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| Something new this year:
working out and arranging repertoire for a duo, and perhaps more. Say,
for example, you and a friend have a new tune you want to play, and you sit there and look at
one another and say, "Now what?" (Bowles the cat is wondering, too.) |
 Perhaps we can help. The essence of good music, or at least one of its greatest joys, is playing together with others. In this daily session, we will try to focus on how two willing musicians can approach a new piece of music and do more with it than simply recite its melody in tandem. That’s certainly not a bad thing, of course, but there’s a great deal of enjoyment and satisfaction in working up a piece of music so it becomes more than the sum of its parts. This naturally begins with learning the tune in the first place, understanding the essence of it that’s important to each player, then developing ways to set it for two string instruments (and/or voice) to bring out the music in a creative and appealing way. We’ll explore theme and variations, trading melody parts for backup, cultivating listening skills, supporting the other player, and so on. |
 Participants
are encouraged to bring a tune—in their head, on some type of recorded
artifact—that can be learned and explored and arranged. Whatever the size of the group, while remaining flexible, we'll try to focus on one duo at a time, and others can listen and learn. Otherwise, we might end up with an orchestra, which is the norm in so many other workshops at Lark. It's great for raw learning of repertoire and style, but it's not how we envision this workshop. The instruments per se aren't important. Part of the challenge is in making the combination, even if it's two of the same instrument, work well. They also don't have to be ones we play. We simply ask that they be acoustic string instruments, or something compatible or similar. In other words, bagpipes and didgeridoos might not work well in this setting. But a saz or a tenor guitar or a laúd certainly would. |
 The sessions will take place in Robin’s usual sylvan retreat in the glade below the road below the Camp One Dance Hall. You know, by the massage meadow place. The shuttle bus goes right by it every half hour. Look for the flags. Got any questions or requests? Drop us a line. (And forgive the spam filter routine.) |
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my webpage | visit Robin's webpage | to
the actual Lark website Drop me a line click here! |