November Jam Session

GREAT jam session last Saturday at Arbor Music Store in Magnolia. It was packed! Lots of good tunes and one guy decided to treat us all to pizza at the end. Doesn't get much better than that!
This is just a teeny bit of what went on. Need to find a better place to set the camera.

Ukulele Bluegrass

It seems that every discussion I read on learning to play ukulele lists pop and modern tunes more than any other style. Now there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not my cup of tea. I like classical, jazz and, yes, bluegrass. Most of the jam sessions I can get to are bluegrass and old timey. So that's what I've been learning. 
So now I've got a new goal for my Song List section. Since there are so few examples of bluegrass played on ukulele online, I'm going to start posting songs as I learn them along with some of my other favorites.

Progress Comes Slowly

Photo not in the camper but at a friend's bunkhouse

I've been doing better with practicing. Not as much as I'd like, but some is better than nothing. And it means I'm keeping my motivation up.
There's really so much I could be doing, but with training and walking dogs, fixing meals and cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping, there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day. OK I confess. I do spend way too much time checking email and FB. I tend to leave them open so I can see if there's something new so I don't have to actually open and read them.
I'm also uncomfortable practicing, especially singing, when the door to the camper is open. My neighbor only about 8 feet away and I don't know if he's a music lover or not. Most people around here spend their days watching TV. I leave the door open sometimes to get some fresh air and to keep an eye on the dogs when they're out on their lines.
I do want to do more video recording. I've found that even old videos can come in handy. Like today I was working on D notes in the third position on bass. I had several videos of me on dulcimer which were mostly all in the key of D. I had a great little practice session with myself.

Dry Spell

I just went through a dry spell as far as practicing goes. I just couldn't get motivated to get in gear and pick up an instrument. I've read lots of good advice online on how to practice, but nothing on how to discipline myself to actually DO it.
I found some inspiration on some forums. I signed up for a forum for each of my instruments. I check in every morning and have found all sorts of encouragement and good advice.
For one thing, I've tried to set up a schedule for practicing, but my days are not all the same. If I miss my practice time, it throws me into a quandary and I end up doing nothing. So, now I'm going to try to set up my schedule each morning as I have my coffee.
It's interesting to see what other players are working on. I've gotten some great tips and ideas that I want to work on. Nothing is more deadening than to play the same scales day after day. Not that I mind scales, but I need a focus. One person said he only practices the scales that are used in a song he's working on.
I've found some backing tracks for bass scales to help me with intonation. My sister sent me a web site that has backing tracks for bluegrass music. There's so much out there , I should never run out of new things to try.

I forgot to mention that I got the golf caddy for free by joining Free Cycle. People give stuff away or ask for stuff for free on the web site. I just happened to have my request read by someone giving up golf. This was a brand new, expensive titanium caddy. I never could have afforded to buy one even half as nice.

Bass Caddy

I promised you a picture of the bass loaded onto the caddy so here it is.

Most times people put the bass back against the caddy frame but that requires more modifications. I discovered that by turning it sideways, it fit right into the support for the golf bag. In fact, all the weight is on the bag support. The end peg support is not supporting any weight. It just keeps the bass in place.
The rig is really well-balanced and very light. I've had no problems going up and down stairs. The wheel base is pretty wide and sometimes I have to make room for it to get through a narrow space, but if that's the worst of my problems, I can live with it. Love the way it folds up and slips in beside the bass in the van and keeps it from rolling over.

See post below.

Another Bass Gig

I got a phone call last night and it looks like I'll be playing bass another week with the Happy Strings Band. I'm delighted. I even cleaned out the van so the bass would fit.

First Bass Gig and the New Caddy

Yesterday I played my first gig on the string bass. It was a fill-in for the regular bass player who couldn't be there. The band was the Ukulele Band that plays at local nursing homes and retirement centers.
It was really good to be back on the bass. The band did have some problems with rhythm - mostly singers coming in too soon. I'm not sure if they couldn't hear the bass or piano, or just ignored it.
The audience didn't seem to notice, or care.

I got a good test drive of the new bass caddy It feels too light but I have to remember that a full golf bag weighs more than my string bass. It doesn't steer too well since it was meant to be pulled rather than pushed, but until I really trust that the bass stays on, I'm pushing so I can keep an eye on it. And I love the fact that it still folds up.
Next time I have it loaded up, I'll take a picture with the bass strapped in.

The Bass Mute has Arrived

This mute is a really solid piece of rubber. It cut the volume about in half and, it might be my imagination, but I swear it makes the bass sound better! Hmmmmm, now I'm mulling over the possibility of leaving the mute on and amplifying the bass --- It will be amplified with the Happy Strings group anyway...but not at the jam sessions. Well, just something to experiment with.

Dulcimer Mute

I found the hair scrunchies and tried them out as a mute for the dulcimer. It worked great. It stopped a lot of the ringing and, unlike the cardboard, had a clear tone. The closer I slid it up toward the frets, the more it muted but didn't changed the tuning.
Now I have a pickup to make it louder and and mute to make it softer, for practice.
Still waiting for the bass mute.

Cardboard Dulcimer Mute

I discovered today that the cardboard mute, mentioned below, also works on dulcimer. I had to fiddle with it a bit to keep it from migrating to the middle of the strum area and damping everything down. I actually turned in upside down and slid it tight against the bridge. It worked great, especially on loud and fast pieces.
For slower pieces, I found I didn't like to use it so much. I can play softer and like to hear the strings ring on a song like Ashokan Farewell.

