An ongoing accounting of some of my most memorable Bluegrass jams and other information about Bluegrass music in general.
Southern Pickers continually demonstrate Bluegrass "etiquette"
Posted 06-30-2011 at 05:14 AM by Fiddliferous
Here's an essay I wrote some time ago having to do with Bluegrass "etiquette":
Did you ever enter into a conversation with someone who would speak right over you when you were responding to their prior remarks? If so, then you know how irritating that can be. Such a person is said to be disrespectful, or at the least, thought of as being rude or lacking fundamental rules of polite conversation.
This same condition applies equally as well to musicians in a jam session or performing a tune in public. Imagine that you're all playing and singing the popular song "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" and it is your turn to lead-sing a verse. Just as you begin to voice the first line of your verse, the banjo, fiddle or resonator guitar player decides to play "backup" so loudly that it distracts not only you from singing and concentrating, but distracts the listeners from the "heart" of the tune. While the backup "artist" may feel his/her ego has been sated, the storyline and consequently the tune, at this point have undoubtedly become a mess and many a listener's flowing attention to the piece has dropped out of the interest zone. Applause at the end is usually obligatory and not necessarily spontaneous or well deserved.
This is what happens when there is improper etiquette in a jam tune and poor arrangement in a performance piece. It's one of the main reasons why bands forming at the outer periphery of Bluegrass performance are unable to stay the course and meld together into an integrated musical entirety.
When each individual learns to integrate, chances of success move up rapidly.
Did you ever enter into a conversation with someone who would speak right over you when you were responding to their prior remarks? If so, then you know how irritating that can be. Such a person is said to be disrespectful, or at the least, thought of as being rude or lacking fundamental rules of polite conversation.
This same condition applies equally as well to musicians in a jam session or performing a tune in public. Imagine that you're all playing and singing the popular song "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" and it is your turn to lead-sing a verse. Just as you begin to voice the first line of your verse, the banjo, fiddle or resonator guitar player decides to play "backup" so loudly that it distracts not only you from singing and concentrating, but distracts the listeners from the "heart" of the tune. While the backup "artist" may feel his/her ego has been sated, the storyline and consequently the tune, at this point have undoubtedly become a mess and many a listener's flowing attention to the piece has dropped out of the interest zone. Applause at the end is usually obligatory and not necessarily spontaneous or well deserved.
This is what happens when there is improper etiquette in a jam tune and poor arrangement in a performance piece. It's one of the main reasons why bands forming at the outer periphery of Bluegrass performance are unable to stay the course and meld together into an integrated musical entirety.
When each individual learns to integrate, chances of success move up rapidly.
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