One of the worlds biggest jam sessions is Merlefest located in Wilkesboro, NC.  http://www.merlefest.org/ 

Health and Music

Have you ever heard of Carpel Tunnel Syndrome or Tendonitis?  Chances are if you are older, you know of them very well even if you don't know the correct name for it.  In this section, keep in mind that I am not a doctor and can not give medical advice; however, I understand first hand how it effects my body.  

These conditions are problems in the top and bottom of the wrist where many of the working parts of your arm are gathered together such as the tendons, nerves, and blood vessels.  These things are gathered together like a bundle of wires and held together with a "tie wrap".  The problem starts when these things have to slide against each other for long periods of time.  Like anything else, things wear out.  The body has a way of repairing things so it is not so bad.  

We break muscles down and they get stronger when they heal.  In this case, if everything gets bigger except the band that holds it all together, where does it go? It would be like putting a collar on a young pet and not adjusting it as the pet's neck gets bigger.  In fact, we are not building strong mussels in this area but scar tissue.  Once the bundle tendons, nerves, and blood vessels become choked, blood flow is reduced from swelling and nerve damage can occur.

What does this have to do with music?  How would you like to be in your prime music playing days and your hands stop working?  You can't chord your guitar or do those banjo roles that you have worked so hard on.   When we are young, we tend to feel like we have perfect health and are as strong as an ox.  This might be true except some of our parts are wearing out without our knowledge.  Then around the age of thirty, it catches up, some more than others.  To make a long story short, learn more about this condition and take the precautions to protect you wrists.  In general, remember to keep your wrists straight to let all of the inner parts work in a straight line.  This will reduce the friction that causes the problems.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Let's say you already have it so now, what do you do?  Again keep your wrists straight as not to make a bigger problem.  Find ways to hold your instrument that will help to keep your wrist straight.  Tilt your guitar, try light gauge strings so you don't have to apply so much pressure. Lower your elbow on you fretting arm and see what happens.  Avoid playing when you have swelling.  Ask your doctor about medicines that reduce swelling.  The key here is to learn all that you can to keep this from happening to you or to better work around it if you have one or both of these conditions already.  

Let'em  Ring

Bluegrass music is exciting to listen to.  It has a drive and a punch that will make your heart speed up with excitement much like a brisk walk or a good laugh.  It feels to me like a ride might feel in a fighter jet.  Notes can become fast and many times, short lived.  This is all part of controlling the effect. A slow song with heavy accents can be as powerful as a hard driving fast song.  

In this lesson, I want to show you a few things that you can practice to add effects to your music.  Let's look at the bass fiddle; on my bass fiddle page, I said that the bass fiddle for bluegrass is played with a 1,2,1,2 pattern.  I talked about deadening each note just before going into the next note. This is a great effect that will add punch to the music. On the other hand, sometimes it is good to add a different sound.  Think about a piano and how it sounds when everything is played with the sustain peddle down. All of the notes run all over the top of each other and sounds like a mess.  This is not what I am referring to.  On the bass, you can let the 1 run all over the 2 but kill the 2 before repeating the 2.  Also kill all of the sound before moving to the next chord. This gives a full sound under all of the rest of the music.  Then when the song is ready, you can go back to the  1,2,1,2 pattern.  Many songs may only use one pattern or the other.  In some songs you can switch back and forth as needed to add dynamics or effect.  One example might be to play the 1,2,1,2 pattern in the verse and the long held note in the chorus.  Listen to my example.  

Let's look at the other instruments.  A fiddle generally holds notes anyway, but the same idea works with the other instruments.  The idea here is to hold a chord and pick out the notes, while letting all of the strings ring as long as you can, before another note is required. If you practice this, you will be using this technique naturally.  Listen to the guitar.  Listen to the banjo.  These are intended to be exercises rather than parts of songs.   One of the best musicians to do this on the mandolin plays for Nickel Creek.

The Warren Yates Method of Playing Bluegrass Banjo for Beginners

DVD

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