A few lessons from the last couple days of summery weather

**Laird** · May-20-2012, 9:44am

So now that the school year has come almost to a close where I teach, I found the time to wander down to the river behind my house the other night, and I just played for a while in the dark. Not practiced, just played. I found myself picking out melodies for some old songs I never play, by ear, and running through them again and again until I got the melody down pretty well, and then improvising a bit. That meant spending the better part of an hour on one song but it was a lot of fun. I think I'll make that a part of my process for figuring out leads to the songs we do play regularly. Something about playing in the dark made a big difference. (Moon hadn't risen yet, and the trees grow pretty thick along the river.)

One other thing I discovered in the process: I really do prefer the sound of my old Wegen 150 to the Blue Chip I've been using for the last eight months or so--but now that I'm used to the BC, I have a hard time hanging on to the Wegen!

Finally, we had a little gig yesterday afternoon (local art show), and I went to it after spending about five hours digging raspberry beds with a pick and shovel. Mostly the pick. Turns out my playing--both hands!-- was as clumsy as it has been in years. It wasn't till about the last two songs of our set that my fingers had loosened up enough for me to play with some degree of grace and fluidity. Let that be a lesson!

Ah, summertime (almost)!

**Jim** · May-20-2012, 6:06pm

I love playing in the dark, teaches me I don't really need to look at the finger board even up the neck as long as I just play and don't worry about it. We have summer T-storms around my area that knock out the power for a couple hours and I just play and watch the lightening flash.
I learned my lesson about hand strain from roofing a house the day of a gig, maybe guys that swing a hammer all day for a living can play after but my hands just aren't built for that. My playing was way off that night.

**barney 59** · May-20-2012, 6:21pm

Yes,Yes I completely agree ---no work! Lay around the shack 'til the mail train comes back .......we're musicians we shouldn't have to work! Oh, if it could only be so..........

**Paul Busman** · May-20-2012, 7:08pm

Ha ha! You went from talking about Wegen and Blue Chip picks right to talking about digging with a pick and a shovel and I immediately got the funniest mental image of you digging in the dirt with a mandolin pick...

**greg_tsam** · May-20-2012, 7:30pm

Maybe he should have used a penny whistle? j/k

Don't work twice in the same day is my motto so I try not to do a gig the same day I install a floor or demolish a side of a house and rebuild it. Doesn't always work out and fatigue sets in pretty quick on those days.

**OldSausage** · May-20-2012, 8:24pm

I found mowing the lawn made me completely unable to play a gig, or at least that's what I told my wife.

**Markus** · May-20-2012, 8:33pm

When I heard someone describing how to play clawhammer banjo, they stated `imagine you have just come in from working with a shovel for 4 hours' for how to hold the right hand [I have no idea if this is good clawhammer technique] but it was a great image that stuck with me. Having done a lot of work with shovels / etc this last month, I understand what you're talking about. Glad to be done working with tools this week, in time for my mando to be back from the repair bench.

Playing in the dark this week on a borrowed mandolin wasn't fun, it's amazing how well you can know a neck based on tiny aspects of feel. There was stuff I didn't nail as I'm not used to navigating the fretboard by eyes - I rarely look when playing my own mandolin - but a borrowed mandolin with a very different neck made me look. A shame, as I went to busk downtown here last night for a couple hours and the scenery is often quite lovely. Tips were good, though.

**Laird** · May-20-2012, 9:05pm

Originally Posted by Paul Busman

Ha ha! You went from talking about Wegen and Blue Chip picks right to talking about digging with a pick and a shovel and I immediately got the funniest mental image of you digging in the dirt with a mandolin pick...

Probably would have been about as effective.

Went back down to the river tonight but got chased out by whatever was biting me in the dark. Skeeters? Black flies? Whatever, there was no sign of them two nights ago.

**catmandu2** · May-20-2012, 10:00pm

Ah...love is sweetest the first time

**Markus** · May-21-2012, 9:24am

Originally Posted by Laird

Went back down to the river tonight but got chased out by whatever was biting me in the dark. Skeeters? Black flies? Whatever, there was no sign of them two nights ago.

Sadly, they're just starting to show up here.

There's a Monday night jam just a little under a mile from my house that started last fall. Beautiful walk through marsh and woods, across a bike-bridge over a stream ... a great nature walk until bug season. I've stopped to play for a bit in the moonlight almost every trip - until around now. We'll see what next Monday brings.

**greg_tsam** · May-21-2012, 9:57am

You guys are funny with all this talk about skeeters and bugs that bite. I know it's a cliche to say "Everything's bigger in Texas!" but dang if it ain't true a lot of times. In this case it's our summer that's bigger where I live. Southern Tejas has all four seasons. Summer, still Summer, a hint of Winter, almost Summer. The mosquitos showed up in swarms in March-April hungry as all get out and have decided to stick around till winter. Can't stand 'em.

