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MUSIC
DIARY:
February
27th, 2006
My
schedule is almost completely full these days. Everyone's been really
good about staying up-to-date. Because I now have so many students,
I'm going to be changing a couple things. The first thing may not come
up, but if you need to reschedule a lesson, you're going to probably
need to switch with someone, so I'm going to give an updated roster
out. If you can call or e-mail whoever you want to switch with, and
then just let me know before hand, that would probably be the easiest
way to do it. The other thing you can do is come on Friday, but you
need to let me know before hand, so I'll know to be here.
Next
thing is that there is a performance for the advanced students on April
1st (no joke) at Café Felix at 4pm. Because of this, there will
be an advanced group lesson March 7th, and a free one-hour rehearsal
on March 28th. I'm going to have the kids come up with their own harmonies
for a couple of tunes at the group lesson, then they will have a month
(and spring break) to practice them before the rehearsal. This
also means there will be no beginner group in March!
…but
don't fear if you're a beginner, because the next thing I'm doing is
splitting up the groups into beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
January 1, 2006
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday vacation. I am looking forward
to a new year of fun and fiddling. Each year I try to re-organize everything
by updating my schedule, taking in more students, and updating my teaching
method. To go along with this I update all of my packets with better
handwriting and new songs. Make sure you get the updated version when
you come to your lesson. In addition, it does not hurt to go back and
review your old songs to look for updated notes and fingerings. Almost
all the songs in the first and second packet have lyrics, which are
very helpful for remembering how the song goes. I have also made a CD
of the first packet that I will sell for $5. The first track is of me
playing open E, A, D, and G so you can tune your instrument to mine.
My idea is that if you listen to the CD and get the tunes in your head,
then they will be easier to learn.
Group lessons are back to the normal schedule, however starting this
month they will run from 5-6:30 for $15 instead of 5-6 for $10. Advanced
group is on Tuesday, January 3rd and beginner group is on Tuesday, January
31st. I still have not heard back from Mary Schallert about her Alaska
City Folk Arts performance time at the Anchorage
Folk Festival, but I did get a time slot for my advanced
players at 2:30pm on Saturday, January 28th. If you are unable
to do this, please let me know as soon as possible so I can start planning
the set.
I have almost everyone’s e-mail address and I sent out an e-mail
with this newsletter, the phone number and e-mail address I have for
you, and your new lesson time. Either e-mail me or let me know at your
lesson that the information I have is correct. After I confirm everything,
I’ll print out a calendar and a roster for everyone. Keep in mind
that I’ll be using e-mail a lot more to get information, events,
and reminders out to everyone faster.
I wish everyone good luck in the new year and encourage all the fiddlers
to keep up the good work. You all have progressed so much and the school
year is only halfway through. I can’t wait to see where everyone’s
at by summertime. Happy fiddling!
10-31-05
Happy
Halloween! I hope everyone is doing well and kept practicing while
I was out of town. I got back from Nashville just last night and
had an awesome time. Not only did I partake in some fun jams, but also
I got to watch concerts from Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent, April Verch,
and many more practically for free. The contest was awesome too. I
ended up getting 9th in the prelims and 18th in the invitational. I've
never been to a contest like it. Before I get too carried away with
stories, I need to take care of some housekeeping:
I
want to make sure that everyone understands how to pay for lessons. I
will give you the option to pay all at once, or pay for each lesson
individually. I will keep track of payments on a slip and give
you at the end of the month to show how much you paid or how much you
owe. I charge more this year than I did last year because I am
living on my own. 30-minute lessons are $20, and 45-minute lessons
are $30. I no longer do hour lessons (with the exception of Kianna/Quinlyn)
because I do not have time. I give discounts to those who apply.
I
also need to make it very clear that my schedule is very tight. I
do not have much room to move stuff around. If you need to change
your lesson time or switch for one week, you should try to switch with
someone else and then call me. I am already missing my Tuesday/Thursday
class more half the time to teach group lessons and whatnot. Ask
me for a roster if you need phone numbers of other students' parents
in order to contact them.
