From:
Thom Larson
Sent: Sunday, September 21st, 2003
10:46 PM
To: Slow Session Group
Subject:
Slow Session
at The Whistle Shop
Hi All,
It was a fun Slow Session on Saturday; those of you that couldn’t come certainly missed a good time. Our next Slow Session should be on Saturday October 4th; I’ll send out another email if this changes for some reason.
I’ve added a few new tunes to work on at the Slow Session website. Just the sheetmusic is up there now, I’ll try to get some recordings posted in the next week or so.
A few notes about the new tunes:
The Friendly Visit: If you’re new to reading sheetmusic, this one will probably look kind of confusing. Thinking of all the dotted eighths and sixteenth notes as “bouncy regular eighth notes” might help.
Give Me Your Hand: This one looks easy at first glance, but it’s a bit tricky, because it’s not the basic “two A parts & two B parts” kind of set up. In other words, it’s fairly easy to play, but kind of tough to put to memory. Beginning whistle players will probably be thrown a little by the Fnatural near the end of the tune. ‘Fear not – just start the note like you’re playing an E, then very quickly slide your E finger (the 2nd finder of your right hand) half way off of its hole. This is called a “bend”.
The Lilting Fisherman: This one’s pretty straightforward – the only thing worth noting is that each part is in a different key (the A part is in the key of G, the B part is in the key of D).
Until I post the recordings at the website, you’ll find midi versions of these tunes at JC’s TuneFinder – there are versions of all three tunes there that sound pretty similar to the versions that we’re playing. When you get to JC’s website, just type in the name of the tune that you’re looking for, then click on the link that’s labeled “midi” to hear the recording. NOTE - I wouldn’t recommend using midi recordings very much for practicing (they’re usually very dry and mechanical sounding…), but they’re good for getting the melody of the tune into your head.
Mark your calendars now for the next Slow Session! Remember - even though the tunes are posted at the website so that you can practice them on your own, there is no substitute for the experience of playing with other players!!! Even if you haven’t had a chance to work on all of the tunes, coming to all the Slow Sessions is very important. Even if you’ve only worked on one or two tunes, just play those at the Session, then sit back and listen to the other tunes (or play along with any of the parts that you know).
Thom Larson
