History of Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing

(Part IV in a five-part series on the song Lift Every Voice and Sing written by James Weldon Johnson & J. Rosamond Johnson.)

Today’s post deals with the history surrounding the composition of Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing. The last and final post on the series will contain a bit of musical analysis and a conclusion.




Augusta Savage's The Harp was inspired by Lift Every Voice and Sing. Photo: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.


In 1900 James Weldon Johnson had been asked to speak at the Stanton Public Schools celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Instead of a speech, he had decided to compose a poem, but his muse was slow to deliver inspiration for a poem. With time running short, he asked his brother Rosamond to help him write a song. Lift Ev’ry Voice was the product of their efforts. They sent the song to their New York publisher, who mimeographed copies so the song could be taught to a choir of 500 schoolchildren who sang it at the Lincoln celebration. The preface to Lift Every Voice and Sing (cited below) contains a 1935 quote where James Weldon Johnson recounts the ripple effect of that historic performance:

Shortly afterwards my brother and I moved from Jacksonville to New York, and the song passed out of our minds. But the school children of Jacksonville kept singing it, they went off to other schools and sang it, they became teachers and taught it to other children. Within twenty years it was being sung over the South and in some other parts of the country. Today, the song, popularly known as the Negro National Hymn, is quite generally used.

In February 2002, Dave Person of National Public Radio did a piece on on Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing. I hope you will click on this link and listen. (You need RealPlayer). It is a moving piece combining facts interspersed with music. In his piece, Person relates how James Weldon Johnson never wanted the song referred to as the Negro National Anthem. He always used the word hymn instead. He felt that there divisions might arise between races if there were more than one national anthem and during his time in the NAACP he often cautioned people against calling the song an anthem. The fact that he could never eradicate the unofficial anthem designation speaks to the transcendent meaning the song held for people.

To understand the unique role this hymn played in shaping the lives and consciousnesses of African Americans, I recommend the book I mentioned above -- Lift Every Voice and Sing: A Celebration of the Negro National Anthem: 100 Years, 100 Voices edited by Julian Bond, known for his work in the Civil Rights movement and now serving as chairman of the board of the NAACP and professor of history at the University of Virginia, and Sondra K. Wilson, the executor of James Weldon Johnson’s literary properties and an associate of the W. E. B. DuBois Institute at Harvard University. I read over and over the specific instances in which it gave inspiration: how many years ago schoolchildren in the south began their day by singing it, how it gave dignity in the face of racist insult, how one generation taught it to another, how present day teachers assigned it to their students so the tradition singing it would not be lost, etc. Reading these 100 essays was really amazing and often quite moving. I find it unbelievable, actually, that one song could have had such an effect.

In conclusion, I will quote Wikipedia's lovely summary of the historic significance the song has achieved in the last 100 years.

Singing this song quickly became a way for African Americans to demonstrate their patriotism and hope for the future. In calling for earth and heaven to "ring with the harmonies of Liberty," they could speak out subtly against racism and Jim Crow laws — and especially the huge number of lynchings accompanying the rise of the Ku Klux Klan at the turn of the century. In 1919, the NAACP adopted the song as "The Negro National Anthem." By the 1920's, copies of "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" could be found in black churches across the country, often pasted into the hymnals.

During and after the American Civil Rights Movement, the song experienced a rebirth, and by the 1970's was often sung immediately after The Star Spangled Banner at public events and performances across the United States where the event had a significant African-American population.

In 1990, singer Melba Moore released a modern rendition of the song... Partly because of the success of this recording, Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing was entered into the Congressional Record as the official African American National Hymn.

All Americans who value justice and equality can sing this song. It applies to our times as well. The struggle against racism is far from over, so we too can...

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on 'til victory is won.



© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

J. Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954)

(Part III in a five-part series on the song Lift Every Voice and Sing written by James Weldon Johnson & J. Rosamond Johnson.)

Photo: Copyright ©2001 by Yale University

John Rosamond Johnson, born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1874, was the youngest of the three Johnson children. Although his first name was John, he was called Rosamond by his family and friends. Professionally, he referred to himself as J. Rosamond Johnson.

Rosamond’s special talent was music. He began piano lessons with his mother when he was 4 years old. After graduating from the Stanton Public school in 1891, he went to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he studied piano, organ, composition, and voice. He also studied music in London.

