tag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:/blogs/fiddle-as-a-metaphor-4-life?p=2Fiddle As A Metaphor 4 Life2017-02-04T06:07:30-08:00Michael Kellyfalsetag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/33717032014-12-07T15:42:27-08:002017-01-14T08:10:24-08:00Why I teach – Fiddle as a metaphor for Life<p>I had an interesting interplay of communications today with regards to a couple of Facebook posts I made. One post was a quote from John Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933):<br>
<strong><br>
<blockquote>“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”</blockquote></strong></p>
<p><em></em><br>
The online conversation went like this:</p>
<p>T: So, being stubborn is good …<br>
ME: Stubborn is a word fraught with negative connotations … but yes, being stubborn is good. Being obstinate, however …<br>
T: You’ll never be able to convince me of that …<br>
ME: It’s not my job to convince you of anything, Sensei.</p>
<p>(I have some cool and humorous friends. T is actually well versed in Eastern philosophies and is a fine instructor in the Martial Arts form Aikido.)</p>
<p>The second post had to do with a couple of quotes from the Buddha:<br>
<strong><br>
<blockquote>“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings — that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide”</blockquote></strong></p>
<p><em></em><br>
And this:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>“Believe nothing. No matter where you read it, or who said it, even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”</strong><em></em></p></blockquote>
<p>The conversation regarding these quotes went like this:</p>
<p>R: Teacher, you just told us not to believe our teachers.<br>
ME: “Believe nothing merely because you have been told it.” What do you think that means, R? I can guarantee is does not mean to disbelieve your teachers.</p>
<p>And another:</p>
<p>ME: S, believe nothing merely because you have been told it.<br>
S: Including things told to me by Michael Kelly? <span class="wp-smiley wp-emoji wp-emoji-wink" title=";-)">;-)</span><br>
<em>I can almost hear S saying this with his tongue-in-cheek</em>/<br>
ME: Perhaps you need a better understanding of the word “merely”, Mr. S. Try the dictionary and thesaurus, perhaps …</p>
<p>This interplay of conversations had me thinking about my job as a teacher. What is my job? Why do people come to me to be taught? How are my students benefitting from my teaching?</p>
<p>My job as a teacher is simply this: Share knowledge and wisdom I have obtained through study, practice, and experience with those who are willing to learn from me. My job is not to convince the student that my way is the right way; rather, it is to show them how that knowledge and wisdom will work for them in their own practice.</p>
<p>So why do people choose me as their teacher? I actually have asked this question of my students, and their answers boil down to <strong>(1) They like the way I play</strong> <em>(I am setting an example of the type of musician they wish to become)</em>; <strong>(2) They admire how easy and effortless I make it seem </strong><em>(they see that the techniques I teach them work as I apply them in my own playing)</em>; <strong>(3) They see how the techniques I teach actually work for them </strong><em>(My lessons agree with their own reason and common sense)</em>; and <strong>(4) They see how much fun I have and the effect my playing has on others</strong> <em>(conducive to the good and benefitting the welfare of all beings).</em></p>
<p>How do my students benefit from me being their teacher? Well, my definition of success, with regards to music, is the integration of knowledge and application of the principles and techniques I teach. In other words, they benefit from my teaching <strong>when it works for them</strong><em></em>; when they, too, are able to experience the joy of playing easily and effortlessly.</p>
<p>In return, I receive a huge amount of satisfaction, gratification, and joy when I see them succeed. Add that to the money they pay me for lessons, and you have the reasons why I teach.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com">Learn to play fiddle the FAST, EASY, and FUN way!</a></p>
<p><a href="https://fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/img_0199.jpg"><img src="https://fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/img_0199.jpg?w=460" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="IMG_0199.JPG" /></a></p><br> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/137/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/137/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="https://pixel.wp.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=137&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/31340402014-08-12T13:51:57-07:002017-01-14T08:10:24-08:00Getting the feet wet … again<p><a href="https://fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/img_3463.jpg"><img src="https://fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/img_3463.jpg?w=460" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="IMG_3463.JPG" /></a><br>
It seems I have a propensity to procrastinate. So many thoughts and ideas go through my head every day that I want to put down in writing. Instead, I end up spending my time performing, practicing, teaching, or (gasp!) dawdling. By the time I think to open up the iPad and start typing, my body is telling me, “Hey! How about a little sleep here, huh?”</p>
<p>So rather than compose a brilliant post today, I thought I’d just get my feet wet and put something down … anything, just to get the juices flowing again.</p>
<p>I’m giving myself 10 minutes to do so while I’m on break between sets at Disney California Adventure.</p>
<p>I’ve been listening to a wonderful audiobook by Thaddeus Russell called “A Renegade History” (of the United States). I’m enjoying it because it addresses the subject of how the lowest of the low influenced our country, and how they helped establish the liberties we enjoy today.</p>
<p>One thought that sticks out is how the Founding Fathers (and pretty much every US government since the nation was established) tried everything they could to turn the populace into good little worker bees. All work and no play make a good citizen. No holidays, no weekends, 19 hour days, no dancing, and definitely NO FIDDLERS. It’s amazing the lengths they went to in order to insure a more perfect nation.</p>
<p>Now look at us. What would we do without the weekend? Or Federal holidays? Vacations? Music? Dancing?</p>
<p>It dovetails nicely with the thought that we have all been socialized to think that “hard work” is the solution to everything.</p>
<p>It’s not. And now it’s time for me to go play.</p><br> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/130/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/130/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//pixel.wp.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=130&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/29638572014-05-21T22:54:04-07:002017-01-14T08:10:24-08:00Letting Go Redux – Fiddling as a metaphor 4 life<p>One of my adult students recounted a story tonight about attending the Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Competition in California and being blown away by the effortless skills of so many youngsters.</p>
<p>“I’m watching their hands and arms, and they’re playing exactly the way you’re telling me I should play, and they make it look so easy,” she opined.</p>
<p>“I know that age isn’t important, that you can learn to play at any age,” she continued.</p>
<p>I interrupted. “Actually, there is a huge difference between someone who picks up the violin as a child and an adult student. Can you tell me what that difference is?”</p>
<p>Aside from several decades of time, she couldn’t come up with an answer.</p>
<p>“Do you think a four-year-old child cares whether or not they play a piece of music perfectly? Do you suppose that a child actually knows that a mistake is bad? Or do you think that four-year-old mainly cares about how much fun she is having?”</p>
<p>After a bit of discussion, I continued. “A child isn’t constantly trying to avoid making mistakes. A child doesn’t try to come up with reasons why a mistake is made. A child only focuses on what feels right, and the fun she is having.</p>
<p>“An adult student, however, is so wrapped up in the idea of playing perfectly that she micro manages every part of her body in an effort to do it right. The harder she works, the more difficult she makes it for herself.”</p>
<p>I went on to explain that an adult has decades of experience developing behavioral patterns that get in the way of her learning as easily and quickly as a child. For example, most adults, when confronted with something they perceive as difficult, will assume that they have to “work harder” to conquer the challenge. They assume that they must put their nose to the grindstone in order to succeed.</p>
<p>What does a child do? She looks for the “cheats”. The easy way. It’s a game, and the child gets to make up the rules as she goes along. </p>
<p>Adults tend to view the “easy way” as “cheating”. If it’s worth anything at all, you have to work hard for it.</p>