**Laird** · May-24-2012, 8:58am

Originally Posted by greg_tsam

I know it's a cliche to say "Everything's bigger in Texas!" but dang if it ain't true a lot of times. In this case it's our summer that's bigger where I live. Southern Tejas has all four seasons. Summer, still Summer, a hint of Winter, almost Summer. The mosquitos showed up in swarms in March-April hungry as all get out and have decided to stick around till winter.

I've left my share of blood in Texas over the years, and you may have to put up with those little suckers longer than most--but the worst skeeters I've endured have been in Ontario.

Okay, cue Alaska mosquito stories.

**Laird** · May-24-2012, 9:01am

Originally Posted by Markus

There's a Monday night jam just a little under a mile from my house that started last fall. Beautiful walk through marsh and woods, across a bike-bridge over a stream ... a great nature walk until bug season. I've stopped to play for a bit in the moonlight almost every trip - until around now.

Isn't that the best? I play with folks who host occasional "Whiskey Friday" jam sessions. They live about 3/4 of a mile upriver from me, so I put on the headlamp and follow the river through the woods for a fine evening of picking, then wander back home the same way. Just like the olden days!

**Ivan Kelsall** · May-25-2012, 3:09am

From Laird - "...the river behind my house..".Jeeez - how lucky can you get !.I don't know if many folk on here have had a similar experience when playing music close to water,but several years back,at a UK Bluegrass festival,myself & a few others found a nicely secluded place on a river bank where we could have a really good jam session.I know that sound travels faster through water than in air & seems to travel faster across the surface of water,but when we were playing,it seemed as though the water reflected the sound back at us with an absolute chrystal-like clarity. It was pure magic,
Ivan

**Mandobart** · May-25-2012, 7:13pm

I'm also blessed to have a river (the mighty Columbia) behind my house. She's pretty swollen now with all the run off, and will be for a few more weeks. Fortunately also we have no mosquitoes or black flies to speak of out here. Often jam with friends in the back yard watching the river, gulls, pelicans, cormorants and occasional loon or eagle.

Laird - Is the wegen actually hard to grip compared to the BC or are you just saying you prefer the BC? I also like the wegen 150's (and 200's) but found the grip is a lot better with a series of holes (three 1/8" diameter evenly spaced in the middle). Don't know why they don't all come like that. I've even drilled out my BC to improve the grip. Haven't dropped a pick since that mod became standard on all of mine.

**Laird** · May-26-2012, 9:06pm

Originally Posted by Mandobart

I'm also blessed to have a river (the mighty Columbia) behind my house. . . Laird - Is the wegen actually hard to grip compared to the BC or are you just saying you prefer the BC? I also like the wegen 150's (and 200's) but found the grip is a lot better with a series of holes (three 1/8" diameter evenly spaced in the middle).

I grew up on the Columbia, Mandobart. Raised in Troutdale, and my family had land that we camped at up between Klickitat and Bingen.

The Wegen: I've gone back and forth between the 150 and 200, and these days prefer the 150. (I've also got a 140 that comes with holes drilled in, but I've never liked the sound as much. Maybe with a rounded corner it would be better.) I guess I got used to the Blue Chip grip, because now going back to Wegen, I'm having a hard time holding onto it. I used to drill holes in my Golden Gates, but I thought the material in the Wegens might resist that. I'll give it a shot!

**Ivan Kelsall** · May-27-2012, 6:41am

Why not try one of the Wegen 'Bluegrass' picks ?. They come with holes drilled in them,& apparently they're available in 1.0 mm / 1.2 mm & 1.4 mm thicknesses. I found the 1.4 mm ones too soft toned for me & i've been using the harder toned 1.0 mm ones. I only found out about the 1.2 mm ones last week,
Ivan

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**Laird** · May-27-2012, 8:03am

Originally Posted by Ivan Kelsall

Why not try one of the Wegen 'Bluegrass' picks ?

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not sure they'd be an improvement over the Wegen 140 I have, with holes in it, as the picks that bring the best sound out of my mando are the thicker Wegens with rounded corners.

**Mandobart** · May-27-2012, 10:41am

Originally Posted by Ivan Kelsall

Why not try one of the Wegen 'Bluegrass' picks ?. They come with holes drilled in them,& apparently they're available in 1.0 mm / 1.2 mm & 1.4 mm thicknesses. I found the 1.4 mm ones too soft toned for me & i've been using the harder toned 1.0 mm ones. I only found out about the 1.2 mm ones last week,
Ivan

I find I "need" a thicker pick; 1.5 mm minimum. I also prefer the shape of the M150 and M200 over the "guitar pick" shape.

**catmandu2** · May-27-2012, 11:01am

Picks and rivers. I haven't used anything but "dawg" picks since first trying one. I live 4 blocks from the Clark fork and a few moreto the bitterroot. And about a mile to the Blackfoot