to follow creativity wherever it may lead.

Yvonne Casey by Yvonne Casey - This was my introduction to Irish traditional music*. Laura and I heard it playing at the Doolin Café during dinner on our first ever night in Ireland back in November 2004, bought the CD that night and then went to the CD release party the next night featuring Yvonne Casey, Eoinn O’Neil, Quentin Cooper, and many more. Even though lots of Guinness, Smithwick’s and Bulmers were drunk that night, I still distinctly remember the feeling that my life is changing RIGHT NOW. I wouldn’t start playing music until two years after this, but the ignition energy started here. *Not strictly trad, it also features some Camper Van Beethoven style instrumentals - Skatallites and Buena Vista Social Club covers - courtesy of Quentin Cooper!

Harlem Banjo! by Elmer Snowden - In 2006 I got a tenor banjo on a whim and didn’t know what to play on it. Peter Solomon, the WCVE-FM jazz host at that time, told me about Elmer Snowden, the Black 4-string banjo player who tuned his tenor banjo GDAE and made a legendary studio recording on December 9, 1960 that would become the Harlem Banjo! LP. Peter burned a vinyl to CD copy of this out of print record for me along with a George Guesnon CD. (Peter also gave me a Rufus Harley CD but thankfully that didn’t lead to bagpipes). Even though I ended up playing fiddle tunes and Irish jigs on tenor banjo instead of trad jazz, this recording proved that tenor banjo could be “cool” and now I had a buffer for all those banjo naysayers out there. Sticks and stones.

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Taking the Ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville on Whidbey Island

My wife and I recently spent a week enjoying the Pacific Northwest, dividing our time between Astoria, Oregon and Port Townsend, Washington, using each town as a home base to explore the surrounding areas. By far, the most fun day we had was when we walked from our hotel cottage in Port Townsend to catch the 11am ferry to Whidbey Island. I just bought walk on tickets when we got there which were only $5 per person each way. We timed it just right - walking up just as the last cars were loading. It was also timed so that when we got off the ferry at the Coupeville Ferry Terminal we only had to wait about 5 minutes for the free no charge Island Transit shuttle bus to pick us up for the 20 minute route into the town of Coupeville, where the original Practical Magic movie was filmed. The ferry from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island takes about 30 to 35 minutes and pedestrians are the first ones off. I saw either a small whale, dolphin, or sea lion on the ride over.

It was early October so Coupeville was already leaning into the Halloween theme, with witchy decorations all over town. The weather was absolutely perfect. A crisp, clear, and warmish early fall day. After a brief look around at the picture perfect Front Street, we went into Toby's Tavern for lunch and a beer or two. Toby's is the kind of place that you could settle in to, but we managed to escape after only about 90 minutes, LOL! We took more pictures and walked around a bit more. We had some time to kill before taking the shuttle > ferry back, so we got a glass of wine from Vail Wine Shop and Tasting Room and savored the incredible outdoor view from the little porch behind the building.

After about 30 minutes, it was time to go back because we didn't want to leave our dog alone in the hotel room for too long. The shuttle was late picking us up (or had it been early so we missed it???). It finally arrived only about 8 minutes late and we still made the same ferry back to Port Townsend that we had intended to. We saw sea lions in the water on the ferry ride back.

Let me back track a bit. We spent the first part of our trip in Astoria, OR. We had been to Astoria many times before, but it was still fun to spend a few days off in our favorite town in Oregon with its rugged river views and blue collar feel. We went to many of the breweries, including Fort George and Buoy of course. We had some good breakfasts and we also discovered a well established but new-to-us restaurant called Silver Salmon Grille that we'll be returning to on future visits. While in Astoria, we drove across the bridge into Washington state to visit Cape Disappointment and take in the expansive views and the lighthouse there.

I had never been to Port Townsend, WA before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I thought it would be similar to Astoria but it was actually quite different. Both are small maritime cities of similar size and populations, but Port Townsend has a more artistic, well preserved, upscale thing going on. With calmer waters. While Astoria is a great no nonsense hub for craft beer and pub food, Port Townsend is more suited to cozy bistros and quiet lounges where you can enjoy small plates with a glass of wine or a cocktail and imagine yourself living there. It's a place where rich, older people go to retire. It took a minute to warm to Port Townsend's charms, but I ended up liking it a lot!

We did the touristy things in Port Townsend like walking along Water street, catching the shuttle to uptown, visiting Chetzemoka Park, Fort Warden Historical State Park, and Fort Townsend Historical State Park, and driving out to Finnriver Farm and Cidery. It was also fun to just sit with our dog outside The Old Whiskey Mill on Water Street and watch people walk by. Port Townsend had some great breakfast spots (Hudson Point Café and The Courtyard Café) as well as some good places for dinner and/or a nightcap (Mezzaluna Lounge and Alchemy Bistro and Wine Bar), plus a good old fashioned locals bar bar (Anchor).

I'm looking forward to returning to Port Townsend and spending more time on Whidbey Island!

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Rhythm and Timing vs. Ear Training vs. Technique

My musical practice is all based around repertoire - learning and re-learning the tunes that get played at the Irish sessions and contra jams that I attend. Within that overarching repertoire practice, there is room for focusing on rhythm and timing, on ear training, and on technique. 

Of those three sub-categories, I'm realizing that rhythm and timing is most important. No matter how fast or slow you play, maintaining good rhythm and timing = having good feel. Most of us have a tendency to speed up. I know that I do. To work on this, I'm really valuing the metronome in a way I never had before. I have played a lot with a click and/or a drum beat, but usually the clicks or beats are so frequent that it's really difficult to get off track. 

Recently I've been experimenting with slowing the metronome down but playing at the same speed. For example, set the metronome at 80bpm and play along with it. Once you're comfortable with that, change the metronome to 40bpm but still play at the same speed you were when the metronome was at 80. This will make it a little harder to stay in sync. Once you have that going smoothly, change the metronome to 20 bpm but still play at the same speed as before. This will be much more difficult, requiring a conscious effort and an internal sense of rhythm to stay on the beat. Most over the counter metronomes don't go that "slow", but you can find metronome apps like Time Guru that allow for 20bpm or slower.

Of course ear training or learning/remembering the tune by ear rather than sheet music is a struggle that gets easier over time. Michael Eskin describes a method of ear training that I've started to adopt. In a nutshell you listen to a slowed down section of a tune like just the A part for a period of 10 or 15 instruments. You can sing along like a "dubba dubba" muttering of the melody, but don't try to play along. Just listen. Then go do something else for a while like chores or taking a walk. When you come back, pick up your instrument and try to play as much by ear as you can recall just from memory alone. It might be nothing at first, but try for at least five minutes before giving up. Then listen to the recording again and repeat the process. This is not a quick fix but over time you can learn the tune this way.

