[Santa Cruz Celtic Slow Sessions] 1st Sunday Session Invitation- Slow - April 4 at Deli-licious

Mon Apr 5 08:16:37 PDT 2010

Hi folks,

I don't come very often, but I think the idea of having a truly "slow speed" session is a good one. One thing I have observed is that even when we start slow, we almost always speed up later in the song. I think it would be very useful to find a way to keep the tempo slow throughout a song. Maybe this means using a metronome, or perhaps following a designated person who is able to keep a slow, steady tempo.

Just my 2 cents...

---kfb---

-----Original Message-----
From: santa_cruz_celtic_slow_sessions-bounces+kfb=mbari.org at lists.sonic.net [mailto:santa_cruz_celtic_slow_sessions-bounces+kfb=mbari.org at lists.sonic.net]On Behalf Of Lucas Cantin
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2010 11:06 PM
To: Santa Cruz Celtic Slow Sessions announcement list
Subject: Re: [Santa Cruz Celtic Slow Sessions] 1st Sunday Session Invitation- Slow - April 4 at Deli-licious

The session was created with slow players in mind.  I think with some minor modifications and a vocal group of slow players, we can 'tame' the 'fasties' for the first Sunday.

Let's keep the dialogue going.

Also, I wanted to contact Pauli if I could.

Lucas

--- On Sun, 4/4/10, weathercaller at aol.com <weathercaller at aol.com> wrote:

From: weathercaller at aol.com <weathercaller at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [Santa Cruz Celtic Slow Sessions] 1st Sunday Session Invitation - Slow - April 4 at Deli-licious
To: santa_cruz_celtic_slow_sessions at lists.sonic.net
Date: Sunday, April 4, 2010, 10:35 PM

Hi Everyone,

I've only come a couple of times over the past year and a half or so, partly due to the distance but also partly because of the speed with which the tunes have been played when I have been there.  Everyone was very welcoming and friendly, but I ended up with exactly the same impression as indicated below -- most of the folks there were people who've been playing for much longer than I have, and seemingly treating it more as another opportunity to play than as an opportunity to bring in us much slower-speed beginners.  Perhaps part of the problem too is that "slow" isn't really well-defined; it covers a vast range.  So by slow are we talking 75 bpm or 105 bpm?  Either way though my impression was that whatever was intended, things always seemed to drift upwards towards what I think of as dance speed, or around 115-120 -- and that's way out of my league.  Maybe we need both a "slow session" and a "really slow" session!

I really like the suggestions of (a) starting off with some waltzes and airs and (b) defining a core set of ~ 10 jigs or reels that would be played every time.  I'm not as wild though about the approach of having the person choosing the tune set the speed -- as unless that individual happens to be among us slower players, we're just going to be left out a lot of the time.  Rather I think it would be better to simply to define a speed or at least narrower range of speeds that all the tunes will be played at -- say something like in the ballpark of 85-90 bpm before the break and 95-100 bpm afterwards (or do we need a separately-convened "really slow" session to do something like that)?

Warren

-----Original Message-----
From: Janet Platin <janetplatin at yahoo.com>
To: Santa Cruz Celtic Slow Sessions announcement list <santa_cruz_celtic_slow_sessions at lists.sonic.net>
Sent: Fri, Apr 2, 2010 11:15 am
Subject: Re: [Santa Cruz Celtic Slow Sessions] 1st Sunday Session Invitation - Slow - April 4 at Deli-licious

Hi Lucas,
I have some questions/observations about the slowest session . It seems like the people who show up most dependably are people who have been coming a long time and want another opportunity to play. Have we lost the slow people, because not enough tunes are slow or is it just the usual ebb and flow of session attendence? 
The session rules say that the person choosing the tune sets the speed. Do we follow that rule in this particular slow session? Do we mean that every tune needs to be played at a speed that meets the ability of the slowest player or that if you are a slow player, you can set a very slow speed and know that that is acceptable in this group?
It does seem like a good idea to start with the waltzes and the airs, but that not what we usually play. How about having a set list of 10 jigs and reels that everyone should know and will definitely be played each slow session. That would give slower players a head start. They could practice the big 10 and maybe the new slow would be a speed everyone would feel comfortable with. 
If you were to combine the start of watzes and airs and with the 10 and then let the rest of the session be whatever a session usually is, you would have something that would meet the needs of both groups.
On the other hand, that means a lot more structure than we are used to having.
Just some thoughts.
Janet Platin

  _____  

From: Lucas Cantin <lucascantin at yahoo.com>
To: Santa Cruz Celtic Slow Sessions announcement list <santa_cruz_celtic_slow_sessions at lists.sonic.net>
Sent: Thu, April 1, 2010 3:12:44 PM
Subject: Re: [Santa Cruz Celtic Slow Sessions] 1st Sunday Session Invitation - Slow - April 4 at Deli-licious

Hey Tane',

I checked and  they will be open for Easter Sunday. 

 I also wanted to put a question out there.  It seems that we have lost a lot of our beginners.  I had an idea of having a set list for a half an hour before the normal session of slow only tunes.  Waltzes and Airs.  This would help everyone.  What do people think about this??  The idea would be to have the half hour set list play from 12:30 to 1p.  Our group seems to avoid playing anything slow.  This jam was created for the players who weren't comfortable with the normal tempo.

As before, people can always request to play the song called for at a slower speed.

This seems to be a difficult problem.

--- On Thu, 4/1/10, Tane' Tachyon <tachyon at tachyonlabs.com> wrote:

From: Tane' Tachyon <tachyon at tachyonlabs.com>
Subject: [Santa Cruz Celtic Slow Sessions] 1st Sunday Session Invitation - Slow - April 4 at Deli-licious
To: "Santa Cruz Celtic Slow Sessions email list" <santa_cruz_celtic_slow_sessions at lists.sonic.net>
Date: Thursday, April 1, 2010, 12:49 PM

The next first-Sunday-of-the-month slow session will be this Sunday,
April 4, from 1-3pm, at Deli-licious, 21505 E. Cliff Drive, in the
East Cliff Village Shopping Center. April 4 is Easter Sunday, but I
did call Deli-licious and confirm that they will be open.

When I went to this session it was really nice -- everyone was having
a great time, fine food from the deli, people walking in and
applauding, and so on. Click below to see a picture of what the
session looked like from the front door of Deli-licious:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tachyon/3691468503/sizes/l/

Copies of the tuneset books generally used at slow session are sold
for $15, and you can now download and print the 1006-tune "King
Street Sessions Tunebook" for free at
http://www.pacholo.com/mike/
-- many thanks to Michael Long for putting the book together and now
putting it online as well!

For a news bulletin, at last month's 1st-Sunday session someone heard
the music and hired the group for a paid St. Patrick's Day gig.
-- Tane' Tachyon = tachyon at tachyonlabs.com = http://www.tachyonlabs.com/
Click below to sponsor me in the May 8 "Human Race" Walkathon fundraiser
benefitting AFE and many other Santa Cruz non-profit organizations!
http://www.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=332033&u=332033-249245954
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