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beegee - Posted - 07/14/2013: 04:51:34
Went to the Eastern NC Bluegrass Assn meeting last night. It has about died uot due to the lack of jamming facilities in the venue. But last night, the main jamming area was full. The problem is that it is in a lobby at the end of a hallway. It is small, hot and the acoustics are terrible. I took banjo, fiddle and guitar, never knowing what I'd be playing to round out the jam without having too many of any instrument. I played one tune and soon retreated with a couple of friends to another small hallway, mainly to escape a terrible washtub bass that shows up with annoying regularity.
So we settled into a small quiet jam with me on banjo, my cousin's husband on guitar, my brother on guitar and a mandolin player whose name I cannot recall. The most notable part of the jam was us discussing what the name of the next tune was. I'm 64, my brother is 65, my cousin's husband is 70-something and the mandolin player was probably in his late 50's. "let's do that prison song...." "Which one?" "You know, the one we used to do when we played that gig that time..." This would go on for almost every tune. I did several of my old favorites and I forgot some words and got some scrambled and verses in the wrong order.
When i was younger, I never had a problem like this. I knew over 400 songs. I probably still have them stored in the gray matter somewhere, I just can;t remember where I put them....
BNJOMAKR - Posted - 07/14/2013: 06:56:48
Yeah, Bob, it happens to us guys at 58 also! BTW, that Lane model D was sounding might sweet last night!
beegee - Posted - 07/14/2013: 15:51:26
Thanks. Even Tim said it sounded good. He wants my bridge.
Martian - Posted - 07/15/2013: 05:07:36
I would also have run from washtub. We attend a jam, and the bass player brings a wash tub, and a bass, and will choose the washtub over the bass each time. literally drives me to distraction. One guy told me up front, he is so good on that washtub, he can give you a Bb if you asked him to. I told my friend later, no he can't. i am also not a fan of spoons, bones, or these junk collections on a broom stick.
BNJOMAKR - Posted - 07/15/2013: 17:50:12
The guy that plays this washtub usually has loose pocket change laying on the tub. It has a horrible rattle along with the thump with each pluck of the string. That night, he didn't have money on it, but had a piece of chain making the same annoying rattle.
A friend of mine got up the nerve to tell him that it would sound better if he would remove the chain. I was surprised that the guy wasn't offended and he removed the chain. It did sound better, but then there was still a rattle from the handles on the side of the tub! BUT.... it still clashed badly with the lady that was playing the up-right bass in the same jam group!
banjoak - Posted - 07/15/2013: 18:59:53
I can relate to those memory issues. Especially titles. Sometimes amazed at how someone can get it from such little or odd information, "remember that time we played that train song... it was hot out,... we were drinking beer... Fred was there..." and they know exactly which tune/song. The jam I go to most regularly is mostly OT; lot's of tunes have multiple titles; and the same title is used for many different versions, if not entirely different tunes. A lot of songs use floating verses; stories; and lacking a repeating hook line or chorus has many titles to the same song. However, many of us have a pretty good memory for the actual tunes. Some we never really knew the exact title, just heard it played enough times. If someone just starts to play it, we know exactly which tune/song/version it is. As such we often just do that, or maybe say, "let's play the one that goes like this... " and just start playing it. Maybe the name will emerge somewhere as we play; maybe not. Might bring up other memory recall, "it's a red album" "the album also has Liza in the Cane" or "I remember hearing it at a festival" or "I recall John Doe as guitar playing with the fiddler and banjo I can't quite recall". Of course as our memory hard drives get full, some info gets conflated. (pretty sure Tommy Jarrell recording, turns out no). Aging memory is odd, there are tunes I haven't heard for 25 years, but can remember how it goes, the odd title, and who I heard it from in very specific detail.
Have noticed though that others are completely frustrated with that lack of remembering titles; they really struggle, seem need to know the title/name (esp those that learned via reading, or similar slow rote memorization process). Many of my Irish friends are worse about titles; their philosophy is you only have so many brain cells, using them to remember names diminishes using them to remember actual tunes, how they go.
Kenneth Logsdon - Posted - 07/16/2013: 07:30:20
I guess its an age thing... I "blank" right in the middle of songs I've played thousands of times now??????? (more likely lack of practice on the songs and you just forget??, bout the only time I play is out, no practicing or brushing up.)
mike gregory - Posted - 07/20/2013: 04:34:00
I have forgotten words, left out whole verses, to songs that I wrote.
Noah Cline - Posted - 07/20/2013: 10:45:27
quote:
Originally posted by BNJOMAKR
The guy that plays this washtub usually has loose pocket change laying on the tub. It has a horrible rattle along with the thump with each pluck of the string. That night, he didn't have money on it, but had a piece of chain making the same annoying rattle.
A friend of mine got up the nerve to tell him that it would sound better if he would remove the chain. I was surprised that the guy wasn't offended and he removed the chain. It did sound better, but then there was still a rattle from the handles on the side of the tub! BUT.... it still clashed badly with the lady that was playing the up-right bass in the same jam group!
"Dueling Basses"...
rendesvous1840 - Posted - 07/20/2013: 20:44:53
I have to keep a set list of songs I think I can remember the lyrics to, because I can't remember the titles. If I show up without my list, I can't remember what to call when it's my turn.
Paul
