Reflections of Truth Part 2 ~ Discussing Discord

In continuation of the "reflections of truth" theme:

Towards the end of last week's post, in considering pieces of music that are severely discordant in tone, I asked whether such songs are capable of portraying reality, of reflecting truth, of glorifying God. My answer thus far to this is a qualified affirmative - by which I mean, yes, but only to a point and always within a specific context.


Let us take, for an example, the song From the Air by Laurie Anderson. This happens to be both the first and the only discordant song I can remember hearing. Though I have listened to it only once, it made a deep impression on me, such that if I had heard another of a similar style I surely would have remembered it.

This song had to do with the mechanical failure of an airplane, its rapid fall to the ground, and the impending doom of the passengers. It was strangely interesting in that it had two totally separate melody lines going on at the same time. Though the notes would line up quite nicely in vertical columns on a page of sheet music, anything like tonal harmony between the two was nonexistent. The clash of sounds is not easily describable. When layered with the disconnected, imperturbable voice of the narrator/captain, the effect was tremendous. The repeated conflicting notes got inside my head, impossible to be shut out, which was extremely tension producing; the relentless yet deathly calm voice was chilling, unnerving, and tied my stomach in knots; the mood of the piece was complete meaninglessness and despair; the entire song was thoroughly unsettling.

The really odd thing was just how mesmerizing this piece was, in spite of being so mentally disturbing. Listening to it was like being in a bad dream and groggily having to choose between waking in the early morning or settling back into sleep. On one hand, I wished for it to go away, wanted it to get out of my head, was going to skip to another song - anything to get the horrible noise to stop. On the other hand, there was a degree of fascination mixed with the fear. I wished to see the nightmare through in order to see the conclusion, thinking "surely it must make a turn for the better somewhere." I couldn't stand the song, but felt powerless to do anything about it. Thankfully, Dad switched the Pandora station, and for the remainder of the drive we listened to classical music with greatly renewed appreciation. :)

It is worth noting that From the Air had this unsettling effect on me even with the otherwise entirely cheerful environment. I was riding along in the car, on a beautiful sunny day, with my family in the car - how could anything be disturbing in a setting like that? Besides which, it wasn't as though I was a wee little one hearing it - I was eighteen years old, yet I was still about to implode or fall to pieces with the stress of listening to the thing! It really leaves me wondering... how in the world did it do that? Exactly what combination of musical intervals do you have to use for such an entirely unsettling sound? I really must find the sheet music for this song in order to analyze it effectively... then again, maybe not. :}


Now we come to the question. Can such discord accurately portray reality, reflect God's truth, and bring glory to Him?

I think that discordant songs do indeed portray a certain aspect of reality. For example, in From the Air, the mood being conveyed to the listener is one of anxiety, stress, and feeling "on edge". The message of the lyrics is one of hopelessness, meaninglessness, dispassionate fatalistic emptiness. These moods and messages are indeed a part of reality - many people feel and believe them their whole lives. However, people who are living in a world of despair and emptiness are doing so only because they do not know the freedom of a renewed life in Christ.

The thing is that we, as humans created in the image of God, were simply not made to live in despair. All people will go through periods of darkness in their lives, but those who know God will be set free by His light. Anxiety, fear, death, and severe tragedy do indeed exist in our world; yet, in the end, there is life after death, joy after mourning, healing after brokenness, restoration after desolation, rebuilding of relationship after separation. To present only the fallen side of things is to forget that there is a God who is mighty to save. To cut God out of the picture is to cut out the fullness and completion of reality. It is not a portrayal of the truth.

I do think that discordant songs can be used to effectively demonstrate the contrast between the earthly and the heavenly perspectives - to illustrate the dire situation of fallen people in their desperate condition of emptiness, then to look again to the fulfillment of a joyous life in a restored relationship with God. However, to remain in a world of darkness is neither edifying to one's self nor glorifying to God. Don't linger in the low places, don't wallow in sin, don't become enslaved to despair - always end with a return to God, who is the ultimate source of meaning, hope, life, truth, and beauty.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable,

if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

- Philippians 4:8

Final note: typically I would include the lyrics to a song at the end of its post. However, in this case I found them too distressing to include on my blog. Actually, there is nothing particularly wrong about the lyrics... it's not as though they contain profanity or inappropriate themes... it is just that I find them rather eerie, all things considered, and don't want to re-read them on my own page. A quick Google search should pull up the lyrics and song for you if you're interested.