<p>Anything in life that is unfamiliar can be perceived as difficult or hard. What’s the solution to getting familiar with the unfamiliar? Spend some time with it. Really get to know it, understand it.</p>
<p>I tell my students that if they’re working hard at something, they’re doing it wrong. Persistence and consistency are required, not an enormous amount of effort.</p>
<p>This flies in the face of what most of us adults believe. Once we determine that something is difficult, we assume that it will require a great deal of work to conquer. The reality is, however, that looking for the easy way is much more effective than working harder.</p>
<p>There are so many different directions I could go now in this post, so let me sum up the basics of what I’m saying to this point: Adults who want to succeed as effortlessly and as easily as a child must forget what they have learned, let go of their desire for perfection, and look for the easiest, most natural way of doing so. They must adopt a childlike passion for fun and leave the hard work for all the other unenlightened adults.</p>
<p>I welcome your responses to this and all of my blog posts. Your observations and opinions help me more than you might think.</p>
<p><a href="https://fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/20140521-225125-82285506.jpg"><img src="https://fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/20140521-225125-82285506.jpg?w=460" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="20140521-225125-82285506.jpg" /></a></p><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/127/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/127/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=127&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/28478402014-04-05T16:00:35-07:002017-01-14T08:10:24-08:00Skill & Generosity – Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>Someone said to me recently, “One thing I’ve noticed time and time again: The more skilled the player, the more generous he seems to be.” He was complementing me on being very generous in a performance where I shared the stage with another fiddler who, although he is a very accomplished fiddler in his own rights, is rather new to the Celtic genre. There are many levels to his observation, and our ensuing conversation covered a lot of ground. I’d like to focus on just one aspect of his statement.</p>
<p>Skilled musicians do have a tendency to reach out and share tips and bits of wisdom with less experienced musicians. Although I find this fact self-evident, I was initially surprised that this concept seems unique to a lot of people. I’ve been thinking about it ever since, and I believe I better understand where that surprise comes from.</p>
<p>When I first started fiddling, I had one book: The Fiddler’s Fakebook. I was a trained classical violinist, could sight-read new material easily, and I found the music in the Fakebook extremely easy … and boring. No matter how fast I played the music, I was unable to capture the “feel” and “sound” of a true fiddler.</p>
<p>I hooked up with a group called the Utah Old Time Fiddlers Association in Salt Lake City, Utah. I went to their jam sessions. I found, for the first time in my life, that I was uncomfortable playing in a group that consisted of kids, adults, and old farts. I didn’t want to embarrass myself, and so I played very little. I even considered giving it up entirely.</p>
<p>Before I could quit, however, one of the old-timers and better fiddlers came up to me. He said, “Mike, you’re a great player … but you play like a classical violinist. Let me show you a few tricks that will help you sound like a fiddler, and I’m certain you’ll quickly get the hang of it.” He showed me simple things, such as “swinging eighth notes”, “Georgia Bowing”, and taught me how to use the discography in the Fiddler’s Fakebook to find recorded examples of the tunes so I could compare what was written on the page with how it is traditionally played. It made a huge difference in my playing, and I quickly regained my enthusiasm for the genre.</p>
<p>Now that I’m an old fart myself, I find that I have forgotten the gentleman’s name. I haven’t forgotten the impact his sharing made in my life, however. In an attempt to “pay it back”, I arranged and produced a selection of tunes commonly used in their jam sessions, published it in book form, and recorded a group of the session members playing those tunes. I gave the Association all this material and told them that they could sell it if they wished and use the proceeds in the Association. I was gratified to learn that to this day, some twenty years later, they still utilize the book.</p>
<p>Fast forward a few years. I’ve recently moved to Southern California and I am playing in a rodeo band and my own Country Western cover band. Through a series of happy coincidences, some of which I’ve related in previous blog posts, I have fallen in love with Irish music. I start my own band, called Sligo Rags, and begin to play a couple of residencies. </p>
<p>One night, a fan of the band comes up to me during a break between sets. He says to me, “Mike, you’re probably the best fiddler I’ve heard in an Irish band around here, but I gotta be honest with you: You don’t sound Irish.” I was flabbergasted. I thought I was pretty hot-shit, and I was really excited that our band was having so much success early on. Of course, I asked him to explain. He said he really couldn’t explain it, just that I didn’t sound like any other Irish fiddlers he’d ever heard before.</p>
<p>I respect this kind of honest critique, so I didn’t take offense at his words. His comment, however, bothered me immensely. What about my playing is so damn un-Irish??? Again, feelings of inferiority and insecurity began to seep into my psyche. I started listening to more and more recordings and comparing them to recordings I made of my own performance. I read every book I could get my hands on. Still, understanding eluded me.</p>
<p>Then one day, a fiddler more experienced in the genre than me said something that changed everything: “Your accents are all wrong. In Irish music, we put the accents on the off-beat. You know, like a mandolin plays the rhythm in off-beat chunks. Think of it as adding the accent where a drummer would normally hit the snare on the back beat.”</p>
<p>Bingo! That one little tip changed my entire playing. It took hours and weeks, even months of practice to change my playing style to accommodate this off-beat or back beat accent, but when I had it to the point where I could utilize the technique effortlessly, it totally changed my sound.</p>
<p>So, as I was mulling over my friend’s comment regarding skilled musicians being more generous than less skilled players, I began to understand why such a generous nature might seem surprising to someone who is anxious about his or her skill level. It’s difficult to imagine that someone would care enough about you and your playing that he would offer constructive suggestions to help you grow and improve … especially when that player seems so far above where you see yourself at that moment.</p>
<p>It is easy for me to understand why skilled players love to lift their fellow travelers up from the lower levels. I have so much fun playing this music that I can’t even imagine turning my back on anyone who is struggling. They should be having as much fun as I am. As I share what bits of wisdom with those who are open and receptive to my advice, I find that I am enjoying myself even more.</p>
<p>Perhaps it is just “pay back”, as I mentioned earlier. I think it’s a little deeper than that, however. Sharing what I know brings me something akin to soul food. It fills some empty space in my soul every time I am able to help someone enjoy playing this music I love so much. </p>
<p>I met someone this morning who is a master of her craft. She is a writer and a poet. She is also a wonderful teacher. The joy she expressed while discussing how she enjoys seeing her adult students start to “get it” was obvious. She absolutely glowed as she related story after story. I felt a strong connection with her passion for sharing the joys of reading with those who never had the opportunity when they were younger.</p>
<p>Look around you: There are so many masters of different life skills all around us. If you enjoy using Facebook or other such types of social networking, you see them every day. Sometimes it is easy to ignore their input as just more “internet noise”. Day after day, however, you see certain people who stand out as attracting the most attention and consistently sought out for their opinions.</p>
<p>It is the same in almost any social situation. Sitting around a table for coffee with a group of your friends, there are always “expert” opinions. Sometimes these opinions are only proffered up as a way to get attention, true. But it is very easy to recognize good advice coming from someone with more experience. There is a real desire to make a difference in someone else’s life by sharing wisdom garnered over a lifetime of experience and practice.</p>
<p> It gives me hope that, in this world of strife and turmoil, people of skill and character are willing to share their wisdom, simply because it gratifies them to lift up their fellow travelers.</p>
