“How often should I change my strings?”

Well, how often should you change them? I hear this question pretty frequently. The answer is, that it's up to you. How helpful is that? Well, the reason is that everybody's strings need changing at different times. Some reasons are because (1) there are so many kinds of strings and they age differently; (2) people…

Yet Another You Tube Video

I filmed these tunes as part of a video oral history project on women who play traditional music, which is being made by a woman named Dyann Arthur. It's called the Music Box Project. She is interviewing women all around the country. Although she'd talked to several clawhammer players, I was the first Scruggs-style player…

Take it Easy (Flying and Picking #15)

Have you ever taken several days (or weeks) off from your music, and then tried to get back in practice? Every musician I know has done this. And as you have found out, sometimes it isn't easy! As many of you Gentle Readers know, I've been learning to fly and recently got my license. I've…

The Words

Last week I posted a video of me playing "There's A Little Cabin," a lullaby that my Grandmother used to sing to us when we were small. Many of you asked about the words. Grandmother passed away last Friday and I played that arrangement at her funeral, which was really a beautiful service, held at…

Backtracking: Part 2

Now we come to Bob Mc’s adventures in backtracking. Bob came to me about four years ago with absolutely no musical background. We’ve often remarked to each other that he started “below zero.” But tenacity he has. In spades. After four years, Bob has lots of tunes that he can play well: All of Beginning…

Women on the IBMA Ballot

Last year, Murphy listed the women who made it onto the second IBMA awards ballot in the instrumental performers category. There were eighteen, in contrast to a decade ago, when there were only five. Since I just filled out this year's ballot (and since she's busy working on her book and probably hasn't even looked…

Beerfest and Bluegrass

The Dixie Bee-Liners had quite the trip last weekend. We flew out to a resort near Lake Tahoe to play at an event called Beerfest and Bluegrass. Flew out on Friday, played one set on Saturday, flew home on Sunday. It would have been cool to be able to go see the lake, perhaps, or…

Unfamiliar situations: Flying and Picking #14

Did you ever try to play music in a place that wasn't familiar, and found yourself so distracted by the room, or the people, or the lighting, or the phase of the moon, that you had trouble playing? Or did you learn to play music while sitting down all the time, and then try to…

Backtracking

Today comes the tale of two students who are going the extra mile with their playing. No, they are not playing faster, practicing longer, or moving rapidly through new tunes. As the title of the blog clearly states, they are backtracking. And what do I mean by this? They are putting in the time to…

New Site Countdown

At 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, on July 7th, 2010 -- we launchd our completely new and totally redesigned website!!! Check it out here! This redesign has been a long time coming. We had originally hoped to get it done before Christmas last year (HA!!), but finally, finally it is here. And we've added some…