Reflections of Truth

Wow. It's already been 367 days since the historic evening on which I first published a blog post. Time does fly!
At least I have something to show for it... six followers (including me), nine comments (including mine),
and sixteen posts (including this one and those in the draft stage). Whoo-hoo! ;)

Well, guess it's about time I started churning out some worthwhile material to fill this corner of the internet... here goes!



Recently I was wondering, "what exactly is the value of music? of dancing? of any art form at all? Sure, they're highly enjoyable, and I certainly love them - but aren't they pretty pointless, except as a form of entertainment? Is there any real value to be found in either?"

This question may seem superfluous to some, viewing it as an unnecessary philosophical discussion without any real bearing on the subject at hand; however, I think it is an important question worthy of consideration, as the answer is essential to how we create, appreciate, and think about art of any kind. It is so essential, in fact, that since beginning to think about this subject, I have been unable to get any of my other posts out of draft without touching on this topic at least briefly.


In an attempt to answer the underlying question of "what is the value of art," I scribbled down a train of thought consisting of a series of statements, queries, and responses, shown in part as follows:

Art conveys emotion, thought, and meaning - it is an expression of a worldview.
The expression of a right worldview is a reflection of the truth.
Knowledge of the truth comes from and through God, who is the Author and Source of all truth.
Reflecting and spreading God's truth is glorifying to Him.
Therefore, art which expresses and shares God's truth is glorifying to Him.
Such art is indeed important!


Having convinced myself of the value of God-honoring art, I continued the train of thought into the specific field of music:
Is all music capable of reflecting truth? For example, can instrumentals present a given worldview, or do they require the addition of the written, the spoken, and/or the seen?

Songs are poetry and melody combined - two art forms together. Thus, it seems that music with words can convey meaning and reflect truth more directly, more pointedly, and more fully than that without.
However, music without words can still reflect truth by presenting order, design, intentionality, complexity, and beauty - in other words, by presenting reality from a right perspective.


Now, some pieces of music are written with a haphazard, disorganized style of sound - can these pieces accurately portray reality?
Others pieces are severely discordant in tone - can they reflect truth?
Many songs have magnificent melodies with excellently-orchestrated harmonies, yet the lyrics are expressive of worldviews that are in direct opposition to the truth of the Lord. Can a Christian gain anything from such songs?

While I do not claim to have the definitive authoritative answers to any of these questions, I do have many thoughts on them, and will be devoting the next several posts to more detailed investigations along these lines.


Have a joyous day!
~Zoë

Flowers of Edinburgh - the Expanded Edition

In last week's dance analysis post, as you may remember, I wrote of the utter boringness of Flowers of Edinburgh. I found fault with the severely limited number of steps , the all-too-easy and predictable layout of the steps, and the complete impossibility of carrying on a conversation while dancing it. I also mentioned that I was experimenting with expanding on the basic theme of the dance to give it some degree of challenge, making it worthwhile as a mind puzzle if not as an opportunity for socializing. The spring of inspiration has been drained, the drawing board has been filled, the possibilities have been explored. Having done all I can for the time being, I present for your evaluation and revision, Flowers of Edinburgh - the Expanded Edition! (Note: not all of the information given in this post is absolutely necessary. However, most of it is relevant.)
 
 
Flowers of Edinburgh - the Expanded Edition
Dance formation: triple minor longways
Music: 2/4 timing, Major key
 
A1: 1st couple skip a figure eight down through the 2nd and 3rd couples
A2: 3rd couple skip a figure eight up through the 2nd and 1st couples
B1: 2nd couple heys for three with other couples, 2nd lady up and 2nd man down
B2: While all two hand turning, perform a pousette progression
 
 
 
 
The goal in rewriting this dance was to add a level of difficulty and a layer of interest to a rather insipid and insignificant dance. Having recently been made aware of the triple minor formation, I immediately selected that as the beginning point for the expansion. After all, the more people there are involved, the more people there are needing to be aware of what's going on and performing their part!
 