<p>I hope you enjoyed reading this latest installment of my mental meanderings. I encourage you to leave your comments and any thoughts you’d like to share regarding this or any of my previous blogs. If you truly like what you read, I’d be pleased if you followed me here on WordPress, or on my Celtic Fiddle Tune learning website, <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com">www.fiddlin4you.com</a>. There you will find an abundance of material I offer, free of charge, to those who wish to enjoy playing Celtic music, as I do. It would gratify me greatly.</p>
<p><a href="https://fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/20140405-160847.jpg"><img src="https://fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/20140405-160847.jpg?w=460" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="20140405-160847.jpg" /></a></p><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/121/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/121/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=121&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/26231882014-02-21T10:27:51-08:002017-01-14T08:10:24-08:00Total Abandon and Vibrato: Fiddle as a Metaphor 4 Life<p>Have you ever had one of those days where you find you’re telling yourself, “Physician, heal thyself”? I’ve had that kind of day for the past several weeks.</p>
<p>Let me begin with a bit of background.</p>
<p>A long, long time ago, back when I was a young violinist headed to the University to study Violin Performance, I had a beautiful vibrato. Total control over depth and speed, up and down the fingerboard. All four fingers effortlessly adding tonal color to my music. I didn’t have to think about it; it was a tool I used without difficulty. Then the unthinkable happened.</p>
<p>I auditioned for the Scholarship Honors String Quartet at the University of Utah. The quartet’s coach, Mr. Mikhail Boguslavsky, called me into his office after the audition to give me the news.</p>
<p>“Mr. Kelly, I’ve spoken with your teacher, and I’ve decided to give you a spot on the quartet on one condition: You MUST improve your bow hand. It is ridiculous how you can be in this program at all with such a miserable bow hand as yours, and I think it is deplorable that your teacher has neglected to instruct you in such a basic, necessary element of violin mastery. Let me make myself clear. If I don’t see drastic improvement in your bow hand in short order, I will drop you from the quartet and will make it the Honors String TRIO.”</p>
<p>Needless to say, Mr. Boguslavsky scared the piss right out of me. I was mortified. And yet, I committed myself to obtaining the best bow hand that sweat and dedication could buy.</p>
<p>And somewhere along the way, I “forgot” how to vibrato.</p>
<p>It happened so subtly that I didn’t realize it for some time. But it has remained a problem ever since that first year at the University.</p>
<p>It was very strange, and I had teachers and coaches that told me just how strange it was. Nobody seemed able to help me remedy this problem. I was able to teach vibrato to my students, but was unable to have a consistent, effortless vibrato myself. I had gained a beautiful bow hand, but at the cost of a skill I had “mastered” years earlier.</p>
<p>Fast forward to the present time. I’ve been reading books, such as <a href="http://www.kennywerner.com/effortless-mastery">“Effortless Mastery”</a> (Kenny Werner, 2011) and <a href="http://uncommonschools.org/our-approach/thought-leadership/practice-perfect-book-lemov-woolway-yezzi">“Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better and Getting Better”</a> (Doug Lemov, Erica Woolway, and Katie Yezzi, 2012). I’ve also reviewed all of the material by Kato Havas. This reading started me thinking about my problem with vibrato, and a few weeks ago I decided that I needed to take a different approach.</p>
<p>In the past, I practiced vibrato in the manner I was taught decades ago. I would get frustrated in my practice, because the harder I tried to control and sustain it, the harder it became. My hand seemed to clench up every time I tried for it … but it would appear in performance on its own, unbidden and uncontrolled. The only time I had difficulties appeared to be when I really wanted to use it.</p>
<p>Using the same techniques I teach my students in their quest for effortless playing, I decided to go back to the basics. Here is what I discovered.</p>
<p>My first problem was that I was pressing my fingers too hard into the string. In Ivan Galamian’s <a href="https://archive.org/details/principlesofviol00gala">“Principles of Violin Playing & Teaching”</a>, I read that the finger should exert only enough pressure on the string to create a pleasant tone; exerting more pressure does nothing to improve the tone, and it interferes with the facility of the fingers.</p>
<p><strong>Practical solution:</strong> Practice vibrato exercises with my fingers barely touching the string, almost like skating on top of the string. The resulting sound is not pleasant, but it is relaxed and allows for the fingers, hand, and wrist to do what they need to do.</p>
<p>My second problem was that I could do the exercises for only a short time before my hand and arm would clench up in an attempt to control the motion. This was a habit I needed to overcome if I were to have any control over my vibrato.</p>
<p><strong>Practical solution:</strong> Using some techniques I learned from “Practice Perfect”, I designed some drills to help me extinguish the habit of clenching up. I would practice the exercises in a very relaxed fashion, and as soon as I felt any tension in my left hand, I would stop, drop my hand down to my side, relax, and then start again. This required a great deal of patience, and for a while it seemed as if I was dropping my hand more than actually practicing the vibrato. What I had to do was shift my goal from doing the exercises to extinguishing the habit. With that mental shift in my expectations, I was able to continue on in a consistent fashion. I found, after a time, that I was going longer and longer executing the drills before needing to drop my hand and relax. I also found that my vibrato was “popping up” more often in my performances.</p>
<p>My third problem was that after doing all this, I still considered vibrato a “problem”. I was doing the work, extinguishing the bad habits, practicing proper technique … but I still was afraid of not having control over my vibrato. I was overthinking the process on a daily basis.</p>
<p><strong>Practical solution:</strong> It was time to stop micro managing my vibrato. I had done the research, made my observations, devised a solution, drilled properly … Now I needed to “let go” and allow the automaticity of the technique to take over. My conscious mental supervisor needed to step back and allow the subconscious hind brain to do what it had been trained to do without oppressive oversight.</p>
<p><strong>The result:</strong><em><u></u></em></p>
<p>Last night I performed with <a href="http://www.facebook.com/anita.mansfield.1">Anita Mansfield</a> and the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/themansfieldband">Mansfield Band</a> at the Little Bar in Los Angeles. Not once did I worry about my vibrato, nor did I attempt to control it in any fashion. I found myself playing fluidly, and my vibrato came naturally. I played with total abandon. I felt the music, and the vibrato was there at the appropriate depth and speed, up and down the fingerboard and on all four fingers. I felt such a freedom while I played, and the joy was abundant and even transcendent. It is a rare thing for me to be impressed by my own playing, but last night was one of those times.</p>
<p>I am not to the point where I feel I can totally trust my vibrato yet, as I did when I was a youngster. I will continue following my own prescription for a while longer, making certain that this skill is as effortless as breathing, walking, or driving a manual transmission vehicle. The improvement in my “control” over this technique has been gradual but steady over the past several weeks, and last night’s performance was only the latest and most exciting example of my increasing mastery.</p>
<p>After decades of worry and frustration, I finally figured out a plan to heal myself of this aggravating weakness. If it is basic and remedial; if it is something that I have been teaching my students for years; if it is something I have known all along … none of that is important. What remains important is the fact that I executed the plan and that I am seeing very positive results.</p>
<p><strong>1. I observed the problem, or the weakness, and puzzled out the reasons underlying the difficulty.</strong></p>
<p>2. I devised a plan to drill and exercise the technique in a relaxed and efficient manner.</p>
<p>3. I consistently exercised patience as I drilled the technique, extinguishing bad habits along the way.</p>
<p>4. After doing the work, I let go and let the music inform the technique. I released myself from the constant worry and oversight of the conscious mental supervisor and just played.</p>
<p>I hope that you will find something of value in my experience that will help you overcome the obstacles in your life. I look forward to your comments, and I hope that, if you found this bit of writing useful, you will share it with your friends.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com/fiddleosophy">www.fiddlin4you.com/fiddleosophy</a></p>