Around 1896 he left the conservatory to pursue an interest in musical comedy. It is believed that he toured as a vocalist with Oriental America, a company that staged the first African-American show on Broadway to differ from a burlesque house performance. Most likely, Jacksonville served as home base during the time he toured with Oriental America, because he held the administrative position of Supervisor of Music in the Jacksonville public schools from 1896-1899.

By 1898 Rosamond settled full time in Jacksonville, and in addition to his job with the Jacksonville public school system, he worked as organist and choirmaster of a large Baptist church and taught music once a week at the Baptist Academy. He also gave private piano lessons. The level of instruction he offered was far above that of previous itinerant musicians who taught in Jacksonville. James Weldon Johnson, in his autobiography called Along This Way, says: (1)

Rosamond had begun to using some of James’ poetry as texts for his composition. Their first joint effort was a comic opera that satirized American imperialism after the Spanish-American War. It was never produced, but it introduced the Johnsons to many influential people in show business.

In 1902 the Johnson brothers left Jacksonville to seek their fortune on Broadway. As a team with Bob Cole, an African-American lyricist, composer and vaudeville performer, they wrote musical comedies which were produced on Broadway with an all-black cast. They also wrote more than 200 popular songs in which their goal was to elevate the lyrical sophistication of Negro songs.

After James accepted a diplomatic appointment to Venezuela in 1906, Rosamond and Bob formed their own theater company and put on several successful productions until 1911 when Bob Cole died. The Library of Congress website states that “[Rosamond] Johnson’s compositional skills were the strongpoints of his musicals and vaudeville performances. Musicologist Thomas Riis considers Johnson’s harmonic language to be the richest of all the other black theater composers of his time save for Will Marion Cook.” (2)

After Cole’s death, Rosamond’s success continued. He composed the music and conducted the orchestra for the 1911 Broadway revue called Hello Paris, marking the first time an African-American had conducted an all-white orchestra for an all-white cast in a New York theater. He gave a piano performance in “A Concert of Negro Music” in Carnegie Hall on May 2, 1912. In that same year Oscar Hammerstein appointed him musical director of his Grand Opera House in London. There, Rosamond met Nora Floyd. They were married on June 3, 1912 and lived in London until 1914 when they returned to New York and started the Music School Settlement for Colored People. That was the year that ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) was formed, and Rosamond was one of only 6 African-Americans in the original membership of 170 people. In 1917, Rosamond directed a singing orchestra which appeared in a series of ground-breaking plays at the Garden Theater in Madison Square Garden. The plays had a relatively short run due to the fact that the US declared war on Germany the day after the play opened. During the World War I Rosamond served as a second lieutenant with the 15th Regiment.

After the war Rosamond concentrated on his collections, arrangements, and performances of Negro spirituals. He wrote the score to Emperor Jones, starring Paul Robeson in 1921. He published The Book of American Negro Spirituals in 1925 and The Second Book of American Negro Spirituals in 1926. He toured the US and Europe with Taylor Gordon giving performances of these works. In the following decade Rosamond published two more volumes -- Shout Songs in 1936 and Rolling Along in Song in 1937.

In the thirties, Rosamond’s acting career took precedence. Between 1929 and 1946 he performed in a variety of plays and musicals, most notably singing the role of Lawyer Frazier in Porgy and Bess in its Broadway premier in 1935 and again in 1942-43. The International Movie Database (IMDb) lists a number of credits, as does the Internet Broadway Database (IBDB).

After a varied and successful career in the arts, Rosamond Johnson died of a heart condition on November 11, 1954 in his home on West 162 Street in New York City. Besides being a talented and accomplished musician, he worked to educate African-American musicians and pioneered the musical acceptance and recognition of African-American art forms. Although he is not as well known as his brother, James Weldon Johnson, he deserves equal recognition for his varied achievements.
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Footnotes:

1. James Weldon Johnson's autobiography, Along This Way. p. 149. (reference to "Shout Songs" & the quote in the image above]

2. From the Library of Congress website: http://memory.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200038845/default.html

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Bibliography (in addition to Footnotes above):

1. Irving S. Gilmore Music Library of Yale University website, biographical overview: http://webtext.library.yale.edu/xml2html/Music/jrj-d.htm

2. Internet exhibit called "Let It Resound," part of the Yale University library. http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/LetItResound/art_rmt_johnson_jr.html

3. College of New Jersey, student website by Melvina D. Fennell, Pierre Miller, and Michael McLaughlin. http://www.tcnj.edu/~fennell2/John%20Rosamond%20Johnson.htm

4. Website on famous Floridians, comprised by essays written in 2002 by Florida school children to celebrate African American History Month. http://www.myflorida.com/myflorida/governorsoffice/black_history/rosamond_johnson.html (this material was recently removed and the link no long works.)

© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)

(Part II in a five-part series on the song Lift Every Voice and Sing written by James Weldon Johnson & J. Rosamond Johnson.)




The parents of James and Rosamond Johnson came to Jacksonville Florida from the Bahamas in 1866 after a hurricane destroyed their sponge fishing and dray businesses. James Sr. worked as the headwaiter in one Jacksonville’s fine resort hotels. His wife, Helen Louise Dillet Johnson, taught elementary school. In fact, she was the first female African-American public school teacher in Florida. The importance she placed on achievement and public service undoubtedly came from the example set by her father, who served in the House of Assembly in the Bahamas for 30 years. I relate the Johnson family background to illustrate the values and social climate within their family. The Johnson boys had educated and successful parents. They lived privileged lives for African-Americans of their time.

James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1871. He attended the Stanton Public School where his mother taught, and upon graduation he went on to study at Atlanta University. After completing his bachelor’s degree in 1894, he returned to Jacksonville and to become principal of the Stanton Public School. He must not have found that position entirely satisfying because he was involved in other endeavors during his entire tenure as principal. In 1895, James founded the Daily American, a newspaper devoted to reporting on issues pertinent to the black community. Despite the long hours he devoted to the paper, it was not a financial success and after a year he gave up the effort. However, the Daily American drew the attention of Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois, who supported James in various ways later in his life. After the demise of the paper, James studied law and became the first African American to be admitted to the Florida bar through open examination. And all of this while holding down a full time job as public school principal!

James and Rosamond started their musical collaboration in 1898 when Rosamond returned to Jacksonville to teach music. Their first work was a comic opera called Toloso that satirized American imperialism after the Spanish-American War. Though Toloso was never produced, its songs were later used in Broadway musicals and it introduced the Johnsons to many influential people in show business, including Oscar Hammerstein and their future partner, Bob Cole, an African-American lyricist, composer and vaudeville performer. During their early collaboration when they were both living and working in Jacksonville, they made periodic trips to New York where their work was well received.

In 1902 the Johnson brothers left Jacksonville to seek their fortune on Broadway. They teamed up with Bob Cole and wrote musical comedies that were produced on Broadway with an all-black cast. They also wrote more than 200 popular songs in which their goal was to “elevate the lyrical sophistication of Negro songs.”

Perhaps writing on a regular basis is what aroused James’s interest in studying English at Columbia University. He was awarded a Ph.D. in 1906. It is remarkable that he was able to pursue a successful Broadway musical career while earning a doctorate. But he did. With one foot in the glitzy world of show business and the the other in the academic scene at Columbia, James met many influential leaders of the day. All were impressed with his high energy, his keen mind, and his many talents.

Through his friendship with Charles Anderson, a black Republican leader and close friend of Booker T. Washington, James became interested in foreign service. After his graduation from Columbia in 1906, he received and accepted an appointment to the United States consulate in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. In 1909 he was transferred to Nicaragua, where he met the beautiful Grace Neil, daughter of a wealthy New York real estate broker. They were married in 1910.

His consulate assignments allowed James to devote time to his writing. During his years in the Foreign Service (1906–1913) he wrote much poetry and worked on a novel called The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man which was published in 1912. He returned to New York in 1913 and continued to have an active literary life, publishing editorials, fiction, as well as poetry.

In 1916 he became field secretary of the NAACP, an organization which was then only seven years old. During his four years as field secretary, Johnson increased the organization’s membership from 9,000 to 90,000, a remarkable accomplishment. In 1920 he was appointed executive director and he headed the organization’s fight for racial equality for the next ten years. In 1930 he retired, and spent the next eight years writing and teaching.

Johnson’s creative and influential life came to a sudden end on June 26, 1938 when his car was hit by a train near his summer home in Maine. More than 2000 people attended his funeral, a tribute to his accomplishments and to his wide scope of influence.