The beginning of this variation is fairly similar to that of the original in that both begin with figure eights. However, while the original starts with only one person at a time doing the figure eight, in this version everything is done with at least two people at a time. The first couple jumps right in to the figure eight together, crossing in the middle with the lady going first as usual. They separate; the lady passes the 3rd man by the right shoulder, goes around the back of both men, and passes the 2nd man on his left to meet her partner and cross in the middle again before completing the figure eight on the ladies' side and returning to her original place. Meanwhile, the 1st man is doing the same thing, with a few minor differences due to his coming from the opposite side.
 
In the second part of the A music, the 3rd couple skips the same type of figure eight up through the group - crossing in the middle, looping around one side, crossing again, and looping around their own side to end in place.
 
The beginning of the B music marks a slight change; the 2nd couple, rather than doing the same thing the others  have done, instead begin two separate hey for threes. These are essentially expanded figure eights themselves, and thus are entirely in keeping with the style of the original dance. As said before, the 2nd lady skips up and passes the 1st man by the left shoulder to begin her hey for three with the 1st couple; the 2nd man does likewise, moving down and passing the 3rd lady by the left to start off his hey for three with the 3rd couple. With the heys completed, everyone ends in their home place.
 
For the all-important progression, everyone will begin by taking both hands with their partner and two hand turning to the right (clockwise). The 1st and 2nd couples will change places counterclockwise, still two hand turning, moving in opposite directions (1st couple to the man's side, 2nd to the lady's) in order to avoid collisions; meanwhile, the 3rd couple may two hand turn in place. With the 2nd couple in their progressed position, they merely two hand turn in place while the 1st and 3rd couples make their exchange. This is done in a similar manner to the first, except that this time the movement will be clockwise, with the 1st couple heading to the lady's side and the 3rd moving to the man's. This entire portion will resemble the sort of pousette in the "heddle" portion of the Danish dance Weaving. As I do not know what this move is properly titled, I am calling it a pousette progression.
 
Clear as mud, no? :)
 
 
 
 
Now, with regards to the ends. This is where things get tricky, and I'm going to admit right away that I am fairly lost in this area. Having danced only one triple minor thus far, I do not have enough experience to know the following for sure, but I believe that most (if not all) triple minors have the 1s progress down only one place, not two. This means that the 2s and 3s must switch roles each round. I myself find this aspect rather difficult to keep track of, and even slightly irritating at times. Therefore, I wanted to write this version in such a way that the 2s will remain 2s and the 3s will remain 3s all the way up the set. This has been accomplished by the pousette progression. However, this arrangement does bring up another issue: what about the people who are out on the ends?
 
Supposing we start with nine couples, there will be three sets dancing for the first round. The 1s all progress down two places, leaving one 1st couple out at the bottom and a 2 and 3 out at the top. This is fine; it is to be expected. On the second round, we have two sets dancing while the three aforementioned couples are catching their breath or chatting briefly or something of that sort. All is well. The 1s progress down two places again, leaving two couples out at the bottom - but now there are four couples out at the top. Obviously, three of these couples will be able to begin dancing for the third round, but it will not be the three closest to the top. The couple that was previously the 3rd will enter as a 1st, leaving the couple at the top (formerly a 2) to wait for a second round of the music before joining in again. This is not necessarily a problem, but could potentially lead to some confusion, since the common expectation is to wait out one round before jumping right back in again. Now, then, there are two sets dancing the third round; the 1s progress down two places, sending a 1st couple to join the two former 1s at the bottom, thus completing their set, and sending a 2 and a 3 to the top to complete the set of the former 2. All three sets are now dancing the fourth round, as any mathematician (or dancer!) would expect!
 
 
 
 
 
Now, this is going to sound really odd... but... even though I've just written this modified dance... I've already thought of an embellishment. :) It occurred to me, why have the groups of two couples out at the top just stand there? If we're going to complicate things, why not go all the way? So, I wrote up a plan for what could be done if the inactive foursome is desirous of still more motion! It is essentially irrelevant to the workings of the remainder of the dance, and thus is optional - to do it or not is determined by the foursome themselves.
 