<p>You can also find me on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/fiddlin4you">Facebook</a>. Drop in and say hello!</p>
<p><a href="http://fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/20140221-103022.jpg"><img src="//fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/20140221-103022.jpg?w=460" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="20140221-103022.jpg" /></a></p><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/116/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/116/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=116&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/24929322014-01-30T06:55:35-08:002017-01-14T08:10:24-08:00Drawn in by the music<p>Mary Pat, one of our Tom Begin’s session attendees, made an enlightening observation after last night’s fun. She was talking to a gentleman who was “drawn in by the music”. He started by the bar at the other end of the tavern, and gradually the music pulled him into the dining room. He was made comfortable enough by the music that he sat down by Mary Pat, a complete stranger to him, and struck up a conversation that lasted the better part of an hour.</p>
<p>I noticed the same thing happening all night long. People were drawn into the dining room by the music. If there was no room to sit, they stood at the back. When a table cleared, it wasn’t long before it was filled again.</p>
<p>There is definitely something about traditional music that has the ability to capture your heart and your attention. It certainly captured mine roughly 14 years ago when I stumbled into the genre almost by accident.</p>
<p>I came to California ostensibly to follow a career in Country Western music. I was invited to play in a rodeo band called “Fit 2 B Tied”, which was basically a Chris LeDoux tribute band in all but name. I also started my own C&W band called “Fiddlin’ ‘Round”, and I played in several jazz and Rock ‘n’ Roll bands. I even did a stint in a Blues jam band.</p>
<p>Early on I took a job as a salesman at Jim’s Music in Tustin. One of my co-workers invited me to play one Sunday afternoon at a local Irish Pub in Newport Beach called “Muldoon’s”. I told him that I had never played Irish music before, and that I wasn’t sure it was such a good idea. He said, “Mike, you’ve been faking everything else your whole life and nobody’s caught on yet. You ought to give it a try. I think you’ll like it.”</p>
<p>What an understatement that turned out to be! I had so much fun playing with that little band, headed by Gilman Carver. I fell absolutely head-over-heels in love with the music, and I couldn’t get enough! Not only did I immerse myself in the music, I also devoured everything about the culture, history, and mythology of Ireland.</p>
<p>Something about the music spoke to me in a visceral way that day fourteen years ago. It got inside of me like no other music ever had, and it wrapped around me as much as I wrapped myself up in it. It made me as Irish as if I had been born in the ould sod itself.</p>
<p>I still enjoy other genres of music. I love the old Country Western and Bluegrass songs and tunes, and I enjoy singer/songwriters. Story songs still get me. There is no other music, however, that has the power to draw me in so completely as Celtic music. So what if the tunes I play and listen to were popular two or three hundred years ago? They have meaning and relevancy in today’s world as much as they did back when they were first composed. New music created in the old style is still fresh and inspiring, and the different interpretations of the tunes and songs invigorate the genre.</p>
<p>Mary Pat’s new friend, and indeed all our new friends at Tom Bergin’s, got a taste of that last night. When I see people drawn in by the music I am playing, I have to smile. I know exactly how they feel.</p><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/114/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/114/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=114&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/24890782014-01-29T13:03:50-08:002017-01-14T08:10:24-08:00Trad Session guidelines at Tom Bergin’s Tavern<p>An interesting thing happened early this morning. Padraic Conroy, my co-host at the Tom Bergin’s Wednesday night trad session in LA, sends me a text message he received from the management of Tom Bergin’s Tavern. It seems that, after only two weeks of doing the session, we have become so popular with his clientele, management wants us to start the session an hour earlier so we can accommodate more of their customers. Starting today.</p>
<p>On top of that, we have 16 musicians who have confirmed that they will be in attendance this evening.</p>
<p>Both of these are marvelous signs that the Wednesday session will continue to be a regular event at this legendary LA landmark. It is also a good indication that Tom Bergin’s is committed to servicing and celebrating the Irish community and culture here in Southern California.</p>
<p>It also creates a bit of a logistical nightmare for Padraic and me. So I am reaching out to you in order to make things run a bit more easily.</p>
<p>First, a couple of basic items.</p>
<p>Normally, a trad session is totally acoustic … no sound reinforcement (i.e., PA system) is used. Due to the layout at Tom Bergin’s, however, we utilize a low-profile Bose PA system to push the music through the pub. There are several open microphones situated around the musician’s table to pick up the music, thus allowing more of the clientele to enjoy the tunes.</p>
<p>Normally, five or six musicians can sit around this table, and the resulting volume is enough to be heard, and yet low enough that customers can carry on conversations without shouting over the music. As hosts, Padraic and I usually remain at the table throughout the evening. The other seats are usually occupied by melody players and a couple of rhythm players (e.g., rhythm guitar, bodhrán, bones, etc). We like to to rotate players at the table so that everyone has a chance to play and be heard through the sound system, but there are no real rules to ensure that this happens.</p>
<p>What I suggest is that if you play an instrument which somebody else also plays, please give up your seat at the table after having played a few tune sets. Those who are not at the main table may continue to play, as long as they are sensitive to what is going on around the table.</p>
<p>I also suggest that there should be no more than one each of rhythm guitar, bodhrán, and bones at the table at any given time (aside from the hosts, of course). We’re not going to go all “Trad Nazi” on you and tell you not to play … but please, use your own judgement and exercise common courtesy. And if Padraic or I politely suggest that you give another musician your place at the table, please be assured that we only wish everybody who attends to have a grand time and be able to participate.</p>
<p>If you have a song that you would like to sing, or a set of tunes that you’d like to lead, please be sure to be seated around the table so that everyone in the pub will be able to hear and enjoy your music.</p>
<p>Using music books, tablets, iPads, etc is allowed. It is strongly encouraged, however, that you perform tunes and songs at the table with which you are familiar, and use your ears to pick up the tunes and songs that you aren’t familiar with. Recording devices are encouraged, as well, so you can bring the tunes home with you and learn them for the next session.</p>
<p>The management and staff at Tom Bergin’s have been truly wonderful and generous to us in the past, and we’d like to encourage them to remain so. <strong>Please do not expect that they will “comp” your drinks or your food</strong><em></em>, but if they do, please be sure to thank them. Leaving a generous tip will go a long way to ensuring that they continue to treat us so generously.</p>
<p>It is often intimidating to perform when surrounded by such fine musicians. We encourage you to step out of your box and jump into the fun; expand your musical horizons. If you have any questions or concerns about something that doesn’t seem right or makes you feel uncomfortable, please bring those concerns to Padraic or me so we can address them. We want you to be comfortable and have a great time.</p>
<p>Finally, I just want to stress that the success of this session depends on you, and musicians like you. Not only do you need to show up and play, but you need to help create a fun and friendly atmosphere. Thank you so much for supporting live Irish music in Los Angeles!</p>
<p>Now get ready for some of the best craic on tap!</p><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/112/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/112/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=112&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/24843522014-01-28T22:07:01-08:002017-01-14T08:10:24-08:00Relevancy and Pete Seeger<p>I have so many topics running through my mind: Justin Bieber, The Grammys, the State of the Union, Kanye West, Same Sex Marriage, Racism, Misogyny, Justin Bieber ….</p>
<p>The truth is, I really feel the need to write something important tonight, and all this unimportant crap is going through my head instead. Not that Justin Bieber isn’t culturally significant …</p>