Another thing you can do is take a tune you're on the cusp of learning, like one you almost have, and play it from memory without looking at the sheet music. If you do need to listen to jog your memory, only listen to the very being as an aural insipid. Then sing it to yourself at a speed that you can easily play. If you have metronome that you can tap, tap at the speed that you are singing to set the click tempo. Maybe that happens to be 60 bpm. Then play it from memory to the click of the metronome. Play it in real time filling in any notes or measures you can't quite recall, but staying on the beat. 

Or take a tune that you know really well, note for note, and play a completely improvised version of it applying melodic variations, triplets, double stops, or other ornamentation/embellishments...as much as you can think of while still staying in time with the metronome click. Keep the actual sound of the tune in your head and know where you are at any given time with regard to the AA/BB structure, but otherwise play freely. 

Of course technique is all part of this as well. I sometimes have a hard time defining what exactly technique is, but I think it qualifies as everything from how you hold your instrument, to how you sit balanced with good posture and no tension in the body, to pick direction, to economy of motion, to dynamics (loud vs quiet, straight vs swung), to staccato versus legato, to how and when you breathe. I think it all comes down to being present and mindful of the movements you are making and how you are holding your body. 

I kind of rambled but the point of this post was to convey my belief that rhythm and timing is the most important element that needs work right now. However, within that work there is also the opportunity for ear training and being mindful of technique, all under the broader aspect of increasing repertoire and fine tuning or re-tooling the tunes you already know under the construct of this newfound internal sense of rhythm.

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Playing In Sessions May Have Had A Negative Impact On My Timing

Today is Tuesday. Over the 8 day span from this past Sunday to the Sunday before that, I played in 7 different sessions. That's a lot. Technically one of them was a tune learning session, but it was still playing music with others in a group setting. Not to mention that since I moved to Oregon two years ago I've probably logged over 500 hours of session playing, and that's likely a conservative estimate. 

All this time playing Irish tunes at pubs and cafés has been great for increasing my repertoire, exposing me to session speeds, and gaining experience playing with others. At the same time, I'm starting to think that it may have had a negative impact on my rhythm and timing. Something is off and I think it's because I've been relying too much on group tempo instead of working on developing my own internal sense of rhythm. Or it could be that all this time spent adjusting to the fluctuating speeds of a session environment has caused my own sense of time to erode. 

I also think that going to all these sessions may have forced me to play at speeds faster than I was ready to, hoping that my fingers would eventually catch up. I've often had to sacrifice playing cleanly to in order keep up with the session speed, glazing over trouble spots and being in a constant state of speed up/skip notes, speed up/skip notes, just to hang on.

I do spend a fair amount of time playing and practicing tunes at home, but I've mostly been doing this by playing along with recordings or drum machine tracks. When you're playing along with a click or backing track it's difficult to notice any rhythm or timing issues you might have because the constant beat keeps you in place like training wheels on a bicycle.

I am going to address this head on by working more diligently with a metronome - using it as a tool and not as a crux. One example is setting the metronome to click once per bar, or once every other bar, or once every 4th bar so that you're not constantly being kept in place by a click. You have to start by getting the feel of playing along with the metronome at say 80 bpm. Then set it to 20 bpm but still play as if it were 80 bpm so that the clicks only happen every other measure. Once a tune is in sync, like Lark in the Morning played at 72 bpm over an 18 bpm metronome, try transitioning to another jig like Willie Coleman's without missing a beat! (I mention this specific example because I was able to do this successfully today just before beginning to write this post). 

Another idea is to use Soundslice to create practice versions of tunes where the sound of the melody is interspersed with silent measures where you have to play on your own for a while before the music comes back on in time. Yet another idea is to set up a play along track at a low volume. Start playing along with the track, then keep playing as you walk to another part of the house where you can't quite hear the play along track anymore. Play a little while out of ear shot then walk back into the room where the backing track is playing and see if you are in sync.

And do all this while being mindful of ergonomic movement without stress, having proper posture, and maintaining a relaxed feel while playing. Tension in your shoulders and hands can cause adrenaline to spike, which makes you rush. I think my main problem is speeding up. I've ordered Bruce Arnold's The Big Metronome book, so I'm hoping that has some exercises that I can adapt as well! 

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A New Way of Using a Metronome - Very Slowly

I really need to work on my timing. Speeding up or slowing down - not playing in a steady time - is an issue for me at sessions. I was listening to an interview with music teacher Robb Cappelletto, who has become known for being Billy Strings’ guitar teacher. In the interview Robb said (regardless of what genre or style you might play or want to learn), “We always need to talk about technique. We always need to talk about time and rhythm. We always need to talk about ear training. We always need to understand harmony. We always need to (talk about fingering patterns). Whatever level the student is at, we can always talk about all of these. There's always a higher level to take something to.”

The one that stood out for me is timing and rhythm. Later in that same podcast, Robb says:

You can use the metronome like bumpers and bumper bowling to keep nudging you back to the center. Or you can use the metronome like an electric fence. And the latter is far more helpful.

If your metronome is playing on every beat, you're not keeping time. The metronome is keeping time for you. There is so much clicking that there's no way you could possibly go out of time if you actually know how to play.

(I'm going to paraphrase some more things that Robb said in that interview)

Make the click one beat per measure. Now you have a lot of opportunity to speed up or slow down and get off with the metronome because you're playing eight eighth notes per click now. Continually cut the metronome in half. If your metronome is at 120, then you cut it to 60, but you're still playing the same speed. There's just less metronome to keep you on track. But there's still enough metronome to remind you if you are keeping time enough. You're testing your ability to keep time rather than using the metronome to keep human time.

You have to start with enough click to train a pulse. You need to train your ability to hear and have a reference of what even time is. You can't just put the metronome on 5 (bpm) and play 150. You can't just do that right away. It's gonna be frustrating and probably not very beneficial. So, you start with the metronome as an eighth note, and then you cut the metronome down to a quarter note. And then you cut it down to a half note. And then if you can get to the point where the metronome is once a bar, or once every 2 bars, or once every 4 bars.

If you can get to the point where you can do that, the metronome did not keep time. It was just there to let you know if you kept time or not. The metronome is not keeping the time for you. Continually cutting your metronome in half is something that everybody can build up to. Cut the metronome in half and make sure you're still keeping the time.


Robb also cautions, if you can't sing it, you can't play it.

If you try playing it before you can sing it then you're essentially just guessing and hoping the frets are gonna remind you what it sounds like. You’re just remembering the order of operations and what it looks like, but not actually thinking of the sound.