My brother mentioned that the hair ties, or scrunchies work on the nut end of a guitar. I have some scrunchies somewhere - just couldn't find them. (the story of my life.) I'm not sure how one would get them over the scroll and tuning pegs and still be tight enough to mute. I'll try it sometime when I find them...
Can't wait to get the bass mute.I won't have any excuse now not to practice!

Bass and Ukulele Mutes

After my very kind neighbors commented on how much they enjoyed listening to me practice, I thought I'd better get a bass mute. I do make some horrible noises trying to play with a bow. I ordered one from Amazon. Waiting for that one to arrive.

I thought I'd like one for the ukulele too. I couldn't find one online but I did find directions for making one out of some kind of clay. Then it hit me that plain ole cardboard might work! I pressed a strip of cardboard on the strings just enough to make an indentation. Then I cut a little way up on each mark. I cut one too close to the edge so I just made a single string mute for that string.

I slid the cardboard up against the bridge and it works fine. It sounds kinda plunky, but it does cut the volume and that's what counts.

Getting Acquainted with my New Best Friend

I can't believe I did this. But when someone offers a great deal on a bass, to a bassless bass player, well, things just happened.
I managed to squeeze it in but still have to figure out how I'm going to sleep in my bed tonight....

Jammin' on Skype

I got to jam with my sister today via Skype. It's not the best venue for duets but it's better than nothing.

The first issue we discovered is the time lapse. We can't really sing or play together since one of us is a couple of beats behind.
That doesn't bother us much though since we discovered that we can't hear both parts at the same time anyway. I mean, who ever is loudest gets the bandwidth. If I want to hear her play and sing, it works better if I just turn off my microphone. Otherwise, she'll be cutting in and out. Just have to remember to turn it back on.
We also get dropped calls. I thought it would be better since my WiFi was upgraded. We lost connections about 4-5 times today. It kept telling me I wasn't connected, but my computer told me I was. I hope the new version of Skype fixed that problem. That one is really annoying.
In spite of everything, we keep trying to play together. I can see what she is doing and I can try out my new songs. Maybe when she returns to the mainland things will go better. She's in Hawaii right now and the distance is a definite factor.
Still, with all the issues, it's great to see and talk to my sister. She's really getting pretty good on the banjo and her singing has really improved. I wish we lived closer so we could see each other from time to time, but in the meantime, we'll just jam on Skype.

St. Anne's Reel

A snippet of St Anne's Reel using my new little amplifier. (My dulcimer tends to get drowned out when we jam with 8 guitars, handful of banjos and a couple of fiddles.)

St. Anne's Reel

My New Honeytone Amp

My little HoneyTone amp arrived along with my $7 pickup. I think they sound great - especially for the price. I tried it on the uke and and ubass. They worked fine on both, but picked up all the noise from touching the instrument too. I will need a smaller, non-clip-on pickup for those two so I can mount it inside the body. The concert uke sounded great with the pickup up under the neck.

But my dulcimer needed the amplification the most. It couldn't be heard at the jam sessions with six guitars, two or three banjos, mandolins and what have you. Now I'm thinking I need a pedal switch to have volume for lead and less volume for backup. Even an on-off switch would work. I'd just be playing acoustically when playing backup.

Timers and Practicing

I've been trying out some timers to keep track of how long I'm practicing. I've tried several free downloadable programs and have to say they all work. I've also used a basic kitchen timer.

At first, I didn't like the programs because most of them don't let you stop the timer and continue it when you're ready. If you stop it, it resets. I sometimes have to interrupt a session if someone calls, or there's a dog "emergency" or something boils over on the stove. My kitchen timer worked great for that issue.

But now I'm back to using the first timer I tried, the Focus Booster. I've found that sometimes if I don't have an hour free, I won't practice at all. Focus Booster was recommended for working in smaller chunks. I read that working for 25 minutes and then taking a 5 minute break, called the Pomodoro Technique,  is actually more productive than trying to crank out work for an hour. Focus Booster can be set up for a work session and a break too.

I do seem to get more focused practice in when I only do 25 minutes at a time. When I tried to practice in hour chunks, I spent more time in mindless noodling instead of focused practice. I quit beating myself up if I don't get in all the practicing that I think I should. If I learn one thing a day, I'm making progress.

Soloing

I'm finally figuring things out. All those years of practicing scales, I never connected how to use them. Now I'm determined to learn to solo, even if it's just a few simple bars of  bluegrass. I've made myself some backing tracks and now I see the reason for all those scales.
I have a free program called Audacity. I just love it. It makes it really easy to record myself playing chords and I can then save it as a MP3.

More Music

After a couple of days under the weather, I'm back on track. I've been paying more attention to my low blood sugar times and having a snack. I've been really enjoying having more energy to practice and play music. I'm even enjoying playing scales.
Today I figured out a way to do a chunk rhythm on the dulcimer. I've always wanted to do that since I would like to be able to sit back and listen to someone else solo. Now I just have to practice changing gears.

Bass Cosy

I really needed a gig bag for my ubass. I thought I probably could make one and pad it with carded wool since I have so many fleeces in storage. It's not quite finished but it is really fluffy. I expect the fleece to felt down a bit with time so I put quite a few batts of wool in there. It reminds me of a teapot cosy. I have more details on my craft blog CHEAP TWILLS.