<p>A great man died last night: Pete Seeger. No, not the one with the Silver Bullet Band. The banjo-slinging Pete Seeger of Folk Music fame. The one who’s banjo displayed the slogan, “This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender”.</p>
<p>I never knew the man. In fact, I grew up fairly ignorant of the huge musical footprint he made. I have come to realize, however, that his influence can be felt throughout a wide spectrum of the music I am familiar with.</p>
<p>I may not agree with him on politics, and I may not be familiar with his repertoire, but Pete Seeger is truly a musical hero.</p>
<p>From what I can tell, the man himself believed that music and love could change the world. He put his heart and soul into saving that world, and as he did so, he energized a genre of music that had been consigned to the dustbin of history. Protest songs. Labor songs. Hell, he even made the banjo look cool.</p>
<p>Throughout the 94 years of his life, he made and shared music with anyone who had ears to listen. The tunes may have changed over the decades, but his tune never did. A fierce fighter in the battle for justice and equality, love and peace. His weapons were his voice, his banjo, and his timeless songs.</p>
<p>So, while Justin Bieber may be languishing in jail, Kanye West may be ranting about Racism, and the Grammys may be celebrating mass same-sex marriages, let’s take a moment to remember one of the true heroes who has graced several generations with his timeless music.</p>
<p>Rest in Peace, Pete Seeger. We will miss you, but your music remains. Stronger than ever.</p><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/109/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/109/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=109&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/23306482014-01-05T02:45:06-08:002017-01-14T08:10:24-08:00Broke as hell, but I still feel rich!<p>The last two months of 2013 conspired to make me loathe Ramen noodles. I mean, I tried everything from adding hot peppers and Tapatio to adding brown rice.</p>
<p>The funny thing is, as broke as I am I still feel rich.</p>
<p>Perhaps its the current currency deprivation that has starved my brain cells and brought on a more severe case of lunacy than I am accustomed to. Or perhaps my overactive imagination has me believing that something other than little green paper rectangles can give me what I most want and need.</p>
<p>Or perhaps Im finally learning the true value of friends.</p>
<p>First, let me just say that eating Ramen noodles isnt the worst thing in the world. Second, if I had said yes to all the friends who offered to feed me in the past month, Id probably have another 20 pounds to work off this year.</p>
<p>The funny thing is, the majority of my friends had absolutely no idea of the financial straits I was in.</p>
<p>My friends showed me that I have been famished for real soul food.</p>
<p>*****************************************<br>
My usual solo activity around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays is to visit Hometown Buffet and people watch. However, a good friend invited me to spend those two days with his wife and his ex-wife! I figured, What could be more interesting/entertaining than that? Sign me up!</p>
<p>What I got was a warm reception and total acceptance, as if I were a true member of their lovely family. I got an understanding of how even a broken relationship can continue to function in a civil, even loving manner. I got two lovely dinners, I was mauled by two precious children, and I was gifted with a sense of peace and happiness I had sorely been missing. My soul was fed, and I was more than satisfied.</p>
<p>******************************************<br>
Due to the precarious nature of my bottom line, I was hustling to rustle up more gigs. I pitched a local pub owner the idea that I could play solo fiddle in her pub, low profile, low cost. She loved the idea and was kind enough to book several gigs when I needed them the most. As a result, I was able to perform for (and with!) many friends around Christmas, and I enjoyed my time with them immensely!</p>
<p>******************************************<br>
A friend came down from San Francisco with her husband to celebrate her birthday. She wanted to be sure that she got to spend time with her favorite fiddler me! She and her husband not only attended a couple of my gigs while they were in town, but also bought me dinner and made me feel like a prince. More than the meal, their love and consideration for me fed me for the rest of the month.</p>
<p>******************************************<br>
Another friend, who lives in Los Angeles, invited me to a St Stephens Day party for musicians and other creative types. In addition to having a blast (she is a wonderful hostess and knows how to keep things going even when the going gets rough), I met new people and made new friends. One of those new friends is a marvelous musician from Athlone, Ireland, and I am really looking forward to making more music with him in the future.</p>
<p>******************************************<br>
These are just a few vignettes from a holiday season full of similar stories. In short, I ended 2013 feeling truly blessed with riches money cannot buy.</p>
<p>Financially, I can say that theres hope on the horizon. Im still pinching pennies and scratching my head while wondering how Im going to pay my bills in January. I still have half a case of Ramen noodles left, though, and some of the best friends in the world. I may be broke as hell, but I am still rich in the areas that matter.</p>
<p>My hope is that you, too, will find riches in this new year. May 2014 be full of all the good things you desire and may you never, ever <em>need</em> to eat Ramen noodles!</p><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/105/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/105/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=105&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/22819292013-12-24T01:08:10-08:002017-01-14T08:10:23-08:00Reflections at Christmas time<p>Im sitting in my recording studio earlier this evening, relaxing after teaching a fiddle lesson. Suddenly, like a tsunami, I am hit with wave after wave of emotional distress. Feelings of sadness and heartache, loneliness, and depression. As the waves recede, I feel as if Im being dragged with them into an ocean of turmoil.</p>
<p>SLAP! At least, thats what it sounds like inside of my head when I mentally knock myself sane.</p>
<p>I am blessed with an abundance of riches. I have a world of friends, some of whom I havent even met in person but friends nonetheless. I have a career I thoroughly enjoy and that pushes me to grow on a daily basis. I have beautiful children. And I have a wealth of experiences that would be fodder for either a soap opera or a great American novel.</p>
<p>Still, I wish that I didnt have to learn things the hard, painful way. Im a pretty bright guy, I love to read, I love to learn. So why is it that most of my education has been at the School of Hard Knocks?</p>
<p>One of the things I am still in the process of learning is that I need to focus my attention on ME, not on what others think of me. Too often in the past I have tailored my behavior to what I supposed other people wanted from me. As a result, its taken me decades to arrive where I am. If I place my attention on building a better me, for me, then I quickly strengthen my weaknesses and become a better man. As a better man, I can then relate to others in a kinder, more powerful way. And yet, I still struggle with being a people pleaser, and the struggle to be a better me goes on and on.</p>
<p>Another lesson I am still learning has to do with mental discipline. I know for a fact that the negative statements I make about myself, and the negative questions I ask myself, are a damning force on my progress. Its kind of hard to move forward when youre telling yourself constantly What an idiot you are, Youre such a failure, Why cant you stick to something and get it done?, etc ad nauseam. My self-talk has always had a very negative bent, even though I strive on a daily basis to be positive and upbeat. One of the things that I have tried recently that seems to work is to change the nature of my questions, a process called afforming by Noah St John (The Book of Afformations).</p>
<p>Heres an example: Instead of asking myself why I constantly have money problems (negative), I ask myself Why am I so wealthy? Even though the premise of the question isnt exactly correct in the present time, my mind then begins to dwell on that question in order to come up with answers. Instead of coming up with negative answers, my mind comes up with positive answers. I can work with positive answers; the negative ones just bring me down.</p>
<p>Another thing I have struggled with my entire life is that I dont need an intimate relationship with a woman in order to be a complete person. Although I still feel that such a relationship adds value and satisfaction to a mans life, it is not a necessary component for his happiness.</p>
