So what’s the point?

I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about the goals of the Monday class and of folk music in general.

  1. We have communal repertoire, shared with others in our musical community and with past and future players. I try to build repertoire in the group, using both older and newer tunes, providing background information where relevant.
  2. We learn these tunes by ear in order to help internalise the tunes, firstly because playing by ear and from memory is a feature of folk music and secondly because internalising a tune makes it easier to then play with the stylistic elements that characterise folk music.
  3. We are afforded some personal autonomy – we add stylistic elements such as ornaments, phrasing and variations to the tunes. We vary the chords, playing both conservative sequences and more advanced sequences that reflect contemporary style. At no point are we looking for one ultimate version of a tune, but rather we should play with various different versions to create an interesting and varied piece of music. I provide various chord sequences and suggest ornaments and other variations (ornaments aren’t often notated in the dots on the site as they should not be considered a fixed element).
  4. Building arrangements: coordinating a relatively large group such as ours means that we fix arrangements for the sake of clarity and ensemble. In building these arrangements together, I hope to provide models that you can then use yourself to make your own arrangements independent of this group.
  5. Promoting traditional music – we aim to perform high quality pieces at Gunnersbury House and at the WLTUC both for our own enjoyment and sense of achievement, and to promote folk music to a wider audience who may not be familiar with the genre. This necessitates rehearsal to maximise ensemble skills, hone listening skills and improve performance techniques.
  6. Enjoyment! Our classes, and the process of playing with others, should be an enjoyable experience. Research has shown that playing music in groups has a number of tangible health benefits including stress relief and increased endorphins.

You may have additional goals or benefits that you have found from playing folk music with others. Feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments!

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Author: debfiddle

Deborah is a violinist and violist specialising in English folk music. She trained in viola and Baroque viola at Birmingham Conservatoire, before returning to her first love of traditional music, song and dance. Deborah has developed a passion for playing for dancing since joining her first ceilidh band at age 13. She is a member of Stepling, a band performing English music, step-dance, song and percussion, and also plays with Folk Dance Remixed, a dance company combining traditional dance with hip hop and street dance styles, with whom she has performed as such events as Car Fest, the Southbank's Festival of Love and Glasgow's Commonwealth Games Festival. Deborah records on a regular basis for a number of people, including The Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra, and for Laurel Swift's 'Travelling with Thomas' musical. She teaches music, song and dance regularly for The English Folk Dance and Song Society, as well as on a freelance basis for various workshop series, festivals and music services. Deborah recently completed The Teaching Musician MA degree course at Trinity Laban, graduating with Distinction.

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