A1: 1st couple skips a figure eight down through the 2nd couple, ending in place
A2: 2nd couple skips a figure eight up through the 1st couple, ending in place
B1: Beginning with partner, four changes of a circular hey (rights and lefts without hands)
B2: Couples two hand turn around each other counterclockwise, ending in place
 
When done this way, I suppose the dance would be called Flowers of Edinburgh - the Extended Expanded Edition!



So - what do you think? Is this an improvement over the original Flowers of Edinburgh? Do you have ideas on how this could be further altered to make it still better? Please comment with feedback - I'd love to hear it!
Also, if any of you wish to try this thing out and see if it actually works with real people, that would be great! Thus far all the testing has been on paper, and I'm interested in finding out if it's actually doable! :)
 
 
 
 
Finally, for the sake of including a picture of some sort - and because I myself am fond of "behind the scenes" sorts of things - here's the "drawing board" paper I wrote up while arranging this dance. Like nearly everything I write, it is in extremely small print and far too wordy... :)
 
 

 

 

These little 8-by-5-inch pages don't even take into account the computation involved for the whole "what happens on the ends" issue, which was only resolved by drawing several hundred little figures in progression diagrams all over a 17-by-21-inch sheet of paper! :)

A Collection of Critiques

A few months ago, several members of our family participated in a thoroughly pleasant evening of English Country Dancing with a room full of friends and acquaintances. Typically what happens after such an event is that I go home and write up half a dozen pages concerning said event in my journal. These pages are usually lists and descriptions of who was in attendance, which dances were done, what interesting conversations were had, what new things were learned, etc., etc. However, the journal entries pertaining to that particular evening in April, while including portions along those themes, took on a rather different character from the standard. This time, my overview was focused primarily on the composition of the dances we had done that evening - measuring the enjoyableness of some as compared to others, considering the aspects of each, and drawing conclusions as to what contributes to a well written dance. This post is basically an extended version of the dance analysis I began that evening.
(journal excerpts and dance titles in italics)



The first dance of the evening was The Circassian Circle, which is an excellent dance for starting with, as it gets everybody going with simple steps and a highly adjustable activity level - a perfect warm up! Being a mixer, it also allows for the greeting of many people within a short amount of time, which is another desirable quality in a first dance of any event.



Up next was Flowers of Edinburgh, the ultimate dance for all those who love skipping in figure eights. :)

It was somewhere around the middle of the dance when it struck me just how BORING Flowers of Edinburgh is - at least for one who has been doing it for three years (or somewhere thereabouts) - and I began wondering how it might be elaborated on to make it more interesting. So far I have been considering rewriting it as a triple minor, either elaborating the figure eights somehow or using a mirrored hey somewhere. It will take some more thought and a bit of scribbling little "proof of concept" illustrations, but surely something could be done...

It is my firm belief that if it is not possible to carry on a conversation with one's partner during a dance, that dance had better have really neat steps and at least some degree of challenge to it! Flowers of Edinburgh only uses two steps (figure eights and two-hand turns), yet somehow manages to completely block out the possibility of having a connected dialogue with one's partner - or with anyone else, for that matter!

Though I have not come up with a way to fix the conversation block without abandoning the character of the dance altogether, I have been experimenting with expanding on the basic theme to make the dance at least somewhat more challenging. Once the layout is solidified, perhaps I'll post the calls here for your review and further revision.



Yellow Stockings was next, if I remember correctly. Now here is a dance that was just not well thought out! I'm all for a balance of partner/neighbor/corner interaction, but this one just doesn't have a balance - scarcely even a mixture! This is a dance for the corners, and no mistake! (Though that is a mistake, and a major one...)

Supposing you are the second lady. You two-hand turn your corner for twelve counts, watch your partner two-hand turn your neighbor for twelve, stand still for another interval of the same duration, and finish out with rights and lefts. In the full course of the dance, you only interact with your partner for six counts! Yes, the first couple has twice that, due to the six counts allotted to the brief sashay down and up... but really! It is ridiculous to go to the effort of finding a partner, lining up in the longways sets, taking hands four, etc., etc., only to spend the greater part of the time with a bunch of corners! Dances are usually written so that one actually gets to do something with the person they asked... I can't imagine why this one wasn't!

