Hey there, again, to all you who still take the time to visit the group! I wonder if we could have a little sound off.... please reply with a comment, letting us know: How you utilize the group; ie, do you try to learn the tunes, do you upload videos and if so, how often, do you comment on people's videos or on the tune discussions. Expound on this topic, please! What genre of music do you play most often? Do you play other instruments? If so, what? What do you consider your level of playing? How long have you been playing? And, for grins, where you are located?!
I'll start. Mainly I just try to keep the group going. Putting up polls, listing the winner each week and trying to come up with links, updating the Table of Contents. When I am able, since I travel quite a bit, I try to kind of learn any tunes that are in the Celtic and OT categories. Occasionally, I will still upload a video. I do have quite a LOT of videos out there, from when the group began over 8 years ago. My main interest in tunes is of the "Celtic" variety (and also known as fiddle tunes), and Old Time. I mainly play the mandolin, but also have a variety of other mandolin family instruments, and play the Tenor Banjo in Irish Tuning. I'm learning to play the guitar, now. I'm a medium level player on the mando and banjo, and beginner on the guitar. I think I started playing mando in 2005... I live in two places (hence the traveling)... I am from the Houston, Texas area, but live most of the time in central Iowa on a farm homesteaded by my man's grandfather in the 1800's. My daughter and family live in Colorado, and I still have lots of family in Texas, so I kind of make a big triangle throughout the year, between those states! These places are all in the USA!
i something similar to yourself Barbara, very rarely i play anything other than Irish trad, i consider myself an intermediate player at best, also been playing nearly 12 years,i have a go at the banjo and octave but mandolin is definitely my main instrument. i still live in the city i was born in, Belfast, which now strangely enough is a thriving tourist attraction, you would have thought it
I'm also into genealogy, and maybe it's my roots that I have to thank for my taste in music... strong Ireland, Wales, Great Britain roots!
I bought my first mandolin just under 8 years ago. I'm working towards mediocrity on the mandolin. Beginner workshops tend to be easy for me these days, but intermediate ones have me struggling for speed. I mostly play European folk, from medieval to contemporary Irish, English, Scottish, French, etc. In our little band, we play acoustic folk rock. I also have an octave mandola, and have been trying to get started on the accordion. A bombarde on the shelf is waiting for better soundproofing or a new house! The group is mostly a resource of examples for me. I listen to all versions of all tunes, comment when I have something to say, and try to learn the tune if I really like it. The different versions produced by different players are very helpful in getting to know the melody and collecting ideas for arrangements. That variety is my favourite aspect of the group. When I'm older, I want to play with the expressive richness of David Hansen, the effortless musicality of Luurtie, and the drive and triplets of Gortnamona. Occasionally I post a video to take stock of how far I still have to go. I grew up in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. My wife comes from Lille, France. We also have family in Austria and Spain. We live near Canterbury in the southeast of England. We'll see for how much longer.
Hello from Scotland. I have been in this group since October 2009. I play mandolin family and guitar and have been working on fiddle playing for a wee while now, but not yet in public. It was the SAW group that got me interested in trying to record material and post it on YouTube, and now, 100+ videos later, I am still glad i got involved. Main musical interest is Scottish but I enjoy Celtic and country music too and have played in various groups and bands since my teens to the present time, from away back in the very early 60s and instrumental guitar groups through Ceilidh bands, Trad jazz and at the moment playing in a duo and trio with guitar, bouzouki, fiddle (not me) concertina and accordion as our regular instruments with lots of songs included. As long as it's music I enjoy it, and the SAW group certainly provides the variety and offers new and unknown tunes regularly. I enjoy the spirit of this community and the very friendly atmosphere and feel that I have maybe even made a few internet friends here. OK, I really need to get out more!
Greetings from here. Playing Irish/Scottish off and on since 1985, mandolin and tenor banjo at first. OM later, is main instrument by now. I sing sometimes (discovered Stan Rogers of late). I am not sure about my level - estimates of oneself are always wrong, and I'm not bragging about my modesty. The group had me learn how to learn tunes, how to deal with delayed self-humiliation (aka videos) and with people nicer than me.
Wow.... I feel like I know all you guys, then I step back and marvel at modern technology! I tend to think in terms of AMERICA.... and the folks who replied so far are from Ireland, Scotland, England and Germany!!!!
What better proof of the world-wide appeal of this group you have co-ordinated so well and for so long, Barbara. Must give you a very warm feeling!