You should be able to dubba dubba dubba your way through anything before you try to play it. Because if you don't know what it sounds like, you don't know the rhythm, you don't really know the shape of the melody. You're just hoping the confusing matrix of strings and frets is going to solve this problem for you, and it won't.


OK, so I tried this exercise described above where you put the metronome at like 20 bpm, but play at 80 bpm so that you’re essentially playing two measures of music per click. It's really hard! This is going to take some practice, which is good. However, this concept inspired me to create these play along practice tracks for the jig Lilting Banshee and the reel The Maid Behind the Bar. In each case there are long gaps between melody where you have to fill in the blanks yourself and then hopefully sync back up with the music at the right time. Give it a shot!

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Contra Dance Tunes Might Just Be My Favorite Types of Tunes

I'm an amateur, pedestrian musician. More of a participant than a leader. Not an authority in any way. Just someone who likes plucking melodies. I often play in Irish sessions, but I think my favorite types of tunes happen to be New Englandy contra tunes more than straight Irish trad session tunes.

There is some overlap of course, but I feel like contra tunes are less notey than Irish ones, with more emphasis on melody, beat, rhythm, and groove, and less about ornamentation and a constant stream of notes. This works for me because I like simple, basic versions of tunes. Even though I play tenor banjo - an instrument known for trying to fill as much space as possible with triplets and embellishments - I prefer to play a more sparse version of a tune, if possible. 

My experience with contra tunes is somewhat limited. I've never played for a contra dance, however, I have attended some contra tune jams where the pace is more jam speed than dance speed. I've been taking note of my favorite tunes as they come up and these include All The Way to Galway, Doon the Brae, Road to Boston, Jamie Allen, Scotty O'Neil, McLenon's Reel, Hut on Staffin Island, Riding on a Load of Hay, Walls of St. Malo, Horace Hanesworth, Robertson's Reel, Rose Tree, Shoes and Stockings, and William Blake's Dead, as well as Fair Jenny's Jig, Camp Pleasant Jig, Early in the Year, Flowers of Autumn, Moon and Seven Stars, and Maison de Glace. The 3/4 time tunes Crested Hens and Far Away also fall into this category. I think if you had to classify these tunes, the non-jig ones would be like polkas or marches. Very distinctive melodies that are easy to sing/hum/mutter and hear in your head. 

Here are some other things I like about contra music:

-The piano accompaniment. It stays right on the beat, providing a steady rhythm.  

-How the tunes can come from a wide variety of traditions, including Ireland, Scotland, England, Appalachian, Québécois, Cape Breton, New England, and more. Agnostic in this regard.

-Lots of "modern day" tunes (written within the last 50 years) are part of the active repertoire by composers such as Bob McQuillen, Randy Miller, Larry Unger, Keith Murphy, Brenda Stubbert, and Judi Morningstar.

-The music slightly less beholden to the diatonic keys of the Irish flute and D-whistle, so you see more sharps and more flats in the key signature, and tunes will include notes on the low G string of a fiddle.

-There's a wider variety of acceptable instruments. Like I said, there's the piano element. But I've also played in contra jams with saxophone, trombone, and silver concert flutes. You might also hear clarinet, marimba, or bass guitar. Instruments that would be controversial in a more strict Irish trad idea of appropriate instrumentation.

-Recordings by bands such as Wild Asparagus, Hillbillies from Mars, and Supertrad are really fun to listen to!

Anyway, that's it. 

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Having Fun With Soundslice

I titled this post Having Fun with Soundslice, but Obsessed is probably more like it. I can't believe I'm actually tearing myself away from this web-based interface for a few minutes to write about it. Here's what I've been using Soundslice for:

-To upload sheet music from pdf or photo and turn it into notation that can be sped up or slowed down, looped, converted to mandolin tab, transposed to a different key, and so on. There's a whole slew of Irish tunes that aren't on Trailjams.org that and I'm using Soundslice to upload the dots and create my own library of these jiggy, slidey, and reely tunes. I also have some sheet music for Caribbean tunes that I've collected and I have also been uploading those. This practice is teaching me a lot about timing and the sheet music symbols for quarter notes, eighth notes, rests, et cetera. Irish music is pretty much on-the-beat, even if that beat happens to be a 6/8 rhythm, but Caribbean melodies have some crooked measures and syncopation going on. You can only do 100 uploads per month which sounds like a lot but I've already maxed out for the time being. One of the reasons I had time to write this is because I need to wait a week or more before I can do the next round of 100 uploads!

-To write out variations of tunes. For example, I can upload a basic Trailjams arrangement of a tune such as Wind that Shakes the Barley and then edit it to add triplets and double stops wherever I see fit. I prefer to figure this stuff out on my own rather than by simply copying others and this functionality allows for lots of creativity. I don't know how to program hammer-ons, pull-offs, and other embellishments yet but I'm sure there's a way.

-Composition and Compositional Study. My initial reason for signing up for Soundslice was to notate an original melody I had written and then try to add chords to it. I've been wanting to learn how to use a music notation software with this purpose in mind but I've always been hesitant due to the perceived learning curve. I wanted to play my banjo, not work on a computer. However, with Soundslice it is pretty easy and I've realized that, when used the right way, it can actually enhance my musical knowledge. I like seeing how tunes are constructed - noticing patterns and repeated motifs - and Soundslice is helping with that. Getting the syncopation of a melody to land at the right place within a measure is a challenge that gets easier the more you learn about timing and how it is sub-divided.

-To create Slices from scratch. You can do an unlimited number of these. Sometimes you don't have a good source for the sheet music or maybe it's just a hand-written transcription or a piece you've learned by ear. Soundslice allows you to create notation from scratch. Or perhaps it's a straight-forward contra dance tune and you don't want to max out your monthly upload limit, so maybe you just type it in from scratch. It only takes a few minutes to get it straight. One of my primary roles at the job I've worked at for the last 20+ years is trafficking broadcast and digital orders. Basically, a fundraiser/salesperson submits an advertising/sponsorship contract from a client and then I make that campaign a reality by flighting it to run in whichever way it was described on paper - TV, radio, podcast, streaming, web ads. What I've realized is that creating a Slice from scratch is not that different from this skill set which I have already honed through years of work-related practice. It's fun for me.

-Creating Ear Training and Scale Exercises. This is an unexpected use, but Soundslice has been great in this regard. One exercise I created was to notate the D-Ionian, D-Dorian, D-Lydian, D-Mixolydian, and D-Aeolian modes and have those play over a second instrument which is essentially just a D note drone. In another case I wrote out arpeggios and then added scale numbers and solfège syllables to the notes.  Yet another exercise I created was to figure out the chord voicings for every chord in the D-major scale: D- major, E-minor, F#-minor, and so on. My instrument has an unusual tuning - GDAEB from low to high, sometimes referred to as "baritone 5-string electric octave mandolin tuning". Michael Kang of String Cheese Incident helped popularize this tuning. I use it for my custom-made tenor banjo. Soundslice has a lot of pre-set tablature settings, however, GDAEB isn't one of them. Fortunately you can create your own unique tablature tuning. It took me a while to get the pitches correct but I figured out a way to do it. I have not really practiced chord voicings at all on this instrument so I was able to create custom tablature for this tuning with that type of learning in mind.