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Bibliography:

1. Modern American Poetry website, owned and maintained by the Department of English at the University of Illinois in Champagne-Urbana: An Online Journal and Multimedia Companion to Anthology of Modern American Poetry (Oxford University Press, 2000). Edited by Cary Nelson. http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/johnson/life.htm

2. Department of Rare Books and Special Collections website, owned and maintained by the University of South Carolina. http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/amlit/johnson/johnson.html

3. University of Pennsylvania website - Excerpt from the book called Before Harlem, The Black Experience in New York City Before World War I by Marcy S. Sacks http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/toc/14294.html

4. National Portrait Gallery website, Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/harmon/johnharm.htm

5. Jazz Roots website by Thomas L. Morgan. This site provides an overview of jazz musicians and other historical information about regarding jazz from 1905 – 1920. http://www.jass.com/c&j.html

6. Academy of American Poets website. http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/72

7. NAACP website. http://www.naacp.org/about/history/levas_history/

8. BlackPressUSA.com archives. http://www.blackpressusa.com/history/archive_essay.asp?NewsID=810&Week=26

9. Poet's Corner on the Gale Group Free Resources website. http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/poets/bio/johnson_j.htm

10. James Weldon Johnson's portrait above is by Laura Wheeler Waring. Oil on canvas, 1943. National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C.

© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

Introduction to Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing

During Black History Month (February) Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship has closed every service with the hymn Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing. The first Sunday we sang Lift Ev’ry Voice, I introduced it to the congregation. My research uncovered much more than I was able to include in a short talk. Now what is a blogger to do with all that good material, if not to turn it into blog posts! This introduction, therefore, will be followed by four more posts. The first will chronicle the life of James Weldon Johnson, the poet and lyricist of the song. The second post will be devoted to J. Rosamond Johnson, the musician and composer of the song. The last two posts will focus on the song itself.

Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing was written in 1900 by two brothers who were very accomplished and well known in their time. Though the song was written for a particular event at a particular time in history, its perspective has become timeless for the inspiration it has offered, and offers still. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with it. This link to the NPR’s archives (which requires RealPlayer) will play a lovely choral rendition. As you listen, please follow along with the words below. If the NPR link above doesn’t work for you, listen to this piano version from the Cyberhymnal, reading the words in rhythm with the music.

LIFT EV’RY VOICE AND SING
Words by James Weldon Johnson
Music by J. Rosamond Johnson

The apostrophes (inserted by the author) and hyphens (inserted by the blogger) denote melody pitch changes.

Lift ev'ry voice and sing,
Till earth and heav-en ring,
Ring with the har-mon-ies of Li-ber-ty;
Let our re-joic-ing rise
High as the list'ning skies,
Let it re-sound loud as the roll-ing sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the pres-ent has brought us;
Facing the ris-ing sun of our new day be-gun,
Let us march on till vic-tory is won.

Ston-y the road we trod,
Bit-ter the chast'ning rod,
Felt in the days when hope un-born had died;
Yet with a stead-y beat,
Have not our wear-y feet
Come to the place for which our fath-ers sighed?
We have come o-ver a way that with tears has been watered.
We have come, tread-ing our path through the blood of the slaugh-tered,
Out from the gloom-y past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our wear-y years,
God of our si-lent tears,
Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who hast by Thy might,
Led us in-to the light,
Keep us for-e-ver in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the plac-es, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we for-get Thee;
Sha-dowed be-neath Thy hand,
May we for-e-ver stand,
True to our God,
True to our na-tive land.

© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

Sea Turtle Release

I'm happy to report that 8-10 of the green sea turtles rescued from the cold stranding event of mid-January in South Padre Island, Texas, were to be released on Monday, February 19th. The remaining 90+ turtles were scheduled for release on February 20th and 21st. A very small number of turtles remain in rehab for illness or injury, but the rest of the survivors are in all likelihood back in the Gulf of Mexico now. Hooray!!!!

That's all the information I was able to find to date on the turtles. If there's anything more to report, I'll do so after the 3-part series which will begin in my next post.

P.S. Sorry for the long silence. Sometimes life gets in the way.



© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

Sea Turtle Rescue Update and Pictures

Tonight Sea Turtle Inc. reported that the rescued green sea turtles can be released soon. A total of 148 turtles were rescued, and 111 of them have survived. A few remain at Sea Turtle Inc. The rest are now at the Corpus Christi Fish Hatchery.

