Brrrr. Feels like Winter!

Hi! Remember me? The Trad? I'm still here. I haven't forgotten you, I promise! It's already November. I can't believe it! Where did the time go?

I guess when it feels like summer all the way through October, you can't be faulted for not realizing it's nearly winter, can you? But the heat in our house is on, and I cannot ignore reality for much longer. I wear long johns now when I sit at the computer. I'm thinking about breaking out the fingerless mitts my folks gave me for Christmas last year...

Friendly note: If the heat is on in your house, put your dampit in your case or your instrument right away! I gave you this lecture last year, so I'll spare you, but if you need one: for fiddle/mandolin http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=Dampit; for guitar/bouzouki http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=guitar+humidifier&src=00630&247SEM; for flute: http://shakuhachi.com/Q-Acc-Humidifier.html. For accordion? You wanta go in there and scrape the rust off?

Rick (in Eric's guitar class) keeps his home humidified and leaves his guitars out on stands or the wall. I envy him, frankly, because that means he lives in a more modern dwelling. We live in a 150 year old home. There are gaps in the floorboards. Everything shrinks up in the winter. It's easier (and probably cheaper) for us to slather ourselves with lotion and put dampits in the instrument cases. The cat and dog disagree, but they're not paying the bills, now are they?

Anyway, Slow Session is next Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 PM. Roger Mock will be finishing up his guitar class at about 7:15, so if you come in early, please just mill around and let them finish up! I will be working on pulling together versions of tunes tonight and will post them on a page on my website. I'll also bring the spots for the tunes. Julie and Jennifer had a great idea in September: they both had binders with their tunes in them. That's one way to keep track of what we've worked on, or tunes you'd like to recommend. I'd still like to get away from using the spots DURING the session, though, as much as possible! I love the idea of having a reference book for tunes, and we should have that before Christmas, but let's keep the session focused on playing tunes slowly, and not using the music so much, ok?

Now that we're picking tunes the month ahead, and posting them, everyone should have time to practice the tunes before coming. We still want to keep tunes as a slow pace. There are other opportunities, such as the Comhaltas session or the Jose Malone's session to try out your tunes in a regular session setting. This is the repertoire building opportunity! And I thank you all for making it possible. I love learning new stuff, going over old stuff, and developing my ear thanks to you guys. I hope you're enjoying it too.

See you next week, and until then, stay toasty!

The Trad

We're havin' a heat wave....

Hi! It's a beautiful day in the mid-Hudson Valley today. It's about 45 degrees F around here, and it's quite sunny. Hard to believe that two days ago it was about 5 degrees with the wind chill. And last week, we had weather in the low 60s. This wild weather makes me kind of skittish, though. I worry about my instrument handling the transition from warm house to cold car to stuffy session.

Is that a chicken or a fiddle?
I finally had to cave and put my little humidifier thing in my fiddle because my pegs kept shrinking and slipping and the strings would loosen all up. My husband says the dampit looks like one of those built-in chicken roaster thermometer things. Halfway through the session it'll start to pop out, and then somebody says, "I think you're done!" (Oh, I'm sure they're joking! ...um...aren't they?)

I said "dampit"
Anyway, you ought keep an eye on the humidity, or lack thereof, in your house, and think about buying a humidifier for either the room you put your instrument in or for the instrument or case itself. (I think I might do both this year, because my short-haired cat is starting to look like a fuller brush.) I'm especially concerned for my friends with wooden instruments: your mandolins, guitars, zouks, flutes, and fiddles. If you don't own a damp-it for your instrument, please get one. They are worth ten times their weight for people who live in cold, dry climates. And they really don't cost much. As for flutes, I suspect you might have to clean them out a little differently in winter and use a damp-it when you're not playing. Check out this link for more info on flute care: http://www.caseyburnsflutes.com/care.php.

The Case with Cases
My friend Linda Baker (RIP) told me that when her band was on the road they had a little mishap with a cold guitar: they'd been traveling with the instruments in the trunk of the car. It was really cold outside, and when they arrived at the gig, they brought all the instruments inside. Without waiting for stuff to warm up, somebody opened up a guitar case and it was so cold inside that when the instrument came in contact with the warm air in the room, the finish cracked. So, take your time and let your case and instrument get warmed before you start playing at a session or a gig. The music'll keep and you can finally get that pint you've been pining for.

Glacial tunes...
So, next Wednesday is our December slow session: 12/13 at 7:30 PM at the Old Songs Building, 37 S. Main, Voorheesville, NY. Last month, we handed out the sheet music for The Three Sea Captains, a set dance piece, for study fun! We'll try it out next week, along with the jigs and reels we did last time. Also, there's been a request for Carty's Jig, so let's dust it off and play it. I've got to scan it in, but I'll post it here for y'all to practice.

Stay Warm and See You Soon! -- Hilary