That pretty much covers how I've been using it this first month. I'm sure there are other features that I haven't explored yet. One example: I haven't synced any audio to the notation/tablature. I don't know if I'll need to do that because the built-in instrument sounds in Soundslice are sufficient. Don't get me wrong, some are horrible sounding but I've found a few that I like such as harp, vibraphone, marimba, and ukulele. These work for my needs, which is basically just creating a library of music where the audio matches the notation. 

I'll end by sharing an example of an original arrangement of what I think is a Haitian melody called Bonsoir Dame. I found this song years ago on Spotify by a group called Zantalino y su Orquestra. It's a cheesy recording in the first place, but I had it transcribed by Nick DiSebastian and I've been holding on to that sheet music for years. The recording was in the key of C# (that's a key signature of 7 sharps for those keeping score) so the first thing I did upon uploading it to Soundslice was change it to a more congenial key such as G. Upon analysis, I realized that the actual melody had some timing challenges that were going to trip me up so I started tweaking the melody until it resembled something more like an Irish jig or slide. It almost became the pre-existing tune Going to the Well for Water in the process! That in and of itself was a study in how melodies come together. This one won't win any awards and I probably won't bust it out at the Irish session, but try to imagine a wizened Sliabh Luachra fiddler playing this in the corner of a cozy pub!

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I Played In My First Open Mic On Saturday

At one point, while waiting for my turn at the open mic, I though this might have been a mistake. Here I am with my dinky tenor banjo getting ready to play obscure instrumental tunes while others are singing and knocking out grunge covers or shredding on Jimi Hendrix. And the word "mic" in open mic suggests that there might be some amplification involved. I sipped a Guinness very slowly and pondered.

Let me back up a minute. A taphouse in my neighborhood hosts an open mic every other Saturday. I let it slip that I play banjo so Tyler, the jocular and risible (thanks thesaurus) Beatles loving young employee at the taphouse who is involved with the open mic, kept asking me when I was going to play. I can't say no to Tyler, right? Fortunately I recruited a local guitarist and open mic devotee David Grooveseeker Knickerbocker to play rhythm guitar so that I wasn't just up there by myself.

First off, I am much more comfortable playing in Irish sessions or contra dance jams because, well, you're not playing solo. In those settings multiple instruments are each playing the melody in unison, so if you flub or forget it doesn't really matter because someone else will still carry the melody forward. Also, unlike an open mic, a session is not really a performance. However, I looked at the open mic as an opportunity to showcase (force upon people) some obscure Caribbean style melodies that I've uncovered but rarely get a chance to play. So I chose three pieces that I know pretty well and David did an admirable job to learn the chords and play them with me.

The pieces I chose were Carnaval En Margarita, Entonement Meringue, and La Paloma Blanca.

Carnaval En Margarita comes from the 1990 CD Bonne Humeur by the Etcetera String Band, an obscure classic where this Mid-western string band reimagined early Creole/Caribbean dance music. Carnavel En Margarita was written by Lionel "Lanky" Belasco who was born in Venezuela around 1882 and grew up in Venezuela and Trinidad. Margarita is an island off the coast of Venzezuela. It's supposedly a paseo, although since I'm not really sure what a paseo is I'm not sure if my playing brings that out or not.

Entonement Meringue comes from the 1938 book Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica by Zora Neale Hurston. The book included some musical notation, Entonement Meringue being one of them. Hurston credited the piece to an A. Herandez, although I have no idea who that is.

The third and final tune I performed was La Paloma Blanca, which comes from the playing of Southwestern fiddler Cleofes Ortiz, who was born in New Mexico in 1910. I've heard recordings of this tune as done by the Buckhannon Brothers: Curtis and Dennis Buckhannon and by The Rhythm Rangellers: Paul Rangell & Emily Abbink. I play a more simplified version.

This was fun and if I get up the nerve I might do it again! Below are some sheet music lead sheets that I created for these tunes. If you learn any of these, let me know!

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My Ideal Irish Session

My ideal Irish session is a little different than the norm. It would be open to players of all instruments, not just the instruments thought to be the standard Irish trad instruments. It wouldn’t just be jigs and reels, but would feature a broad variety of tune types including hornpipes, slides, polkas, slip-jigs, marches, mazurkas, waltzes, barn dances, and so on. And it wouldn’t be limited to just tunes from Ireland, Scotland, or England, but would expand to include melodies from North America and other places, much like the mixture of tunes found in the Portland Collection, for example.

The pace would be moderately fast, like jam session speed. Not super duper fast, but not slow either. Somewhere in between. The focus would be on playing by ear and memory rather than sheet music so that you can engage with and interact with your fellow musicians in the moment. Everyone would be encouraged to participate and play along with unfamiliar tunes, trying to pick up what you can. Tunes would be played in sets of 2, 3, or more, just like a regular Irish session, but instead of it always being three times through a tune, there would be the option to play it 4, 5, 6 or more times through before moving on.

The setting would be in a pub or café because it's fun to be able to have a beer or coffee or whatever your preference is during the session. Being in a public space adds an element of excitement and pressure that can be a good influence, although on the other hand no one is going to judge you if you make a mistake or flub a tune. If it’s a three hour session, maybe there’s a natural 5 to 10 minute break built in mid-way through to give everyone a breather.

The atmosphere would be loose, with everyone getting an opportunity to call tunes and lead them. If someone walked in with an instrument case, they would be immediately invited into the session. It wouldn’t have to be boom-boom-boom rapid fire one set of tunes after another. There would be time chatting and socializing. A natural ebb and flow. You’d get to know everyone’s name. There would be no strangers. There might even be the occasional song. One or two songs per evening is probably enough.

Musicians would be respected not just on their playing ability, but also on their ability to be a good “hang”. Someone fun to be around. Personality is just as important as chops, if not more so. The only people not welcome back would be those who are obviously just there to be a nuisance and disrupt the good time. No jerks or a-holes allowed.

Seating would be completely democratic, however, self awareness plays a role. If you’re still learning your instrument and are unable to contribute or participate as much as a seasoned fiddler, then it might be better to switch seats and allow the master fiddler to be better positioned than the newbie. Nobody is going to make you do this, but it’s the right thing to do.