<p>On the other hand, friendships are invaluable. No man is an island (John Donne), and I am realizing more and more how true that phrase is. Interpersonal connections are the energy that fuels my life and my music. I have also discovered this year that caring friends are essential in helping me out of the quagmires I frequently find myself in. I still struggle asking for help, but my friends are always there, ready with a helping hand, a word of encouragement, whatever is needed. I am not one who finds asking for help easy. Too much pride, or perhaps too much shame. What will they think of me?</p>
<p>Along these lines is another lesson that is difficult for me to internalize. Just because I have failed in four relationships; just because I am not where I ought to be financially; just because I have a list of mistakes longer than Tolstoys War and Peace; does NOT mean that I am a failure as a human being. On the contrary, I am a man of great worth. Despite my failings (or perhaps because of them), many people value my friendship and association. I have much to offer this world, regardless of my many weaknesses.</p>
<p>So on this night before Christmas Eve in 2013, I sit here reflecting on the past year and the lessons learned and wonder. There is so much still to do in my life, and that life is getting shorter each day. And yet, I am so richly blessed.</p>
<p>My Christmas prayer for all of my friends this year is that they realize how much I love, admire, respect, and need each of you. You have been such a huge blessing to me, helping me through the rough times and enriching my life with your presence in it. I pray that you realize how important you are, how worthwhile you are, and what a difference you make in my life and the lives of so many others. May you be happy in your knowledge of just how wonderful a human being you really are.</p>
<p>Nollaig Shona Dhuit!</p><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/101/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/101/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=101&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/22637172013-12-19T22:03:54-08:002017-01-14T08:10:23-08:00Old notions – Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>Old notions can be detrimental.</p>
<p>Way back in the dark ages when I was in High School, I remember my dad telling me, Son, the best way to build your credit is to charge your credit card to the max and then pay the monthly minimum. I adore my dad, and I took his advice to heart. Many years later, I complained to him about his good advice. He looked at me in absolute horror and said, I never said that!</p>
<p>Just the other day, I was working with a student on his bow hand. There was a breakthrough moment, something I live for as a teacher, when an old paradigm was broken. His comment to me was, I remember them teaching me to hold my bow hand this way back when I started. This is so much better! I am almost positive that whoever that original teacher was would be mortified to know that was what this student took away from that particular lesson.</p>
<p>Sometimes we base our beliefs on statements from people we respect and admire, only to find later that what we thought we heard was probably not what was actually said.</p>
<p>What we need in this life are solutions that work. We seek those solutions from folks that we respect and admire, and then we try to apply them in our own lives sometimes with hilarious, but unintended, results. We should always judge our beliefs by the standard of Does this work for me?, rather than just blindly hammering away at the nail with our screwdriver.</p>
<p>Even though our beliefs come from respected and revered persons in our lives, sometimes our perceptions (and theirs) are based on misunderstandings, misassumptions, and poor interpretations.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that if you keep doing something that isnt working for you, youre crazy too expect better results than youre getting right now. You may have, indeed, received poor advice or you may simply have misunderstood what was told to you. Either way, the only way to improve is to change.</p>
<p>Otherwise, youll be paying for your misunderstandings for the rest of your life. With interest.</p><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/98/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/98/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=98&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/20928272013-11-21T15:14:49-08:002017-01-14T08:10:23-08:00Ornamentations in Trad Music: Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>Over a month ago, well before Halloween, I walked into Costco and heard Christmas music playing over the loudspeakers. It depressed me.</p>
<p>Now, a week before Thanksgiving, we are well and truly into the holiday season here in the United States. And that has me thinking about ornamentations.</p>
<p>Ornamentations in traditional music are the musical equivalent of adding spices to pumpkin pie. Without them, what you have is squash pie … not very appetizing. With them, you have a wonderful holiday treat. In other words, ornamentations are what give traditional tunes their distinctive flavor. Just as with pumpkin pie, however, too many ornamentations can ruin a perfectly good tune.</p>
<p>Take a look at it this way: We take a perfectly good tree, cut it down, and put it in a place of honor for Christmas. Is it a Christmas Tree yet? No. It becomes a Christmas Tree when you add ornaments to it; dress it up and make it more than just a tree. I’m sure you’ve seen folks who go overboard with their Christmas Trees, though. Gaudy creations with to many ornaments, excessive flocking, and fake icicles clumped on every available branch. Ugly things.</p>
<p>Traditional music is indeed spiced up with ornamentations, such as long- and short-rolls, cuts, bowed triplets, and slides. But it takes a discerning ear to know how much is enough.</p>
<p>It is also important to execute ornamentations precisely and cleanly. They should shimmer and float off the strings rather than be weighty and clumpy.</p>
<p>So this holiday season, as you are decorating your home for the holidays, lend an ear to your music. Practice the execution of your ornaments and get them quick and precise. Listen to recordings of respected masters in this genre and discover how they decorate their tunes, and then ornament your tunes similarly.</p>
<p>Just like Christmas Trees and pumpkin pies, your tunes should celebrate the essence of the genre … don’t weigh them down with too many or poorly executed ornamentations. There is no reason to depress your tunes as I was depressed that day in Costco.</p>
<p>I hope you have enjoyed this blog. If you are interested in similar writings, please visit my <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com/fiddleosophy">fiddleosophy</a> page on my Trad Tune Learning website. Please share your comments so that we all can benefit from the shared wisdom of the universal mind. I wish you all a very happy, healthy, and fun holiday season. May you spend your time doing what you love with the people you love the most!</p><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/95/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/95/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=95&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/20697402013-11-18T13:04:56-08:002017-01-14T08:10:23-08:00Proper Practice: Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>Proper practice requires focused attention on our weak spots. You need to view yourself with a keen critical eye (and ear!) and observe these weak spots, narrow them down, and start asking questions.</p>
<p><strong>“Where is the place I am weakest?”</strong><em></em> Most human beings are more interested in getting through the entire tune, beginning to end, without stopping than they are in addressing their mistakes, or weak spots. They hurry through, ignoring the bumps, slow downs, poor technique, bad intonation, or sloppy execution. Playing through a tune from start to finish is an important part of practice, but you need to <em>OBSERVE</em> your performance and take note of the spots that need special attention. Then, when you are finished with your run-through, you go back to those spots and narrow them down. And ask more questions.</p>
<p><strong>“Why is this place weaker than the rest?”</strong><em></em> Is it a problem with rhythm? If so, do you understand the rhythm pattern here? If the weakness is intonation, ask yourself if you are using the best fingering. You could be holding the violin incorrectly, grabbing the neck with your hand, or even failing to support the violin properly with chin and shoulder. Is it a situation of sloppy execution? If so, ask yourself “why?” I have found that simply asking this question will sometimes alleviate the problem with little or nor further action required.</p>
<p><strong>“What can I do to strengthen this weak spot?”</strong><em></em> This question is where you <em>create a plan of action</em>. Perhaps it is only a matter of slowing things down and “drilling” the spot repeatedly, and then gradually increasing the tempo. I think of this type of remedy as taking a small bite and chewing it up well before swallowing. Be sure that you’ve narrowed the weak spot down to it’s essentials. You wouldn’t try to eat a 16oz steak in one bite, would you? After you have applied your remedy, you are ready to ask the next question.</p>