The best part of Yellow Stockings is undoubtedly the music. Ah, how I love it! I still think it would be neat to dance The Hole in the Wall to this recording. Totally different in feel, of course... but neat!



Then there was Bare Necessities - I love that dance! Mainly for the music, of course... :) The dance itself is flowing and elegant, and is in the less-than-usual set-up of three couples in a circle; also, though the steps are fairly common, the progression is interesting and requires a bit of thought and good timing to execute well.

One dancer in our set of six remarked that Bare Necessities would look nice from above - this threw me into a whole new strain of dance analysis! At first I thought, "leave it to a videographer to talk about a dance in terms of what it would look like in a top-down shot!" Immediately afterwards, however, I began to realize just how right he was in this assessment. A star for three? Grand rights and lefts ending in a twirl? Waltzing? A gypsy once and a half around, and a graceful step backwards for a starburst progression? Of course! What could possibly be better for an aerial view? He was absolutely right in his observation! Still, I must admit that this thought would never have come to me... my thoughts are usually elsewhere... for example, at the moment in question I myself was overwhelmed by the beauty of the swelling strings in the recording; indeed, so bursting with delight was I that, in a rare expression of feeling, I came close to smiling!



Juice of Barley... this one, I think, would not look good from above. It certainly didn't look nice from the top of the line when we made it there - it was so lopsided-looking during the "weave through" portions! Everybody bunched over on one side, people having to turn sideways in an effort to not collide with the people they were going between... also, the lines themselves weren't straight. Ugh.
Still, the music was great! One of the finest improvised renditions by Bare Necessities, though perhaps not one of their crispest recordings.



Later in the evening we danced Auretti's Dutch Skipper, another longways for as many as will in 6/8 timing. This dance is fairly basic, by which I mean there is nothing extraordinary or surprising about it. As such, however, it provides a good illustration of the "typical" English Country Dance.

The first couple steps down the set, then casts up to place for a two hand turn. This sequence is then performed by the second couple from the opposite direction. Next, there is a two hand turn for the first corners, followed by the same for the second. Partners face again, maintaining friendly eye contact for the set twice, and the round is completed with three changes of a circular hey to progress. All the while, everyone is moving in time with the calmly joyful music so proficiently performed by Bare Necessities on piano, violin, and flute. The result is a thoroughly pleasing dancing experience!



An interesting segment of the evening came when we all attempted to learn The Young Widow, a longways dance in triple minor formation - sets of three couples down the line as opposed to the more typical sets of two. Since none of us were very familiar with this formation (and some of us not at all!), it took awhile to figure out what exactly was supposed to happen and make it actually work out with some measure of style. In the end, everything worked out.



The final two dance experiences of the evening were dancing The Scottish and beginning to learn The Laendler! The former was thoroughly delightful, as always, and the latter only somewhat less so because I had no idea what I was doing! Ah well... both were excellent!



Though I've been harsh on many of the dances we did that evening, let me hasten to say that it truly was a delightful time - indeed, 'twas one of the top three dance events I've ever attended! The conversations were pleasant, the people-watching was entertaining, and the dancing was grand! I just happen to like picking things apart, and thought I'd share some of my opinionated analyses. :)

The Ragg

Here I am at long last! Perhaps I ought to change the title of this blog to "Most Exceedingly Tardy" or something of that sort.

For this post, I have merely added some rambling thoughts to an edited selection from a journal entry, written shortly after a lovely Harvest Dance we attended last October.

The second dance was one of the greatest highlights of the evening, for it was - the Ragg! Ah! What a wonderful dance it always is! The steps are simple to do and easy to remember, and yet the dance is not boring in any way. Indeed, far from it, for lighthearted skipping and turning shall never be considered dull by me.

 

And then there is the music - the best part of the Ragg! This music is one of my very favorite recordings by Bare Necessities, mainly because of the enthusiasm and crisp precision with which it is played. Each round is delightful in its own way, for the music is played differently from each round to the next.