I'm from Dublin but moved to the States in 2008, currently in San Francisco, CA. Picked up the mandolin in Jan 2009 (had already been playing the tenor banjo since 2007). I joined the group shortly after it started and it was the impetus for me to begin making videos of my playing in the first place. I pretty much exclusively play irish trad tunes. I enjoy both learning a new tune via SAW that may not have been on my "to learn" list radar, and also hearing the versions other folks put up. I had a multiple year hiatus, stopped playing in late 2011, where I didn't play the mandolin or tenor banjo at all due to work stuff, playing drums in my band and multiple moves. Picked up the banjo again in earnest in July 2015, and got a mandolin again in Dec 2015, and have been playing non stop ever since. As to what level I'm at, I rue the years lost between 2011-2015, but feel I'm at about Advanced-Intermediate level now (did Marla Fibish's Advanced-Intermediate group class in 2016 and had no problems keeping up). Really focusing on tweaking and improving both right and left hand technique at the moment to push through and break into the "Advanced" bracket at some stage. In addition to the mandolin and tenor banjo, I also play guitar (since I was 9 years old) drums (since I was 9 years old), tenor guitar, just got me hands on a mandola (Mid-Mo given to me by a friend), and have been attempting to learn the concertina on and off as well! Nowadays my main focus is the tenor banjo, as compared to when I was playing from 2009-2011 and my main focus was the mandolin. Don't get me wrong, I still love the mandolin, but the purchase of my Ome Juniper tenor banjo really ignited my interest/obsession again.
John, it DOES give me a warm feeling! And, from the replies from this discussion, I won't feel so bad about populating the poll from mostly IT tunes, haha! Jill.... you know that Tenor Banjos have a rightful place here in the Song A Week Social group.... we love your mandolin videos, but I know I speak for many, when I say, we also love your TB submissions! That goes for the rest of you that submit their tunes on a different instrument than the mandolin!
I'm from California, born and bred. I love learning new tunes and you couldn't find a more welcoming place to learn nor better people to learn with than right here with this group. Making videos for this group has really helped me improve so much as a musician and the feedback I've gotten here has provided me with new ways of playing old tunes. Thanks to Barbara for starting this and keeping it going for so long. These days I primarily play English, French, Scottish, Irish & Scandinavian tunes, in the old days I used to play rock, country, jazz & folk. In addition to the mando family instruments I play guitar, bass & concertina. I would say that I'm fair to miiddling on bass & guitar and still learning on everything else. I have been playing bass since the 8th grade and guitar a year later. I found a mandolin in my Grandmother's garage when I was in high school but I didn't start playing it again until around 1990.
The SAW group is an inspiration to me to try different tunes. It is fun for me to hear different musicians' take on the same tune, and to learn from those folks. I also enjoy the members here who compose and post their videos/audios and their music for us to learn. Once upon a time, for a few weeks, I posted vids here, but it was not enjoyable for me. I thank everyone who contributes to this wonderful group, and especially the one who keeps it going. I've been playing off and on since 1969 and am a perpetual beginner; can't play fast (don't want to or sour grapes, take your pick) and I can't improvise (definitely want to.) I enjoy playing trad, pop, classical, kids' stuff, hymns. Right now I can't stay out of Evelyn's books, I and II. Ukulele and penny whistle are also in the mix in the same beginnerish way I play mandolin. My purpose is for personal enjoyment not performance in front of others. Proud to be Sooner Born and Sooner Bred (for those outside the states, that would be Oklahoma.)
I use the SAW group to learn new tunes, haven't posted a video for a while but will still vote for TOTW when I remember, so that I have some to have a go at whenever I do get back into recording. In an ideal world, there will be a few dozen youtube videos of whatever tune you might fancy learning next, and I find you can learn something useful from all of them regardless of their or your ability. I don't usually comment on other videos until I get round to learning it and uploading my own - that's probably a bad thing, I'd like to say it enables me to say something more constructive once I've been through the recording process myself but I suspect that is not borne out by the facts! Based in London UK. I play mostly Irish on mandolin, also play TB and guitar, have been playing mandolin for maybe 6 years. I'd describe my level of playing as intermediate.
My friends say I'm pretty good at the instruments I play. I've played guitar since '64, mandolin since '72, and have picked up bass, banjo and electric guitar along the way. Now I've crossed paths with a great fiddler who wants to learn guitar. We trade lessons and I'm now getting pretty good at the fiddle. (I've attempted the fiddle for over 20 yrs. without too much success.) That's why I haven't posted anything in the last year or so. I'm too busy figuring out the bow and how to handle it. I wish more people would take the time to comment on the videos. I very much enjoyed the lively discussions. Anyway, this group kept me going during a time when musicians were hard to find around here. I joined and the group has given me a place to share my music. I love the old time American songs and tunes and have learned quite a few that I perform in public from this group. Celtic music has always intrigued me and I've learned quite a few jigs, airs and reels on the mandolin as well. In fact, I'm up to 230 videos on my YouTube site: Stuche51. I enjoy watching "old friends" as well as newbies of all ability here at SAW. I've even had the honor of making videos with a few of the members here. Thank you Barbara for taking the time to keep this group going! I am getting the itch to make some more videos and learn some more mandolin tunes so watch out! That's it from Southern California for now.