On
a happier note, our mini recital/potluck is scheduled for November 26
(the Saturday after Thanksgiving) at 5pm at my parent's house. Please
do not invite more then a couple people because there is not much room
at the house. I am very excited for this event, because it is going
to give these kids a chance to show off what they practice so hard for. I
am also going to look into getting my band to play a tune or two if
I can. To prepare for this recital, the group lesson schedule will
be different this month. Advanced group is normal (Nov. 1), Beginner
group will be Nov. 15, and we will also have a combined group lesson
Nov. 22. So tell those little ones to keep practicing hard and
get ready for a great recital and lots of leftover thanksgiving foodJ
If
you want to look ahead, I would also start thinking about the Anchorage
Folk Festival in January. I will probably try to get a set in for
the kids there if I can. If not, there are always lots of workshops
and great performances to go check out. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
12-31-04
I hope the new year will bring me lots of new opportunities. I have
plenty of new resolutions including practicing for nationals in June
and keeping my teaching business more organized. I'm kind of
bummed that I can't afford to go to the Rocky Mountain Fiddle Championships
in Denver this month. I had a really good time last year. I actually
got a call from a group of friends down there that were hoping I could
come. They were having a jam session and played some songs for me. I
always love it when they do that.
I can't really jam like that way up here in AK because no one plays
that style. Oh well. Once my students grow up, I'll be able to jam with
them up here. I guess I just have to be patient.
My band is practically finished with our new CD. After a couple more
recording sessions, all we have to do is wait for the final product
to be sent to us from wherever. I'm really excited about this CD. It
has a lot of Dawg music with some really cool arrangements and even
an original. Our band has developed a really unique style and I really
like it. I can't wait to show it off at the Juneau Folk Festival in
April.....oooh. I hope it doesn't conflict with the Hallettsville contest.
I should check that out.
Happy new year!
12-05-04
My schedule has gotten pretty crazy over the holiday season with teaching
lessons to 15 students, band practices, recording sessions, dance practices,
and performances. I've hardly had time to practice or do any kind of
christmas shopping. I'm sure I'll figure something out. Pretty soon
I'll have to start practicing for the national fiddle contest that I
go to every summer. I'm going to try to bring some of my students too.
Maybe even my band. I'd really like to have some people from Alaska
experience the style. I'd also like to show some people from the lower
48 that Alaska has some good fiddlers. If it doesn't happen this year,
then maybe next year.
My dad informed me today that I can only go to one more fiddle contest
during the school year. Unfortunately, there are 2 that I want to go
to really badly. One happens January 8th through the 10th in Denver,
Colorado. The other one is in Hallettesville, Texas in April. I had
a lot of fun at the Denver one last year, and the people in Denver are
expecting me to come, but it's not as big as the contest in Texas. I've
never been to the Hallettsville contest, and I really wanted to go last
year, but it's in the spring during school finals.
I've been listening to a lot of Terry Morris and Wes Wesmoreland lately.
I really like their drive and their style. They bring originality to
such basic and traditional tunes. It has really been inspirational to
my own playing. I'm going to see if I can score some lessons from Wes
before Weiser. I'm gonna need to make a few phone calls first. I took
from Wes at the Ludiker fiddle camp when I was 13. He was really fun.
I think I'm going to start playing some of my old songs like Cattle
In the Cane and Brilliancy. It's good to go back and tune up some of
your old songs. It's good just to keep fiddling no matter what. Until
next year,
Peace!
Amanda
10-6-04
I haven't
been doing much serious playing lately besides teaching at home, playing
with the Emeralds, and doodling around on the guitar in my room. There's
a contest at the end of the month that I should probably start practicing
for. I won the junior division of it last year, so I'm competing in
Open this year. The Claridges will probably win again. They're really
good. I'm slightly intimidated, and I've never competed against them
before, It will be a good experience. It should be fun, too. I don't
get to jam much with people who play this style. Contests are really
my only chance play with other contest fiddlers and Texas-style guitar
players.
I gave my
first group lesson last week. My best friend and band member Martha
Leffek helped me out. I was hoping that more of my students would come,
but it worked out fine. I think I will continue to have group lessons
the last Tuesday of every month. By the end of this month my students
will have advanced and we'll have more songs to play together. I'm planning
to show a video of me competing at Weiser in 2003 at the end of the
lesson.
My
band is slowly but surely putting out its second CD and I am really
excited about how it might turn out. We're still in the recording process
working with our friend Rob in his garage. I want to teach the band
a couple of new songs, but they tend to be a little picky about what
they like and dislike.
My guitar
playing is getting a lot better. I came up with an awesome E & D
progression. Mostly I've been working on my flat picking. I only do
it in my room, so no one's heard me yet. Maybe I'll surprise them someday
when I'm really good.
All in all,
I've been having a pretty laid-back musical life. There is more to come
in the future, I hope. For now it's good to relax and have fun. That's
the whole reason why I love music. It keeps me inspired.
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