Masterclass
© Stephen William Gray
(* for "fiddle" substitute your instrument of choice, and for the initials substitute your own heroes).
Thanks to Folkworks, and other organisors of folk-events, it is now often possible to spend a few hours, a weekend or even a week in this "masterclass" situation.
Folkworks have been offering their weekend workouts and summer schools for about a decade now. Arriving at the beginners (or sometimes complete novices) level can be great fun - I once spent a weekend strapped into a set of Northumbrian pipes and, although we coaxed some bonny notes out of the instrument, there was no fear of me becoming competent. And they made my ribs ache!
The most recent event I attended was an "English Workout" which was run in conjunction with a concert tour promoting the splendour of the English tradition in songs, tunes and dance.
The fiddle tutor was a member of English folk's royal family, Eliza Carthy - one of my favourite singers and musicians. Our group of a dozen or so started learning a simple waltz by ear. To my relief, Eliza than handed out the music for the rest of the day's proceedings. I once spent some unhappy hours being "tutored" by a well-known fiddle player who did not believe in using the dots. Needless to say, those of us who were not fast at learning by ear came away with very little, except dismay at his prejudice.
At least Eliza was catering for both ear and sight learners. However, it became apparent that the session had not benefited from much pre-planning. Some of the tunes seemed as new to Eliza as they did to the rest of us. And this can be one of the pitfalls of the masterclass - if the tunes are specifically themed (English, Shetland, Cajun, etc.) then unfamiliarity with the tunes and indeed the feel of the music can make for difficulties. I had never come across 3:2 hornpipes and, very much as a 6:8 jig or standard 4:4 hornpipe might appear to a rock musician, the feel and timing was hard to get into.
We had a break - a slot to do something entirely different, which is a great feature of the Folkworks events. My session was an audience with Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson - ably abetted by Alastair Anderson's sympathetic probing and encouraging questions. This was a really fascinating glimpse into the lives of two of our most respected folk troubadours: from Martin's chorister-school upbringing, Norma's reminiscences on the early days of the Watersons, and their encounters with the names of the 60's English folk revival.
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