Dougf
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Perhaps epiphany is too strong a word, maybe "cool realization" would be better. Well, it was cool to me.
I enrolled in Aaron Keim's workshop at the recent WCUF, "Fiddle Tunes for Ukulele", at least partly because I had been working on an original tune that seemed to have an Appalachian feel to it. Toward the end of the class, Aaron introduced us to clawhammer style. He explained it very well, and I felt like I sort of got the hang of it, but it wasn't really flowing, nothing anywhere near what Aaron can do with it. I remember leaving the class thinking that I would probably never get the hang of it.
Later that evening as I told my wife about what I had learned that day, I tried to explain clawhammer, even though I felt like I really didn't "get" it. When I tried to give her a clawhammer demo, I started slow, and then I felt like the music was getting a momentum of its own. And then I had that by-george-I-think-I've-got-it feeling.
Then I remembered the song I'd been working on, with its Appalachian feel. I gave it a shot with my facsimile clawhammer. It really seemed to flow. I realized that this song I'd been working on was a clawhammer song, just waiting for the clawhammer to arrive.
I'm pretty sure now that I was mistaken about actually "getting" it, but it really felt that way. I know clawhammer is a daunting challenge, and I'm sure it will take a long time to really get inside it, but that's what I'm hoping to do. And knowing that the clawhammer style is such a good fit to my little tune, I've got extra motivation.
I enrolled in Aaron Keim's workshop at the recent WCUF, "Fiddle Tunes for Ukulele", at least partly because I had been working on an original tune that seemed to have an Appalachian feel to it. Toward the end of the class, Aaron introduced us to clawhammer style. He explained it very well, and I felt like I sort of got the hang of it, but it wasn't really flowing, nothing anywhere near what Aaron can do with it. I remember leaving the class thinking that I would probably never get the hang of it.
Later that evening as I told my wife about what I had learned that day, I tried to explain clawhammer, even though I felt like I really didn't "get" it. When I tried to give her a clawhammer demo, I started slow, and then I felt like the music was getting a momentum of its own. And then I had that by-george-I-think-I've-got-it feeling.
Then I remembered the song I'd been working on, with its Appalachian feel. I gave it a shot with my facsimile clawhammer. It really seemed to flow. I realized that this song I'd been working on was a clawhammer song, just waiting for the clawhammer to arrive.
I'm pretty sure now that I was mistaken about actually "getting" it, but it really felt that way. I know clawhammer is a daunting challenge, and I'm sure it will take a long time to really get inside it, but that's what I'm hoping to do. And knowing that the clawhammer style is such a good fit to my little tune, I've got extra motivation.