I have always been a fan of traditional music - both as a listener and performer, and have made it part of my life's work to keep the tradition of playing folk music alive, by passing this on to my students - both children and adults.
When I got to Marshall Simonds in September, I found a great band and choral program, but saw no opportunities for kids to participate in this often under-looked art. I asked around, and eventually found a student who played violin. I asked if he would be interested in learning THE FIDDLE. "What's the difference?" he asked. Ah, sit down, my son, and let me tell you a tale. Daniel and I started meeting Wednesdays after school.
One student on violin eventually turned into two, and after a few weeks of "shaming the vibrato out of them" we started to have a nice sound as a trio!
Then, it turns out that my colleague, Marcia Medvitz, played "one fiddle tune," as she described it, and began joining us in our Wednesday sessions. Another student named Neil plays piano, so he recently began joining us, as well. There are rumors of other students and faculty who are threatening to join our growing band, as well.
So, what began as two people playing through some fiddle tunes after school, has turned into a weekly, intergenerational hootenanny of American and Irish traditional music: hoedowns, jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas, waltzes, and the like. You'll find fiddles, banjos, guitars, accordions, and even some singing.
We are learning one new song every week, and then play through our old tunes, discussing style, and working on our tone and increasing our speed to dance tempo! We currently have a repertoire of about 10 songs. We will be having our unofficial debut at the Thanksgiving Assembly on November 20th, playing an updated version of the traditional song "Old Groundhog" (with updated lyrics called "Turkey Day!") with the MSMS Select Chorus.
The video above is of fthe our of us playing through "The Swallow Tail Jig" this week.
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