Re: Musical contests
Brick, you have plenty of company in questioning the contests. I'm not in favour of contests in the arts. I've been to many fiddle contests, and I usually prefer the person who comes in fifth or sixth, perhaps not so great technically as the top three, but who plays with feeling, who I could listen to for hours at a dance. Many people have trouble with the stress of contests, just as some good students can't perform well in school exams. Others get the impression that they aren't good, because they aren't outstanding contest fiddlers, pickers, or whatever. I was put off singing for years by being adjudicated as a child. Why was this done? I was taking lessons because I enjoyed singing, not so I could star in the opera. That being said, some people thrive on competition. My daughter didn't, and realized after a few contests that she wasn't a contest fiddler, and decided that's not what fiddling's about anyway. Still, practicing for the contests gave her the incentive to learn a few tunes really well, which helped her with her fiddling in general. In my area (Ottawa Valley, Ontario), there are many contests. In Atlantic Canada, there are few. Instead, they have all-day or weekend festivals, at which all are welcome to play, which I find much more supportive of both developing and mature musicians. No one goes home a "loser."
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
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