Here are some excerpts of the many pictures in Sea Turtle Inc.'s photo album. These pictures will give you a sense of the work that's been done.

Picked off the beaches

Pulled out of the water

Hauled ashore, some weighing up to 100 pounds.

An office full of turtles

to be weighed...

and measured,

and warmed up under heat lamps.

Barnacles are scrubbed off.

dozing, all clean and cozy

and swimming - gorgeous!

Tagged for future study.

Loaded onto trucks

and shipped to Corpus Christi Fish Hatcheries to await warmer weather.

Photos in this post belong to Sea Turtle, Inc., used by permission. 

© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

Silver Flute or Irish Flute?

I am in the throws of a decision. From here on, do I want to work at playing Irish traditional music on the silver orchestral flute or the wooden flute which has become the standard in traditional Irish music circles?

A year ago, the silver flute was my logical choice. I started learning Irish music on the whistle, but its high register began to hurt my ears so I switched to the silver flute. I already owned very fine flute (a handmade Haynes solid silver flute) because in college I majored in music with a concentration in classical flute. Even though I didn’t play for 20 years while my son was growing up, I still have good coordination in my fingers and consistent practicing puts my embouchure back in shape. I took some lessons with Joanie Madden (see my post from July 20, 2006) and learned a few tricks about how to make the ornamentation sound “right” on an instrument that is over-engineered for the demands of Irish music. Until recently I was working on producing a darker sound and was getting some pretty good volume on the low notes.

Then a friend of mine got a new keyless Irish flute, handmade by Patrick Olwell. His wooden flutes are highly regarded, and I just went ga-ga with envy.

About the same time I dropped my own flute. It was the first time in my life I had ever done that. The lid came loose from the the case, and the flute slid out onto the floor, bending the low C# key. While it’s in the shop I’m borrowing my friend’s "student flute" - a Pratten-style Seery polymer flute.

Flutes pictured immediately above are made by Terry McGee.

The wooden flutes from the 19th century had keys and could play the entire chromatic scale. This keyless version is a "relative" of the mid-19th century flute. It lacks the keys of its historical relative, however it's conical construction as well as the shape of the embouchure and spacing of the fingerholes are much the same. Apparently this keyless version was invented in the 1970's during the Irish folk revival. By that time Jean Pierre Rampal's influence in the classical world had made the flute enormously popular. These two factors meant many flute players wanted Irish flutes. Keyed wooden flutes cost at least double what the keyless version costs, and the wait time can be up to four times as long. Therefore, the keyless Irish flute was an ideal solution. 90% of Irish music can be played on the keyless flute, which is pitched in D major but can function in G major as well and the relative minors of those two keys. When playing any of the remaining 10% of the Irish tunes, players of keyless flutes artfully skip certain notes or pick another note in the chord instead. Or just step up to the bar for another beer!

But getting back to the Seery, I confess that it's hard for me to cover the holes. The right-hand position in particular is very different from what's required on the silver flute. I must stretch my fingers as wide as possible and use the middle section of my finger rather than the fingerpad to cover the holes. I’ve been at it a week now, and it’s getting better. (Note that I said better, not more comfortable.) I need to rest after each tune because I don’t have the strength to maintain the stretch for too long, and my tempos need to be slow to consistently cover the holes.

The question is this: which flute do I want to spend my time on? I'm definitely enjoying the novelty of the Irish flute. The fingering is the same as the whistle so it’s easier to switch back and forth. And I like playing the instrument that most traditional players use. There’s a good bit of acceptance in that. However, the silver flute is really more "playable." By that I mean that one can play in any key. The hand position is comfortable. It’s just that the finger coordination needed to accomplish conventional sounding ornamentation is more difficult than what is required on the Irish flute (assuming one has mastered covering the holes on both instruments).

I’ll admit it: I am looking for the shortest route to the level on which I want to play. I’m better on the silver flute, so even though it’s harder in certain respects, I have an advantage because of all my years of study on it. But the coordination is less demanding on the Irish flute – so even though I have to backtrack a bit, it might be worth it in the long run. I’m not worried so much about acceptance of others or the sound the instrument can make. If I play well with a dark, strong tone, I don’t think it will really matter (although some players might disagree).

