Saturday, June 20, 2015

Happy Summer! Next Slow Sesh 9/16

Well, friends, another school year has come and gone. I was just looking back at the volume of music we learned. We were busy! Our final session of the season was last Wednesday. While it was small (three of us), we more than made up for it with some great discussions about melody and chords, and accompaniment styles. Paul and Nancy shared some really interesting and useful information about modes, keys and chords. We explored some of the differences between old timey, bluegrass and Irish styles of playing and accompanying. Finally, we spent a good bit of time messing around with one of Brendan Tonra's jigs and backing jigs on guitar. We also explored backing reels with The Banshee reel with just a couple of chords and then with more complicated chord changes.

Next Year's Fun
I'd like to put together the repertoire for 2015-2016 in August, so I'm inviting all of you to send me tune suggestions by end of July. We're going to do something new this Fall - we will prepare sets for performance. I anticipate that a portion of every session will be spent reviewing the sets. We'll have a couple of new learning tunes each month, and we'll go over tunes from this past season. There will also be a listening segment. Expect a packed and fun session experience this coming season! As always, walk in participants and listeners are always welcome.

Thank You!
I've so enjoyed meeting and getting to know all of you - you inspire me with the strides you've all made in your music and the depth of your knowledge on a variety of subjects. I hope you all continue to come to the session and share this amazing music with me!

Have a wonderful summer, and I will see you in September!

Hilary

p.s. there may be an opportunity for us to get together and have a slow session over the summer, but I haven't booked anything yet. I'll be sure to let you know if I can get a date or two together!

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Slow Session Tonight - Wed. June 17 from 7:30-9 PM

Hi, gang,

We'll be meeting tonight in the upstairs lobby of the Old Songs building because 37 S. Main is Festival Central and we need to have a small footprint so we don't mess up their organized chaos!

We will play tunes we've worked on this spring. No learning tunes tonight. Looking forward to seeing you if you can make it!

Cheers,

Hilary