 

The recording begins with a two note introduction given by the high, clear notes of the flute; the flute then immediately begins on the tune itself in a light sprightly mood, accompanied by the tapping of the tambourine and the "zumming" of the violin in the background. The violins take the lead on the second and third rounds, playing with a delightful fullness and depth. Then there is that neat little part in the third round where the instruments are no longer playing strictly the melody; they are gradually moving towards more improvisation in the playing. This transitions well to the fourth round, in which the piano plays a solo that I can only describe as rolling, bouncing, bubbling, and overflowing with quiet joyousness. The beginning of the fifth round marks the lowest point in the energy level within this recording. The violins are somewhat subdued or restrained here, as though they are holding back for the grand finale. This is, in fact, the case - from the middle of the fifth and throughout the sixth, the energy level rises until at last it bursts forth in an all-out celebration! The tambourine returns, the violins lead, and the flute plays around the melody with a song of its own - all contributing to the most joyous and gladsome recording I know of!

 

This is one of the few recordings I would describe as being "colorful". It is a bit hard to explain... it's just that the seventh and final round of the music always calls to mind the "Celebrate" neon fireworks postage stamp... the black background providing the perfect backdrop for the word "celebrate!" spelled out in a glowy white, surrounded by neon squiggles and swirls of various festive colors. Colorful, exuberant, splendent, radient... To use another illustration, I might say that the seventh round sounds "very much like a party" - for that is what it is most similar to. Joyous, festive, friendly, and lighthearted - the most delightful kind of celebration!

 

And there you have it, friends - a 450+ words review of one of my very favorite things to listen and dance to! If you have enjoyed this piece yourself, I would be interested to hear your thoughts on it as well. And if you have not yet heard The Ragg... get thee to the CDSS website and order thyself a CD! ;)

English Jam ~ Part 2

(note: if you have not yet read Part 1 of this series, please do so before continuing.)

The evening of Thursday, September 12^th found Mom and Conner and I on our way to the very first English Jam! We arrived a bit before the starting time of seven, and thus were at leisure to drive around the neighborhood a bit in an attempt to shake off the uncomfortable nervous feeling that was quickly growing on Conner and me. It was a lovely neighborhood... winding roads, tall leafy trees, and pleasant looking houses... very nice for meandering through even at ordinary times!

We made our way to Mrs. Edwards’ house, and were pleased to see the attractive edible landscaping she had done: the walkway was lined with cherry tomatoes, and the flower bed contained yellow chard along with the cheerful marigolds. Upon reaching the door, we were greeted warmly by Mrs. Edwards, who immediately welcomed us in and put us at ease. As we happened to be the first ones there, we were able to visit with Mrs. Edwards, have first pick in seating, and look about the house a bit. In the living room where we would all be playing that evening, two things in particular caught my attention. The first was a shelf of eight or more unique hand drums; the second was a tall bookshelf quite filled with three-ring binders, each labeled as containing a certain grouping of sheet music. I was especially drawn to the binder titled “Stringdancer Medleys”, which I have since been privileged to look into – it truly does contain the lead sheet used by the Stringdancer band for the recording of the Scottish!

Truth to tell, I do not remember many particulars of that first evening, except that Conner and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and that upon leaving we were already in anticipation of the next session! Drawing from the collective experiences of the past five weeks, I will attempt to share something of the atmosphere and activities of the English Jams thus far.

First off, the people! Each week there has been between seven and fourteen participants, each bringing their own instrument, skill level, experience, personality, and ideas on how to play the music. Since the group of people changes a bit each week, every time there is a slightly different flavor to the jam. Quite a few of the participants are truly musicians – that is, people with skill and experience, people who pay attention to the sounds they are producing, and who are willing to make the effort to play music in such a way that people will enjoy it and really feel like dancing! It has been an incredible experience to be able to play with musicians such as these.

And then there are the instruments! I myself am partial to the violin/fiddle, and am thoroughly delighted to get to hear anywhere between two and five of them each week! On several evenings we have been joined by Mr. Tim Hirzel, a flute player and member of the Tu’Penny Players (another of Mrs. Edwards’ bands – I just discovered that the Tu’Penny Players are in fact the ones who made many of the other dance recordings I’ve known and loved for years!). The Jams have also been attended by two pianists and a harpist; and one evening there was even a five-string banjo player!

