|
Momma Don't 'LowTM is a newsletter to support home-made and roots-based music in general, as well as the readers of our music articles on various web pages, including SchoolOfTheRockTM, Creek Don't RiseTM, and Classic Train SongsTM.
- If you did not get this Momma Don't 'LowTM newsletter through your own e-mail, and you would like to get the newsletters in the future, please Click Here to sign up.
- On the other hand, if you don't want to receive our e-mail updates, please e-mail me with a "Please Unsubscribe" message (worded any way you wish), and we will graciously remove you from our list.
In this Issue - November, 2014
This is the fourth issue of our "Momma Don't 'Low" newsletter. Our mailing list is growing slowly but surely, and the pages we refer to are getting a lot of hits, so hopefully word is getting around.
This issue's articles are:
Beginning Beginning Online Banjo Lessons
Since groups like Mumford and Sons have brought the banjo back to pop radio - at least temporarily - several guitar-playing friends have asked me what it would take to change over. Plus I've given banjo lessons in the past and was never quite satisfied with other folks' approach, especially the notion that their way to play banjo was the ONLY way. So I thought I'd take a whack at it myself. I would love to have meaningful feedback on our first two lessons, whether from pickers or learners. First lesson - chords. Second lesson - right-hand techniques to try. At the moment, I'm thinking the third lesson will be hammering on and pulling off. And the fourth lesson will be playing melody lines using all the previous material. After that, tabs for enough simple songs to keep you with new material to practice for a while. Whatcha think?
If you want to try our first "online banjo lesson," click on the following link. For the mp3s to work right, be sure to open it in a new browser session.
Recently I needed to annotate a 5-string banjo part for "Wabash Cannonball." It's a simple arrangement compared to many others, but after I had it notated in my sequencing software (Sonar X3), I thought I'd try the tabulature feature. It works after a fashion, so I thought I'd share the tabulature with readers. Then I thought about the folks that might not even know the tune that well, and I added sheet music with the lyrics for the first verse and chorus, and mp3 files of the solo at various speeds to help folks figure how all the pieces go together.
To make it most convenient, I put all those resources into a single zip file that you can download and expand on your own HD. Once you're done with any bit, you can delete it from your HD, but in the meantime, you can learn at your own speed. Literally.
Also if you have a version you think is better and you want to make it available for our readers, I would be glad to share it or link to it (providing your site isn't a train wreck).
To hear the part I've arranged by itself, click the following link:
Click on the following link to download everything you need to learn this part, including the Banjo Tab, music, and mp3s.
Post-Mexico Conn Saxophone Update
An alert reader with a 1980s-era Conn Baritone saxophone added this detail - some of the saxophones that Conn marketed under their name after closing their factories in the Southwest were actually Keilwerths. Here's his note:
In the 1980s Keilwerth stencils were sold under the Conn name. My baritone is a 122M DJH Modified low-A. It is identifiably a Keilwerth (esp. by post design), but it has pearl keytouch with more "traditional" Conn dimensions/design.
My horn is engraved with the iconic naked lady design and with the words "DJH Modified". Whether they were made in the US or in West Germany is debated (the H. Kouf stencils were stamped as made in W. Germany for Armstrong, but not the Conns).
Conn is cagey about reporting on the "dark days" after they stopped manufacturing their own horns, so there's nobody there I can ask for verification. And Keilwerth apparently has no record of who they built stencils for in that era. But it's worth noting that a few post-Mexico Conn saxes seem to have been made in Europe before manufacturing moved across the Pacific.
To see the article we added the reader's note to, please click the following link:
It's Not the Song - It's YOU and the Song
RE: Making Moments: In the last five years, there have been two movies that were ostensibly about Country Music that centered around an extraordinary song that would theoretically make someone's career if they recorded it or break it if someone else did. I say "ostensibly," because anyone who's ever spent a week in certain Nashville neighborhoods knows that there are dozens of first-tier songwriters cranking out great songs of all styles every week - better songs than you'll ever hear on the radio, because the marketing geeks for pop and Country radio filter out 99% of the songs that make you think or feel.
What makes the song stand out these days in which anyone can download a thousand songs a day and never run out? Seeing it performed appropriately live. I'm not much of a performer, but I've "brought down the house" with songs that other folks never even considered worth listening to twice. For me it was an accidental aligning of the planets or something, but according to performance coach Tom Jackson you can structure your concerts in such a way that makes you AND the song memorable night after night. And that gets you invited back and sells CDs. One recent (brief) article by Tom Jackson associate Amy Wolter that stresses this new paradigm for the music industry is called "The One Thing a CD Can Never Contain." (I can think of about a thousand things, but that's besides the point.) Even if you never subscribe to any of Tom's services, attend any of his workshops, or buy any of his merchandise, if articles like this one and the ones we've featured earlier give you encouragement, ideas, or direction, they're worth taking a look.
To see "The One Thing a CD Can Never Contain" click on the following link:
Why Pay to Play? Do Some Good With Your Music This Holiday
I know lots of musicians who pay for the chance to play in front of an audience. Here's something to think about - the Salvation Army in many cities wants musicians to play at the kettle - the stores appreciate it, the shoppers appreciate it, and the donations jump way up, compared to just a bell-ringer. In some areas they'll even pay you minimum wage or a little better. That's not why you'd do it, of course.
Yes, you'll be expected to play Christmas music. And in my experience, peppy Christmas tunes people recognize bring in the most donations. "But that's not who I am," you might say. Do you consider yourself an entertainer? Well, this is a great way to get practice entertaining people, at no risk to you, except for the risk of frostbite. (If you play guitar or banjo, the Army can usually place you someplace that has a lobby, so your instrument won't crack. Or your fingers.)
And let's face it, even the greatest entertainers in the world all break down and record an album of Christmas music eventually.
The Salvation Army in most states has to run a background check on you, so sign up early and bring a Social Security card and photo ID (or your passport) just like you would for any job.
Besides, if you've ever wondered if you could make a living busking, this will give you a taste of what that is like, with no risk to your day job.
Our Americana/Roots/Folk Music Discussion Forum - Three Months Out
I keep getting private e-mails about things we discuss on our music forums, but I really want the discussions to be public - even if you call me a poopy-head. (Just kidding.) That's why I started the forums in the first place. The number of folks checking the forums out every day keeps increasing, but they won't be what they should be until more folks are participating. Plus I know from life in general, that I'm not right about everything all the time. So please, sign up, and start giving us your two-cents worth.
To see the Creek Don't Rise discussion forum without signing up, click the following link:
To sign up for the forum (and this newsletter, if you wish), click the following link:
If you'd like to learn a few things about this national holiday that you don't know, and maybe unlearn some things that "everybody knows" that aren't actually true, you might enjoy reading the Thanksgiving-related articles on our FamilyChristmasOnline.com site.
To see the articles, click the following link:
More to Come
If you've spent any time on any of our music sites, you know that we have a lot of topics to share about.
Again, if you did not get this Momma Don't 'LowTM newsletter through your own e-mail, and you would like to get the newsletters in the future, please Click Here to sign up.
In the meantime, if you want to see last month's newsletter, please click the following link:
Keep playing, keep singing, and keep sharing!
Paul D. Race
http://CreekDontRise.com
http://SchoolOfTheRock.com
http://classictrainsongs.com
|
New Wabash Cannonball Banjo Tab & Resources
Thanksgiving Then, and Then, and Now