The more the merrier. No one would be turned away due to max capacity. Space and a chair will almost always be found. And we won’t be super worried about duplication of instruments. Did two guitarists show up? OK, let’s see what that sounds like!!!

The repertoire would constantly be growing. New tunes would be introduced and passed around. Tune names would be shared. It wouldn’t just be the same old tunes, or same old sets week after week. You'd come prepared to lead something different than last time. Keep it fresh.

The type of etiquette that would be very important is no talking or side conversations while others are playing a tune. If, for whatever reason, you are sitting out a tune then don’t talk over the tune and by all means don’t look at your phone the whole time. You’re under the unspoken obligation to participate as a good, respectful listener even when not playing. That part should be obvious but it’s not.

If I think of anything else I’ll add it!

***

  

Six Ways That Jerry Garcia Has Been An Influence on Me

In honor of Days Between, here's another Jerry Garcia themed post.

I'm a hobbyist, adult learner who plays in Irish sessions, so it would be a stretch to say that I have much musicality in common with Jerry Garcia. However, I would like to think that he's one of my biggest influences, at least in the following ways.

Melody
Jerry's playing is very melodic. Yes he is a master improviser who is always aware of the chords of the moment which is informing his note choices. But, you can almost always hear the foundation of the song's vocal melody line in any of his solos, even as he builds and builds to a higher crescendo with each chorus. I know of no other guitarist quite like this. When I finally chose to start playing music, I chose a style(s) of music such as Irish trad that was all-melody, all-the-time.

Choice of Instrument

If the text-book definition of guitar flatpicker means Tony Rice, Doc Watson, or Norman Blake, then I don't know if you'd strictly call Jerry a flatpicker, per se, but he definitely used a pick to pluck solos and melodic lines. He wasn't just a strummer or finger player. He was a picker. And before he was a guitarist, Jerry was an accomplished 5-string banjo player, a role he reprised in the early 70's while a member of the short-lived yet highly influential traditional bluegrass band Old and In the Way. When you look at it this way, my choice to play tenor banjo makes a little bit more sense. It's an instrument that's tuned like a mandolin, flatpicked like an acoustic guitar, but is indeed a banjo.

Play By Ear - Be In the Moment

Jerry was not an illiterate musician by any means. He would peruse guitar theory books as they came out, and I'm pretty sure he could read music if he needed to, but Jerry was by and large an ear player. If he could sing it or hum it he could play it and that was his preferred way of going about it. It's taken me a long, long time to come around to this way of thinking, but I'm starting to embrace that same philosophy and I'm trying to do the ear training to get there. I don't like sessions where people are looking at sheet music because there is no interaction between the musicians and nobody is listening to one another. I like sessions where people are active and engaged, listening and adapting that day's version of the tune, even if it is a tune like Out on the Ocean that you've played hundreds of times before. What's something new, some new intention, that you can bring to that tune today? I think that's the approach Jerry would take.

Never Play the Same Setlist Twice

The Grateful Dead, and to some extent The Jerry Garcia Band, were famous for never playing the same show once, let alone twice! Jerry was well practiced (he knew his scales which we'll get to in a moment), but he was refreshingly under rehearsed and ready to take chances even if that meant pulling out a song that he may or may not be ready to play. I'm kind of the same way in sessions. I don't like the same old sets of three tunes back to back for all time, although the Dead did have their own dependable "medleys" such as Scarlet/Fire and China/Rider. I also like to mix it up and I'm just as likely to call a tune that I don't really know yet as one that I have down pat. Fortunately, Irish sessions seem to have this spontaneity built into their format. There's never like a setlist for an Irish session. You never quite know what you're going to play or how you're going to fill the two or three hours. Even making one change, such as changing Morrison's > Kesh > Swallowtail to Lilting Banshee > Kesh > Swallowtail can breathe new life into a tired set of tunes. Like when the Dead would do Mississippi Half-Step into Franklin's Tower.

Scales and Modes

Jerry knew his scales and modes inside and out and was especially fond of the Mixolydian and Dorian modes found in the folk and traditional music that was a big influence on him. I also like dwelling in these worlds and fortunately the repertoire of tunes that get played in Irish sessions has a generous dose of Dorian and Mixolydian. I know that this is partly because of the limitations of diatonic instruments like the flute, whistle, and pipes, which dictates that a lot of tunes have to conform to the notes of the D-major and G-major scales like E-Dorian, A-Dorian, D-Mixolydian, and A-Mixolydian. Hey, I'll take it!

Less Is More - Be a Feel Player Not a Shredder

I strongly dislike the type of guitar playing known as shredding. I guess Jerry could shred too when he wanted to, but to me he's more a taste and feel player. Why play three notes when one note will work just fine? Jerry was more about having a musical conversation, letting the notes flow and tell a story. He wasn't just regurgitating licks and riffs. With that in mind, I try to approach "Irish" tenor banjo from a similar perspective. So much of what is mistaken for good banjo playing is just pyrotechnics and rapid fire notes. That doesn't appeal to me. Part of it is that I don't have the skills or technique to pull that kind of playing off. But another part is I don't like the sound of it. Sure a well played, well placed triplet sounds great, but you can quickly overdo it. Rather than wonder "how would a banjo player play this?", I sometimes think more along the lines of "how would a flute player play this?". A flautist has to take breaths, so their version of a tune is going to likely be more sparse and less notey by default. I think you can potentially make more beautiful music from a less is more approach. Leaving space between the notes. The space between.

Fun fact: This post was originally titled "Six Ways That Jerry Garcia Has Been An Influence on Me". When I finished writing the post I counted and it came out to six. I didn't even have to go back and revise the title.

***

Irish Fixed Do Solfège - D instead of C

I used an AI prompt to create this image

Solfège is a musical system that uses distinct syllables for the notes in a scale (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti). A great thing about solfège is it relates everything back to the major scale. If you are a musician, the major scale has a sound you are probably already familiar with. Whenever a note is flatter than the major scale, the solfège syllable rhymes with "ay". Whenever a note is sharper than the major scale, the solfège syllable rhymes with "ee".

For example, normally note 4 of the major scale is Fa, as in Do, Re, Mi, Fa. However, when the four is sharpened, like in the Lydian mode, the Fa (fah) sound becomes Fi (fee). This made me wonder if the Phish song Fee had a sharp four and Google says yes, Fee by Phish features a sharp four chord in its harmonic progression. Very clever Trey Anastasio!

One type of solfège is fixed do solfège where each syllable is permanently assigned to a specific absolute pitch. Normally C is always Do, D is always Re, and E is always Mi, regardless of the key or musical context. However, as an ear training method for Irish trad, I thought it would be fun to base the fixed do around the note D since D plays such an important role in Irish trad. D being the lowest note on the D-whistle and Irish tunes being so fundamentally diatonic.