Unfortunately, writing this post hasn't helped me decide. If you have an opinion, please post a comment. Meanwhile, I’ll experiment with the Seery for a while longer, at least until I get my Haynes back. Then, who knows? All I can say is: I'll keep you posted. (GROAN!! very bad pun, sorry folks!)

© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

Starting to Play in Sessions

Traditional Irish sessions are a social time when players meet, usually in Irish pubs, to play tunes together. This presumes they have many tunes in common. A newcomer to Irish music, particularly one with a classical background, can be pretty intimidated by session playing. At least that was the case with me.

My first two years were spent learning tunes and acquiring enough technical skill to approximate an acceptable tempo and sometimes even add a bit of conventional Irish ornamentation. I rarely played in sessions in 2003-2005. In 2006 I attended sessions maybe once every month or two. Until last Tuesday, I considered session attendance to be an exercise in humility. I listened more than I played. When familiar tunes were selected, I couldn’t play them up to speed. I was terrified of being asked to lead a tune. However, all Irish traditional players seem to think session playing is an essential part of musical life so I just keep dusting off my classical ego and hauling myself back to have another go at it.

This year I’ve decided to go as often as possible to the session at Dempsey’s Pub. It’s close to where I live. The age range of the players varies widely. (I like to see a few heads of gray hair so I won’t be discouraged by trying to keep up with gifted youth). The range of abilities among the players varies as well, which probably helps keep this group's tempos more moderate than some of the other sessions around NYC. The Dempsey’s session employs a “round robin” format; going around the circle, players take turns starting tunes. One advantage of this method is that you’re assured of getting to play at least a few familiar tunes at a comfortable speed. However, if you start a tune that nobody knows, you’re stuck playing a solo. That happens to me a lot, and I find these unintended solos quite unnerving. Once I totally blanked out and forgot the second half of the tune. Another time I started a tune in the wrong key. (Exercise in humility, remember?)

The last time I was at Dempsey's, however, I finally picked a pair of tunes that were more or less familiar to most people. I felt good about that. During the session I noticed how many tunes I actually do know, how often I could join in the playing, and that my fingers were finding familiar patterns and executing them more easily. Hmmmm, could it be I’m getting the hang of this?

At the end of the evening, one fellow played a waltz. Mostly what’s played in sessions are reels, jigs and maybe a few polkas. Hearing that waltz brought immediately to mind a waltz that Mike Rafferty taught me more than a year ago. He called it "The Old Man’s Waltz." I learned it really well – even played it on the whistle as a prelude in church once. Maybe it was the beer, but I decided to play Mike’s waltz for them on the whistle, knowing it would be a solo. For moral support I asked a guitar player to accompany me. Even though his chords were not always what I would have chosen, it worked. I remembered the tune accurately. I put in a few ornaments and even varied them a little on the repeated portions. (Something the more experienced players do as a matter of course.) The phrasing was nice but not overdone, and the upper octave was in tune. I was so pleased. (Allow me to brag just a little. I have suffered through so many embarrassing moments at sessions) Yessiree, I really nailed that waltz! For once I played Irish music like I want to – and not in my bedroom while practicing, not in church in a performance situation, but in an entirely Irish context, in a session. It was a glorious moment!

Besides gaining confidence, I’m seeing other advantages to attending sessions. I’ll get over my emotional block about playing fast. When playing along with the group, I can more easily keep my hands and arms relaxed during the faster tempos. I’ll become less self-conscious if I play in sessions regularly, and then I’ll be able to take more risks. And finally, session playing will help me learn tunes. Particularly if I go to the Dempsey's session regularly, I will learn the unfamiliar tunes of their repertoire as well as get a regular review of the tunes I already know.

I am realizing how different session playing is from classical performances. Competition and critique of others’ playing is much less prevalent; acceptance and sociability is much more prominent. I’ve heard people at Dempsey’s play one set of tunes really well, then fall apart the next time their turn comes around. I’ve heard beginners encouraged and accomplished players congratulated. And people look forward to seeing each other, having a beer, and sharing some music.

So now I’m telling myself to commit to one session each week if at all possible. And riding on my encouragement from Tuesday night, I think I’ll show a lot of improvement by the end of the year if I can do that. I’ll also have made some new friends and had a very good time. So that’s the goal. One session each week if at all possible. We shall see. . .


© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement