Golf and Music: Applying the way I played golf to the way I play music

It's been a couple years since I've held a club, but I grew up playing and working at a rural public golf course. I always had a fairly unconventional approach to the game. For one thing, I questioned the concept of “par”. Some courses the pros play on that are par 70 during the tournament actually contain two par fives that are being called par fours that week to make them “harder”. If I was designing a golf course, I wouldn’t assign par to any of the holes. I would just let them be whatever the person playing them thought they were. For example, a 250 yard hole could either be considered an easy par four or a difficult par three. It’s the same hole either way, so why define it by assigning par?

I also never took any formal lessons. My dad always played and I started fairly young. I just went out and played by feel and didn't worry about the technicalities. Not that I was all that great, but I feel like I played in a very pure manner. I wasn't that competitive and didn't really enjoy playing in tournaments. I just liked playing for the sake of playing. I would go out and walk with an ultra-light carry bag, carrying only 6 clubs instead of the normal 14: a 3-wood, hybrid, 6-iron, 9-iron, sand wedge and putter. That’s all you really need. You just eyeball it and make whatever club you have in your hands work as best as possible for the shot required. Some of the best times I had playing were when the course was deserted after a rain storm or tournament, when you could make up your own holes by playing them backwards or to the green of another nearby hole.

What does this have to do with music? Well, a couple things. As I mentioned above, I never really took golf lessons and rarely if ever read any instructional materials. I just played without thinking about it that way. Compare that to music where I've taken lessons and purchased dozens of instructional books and tunebooks. Not that that's bad, but why can't I just play music in a non-intellectual manner completely by feel? Why does it have to be defined as a jig or waltz; hornpipe or reel? Can't you just play it the way you want it to sound?

Golf is an ancient game. It’s easy to forget that with golf carts, super-size drivers, satellite range finders, dress codes, and monstrous homes lining the fairways. Likewise, traditional music is an ancient form of music. Unlike golf, however, there's a preservationist streak running through traditional music with players using vintage instruments and mimicking the style of source musicians from generations earlier. With golf, it's always about the latest technology. I wonder if there are traditional golf subcultures out there that use vintage clubs and other equipment?

I scoff at golfers who use range finders or satellite GPS to find out how far away they are, instead of just judging it naturally. Who cares if you're off by a little bit here or there? But with music I rely on an electric tuner to tell me if I’m in tune or not. Because of this dependency I don’t know how to tune by ear. I would like to change that by adopting the more casual method of judging whether or not I'm in tune - with myself or others - by ear. This would really help at traditional Irish sessions where no one seems to use a tuner.

Golf is a very popular game with lots of amateur participation. The level that your average duffer plays at is miles away from the touring players on TV. But that doesn't stop them from playing and enjoying it. With music I think people fall short from pursuing it as a legitimate hobby because they know they can't sound like their musical heroes. So I say play music for the same reason you would be playing golf...for the sheer fun of it and don't worry too much if you can't play like Jerry, same a as a golfer who can't play like Jack doesn't let that stop him.

I always preferred playing to practice. That applies to music too. But one thing I did with golf was to invent little games to make practice more interesting. Like on a putting green I'd have mini competitions between two different brands of golf balls, seeing which one could have the lowest score. This lead to many hours on the practice green as a youth. If I could come up with a similar musical concept involving scales, exercises, ornamentations, technique, ear training - the stuff I need to work on more - then that might make me want to practice these things more.

With golf I respected the etiquette and rules of the game, within reason. When it comes to music, I’d like to think that I share that same respect for etiquette and (unspoken) rules when it comes to music sessions. In this way golf and music are similar. Finally, with golf I didn’t always enjoy playing with complete beginners, AKA duffers. With music I have more empathy for beginners, being that I am pretty much one myself. At least it's rare that I encounter anyone that I perceive as having more novice musical skills than my own. I feel like I'm the most beginner person in most situations. So that's one thing I can take from music back to golf should I ever decide to play again.

Music Performance Tips

If you play music, chances are you're going to be asked to perform from time to time.  This can be nerve-racking no matter what your level of ability.  Here are some pointers for those situations.

drawing by Katy Ellis O'Brien

• Engage the audience by smiling and making eye contact. 
• Start out strong with a number you can play well and really enjoy playing.  
• Focus on material that is well within your capability. 
• Look like you are having a good time even if you are scared to death!
  
• Audiences tend to be very forgiving of nerves and a few missed notes. They are on your side and want you to succeed.
  

Music is about the heart and soul, not perfection.

• Don’t call attention to mistakes and don't dwell on them.  Just keep going.  Often folks don’t even know that you screwed up.  
• Be proud of yourself for even being in this position and having the opportunity to share the fruits of your labor with others. 
• Performing is like acting.  Act like this is the most important time you’ll ever play this song.
• Play what you think will sound good and/or what you would like someone to play for you.

Performer by Katy Ellis O'Brien

• Be in the moment. Avoid inner dialogue that can make you feel distracted and flustered. Self-criticism will only cause you to lose focus.
• Do not speculate over what others might be thinking about your performance while it is happening. Wait until after the performance, when you have heard other people's reactions, to reserve judgement - if at all.
• Motion creates emotion. If you engage in body language or facial expressions that your body associates with being nervous or apprehensive, then your body will assume that you are in that mood.  Instead, try to exude relaxation and confidence in the way that you carry yourself.

Most of all - forget about what others might think and just have fun!

The Irish Tenor Banjo Top Ten

What everyone has been waiting for!  A list of the top ten Irish Tenor Banjo CDs!  At least these are the ones I like the best and/or found out about first.

John Carty - I Will If I Can

This 2005 CD features John Carty on tenor banjo and tenor guitar and is probably my favorite tenor banjo album.  Carty is tasteful, mellow and varied...not too notey.  I also love the sound of the bodhran, and Carty is backed up on some tracks by Johnny McDonagh.  Alec Finn (bouzouki) and Brian McGrath (piano) help lift these inspired interpretations of tunes.

Angelina Carberry – An Traidisiún Beo
Tasteful, understated plucking that swings.  Angelina Carberry is a good person for aspiring tenor banjo players to listen to and this is a good one to start with! 

John Carty and Brian McGrath - The Cat That Ate the Candle

This earlier John Carty CD is minimalist trad at its best:  Irish tenor banjo with piano accompaniment.  A nice selection of fairly common tunes and old school playing. 

Éamonn Coyne - Through the Round Window

Eamonn Coyne has a more modern style, bringing more influences to the table.  Like all of the albums on this list, this one is mostly instrumental although there are two vocal tracks.  He dusts off some traditional tunes while also venturing into a little jazzy/country territory as well.  Very dynamic.

Liam Farrell and Joe Whelan - They Sailed Away from Dublin Bay

When it comes to straight-up Irish tenor banjo / accordion duos, it doesn't get much better than Liam Farrell (banjo) and Joe Whelan (accordion).  This relatively obscure CD is the most recent acquisition to my list, but it's also my current favorite.  I just really like the old style, melodic playing and how the banjo and accordion interact.  Piano and flute add some color to the tunes, but this lively set of tunes is dominated by the chemistry between Farrell and Whelan.

(Kevin Griffin) – Across the Pond

Get this album if you want to hear an ensemble play cheerful, casual session music.  Kevin Griffin's banjo doesn't steal the show, but rather it's part of the ensemble that includes Roger Burridge (fiddle), Quentin Cooper (mandolin, guitar, bass) and Michael Shorrock (bouzouki).  Griffin is from Doolin in West Clare.

Kieran Hanrahan - Plays the Irish Tenor Banjo

Many consider this CD to be the standard among all other Irish tenor banjo recordings.  Kieran has the uncanny ability of taking something very complex and make it sound effortless and simple.  He's a good one to emulate. 
 

Brian McGrath and Johnny Óg Connolly - Dreaming Up the Tunes

Brian McGrath plays piano backup on the two John Carty CDs on this list, but on Dreaming Up the Tunes he gets a chance to shine on banjo and play with the great accordionist Johnny Óg Connolly. Brilliant.

Enda Scahill – Pick It Up

This debut album from the innovative tenor banjoist demonstrates his propensity to play fast and with flair.  Enda has the chops to pull it off.  I recommend combining this CD with a purchase of his Irish Banjo Tutor volume I and II.  There is indispensible knowledge in those tutors, and when listening to this CD you can hear that expertise being implemented "up to speed".

Darren Maloney – Who?

This is the least traditional album on the list. Imagine what Bela Fleck would sound like if he played tenor banjo, and you'd have some idea of where Darren Maloney may be coming from.  Who? contains 15 original compositions by this virtuoso who has obviously put in countless hours of devotion to get this level of creativity and comfort with the style.  Purists sometimes write off things that are too forward-thinking, but this is not a CD to be discounted.  

Those are the ten best out of the ones I've heard.  There's a few more I'd like to get, such as the following banjo albums from my wish list:

Christy Dunne - Pluckin' Good

Banjo solo CD by a member of the prominent Limerick musical family.  Features De Dannan fiddler Frankie Gavin.

Seán O'Driscoll and Larry Egan - The Kitchen Recordings

Literally recorded around a kitchen table, this CD is reputed to have a homey, relaxed vibe.  Can't wait to hear it!

Mick O'Connor & Antoin MacGabhann - Doorways and Windowsills

I've checked out some videos of Mick O'Connor playing and I really like what he's doing.  He may not be as well known as some of the others, but he appears to be on par with the best.  

Chris Smith – Coyote Banjo

I'm looking forward to getting this album.  I believe Chris Smith is an American musician now residing in Texas.  Coyote Banjo also features Roger Landes on bouzouki and Randal Bays on fiddle.


Then of course there's Mick Moloney, Gerry O'Connor, Barney McKenna...the list goes on!

Midnight Brewery - Goochland, VA

Last Friday evening I visited Midnight Brewery, a new brewery tucked away in the Goochland County Industrial Park, near I-64 exit 173 in Rockville.  Smaller than a microbrewery, Midnight is considered a nanobrewery and uses a 3 barrel system to produce its beers.  Owner Trae Cairns currently offers two beers:  an Irish Red and a Kolsch-style ale called New Beginnings.  (He was out of the special Banana Pancake collaboration with Hardywood).  I sampled both.  The Kolsch was nice and crisp – a good summer time beer.  But I really liked the Irish Red - which Cairn calls the Rockville Red - it one-ups Smithwick’s! 

There’s a tasting room in the front office of Midnight Brewery’s 1,200 square foot warehouse, where you can also have growlers filled!  The brewery is a little hard to find, but once you turn on Granite Ridge Road it’ll be a short ways down on the right, in what looks like an office building.  Check Midnight’s Facebook page for tasting room hours. 

Midnight Brewery

2410 Granite Ridge Road

Rockville, VA  23146

midnightbreweryllc@gmail.com

Desert Island Discs

The other day on the Ricky Gervais Show they were talking about desert island discs - the eight records you would take to a desert island.  Karl Pilkington never got around to picking his eight, but it got me thinking about what mine would be.  (In my case it would be albums and not individual songs).

A few years ago, before I was trying to play traditional music (or any music), that list of 8 (or 10) would have been pretty straightforward.  First and foremost, I'd want to have CDs by the artists that have meant the most to me over the years - the bands for whom I have all of their albums and/or the ones I've seen the most in concert.  Such as Phish (Story of the Ghost), The Grateful Dead (Reckoning), Ween (The Mollusk), Medeski Martin and Wood (Shackman), John Prine (John Prine), Gillian Welch (the Harrow and the Harvest),  Dr. Dog (Easy Beat) and The Hot Seats (Live). In this case the album chosen would be almost arbitrary - serving as a memory of all the good times I've had listening to their music.  Next, there are those one-off albums...the ones that for some reason are all-time favorites by artists who I never could really get into other than that one recording.  Black Eyed Man by The Cowboy Junkies, Other Voices Other Rooms by Nanci Griffith, O'Cracker Where Art Thou by Cracker, Two Sevens Clash by Culture, More a Legend than a Band by The Flatlanders, and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by the Flaming Lips come to mind.

I'm already way over ten, but nowadays I could just as easily fill up the list with Irish and old-time music.  Since I'm trying to learn to play these (mostly) instrumental tunes, I tend to listen to this music as an aural aid with the end goal of being able to play it better, so YouTube and other field recordings of regular folks playing these tunes is often as helpful as anything else. Although my list would have to include the Ceili Bandits' Hangin' at the Crossroads, Rare Rags and String Band Blues by Adam Tanner and the Dirty Rag Mob, and perhaps even a music play-along recording like A Portland Play Along Selection, or maybe that classic Fuzzy Mountain String Band album I have yet to hear.  And don't forget Angelina Carberry -- ought to have some strictly tenor banjo music there.

I've realized that narrowing it down to 8 is not something I can do.  The end.

Music and Language

Languages are tools that fit their cultural niche.  The words in our vocabulary determine how we think.  Take, for example, the Pirahã - a group of hunter-gatherers who live along the Maici River in Brazil's Amazon region.  Their unwritten language consists of just eight consonants and three vowels. It lacks many of the grammatical characteristics found in other languages.  Yet the Pirahã communicate just fine, using a complex array of tones, stresses and syllable lengths to convey meaning.

Pirahã culture drives the Pirahã linguistic system.  The tribe has no terms for color and no words for numbers.  They have a limited ability to work with quantities greater than two.  They live in the immediate present, accepting as real only that which they can directly observe and experience.  They have no interest in what happened in the distant past to people not personally known to them.  They tell stories about events they have recently participated in, witnessed or been told about.  They have no collective memory that extends back more than one or two generations, no tradition of art or drawing, and no creation myths.  They are not concerned about the future.  They seldom plan ahead more than one day.  They do not preserve food or make objects for long term use.  All this might lead you to believe that their language (or lifestyle) is inferior, but it’s simply the product of their environment – a dangerous jungle habitat where they happen to live very happily.

Most of what is known about the Pirahã  comes from the work of Dan Everett, a linguist who has lived with and studied them for over 30 years.  He explains his findings in the book Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes; a book that I was reading when it dawned on me that the concept of culture driving language could be compared to the ethos behind traditional music.

Music is also a language.  Musical phrases begin with a tonic chord or note (the subject).  The phrase develops with the notes that follow the tonic, whether harmonious or conflicting (this is the verb).  Finally, the musical phrase comes to a resolution or cadence (the period). 

Like the Pirahã language, traditional music exists within a fairly rudimentary structure cultivated by its environs.  Proponents of Western classical music see this compression as evidence that folk music is inferior and therefore not to be taken seriously.  However - as in the Pirahã language’s use of complex tones, stresses and syllable lengths - development in traditional music occurs in the myriad ways in which one can perform a tune.  Spontaneity, knowledge, experience, tone, style, expression and interpretation all play a part.

Also like the Pirahã language, traditional music is an oral tradition learned predominantly by ear through listening to others and not through any formal intellectual analysis.  Repertory and phrasing are much more important than knowledge of music theory.  Reading off the page and knowing scales and modes (the grammar) is unnecessary and can sometimes even hinder a traditional musician.  Sheet music is simply short hand, expressing few of the nuances.  In other words, the music was already doing what it was doing long before engravers came along to try and notate it.  

With so much sheet music available these days via the online public domain, it’s very easy to defer to someone’s transcription as the “correct” way to play the tune.  But that is not the way to play or learn this music.  Something is lost in the transcription/translation.  I hope to get more comfortable with trusting my ear and, oddly enough, I think this knowledge of the Pirahã can help me gain that confidence.

Froggy Mountain Boys - Route 77

For several years now I’ve been following the career of globetrotting multi-instrumentalist and fiddler extraordinaire Aaron Lewis.  Formerly of Special Ed & the Shortbus (now The Hot Seats), Jackass Flats and other Richmond, VA bands, Aaron is currently based in Berlin and maintains a busy schedule traveling the world in various incarnations and ensembles.  (For example he and former bandmate Ben Belcher just finished a national tour supporting Thomas Dolby of She Blinded Me With Science fame).  One fine group Aaron is involved with is the Berlin-based five-piece country-gypsy jüggernaut The Froggy Mountain Boys.

Aaron Lewis

Earlier this year The Froggy Mountain Boys quietly released the studio album Route 77.  This is some of the happiest, good-timey, toe-tapping music you’ll ever hear!  Oozlin’ sounds of fiddle, banjo, bass, clarinet, guitar and more fiddle!  Mr. Lewis has done well to find this eclectic group of talented players to record and gig with.  Most impressive is the fact that Route 77 was recorded entirely live and acoustic with no overdubs in one day in October of 2011 in Berlin.  Listen for yourself here: stream Route 77 on BandCamp.

The Froggy Mountain Boys - Route 77 album cover

According to his website news, Aaron should be back in the states at, among other places, this year's Galax Fiddlers Convention, which I hope to attend.  Perhaps there I'll get to hear this fiddlin' fool in person once again.