<p><strong>“Is this spot as strong as the rest of the tune?”</strong><em></em> This is when you insert your previously weak spot back into the tune and <em>OBSERVE</em> whether or not you still are having difficulties. If you are, then more attention to that spot is required. If the weak spot is now strong, then you move to the next weak spot and begin the process again.</p>
<p><strong>SOME PROBLEMS WITH TYPICAL PRACTICE BEHAVIORS:</strong></p>
<p>The first problem has to deal with the idea that we have to <em>WORK HARD</em> on a problem in order to solve it. That is never the case. You need to be <em>SMART</em>, look for the <em>EASIEST WAY</em> to solve the problem. The harder you <em>WORK</em> at a problem, the more large muscle groups you engage. That, in turn, gets in the way of you playing effortlessly and easily, and causes all sorts of problems in addition to the one you are ostensibly trying to solve. If you feel like you are <em>WORKING HARD</em>, you are doing it wrong. Let go, take a deep breath, and start asking questions. Be the teacher and the student.</p>
<p>The second problem is that most fixes require repetition, or “<em>drilling</em>“. While we are engaged in such activity, it is easy for our attention to wander. We can slip into a mental state that is akin to filling our heads with wool. Drilling requires constant attention to details, making sure that you are actually playing the section correctly more often than not. After a while, you will be able to play the section without thinking. One technique that will help you avoid woolen headedness is to take frequent breaks. Another is to play the section so slowly that it gives you time to think about it as you are drilling.</p>
<p>Another problem is that sometimes we identify the wrong thing as the weak spot. Once you have addressed the weak spot and reinserted it back into the tune, you still are having difficulties. This is very frustrating, and often we are tempted just to go back and drill the hell out of it until it gives up (see <em>WORKING HARD</em> above). Resist this impulse long enough to ask some more questions. You will most likely find that you missed something in your original observation.</p>
<p>The final problem I wish to address is this: When all else fails, <strong>ASK AN EXPERT</strong><em></em>. I tell all my students that their lesson money buys them more than just 60 minutes once a week. It buys them access to me and my knowledge and skills 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The problem is that most of my students never take advantage of this. They see it as an imposition, even though I’ve given them permission. They feel like they must wait until the next lesson to address their concerns. As a result, problems continue and are even reinforced through the days (daze?) of confusion between <em>NOW</em> and the <em>NEXT LESSON</em>. In this day and age of “Googling” the internet for information, I find this very frustrating. You wouldn’t wait a week to Google the traffic conditions before deciding the best route to take from work to home, so why would you wait to ask the expert you have hired to help you with your fiddle questions? If you have a question at 3:00am, you can always send me an e-mail. If you call me and I am not able to answer immediately, leave a voice message and I will get back to you at my earliest convenient opportunity. Don’t waste any time out of a misplaced respect for my time. You have a question you can’t answer on your own? <strong>ASK AN EXPERT</strong><em></em> to help you get immediate relief.</p>
<p>I am sure that you can see some parallels between <strong>PROPER PRACTICE</strong><em></em> with a musical instrument and your everyday life. Just approach everything as if you are both the <em>TEACHER</em> and the <em>STUDENT</em>. Remember to <strong>OBSERVE, NARROW DOWN, ASK QUESTIONS, EXECUTE YOUR PLAN,</strong><em></em> and <strong>REPEAT AS NECESSARY</strong><em></em>. And when all else fails, <strong>ASK AN EXPERT</strong><em></em>.</p>
<p>I hope you have enjoyed this blog on <strong>PROPER PRACTICE TECHNIQUE</strong><em></em>. Be sure to read my other related blogs at <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com/fiddleosophy">fiddleosophy</a> on my Trad Tune Learning website. And please, be generous with your comments. I find them very helpful, and they provide even more insight to the topics I am blogging about.</p><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/91/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/91/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=91&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/20659252013-11-17T22:58:35-08:002017-01-14T08:10:23-08:00Just WTH are goals??? Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>I’ve always had trouble with “goal setting”. Ever since I was a youngster, I’ve been told that setting goals was the “secret” to success in any endeavor. Just as with that other truism, “Practice makes perfect,” it was handed down to me as one of the Facts of Life.</p>
<p>Problem #1: Just how do you set goals?</p>
<p>I wanted to succeed, so obviously I needed to set goals. Aside from passing on the “secret”, nobody told me just how one goes about doing it. Let’s, see … I want to succeed. At what? Okay, I want to be a concert violinist, an international superstar. Now what?</p>
<p>Problem #2: How do you come up with the perfect goal?</p>
<p>I know when I was really young I wanted to be a firefighter. And then a policeman. And later, a scientist. Those are goals, right? How perfect are those?</p>
<p>Problem #3: Once I’ve “set” my goal, I’m stuck with it … right?</p>
<p>What happens when I decide that I really don’t want to be a firefighter? Or a policeman? Scientist? Or even an internationally famous concert violinist?</p>
<p>Since I was unable to come up with the answers to these questions on my own; and since nobody ever answered these questions for me … I was doomed to a life full of failure.</p>
<p>Okay, so perhaps that was a bit of hyperbole. However, for many years I felt like a failure because I didn’t understand “goal setting.”</p>
<p>One day (and numerous self-help recordings later), I heard of a concept that struck a chord in me. It went like this: READY, FIRE, AIM.</p>
<p>You may have heard of the “Ready, Aim, Fire” phrase before, but this concept flipped the last two commands. FIRE before AIM. There was more to the concept, of course. </p>
<p>Get READY means prepare yourself. Point yourself in the right direction. You don’t even need a clear picture of your target, just a general idea of where it’s at. FIRE, of course, means to take action, head towards the target and pull the trigger. Finally, AIM means to evaluate your first shot, see where it hit and make an adjustment. Then you repeat the process, refining your results until, as your target becomes clearer, you come closer and closer to it until you finally hit it.</p>
<p>There are no boundaries to this concept. You don’t limit yourself to timeframes or specific, fixed “goals”. These may be useful tools, but they are only part of what it takes to hit your target. When you have a general idea of what you want, point yourself in that general direction and pull the trigger. Don’t wait, just do it. Walk a bit farther in that direction and see where your shot takes you. You may have been aiming for a career as a concert violinist, but now you find that you want to be a bit more active on stage than your classical career will allow.</p>
<p>So how about fiddle music? Don’t know anything about that, but it seems interesting. Go buy a book. Listen to some recordings. Play table-to-table fiddle music in a themed restaurant. Do that for a while and then evaluate your shot.</p>
<p>Hmmm, I’m getting a bit closer now. Things feel like they’re clicking. But it’s still not quite right.</p>
<p>Country Western band, playing in bars? Sure, why not. Accept an invitation to play in a local band. So what if you’ve never played this type of music before. Crash course in learning the songs, the style. Do it. Play some gigs, make some money. Yeah, this is starting to feel like the right thing. And yet ….</p>
<p>Okay, perhaps being in a band is a really cool thing, but why limit myself to just playing fiddle? Look at that guitar player, he’s having a lot of fun singing while he’s picking. Go for it! Learn the words, pick out some harmonies, grab a mic. Yes! That’s definitely better.</p>
<p>Not perfect yet, but that’s okay. I’m not setting any goals here, so I don’t need perfection. Just a direction to point myself in, then BANG!</p>
<p>I want to sing lead vocals. I learn a few songs, the other guys “allow” me to sing them … I’m loving this! Unfortunately, though, I find an obstacle: The band already has a lead singer, and he doesn’t want to share anything but a small portion of that duty with me. What to do?</p>
<p>Start my own band. Wow, now I’m really in the deep end of the pool. Never done this before, there’s a lot more to running a band … and they didn’t teach me anything remotely like what I need to know when I was in the University. Hmmm. Re-create the wheel? Okay, give it your best shot, mate.</p>
