🎻 Botched it for Gerry... fixed it for the gig

Hi Reader!

Two weeks ago I called two tunes to lead in our weekly Wednesday session, and promptly proceeded to forget how the second one went once we got to it.

I like bringing sets that I'm not super comfortable with yet to sessions to act as a bit of a progress marker. If I can play through them without a hitch in a group, then I know I've got the tunes down. If there's a hiccup, then I know I have some work to do back in the practice room.

Fortunately in this case I'd played snippets of the tune beforehand (which sometimes works to remind yourself how sets go, but in this case clearly not always), so both Gerry O'Connor and Seán Gavin picked it up and carried the set on and I hopped back in a measure or two later.

But sometimes when you can't remember the next tune, the set completely falls apart and there's no saving it until the next time! It happens to all of us. You're probably already nodding your head and remembering when you were in the hot seat here.

Normally I don't fixate on these moments. They happen so often and across all levels of sessions that they're easy for me to shrug off and get right back into playing. But as is so often the case, I found myself thinking about newsletter topics and what to write about to you, and this situation came to mind!

It's relatable but it's also resolvable after the fact (as far as I know, not preventable but our reactions are under our control)!

The set I picked was Hunter's House going into Within a Mile of Dublin, and it was the second tune's opening that I, well, missed by a mile.

Bear and I picked it up from playing tunes at a dear friend's wedding cocktail hour this Fall, and decided to add the set to a few more Fall gigs. So not only did I want to bring it to the session because they're well known reels that people would play with me on, but I also wanted to make sure I could carry the tunes since I wouldn't be playing the same melody line with anyone else in the duo set!

After botching the transition in the session, I knew it was time to sit down and get focused. Admittedly I had not been able to hit that transition with any kind of consistent accuracy in my practice up until that point (yes, I also get sucked into the trap of just going through the motions and playing through the tunes).

My issue was in the first three notes of Within a Mile of Dublin (A, D, F#) -- I was trying to go into another similar tune that didn't lead easily back to the C natural a bar later, and I knew that I need to nail the timing of the F# in order to signal my brain which tune it was we were going into.

So I played the first few notes of the tune on repeat at least 7 times, then started adding in the last bar of Hunter's House and did the same repetition, eventually working back into playing the whole tune.

Three days later, Bear and I played those two reels in concert. And I felt a big grin spread across my face as I nailed that transition.

Weekly Tune Library Update

The flu has knocked me out this week, so no new tutorials! My body apparently wanted to latch onto the slow down to speed up message! That said, if you'd like ones for Hunter's House and Within a Mile of Dublin, I can guarantee you that I know them pretty well now 😆.

I'd encourage you this week to pick a tune that you feel 85-90% comfortable with and zero in on the one trouble spot where the notes are eluding you. Play that bar over and over again until you know it, and then add it back into the rest of the tune.

It's a 5 minute focused exercise, and one of my favorite ways to polish a tune!

In case you haven't registered yet!

Caitlin Warbelow has put together an incredible online learning platform called Tune Supply. I'm so thrilled to be teaching my first ever workshop through Tune Supply on Sunday December 13th!

There are a bunch of amazing fiddle workshops, so while I hope you'll sign up for mine (I need 15 students minimum signed up in order for the workshop to run), I encourage you to check out all of the options!

My session is open to all melody instruments and we'll be working on using familiar phrasing patterns to help make memorizing and learning tunes by ear go more smoothly (i.e. If you know Rakish Paddy and Spike Island Lassies, you're well set up to master The Bank of Ireland).

We'll definitely work through an exercise like what I did to fix my Within a Mile of Dublin transition -- that was rooted in phrasing pattern recognition!

Workshops are recorded, so you can register and receive the video afterwards even if you can't attend in person. The cost is "Pay What It's Worth To You" so all can attend. (But they can't run the program if most people only pay a dollar...so please support at the level you're able.) Check out the full class listing here!

This week, don't stress the transition flubs or missed notes. They help you find a practice focus and easily track down where your tune needs polishing!

Happy playing!

~Hannah

P.S. On the performance note, if you're in the Kalamazoo MI area I'll be sitting in for my friend Michele Venegas in her group Selkie on November 17th! Tickets available here!