Though the specifics of what we do at the Jams changes from week to week, the general routine is as follows. When people arrive around seven, they visit with each other while setting up in the living room: getting out their instruments, flipping through the music books, and playing snatches of tunes to themselves. When all the expected participants have arrived, Mrs. Edwards gets everyone’s attention for tuning. This is done by ear, using the piano as the standard – for of course the piano cannot easily be tuned to anything else. Once everybody has attained the perfect pitch, we begin playing! We usually begin with any new tunes, and from there often work through a list of specific pieces we’re preparing for a dance event. Other times we merely select favorites from previous weeks and play around with them some more!

When trying a tune for the first time, we usually play it once through and then stop to analyze it. Keeping in mind that we are playing for dancing, we consider questions such as these: What is the mood of this piece? How can we play it to give the most interest to the players and enjoyment to the dancers? Where is the “point of arrival” in each section of the music, and how can variations in volume or other effects be used to emphasize that point in the tune? Mrs. Edwards asks questions such as these to the group as a whole, allowing anyone wishing to share their ideas to present their perspective on possibilities for playing. We play parts of the piece a few times to compare the results of the suggested interpretations, often coming to the conclusion that they could each be used to good effect over the course of the dance! When we play the piece again, Mrs. Edwards and any other adventurous people often improvise a harmony line, which results in a beautiful depth and richness of sound. In some places the technique of shadowing the melody at a certain interval does not work, and so we all go through the piece, find those places, and determine what note would fit well there. Finally, keeping all our notes to self in mind, we play the piece two or three times through – and it sounds simply beautiful! After a moment of exclaiming over how wonderful that was, the process is repeated for the next tune!

We often take a short break around eight, or whenever some people need to be leaving and others begin arriving. Most people make their way to the kitchen, where the table is filled with bottles of sparkling berry juices and handmade pottery containing snacks and treats of various kinds. Food in hand, we stand about visiting for a bit, occasionally getting so involved in a conversation that we actually take a seat in the family room to continue the discussion!

Following the break, assuming it has not gone on too long, we gather in the living room once more for another round of music making! Mr. Bob Green, Mrs. Edwards’ husband, is sometimes available to join in at this point, providing an excellent rhythm on one of his hand drums. Incidentally, meeting Mr. Green was another neat experience, as he is not only a dancer and musician, but is also a dance caller and dance writer! It was not until meeting him for the second time that I learned that he happens to be the one who wrote the dance “Little Ramsay Divey” – a fun dance I first learned two full years ago, never expecting to have the opportunity of meeting its writer!

The Jam usually wraps up somewhere around nine, at which point we begin packing up our banjos and music book, often getting drawn in to a pleasant conversation or two along the way. Goodbyes are said to everyone, we heartily thank Mrs. Edwards for having us there again, and then – it is time to go home, filled with pleasant thoughts and with eagerness for the next Thursday to come!

There is only one thing that Conner and I have found lacking in these lovely evenings: the presence of our instrument-playing, English Country Dancing homeschool friends! My main reason for writing this lengthy post is simply to invite any and all of my dear dancing musicians to come join us in the English Jam – we would love to see you there!

This link will take you to a webpage with directions to the English Jam; along the left-hand side there are downloadable files of the sheet music we've been using thus far. We will be playing some of these pieces at the Yuletide Ball on December 20^th (check the Childgrove website for details); we will also be playing for the homeschool Winter Dance Series called by Mr. John Ramsay held in Saint Charles this coming January and February.

If you have any questions, you may email me (provided you already know my email address; I do not wish to post it online), or you may leave a comment below.

Hope to see you at the Jam!

