8/14/02 Thursday
This was a great day to follow Wednesday. It was a learning-a-whole-bunch-of-new-things on the bodhran day. We learned to hit the wooden part as we were tipping, and learned about triplets and talked about all these great CDs to do bodhran stuff to and which videos and tapes and CDs NOT to buy. The most amusing part was Michelle telling us why NOT to buy certain books, tapes and videos! It was hilarious!
Ian had us working real hard – gave us a new piece where we had to use the fourth finger to play. Hard but I could do it. I was so proud of myself!! Dean brought in an old newspaper article about his Sugar Mapling experience in New Hampshire. It is so fascinating listening to those two chat about the lumber industry. I will miss Ian’s class when we go.
I actually had a great day at bagpipes today! I was able to do all that Alisdair asked me to do. Jim was a pleasure to listen to. He says he is playing drums at the piper’s part of the student ceilidh tonight. I can’t believe that he isn’t good enough to play the pipes, He sure sounds good to me!
Lunch found Andi talking to people with not of a problem. What a difference from the beginning of the week! The after lunch ceilidh was held indoors because of the 95 degree weather.
Afternoon with Wendy was good. I am going to miss her class the most I think. She has such a wonderful way about her. We’ve gotten to spend some extra time with her these past few days because she has to leave early on Friday to go to a festival in Maine and play. Elaine is finally getting it. Andi has been improving by leaps and bounds. I am trying to do the grace notes and am having SOME success. I know where to put them, it'’ just making my fingers do what my brain knows they SHOULD be doing. LOL! I have to slow things down considerably for that to happen. Carl let us NOT play Morag of Dunvegan and we worked on Leaving Lismore. Thank God. If I ever see Morag, he’s dead meat!
Excitement reigns as everyone gets ready for the student ceilidh tonight and Glencoe afterwards. Dinner was delicious and Cape Bretoners can certainly make great spaghetti and garlic bread!
Student ceilidh was great! Maybe next year I’ll be good enough to do something. Fiddlers, pipers, weavers, singers, all got in the act. Even a comedian – Mark explained how to get to Glencoe Mills Square Dance in several different ways and left us in tears, doubled over with laughter. The Advanced class fiddlers took a tune that everyone was so thoroughly tired of hearing and morphed it. They played it frontwards, backwards, took measures and arranged them randomly and played the piece with a salsa beat! It was the best performance of the evening. What creativity! |