Doing it this way, D is always Do, E is always Re, F# is always Mi, G is always Fa, A is always So, B is always La, and C# is always Ti. The other notes you have to remember are F is Me (may), G# is Fi (fee), Bb is Le (lay), and C is Te (tay). Using this form of notation, the first two measures of Swallowtail Jig would be Fa-Re-Re, La-Re-Re, Fa-Re-Re, La-So-Fa.

D-Ionian (AKA the major scale, key signature two sharps)

D = Do (doh)

●

E = Re (ray)

●

F# = Mi (mee)

G = Fa (fah)

●

A = So (so)

●

B = La (lah)

●

C# = Ti (tee)

D = Do (doh)

D-Dorian (flat 3, flat 7, key signature no sharps or flats)

D = Do (doh)

●

E = Re (ray)

F = Me (may)

●

G = Fa (fah)

●

A = So (soh)

●

B = La (lah)

C = Te (tay)

●

D = Do (doh)

D-Lydian (sharp four, key signature 3 sharps)

D = Do (doh)

●

E = Re (ray)

●

F# = Mi (mee)

●

G# = Fi (fee!)

A = So (soh)

●

B = La (lah)

●

C# = Ti (tee)

D = Do (doh)

D-Mixolydian (flat 7, key signature one sharp)

D = Do (doh)

●

E = Re (ray)

●

F# = Mi (mee)

G = Fa (fah)

●

A = So (soh)

●

B = La (lah)

C = Te (tay)

●

D = Do (doh)

D-Aeolian (flat3, flat 6, flat 7, key signature one flat)

D = Do (doh)

●

E = Re (ray)

F = Me (may)

●

G = Fa (fah)

●

A = So (soh)

Bb = Le (lay)

●

C= Te (tay)

●

D = Do (doh)

D-Harmonic Minor (flat 3, flat 6)

D = Do (doh)

●

E = Re (ray)

F = Me (may)

●

G = Fa (fah)

●

A = So (soh)

Bb = Le (lay)

●

●

C# = Ti (tee)

D = Do (doh)

Here's an exercise my music teacher Brad Overton gave me. Find a D drone on YouTube and try playing and singing these scales over the D drone. When doing a scale other then the Ionian/major scale, listen for the "weirdness" of the notes highlighted above.

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My Grateful Dead Origin Story

The vinyl version of Reckoning contained the song Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie

I've written about this before, but my Grateful Dead origin story began in August 1992 when Eric Clapton's Unplugged CD came out. I was in the record store Digits on West Broad Street in Richmond to buy that Eric Clapton CD when the record clerk said "If you like that, you should check out the original unplugged, pre-MTV" and he handed me the Grateful Dead CD Reckoning, their live acoustic album culled from fall 1980 performances at The Warfield Theater and Radio City Music Hall. I got that CD then and there, and thus began my Grateful Dead journey.

Reckoning was a great way to jump into the Grateful Dead because it accustomed me the to the idea of live recordings and introduced me to their roots and influences. Not only did it have superb originals such as Dire Wolf, It Must Have Been the Roses, Cassidy, and Bird Song, but it also included covers and traditional songs such as The Race is On (country), Dark Hollow and Rosa Lee McFall (bluegrass), Been All Around this World (old-time/traditional), Jackaroe (Celtic folk), and Deep Elem Blues and On the Road Again (blues). This led me in all kinds of places as I started to check out artists ranging from Mississippi John Hurt to Elizabeth Cotton to Bill Monroe to Miles Davis and beyond. I was already interested in folk and Americana, but this really propelled that fascination.

The 2-CD live album simply called Jerry Garcia Band had recently come out (August 1991) so that was the first non-Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia CD that I got, followed shortly thereafter by the Garcia/Grisman CD Not for Kids Only and the self-titled CD by potent but short-lived bluegrass band Old and in the Way, featuring Garcia in a side-man role on banjo alongside Peter Rowan, David Grisman, John Kahn, and Vassar Clements. I also got the first New Riders of the Purple Sage CD since it had Jerry on steel guitar.

In 1992/1993, the idea of releasing entire, unabridged Grateful Dead or Jerry Garcia Band concerts song for song, warts and all, had not hit yet so unless you had tape trading connections you relied on the officially released live albums such as Without A Net which were almost always comprised of a la carte recordings from different live shows designed to emulate the flow of a live concert but not actually tracked start to finish from one show. For the first couple years this was my only option, although I would sometimes tape episodes of David Gans' The Grateful Dead Hour off the radio. It took a couple years, but I eventually started accumulating tapes via the kindness of Deadheads through blanks and postage, including the famous 5/8/77 Cornell and 8/27/72 Veneta Oregon shows. After I transferred from Longwood to VCU, all my college friends and I did was listen to Grateful Dead music!

I got to see the Grateful Dead with Jerry Garcia live a total of 6 times from 1994 to 1995, however, my first actual Grateful Dead related concert was The Jerry Garcia Band on 11/18/93 at Richmond Coliseum. I went to it as a complete noob (my only companion was a mate from the golf team) but I thoroughly enjoyed the music. Honestly, 1994/1995 Grateful Dead was not that good, but 1993 Jerry Garcia Band could be transcendent! Go back and listen. Later on I would see the John Kadlecik version of Dark Star Orchestra many, many times, as well as The Other Ones and Furthur. None of it was quite the same without Jerry. I kind of closed the book on The Grateful Dead with the conclusion of the Fare The Well shows in 2015 so I didn't ever really get on board with Dead and Co.

I still like to listen to the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band every once in a while, but it doesn't completely dominate my listening and world view like it once did. I think that's a healthy way to go about it. Jerry Garcia remains my favorite musician of all time. Listening to him sing and play guitar is as good as music can get, in my view.

***

My Takeaways After Reading DAILY RITUALS by Mason Currey

I've been reading the 2013 book Daily Rituals by Mason Currey. In the form of mini profiles, the author details the creative habits of writers, artists, composers, and other makers from the past couple hundred years or more. Everyone from Stephen King to Maya Angelou to Beethoven to Frank Lloyd Wright to Georgia O'Keeffe. The author scoured biographies, interviews, magazine articles, obituaries, and other sources to find descriptions of these daily routines. Not everyone was like this of course, but I did notice some common themes showing up again and again.

These artists and creative types...

-Are very routine oriented. They have very consistent and not very glamorous work habits.

-They don't wait for inspiration or the muse to strike. They show up every day and put in the work, honing their craft. Many have personal goals such as 2,000 words a day or three hours of dedicated focus.

-Most keep a strict schedule that varies very little from day to day, even going so far as to eat basically the same meals every day.

-They keep their plate clear so that there are not a lot of other interests or obligations competing for their time. They avoid things that would prevent them maintaining these daily patterns.