English Jam ~ Part 1

One ordinary afternoon last month, when we were all going about our typical afternoon activities, Mom received an email. This was not anything unusual in and of itself – Mom gets emails all the time. However, this particular email, forwarded to us by some friends, proved to contain information that was far from ordinary: it was an invitation! A lady named Martha Edwards wrote of a series of weekly workshops/jam sessions she was beginning for musicians who wanted to play music for English Country Dances. This “English Jam”, as she named it, was open to anyone with the ability to play and read music in a few basic keys; Mrs. Edwards would supply the lead sheets for the tunes, but would also be leading in some improvisation for harmonies and secondary melodies. Participants were welcomed to bring their instruments to Mrs. Edwards’ home on Thursday evenings and join in the Jam!

As you can imagine, I was greatly excited to hear of this unique opportunity! The prospect of getting together with other people to play one of my favorite styles of music was thoroughly pleasing – indeed, it was an activity such as I had fondly imagined for quite some time, but had never expected to become a reality! Conner thought the English Jam sounded neat, and as we can both read sheet music and play our banjos with tolerable skill, we decided to try it out together. Mom was perhaps the most excited of us all at that time; she had been praying for an opportunity for me in particular that would tie in with my interests and bring them to a new level, and this English Jam seemed to be a wonderful answer to prayer!

The first thing to be done, of course, was to call Mrs. Edwards to thank her for hosting the English Jams and to let her know that we were interested in participating. To my dismay, the responsibility of making this call fell on me! (I absolutely hate making phone calls...) After a few minutes of attempting to get out of it (an unsuccessful attempt, by the way), I did in fact pick up the phone, dial the number, and press the “call” button. Then followed a moment of nervous waiting... To my great relief, I did not have to deal with an answering machine; the phone was answered promptly by a quick, but not unfriendly voice. Once I made it clear that I was calling about the English Jam and was not yet another annoying advertiser, the voice became friendlier still. It turned out to be Mrs. Edwards herself, and so I introduced Conner and I and told her a bit about our musical experience thus far. Mrs. Edwards sounded pleased that we were interested in joining her workshop, and made it clear that we were welcome to participate. The fact that Conner and I are still towards the beginner level of musical abilities did not seem to be an issue; even our instruments being banjos, of all things, was not a problem! We talked a bit about the type of sheet music to be used for the workshops, the role of a banjo in a multi-instrument gathering, and other related topics. It was a very pleasant conversation – quite possibly the nicest phone call I’ve ever been forced to make!

Mrs. Edwards requested that I send her our email address so that she could get the lead sheets for the first Jam to us. When I emailed her a bit later, I attached a bit of ECD sheet music I had written out in hopes of using it at the Jams, and also included a link to this blog. Mrs. Edwards replied fairly quickly; “hurray!” thought I, and proceeded to read her message. Mrs. Edwards commented pleasantly on our conversation earlier and on the music I had attached, and also remarked on my blog, which she had in fact taken the time to read. Mrs. Edwards wrote that she liked the story including the USS Constitution, and added, “For some reason unknown to me, I memorized the Oliver Wendell Holmes poem Old Ironsides when I was young and to this day must be restrained from declaiming it at inopportune times.” She then proceeded to quote the opening lines of the poem – “Aye, tear her tattered ensign down, long has she waved on high...” That was great fun to read!

One particular line of the email, however, thoroughly shocked me: “I like your blog – particularly since you gave such a nice review of the Stringdancer CD (my old band)...” At these words, I froze, and asked myself in surprise, “Did she really say what I think she just said?” A quick review of the words proved that she had indeed said my old band – meaning, of course, that she herself was one of the three musicians responsible for one of my very favorite recordings, namely, the medley for the Scottish! At this incredible realization, I literally jumped in my seat! (This, by the way, is an unheard of occurrence. I tend to be composed and immovable, and I’ve never been much of a jumper – but that’s another story. *grin*)

My head was spinning with a whirl of amazed and astonished thoughts: the remarkable realization that I had actually spoken with the fiddler from Stringdancer that very morning without even knowing it! The thought of getting to meet her within one week’s time! At her own house, even! Hearing her play the fiddle in person! The idea of being able to learn from her wealth of musical skills and experience! The overwhelming prospect of actually playing ECD music with her! And all of this, just given to me – undeserved, unexpected, and unimagined! God is indeed good! His blessings are poured out so freely – His providence is truly amazing!

Sometime in the near future I’ll do another post about the atmosphere and activities of the English Jams themselves!