Hi Michael. Great to see you posting here after a long absence. I too have been fiddling with learning the fiddle over the past year or two, even joining a traditional workshop here at home, but it is a very different and unforgiving instrument and not yet one to air in public as far as I am concerned. As you said, the group has given all of us a place to air our tunes and share comments and a few laughs with like-minded people, so here's to the next few years.
Hello Barbara, I'm a regular user of this group and I still love to listen to other mandolinplayers and the different ways tunes can be played. The group and the other members have always been big inspiration to me. In the beginning I tried to keep up every week and made a youtube video weekly. Nowadays I can't keep up and there are a couple of reasons for it. First it's the amount of time you put into a tune is is a lot more than I did in the beginning. With the progression you make as a musician you get more critical about your own recordings so it takes longer. The second thing is that playing in bands tand writing own tunes take a lot time. The third thing is that the latest SAW tunes are less attractive to me because of the genre. Today I'm working on my new weblog so there's a place where I can tell something about my own tunes. Without this group and the "so many tunes" weblog from John Goodin there never would have been a luurtieful.blogspot.com My favorite genre is bluegrass, But I also love scottisch folk music. My main instrument is mandolin, but I also play guitar, whistle, bluesharp and accordeon a bit. I think I'm a advanced player on the mandolin, and a can play the other instrumens reasonable too. But that's hard to say about yourself.
Thanks for the replies... and it's good to hear from some of you who have been missing! One thing to remember.... ALL of the tunes that have a discussion, whether they be official tunes, or other tunes, are always open for more contributions! You aren't limited to the current tune of the week... any time you want to look through the huge list of tunes we've covered, and want to learn that one, and put up a video, or just comment on it, comment that you are learning this tune, etc... go for it! If the current tunes aren't in the genre you enjoy... hopefully, there are some we've covered, that are! And, if you have a tune you've learned (or composed) and it hasn't been covered in our extensive library, by all means... give it it's own discussion, and submit your video!
Greetings from Leipzig, Saxony. I missed to introduce me when I joined the group in April of 2014. With no mandolin teacher available in my vicinity I searched for sheet music and for some more information how to play our instrument. It needed a lot of visits of the Mandolin Café until I found this group hanging around in one corner. After only standing in the darkness and lurking for a few months it was an exciting step for me to join in. What an encouraging surprise was your warm welcome – many thanks again! I learned classical guitar with not too much success in my youth and relearned it later as fingerstyle guitar or modern classic. I never really played in an ensemble or band – that’s why my unsteady timing and weakness of rhythm. A cheap old potato bug mandolin existed in our family with half a century old wires on it – no more tunable. But maybe this was a reason that I was open to learn this instrument despite another great problem: I couldn’t manage a pick/plectrum. The preparations for my first vacation trip through the US, the find of a mandolin school by Bob Grant and a simple A-style mandolin borrowed from my brother-in-law gave me the inspiration to try and learn to pick a mandolin. That used to be then years ago. Today I consider my playing as mediocre and in some lucky moments as medium level. Mostly I play for my own. I’m interested in Irish, English, Scottish, OT, Classic, Children songs … – try to learn a little bit from everywhere. Now – why I like SAW: At first it is the friendly atmosphere. The mixture of so different gifted musicians – no offense meant to nobody but me. I enjoy the performances of my heroes. I appreciate that they always spend an encouraging comment for the more mortal contributors. Additional there are submissions close to my range. I think if I really practice I could play it almost likewise. Just a little bit slower. Then the wide range of tunes we cover. There are so many tunes I never knew before. I can’t learn all - of course. Every SAW-tune gives me an input. I play them through and often hope this or this member of the group would play it. Without SAW I would tend to play just the same few tunes my whole live. Maybe there are other great places in the www. I don’t like to check a few different social groups every while. I like SAW. I’m familiar with you members. I’m not often present in the discussion and I submit seldom – that’s true. Because I feel not in the right position to comment your playing. And most time I would say: Wow, amazing! BTW – why all these words … and where is my mandolin …
I just got started with this group, and have not played the mandolin much. I did play a little years ago, but have just started playing again. I also play a little guitar, and more guitar than mandolin. I am going to try the song a week that you post and see how it goes. Eventually I will try to upload videos, and read comments more than write them. Type of music that I play? Now I am trying whatever is on this site, though Celtic certainly is one interest. I am from NY
Welcome, Brian! Please browse the hundreds of tunes we've officially visited, and the thousands of 'other tunes' we have, you'll find them as clickable links in the Table of Contents discussions!