-They are often insomniacs or have trouble sleeping and use pills or other drugs to turn their mind off or on. Frequently they are also alcoholics or heavy drinkers. Sound familiar?

-They are totally dedicated to their art. It comes before everything else. Some are even guilt-ridden if they take a day "off".

-Even those who worked a 9 to 5 job on the side found time to be productive, perhaps with a concentrated three hours in the early morning before going to work, or from 8pm to 11pm after being at their day job.

-The repetition itself seems to be the important thing. It creates a pathway for one's mental energies to flow. 

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When I moved to the West Coast two years ago it totally disrupted my daily schedule - in a positive way for music practice and in a negative way for fitness and exercise. When I was living on the East Coast I didn't start work until 9am, and during the years of 2020 to 2024 I would exercise and strength train for about an hour every morning. I wasn't playing much music during this time but I got in the best shape of my life and lost over 40 pounds. 

Now that I am on the West Coast, my "9 to 5" is 6am to 2pm so now I get out of bed and immediately start working my day job. I don't set aside much time for banjo playing during the work day, but having afternoons off means that I've been able to keep a fairly consistent weekday practice schedule which allows me to put in an hour or two of dedicated music practice each afternoon. My practice consists mostly of learning and re-learning tunes while continuing to develop my ear. I don't work on technique or ornamentation all that much, except in the context of a tune. Because I go to a couple sessions each week, I can always think of tunes to better learn, re-learn, or review.

My West Coast Saturdays are actually pretty similar to how my East Coast Saturdays were. I try to keep weekend mornings entirely clear. My favorite way to start a Saturday is get up early and start working on music. I might play or practice anywhere from 7am to noon, with only a few breaks in between. It depends on whether I have any music sessions or jams that day. If I have a session or a jam to go to later that Saturday, I might limit my playing and practice time during the lead up so that I don't overdo it before going to the jam.

Sundays are pretty similar but I often play in a Sunday afternoon Irish session, so my Sunday mornings usually consist of a light practice session where I run through tunes I might want to play if called upon to lead or suggest a tune that day. I'm a list maker so I usually make a list of tunes before going to the session.

I think tune learning practice can be a form of creativity. Especially if you approach it with the routine of listening to an existing tune then creating a tune of your own that sounds like the existing tune. Rinse and repeat. You might start off with a version of the tune that doesn't share many notes with the source recording. Over time perhaps you can eventually match the source recording note for note. Or perhaps you simply trust your ear even though the notes you're playing may not be exactly as the tune is written. Once you have close to a 100% match, then you can veer off again, knowing that at any time you could go back to the original if/when you want to. I think it's as simple as that.

First Time Attending the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, OR

This is my third summer living in the Portland, OR area, but yesterday was the first time I had been to the annual Waterfront Blues Festival, which is held each summer around July 4th in South Hawthorne Waterfront Park along the Willamette River. 

The festival got onto my calendar this year because the famous (famous to me) Ethiopian musician Hailu Mergia was going to be there on the 3rd day of the 3-day festival, but I procrastinated on buying tickets. Despite a strong Thursday lineup that included Rose City Band, Garcia Birthday Band, True Loves, and Cymande(!), we hadn't planned on going all three days, just Saturday, July 4th. Another reason for hesitancy was because my wife had major knee surgery four months ago and she wasn't sure until recently whether she'd be ready for all the walking and standing that comes with a music festival, but she was! When I found out earlier this week that Hailu Mergia wasn't going to be able to make it my initial reaction was "oh no!", but we decided to check it out anyway. 

I didn't know what to expect other than to expect it to be crowed, which it both was and wasn't. The festival entrance is a short walk from the Yamhill District MAX light rail stop so we took the train down. Very easy to get to. Not knowing what the food options or lines would be like, we didn't want to show up hungry so we stopped into Paddy's, a great Irish pub just across the street from the MAX stop, and got a late lunch and watched the first half of the France vs. Paraguay World Cup match before going in. Our plan was to just go to the festival from about 3pm to 8pm and be back home before the fireworks and we pretty much stuck to that plan.

There are three stages total and the way they have it set up is pretty cool. The two stages in the primary part of the festival grounds are angled at opposite ends of the same riverfront area, and it's timed so that when the music on one stage ends the band on the opposite stage begins almost immediately. If you position your chairs a certain way you can see both stages and have an idyllic view of the river. There's also a big video screen set up between these two stages. To get to the 3rd stage you simply walk under the Hawthorne bridge and there it is. The whole festival area is relatively condensed and they definitely make great use of the available space.

We saw full sets by Brittany Davis, Jujuba, and Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble, and most of the performances by Ural Thomas and the Pain and Jenny Don't and the Spurs. Due to overlapping stage times we completely missed The Seratones and Orquestra Pacifico Tropical but you can't be in two places at once. Even though it has the word Blues in the festival title, the music that we saw ranged from jazz to African to soul to Grateful Dead meets Motown to honky-tonk country. It was quite diverse. The Waterfront Blues Festival reminded me of the Richmond Folk Festival in Richmond, VA that I used to attend every year.

The weather was absolutely perfect and the overall vibe was very easy going, respectful and relaxed. You can bring in empty reusable water bottles or factory sealed water bottles. You're supposed to bring low-profile lawn chairs but after knee surgery Laura said that ain't happening, so we just brought a couple cheap-oh Dick's Sporting Goods folding chairs and that worked out fine. We were able to position our chairs near the Stay and Sway stage then walk over to the other two stages as needed. No hassles whatsoever. It got more crowded as the day went on but it was easy to get drinks and there wasn't even a line for the porta potties until right when we were leaving. I love a good city center music festival and next year I might plan for all three days. 

A lot of people come down to the Portland waterfront to watch the 4th of July fireworks, so the volume of people was increasing rapidly as we made our way out in the opposite direction of the foot traffic. We don't really care about fireworks, and it was time to get home to our dog, plus we've seen Tank and the Bangas before so I didn't feel compelled to stick around after dark. We got home just as the sun was setting. It was a perfect day.

***

The Note D in Irish Traditional Music (jigs, reels, hornpipes, and such)

After a very unscientific observation I've determined that the note D is the most common note in Irish traditional music. I have a sort of half-baked idea built around this note that I'm hoping to flesh out by writing a post about it. Here goes.

First off, you have to know the pattern of the major scale: 1•2•34•5•6•71•2•34•5•6•71 and so on. For brevity, lets think of the major scale as this: 1•2•34•5•6•71.

