one positive and one negative?

Caroluna · Post by **Caroluna** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:54 am

Towards the end of another thread we were talking about how there
is a wide range of experience levels on this forum-- all the way from
people who have recorded CDs... to folks who just picked up the
instrument last month. Yet everyone here is learning to express
themselves through their music, and is going ever deeper into the
mysteries of Irish Trad.

I love hearing these stories. Would y'all be willing to talk about one
positive, and one negative, thing about your music right now?

Here's mine
Positive-- I've been playing by ear (3 yrs). Last night I tackled some sight reading.

Woo-hoo!

Negative-- My sense of intonation has gotten better in the last few
months, and now every note I play sounds a little sharp or flat. I
know this is a step foreward, but.....it sounds yucky

Cathy W, is this what you mean by the Vortex of Conscious
Incompetance?

Carolu

scheky · Post by **scheky** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 8:43 am

Positive - I can get a fairly strong note from the lower register nearly all the time.

Negative - (well two) I can't say the same for the upper register and I know I'm flat on the lower register.

Still working at it.

Ro3b · Post by **Ro3b** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 9:14 am

Positive: Having played flute for about 25 years, I'm pretty happy with my general level of ability. I enjoy my playing, and the improvements I should make seem clear and attainable.

Negative: My body, like everybody else's, is in a slow state of decline, and my hands can't take hours of flute playing like they used to. So I've been playing more guitar than flute, and consequently I'm less interested in Irish music than in other more guitar-centric genres these days. Hence even less flute playing, hence more stress on my hands when I do play it, hence...

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 9:39 am

I can only have one negative? <sigh>

Let me get back to you on that.

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:59 am

Positives: I consider myself a good songwriter, and a half decent whistle player when playing my own compositions.

Negatives: I can't really sing. I can't or won't learn popular Irish tunes, despite having over 15 years invested. The latter is frustrating in that most others share a lot of common tunes, can play in groups, and such. Another negative is that I am not practicing much these days, and both my flute playing and whistle playing have slipped at least a full notch.

Some of my songs:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/9/billchinmusic.htm

chas · Post by **chas** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 11:01 am

Positive: I'm making progress on the traverso; have a couple of Telemann pieces under my belt.

Negative: I seem to be suffering from a really bad case of the don' wannas. I'm just not motivated, so I'm not playing as much as I need to (both to improve and for mental-health reasons). I haven't picked up a single Irish or English tune in months. Oh, well, the weather's improving, the days are getting longer, it's running season -- maybe I'll get inspired.

jtrout · Post by **jtrout** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 11:42 am

My Positive: I recently liberated a wonderful Olwell flute from a friend who wasn't playing it.

My Negative: My local session is slowly dying out.

Think about the two: You now have the flute of your dreams, and you can't put it down, but you've no session in which to make it shine.

Il Friscaletto · Post by **Il Friscaletto** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 11:51 am

Positive: I keep noticing improvement in myself, especially with rythm, which was kind of weak.

Negative: I still haven't developed agility in my right ring finger, and I get fatigued in the muscles that operate it. I'm trying to change the way I use my right pinkie to stabilize the flute, lifting it when I need quick motion from my right ring. This seems to help. I learned to do this with the whistle, but it is a little trickier with the flute.

hans · Post by **hans** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 12:12 pm

jtrout wrote:My Positive: I recently liberated a wonderful Olwell flute from a friend who wasn't playing it.

My Negative: My local session is slowly dying out.

Are you slowly "liberating" your session players by sending them to Nirvana?

My Positive

: I can keep some dance rhythm I think, people have spontaneously started dancing at occasions in the wild.

My Negative

: I feel frustrated with playing to the dots, there are too many dots for my eyes, and the brain can't keep up. I think it is the left-right brain hemisphere divide

~Hans

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 12:58 pm

Positive: I get to attend lively, vibrant sessions. Good friends, good music, good companionship, good fun. I may never be a "good player" but they have helped make me a much better one than I used to be.

Negative: I can never seem to find a few minutes to practice when there aren't a dozen or more things that I have to be doing. That's why there's always at least one polymer flute on my desk for grabbing a "tune on the go;" it doesn't take long to dry out my Hamilton after playing, but it takes longer than I usually actually have.

--James

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 1:23 pm

Positive: I immediately made big strides when I received a flute that perfectly fits my aging, slightly arthritic hands, (a Casey Burns Large-Holed Standard). Good gracious!

Negative: I'm already ignoring my New Years' resolutions about flute monogamy, structured practice sessions, time management....... Also, that other evil thread

has me wondering what playing a flute with keys would be like.

Can we set up a 'Confessional' sticky where I could get absolved for transgressions in thought, word and deed?

flutefry · Post by **flutefry** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 2:13 pm

Positive: I spend more time practising (tone, ornaments) instead of just playing, and the increase in the rate of progress is very obvious. Loren's remark that "practise doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent" really hit home with me. Play it crappily many times, and you've learned to play it crappily. I am starting to get it, and work more often on getting it right.

Negative: Sessions empty my head, so that things that were secure in the morning are shaky, slow, or just plain gone in the evening.

seisflutes · Post by **seisflutes** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 3:23 pm

Positive: I have a couple of wonderful flutes and a good half-set of pipes that I love and play fairly well, and a spiffy fiddle that sounds absolutely wonderful tuned down to B of Bb, even in my hands.

Negative: All decent sessions are at least an hour and a half away. I go anyway, and adore most of the people I get to play with, but the drive is getting to be wearisome, and it's not good for my wallet or the atmosphere.

jehanna · Post by **jehanna** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 5:29 pm

positive: after 50 years I am relaxed and confident enough to play just about anything on any flute. Many are better but I am happy with where I am.
negative: I am trying to learn fiddle -- who ever invinted this nasty bow.

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 5:38 pm

Positive: I'm sucking less than I used to.
Negative: I still suck a LOT.

(Sorry. Have been recording sessions lately, and listening to myself play in a group is very educational. ..... OK, it's torture!)