OK, so the D-major scale looks like this: D•E•F#G•A•B•C#D. In other words, in the D-major scale D is the 1st note of the major scale. However, it is also common in Irish music for D to be the 5th note of the major scale. That looks like this: 5•6•71•2•34•5 or D•E•F#G•A•BC•D (one sharp key signature, also known as D-Mixolydian). Note that the only difference between these two is whether the C note is a C-natural or a C-sharp. D whistles can also play in this key.

A little less common, but D can also show up as the 4th note of the major scale: 4•5•6•71•2•34 or D•E•F#•G#A•B•C#D (three sharps key signature, better known as A-Major). D whistles might have to skip any G# notes in the tune. I've also seen D function as the 2nd note of the major scale: 2•34•5•6•71•2 or D•EF•G•A•BC•D (all white keys on the piano, this is called D-Dorian). Whistle players use a special whistle for tunes in this D-Dorian mode.

I can think of one more place where D might pop up and that is as the 6th note of the major scale: 6•71•2•34•5•6 or D•EF•G•ABb•C•D (key signature has one flat, maybe G-Dorian or D-Aeolian). This one is quite rare though and whistle player might just sit this one out entirely.

You're not going to have a D-natural note in the key of E-major (E•F#•G#A•B•C#•D#E) or the key of B-major (B•C#•D#E•F#•G#•A#B) for example, but those keys aren't really part of Irish trad in my experience. With me so far? I'm not even sure that I am! 

When D is the first note of the major scale, let's call that D-1. 4th note of the major scale = D-4. 5th note of the major scale = D-5. 2nd note of the major scale = D-2. And 6th note of the major scale = D-6.

Now let's add a slash to indicate the tonal center, because in Irish music the tonal center isn't always D. It can also be E, G, A or B. Maybe even F! 

• D-1/D = D is first note of major scale and it's also the tonal center (ex: Lady Anne Montgomery)
• D-1/E = D is first note of major scale and E is the tonal center (ex: Morrison's Jig)
• D-1/A = D is first note of major scale and A is the tonal center (ex: High Reel)
• D-1/B = D is first note of major scale and B is the tonal center (ex: Musical Priest)
• D-5/D = D is fifth note of major scale and it's also the tonal center (ex: Banish Misfortune)
• D-5/G = D is fifth note of major scale and G is the tonal center (ex: Far From Home)
• D-5/A = D is fifth note of major scale and A is the tonal center (ex: Lilting Banshee)
• D-5/E = D is fifth note of major scale and E is the tonal center (ex: Rights of Man)
• D-4/A = D is fourth note of major scale and A is the tonal center (ex: Boys of Malin)
• D-2/D = D is second note of major scale and it's also the tonal center (ex: Julia Delaney's)
• D-6/D = D is sixth note of the major scale and it's also the tonal center (ex: The Sailor's Wife)
• D-6/G = D is sixth note of major scale and G is the tonal center (ex: The Golden Castle, Splendid Isolation)

I think that covers most of the scenarios except for maybe some Liz Carroll tunes!

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How Ben Franklin Improved His Writing (Putting Tunes Into Your Own "Words")

I recently went to Powell's and found used copies of the following self improvement and learning books:

-Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Rodiger III, and Mark A McDaniel

-Peak: Secrets from The New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool

-Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

-Mindset - The New Psychology of Success: How We Can Fulfill Our Potential by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.

I'll probably be sharing any tips or points that I extrapolate from these books, starting with something I read in Peak.

When he was a young man, Benjamin Franklin came up with a way to improve his writing. He was a fan of the British magazine The Spectator so he devised a way to teach himself how to write as well as the articles in that magazine.

Franklin's idea was to attempt to reproduce the sentences from an article he had read after he had forgotten the exact wording. He wrote down brief descriptions of each sentence - just enough to help him recall what the sentence was about. After several days of not looking at the articles, he would then try to reproduce the article from memory based on the hints he had given himself. He wasn't trying to recreate it word-for-word, but come up with his own reproduction in the style of the original. Then he compared the original article to his own sentences and made corrections and improvements as needed.  

This sounds like an excellent way to learn fiddle tunes! How would you go about this? Maybe just try listening to the tune for a few days. Then, without listening to it again, try to recreate it on your instrument. Make up your own tune that, phrase by phrase, sounds as close to the original as you can remember. Play your version for a day or two then go back and listen to the source recording and make refinements as needed. Over time you'll develop your own take of the tune! This is probably similar to how it used to be done in the days before recordings.

Bonus points: Franklin expanded upon his exercise in an effort to improve his vocabulary. After recreating the articles in prose he started re-writing them as poems conforming to a certain meter/rhythm and rhyme scheme. This forced him to search for words that he might not have normally used. What would be the musical equivalent of this? Maybe taking something that is in 4/4 time and converting it to a jig or waltz? Or maybe it's taking something that is pentatonic and making it diatonic? Or maybe it's trying to write a harmony line to go with the melody? I'm not sure! 

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Sheet Music is the Answer (Key)

When you're doing a crossword puzzle do you start by looking at the answer key, or do you wait until you've solved as much of the puzzle as possible before looking at the answers? If you're like most people you probably wait to look at the answer key. Solving the puzzle is the whole point, right?!

So why do we treat music differently? Let's say that you're trying to learn a new jig or reel and you have both the audio recording and the sheet music handy. Why not approach this the same way that you would a crossword? The audio recording is the puzzle and the sheet music is the answer key. Try to solve the problem (how does this tune go?) before being shown the solution (the notes on the page).

Take some time to just listen to the recording and find the notes on your instrument. If you're not in any rush, maybe give it a day or two of listening and playing before you cheat and look at the answer key (AKA the sheet music). It doesn't really even matter if you misheard parts of the piece and were playing it "wrong". 

When you try to come up with the answer yourself - what notes are these - rather than having it presented to you it will lead to better learning and longer retention. Maybe there were some measures in there that completely baffled you. When you finally do look at the sheet music and get the answers to the puzzle, chances are you'll later be able to recall how to play those measures because of this struggle rather than by trying to have memorized it through sight reading.

Disclaimer: I had the idea for this crossword puzzle analogy before looking at Peter Brown's book Make It Stick, but reading his chapter titled "Embrace Difficulties" helped me find the words to put this into writing.

To continue this puzzle comparison further and refence something else that I learned in Make It Stick, if someone says to you "wow you're really good at solving puzzles", then you might be inclined to pick easy puzzles going forward so that you can maintain this image of being really good at puzzles. Whereas, if someone says to you "wow, you must work really hard at solving puzzles", by saying you work hard that will motivate you to want to continue to work hard by choosing more and more difficult puzzles.

Now apply this to music. Do you have a natural ability hear pitches and play by ear? Probably not. But are you willing to work hard at solving the puzzle of playing by ear? Hopefully yes is the answer to that! I definitely still like to have the answer key, but I'm willing to follow the advice of this post and delay my looking at it.  

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