<p>Yeah, that didn’t work out too well. I’m pissing off a lot of people I need to depend on, turning into a real asshole. Okay, perhaps maybe I should talk to other bandleaders, learn from them. Wouldn’t have been able to do that without making those mistakes on my own, though. Wouldn’t have known what questions to ask. Now I do.</p>
<p>Now I have my own Country Western band, and I’m loving life! Everything is going great, I have a circuit of clubs I play on a regular basis, and I have bandmates I can depend on. Well, I assume I can depend on them, until one of them causes me so much grief I need to fire him. Too bad I can’t replace him with someone immediately, not that many guitar players in my little pool that aren’t already committed to something. I can fire him, but then I’d have to cancel months of gigs until I can find his replacement. What now?</p>
<p>It’s obvious I need to go somewhere with more musicians, more choices. California has millions of people, and thousands of musicians. Don’t know any of them? Point, shoot … and then aim.</p>
<p>I find myself in Southern California, playing in somebody else’s band … a Chris LeDoux style band that plays a lot of rodeos and high-end Country Clubs. It seems like a step backwards, in some ways, because it’s not “my” band, and I’m not singing as much as I would like. However, I am now in a position to make connections with scores of musicians hungry for work. After a while, I make my selections, leave the rodeo band, and head out on my own again. Success!</p>
<p>… At least, for a while. It’s fun, I’m feeling more connected with my “purpose” (whatever that is), but I’m still not feeling like I’ve hit the target. Why? Well, perhaps it’s because the target has changed. It’s not in the same place anymore. Still in the general direction I was heading, but .. not .. quite .. right.</p>
<p>Then a friend invites me to play with him in an Irish band. I’ve never played Irish music in my life, never really paid any attention to it. But I let him talk me into faking my way through a gig in Newport Beach. Best damn time I’ve had in my life, musically speaking. The music speaks to me, I fall in love with it, want more. I dive in head first, playing in someone else’s band, learning the music, learning the patois. Finding other musicians who also love the music. Make my selections, create my own band, and …</p>
<p>So that is what the concept of READY, FIRE, AIM means. You are not stuck with your first choice, your first “goal”. It doesn’t have to be perfect before you start, and you can refine your target, even completely change your target! Every step along the way is success. And you don’t have to wait for a clear picture of your target before you take the first step towards it.</p>
<p>And as for that other truism? Practice does NOT make perfect. Practice makes PERMANENT. But more on that in a later blog.</p>
<p>And that’s my ramble for today, folks. If you enjoyed this blog and are interested in other similar writings, please visit my <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com/fiddleosophy">fiddleosophy</a> page on my Trad Tune Learning website. And please, share your comments with me. You’d be amazed at how much this old dog can learn from his fellow human travelers.</p><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/84/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/84/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=84&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/20517632013-11-14T16:57:24-08:002017-01-14T08:10:23-08:00Loss and Depression, and the ONE THING.<p>I’ve been struggling for a couple of months with a low-grade depression. A couple of months ago, the mother of my 21-month old daughter broke up with me … she said that life with me was just too hard. “We never really had it easy.”</p>
<p>Since that day, I have wondered at her statement. Why would anyone think that life should be easy? Why would anyone think that being in a committed relationship wouldn’t require work, effort, and dedication?</p>
<p>Granted, I came into the relationship with a lot of baggage. Several failed marriages and relationships, children from different women, and a financial mess worthy of a third world country (or the state of California). In my defense, however, she knew all of that going into the relationship. I made it a point to air all of my dirty laundry before we became a couple … in other words, she accepted me with all my spots before the relationship became intimate.</p>
<p>My hopes and dreams of finally having a real family I could grow old with and nourish and cherish seemed to be coming true. I had finally met the woman of my dreams: Beautiful, intelligent, talented, and loving.</p>
<p>Three years and one beautiful child later, I found out that I wasn’t worth fighting for. I was still good enough to be a “friend” and “provider”, but not good enough to be a boyfriend, lover, mate.</p>
<p>I thought that I had become fairly skilled at letting things go in my forty-seven years of life, but I am still reeling from that break-up.</p>
<p>A friend of mine asked me if I would take her back, should she change her mind and want to be with me again. Why would I want to be with someone who doesn’t think I am worth fighting for? I would have forgiven her for sleeping with another man, but this? She would rather spend the rest of her life struggling as a single mom living with her parents than try to make US work.</p>
<p>I have given up on my dreams of ever having a whole, unbroken family. It’s not like I have many choices at age forty-seven, so letting go of that dream is fairly easy, if painful.</p>
<p>The part I am having trouble letting go of is this feeling of being unworthy of love.</p>
<p>In my head, I know that this feeling is pure bunk. My heart, however, seems to wallow in the detritus of all my failures … most especially this latest one. All I have left, my heart tells me, is loss and emptiness and self-pity.</p>
<p>So I struggle against this insidious form of depression. I try to work, when all I’d rather do is sleep or play stupid online games. I try to focus, but my attention always wanders. Projects get started, but never finished. I go outdoors to get outside of myself, but all I want to do is ruminate. When I am in my studio, I look around for things I should be doing, and nothing gets done. My life is a mess, a testament to my failures, and there is nothing I can do to change.</p>
<p>Bollocks. It’s pure bullshit, and I know it. I’m whining and whinging and complaining and rationalizing and justifying. In short, I am not letting go of the things that keep me mired in melancholy.</p>
<p>I have many friends, good friends, who are sympathetic and full of advice. One says, “Go to a bar, find a girl, have rebound sex and then get on with your life.” Another says, “Just keep yourself busy, and in time the pain will go away.” Several others remind me that I am not worthless, and that I am not undesirable.</p>
<p>I appreciate all their efforts to help me through this, but none of it is working for me. Time wounds all heels, I guess. Perhaps I am just a sap, after all.</p>
<p>But truly I do know the answer. The one thing that will allow me to change my life for the better and get back to being a happy, fulfilled human being. In addition to letting go, I have to have faith. Faith that change will occur, no matter how small, over time. All I must do is ONE THING. Kinda reminds me of the quote from the movie “City Slickers” about the ONE THING.</p>
<p>Do ONE THING. Then do the NEXT one thing. Put one foot in front of the other, REPEAT. </p>
<p>Why does this hurt so much this time around? I had risen far along the ladder of my happiness, close to achieving my dream of a loving, stable, and secure family. I got knocked off, and I fell a long way down. And now I want to be back up where I was. I look up from the depths of my despair and complain about all that lost and wasted effort.</p>
<p>When instead I should be putting my hand back on the ladder and climbing, one rung at a time.</p>
<p>Will I be happy again? Of course. Am I worth fighting for? Yes. So now I begin anew to fight for my happiness.</p>
<p>I have no animosity for my ex. She has her own ladder to climb, and no matter how much I wanted it to be otherwise, I was just too much excess baggage for her to hang onto. I wish her well, and I will continue to be her friend as much as I can … for my sake, as well as for hers.</p>
<p>I know that despite all of my mistakes, failures, and lost opportunities, I have been blessed to create beautiful children. Perhaps it is not my fate to enjoy them in a traditional manner, but I do love and cherish every one of them. I have spent good times with every woman I have been with, regardless of the outcome. I still cherish those times.</p>
<p>And now it is time to create more beautiful experiences.</p>
<p>It is time to create a new me.</p>
<p>It is time … to create.</p>
<p>ONE THING at a time.</p><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/79/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/79/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=79&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/19841172013-06-16T10:23:45-07:002017-01-14T08:10:23-08:00When life sucks … Smile! Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>Everything is going wrong on stage. Your band is not performing as tightly as it normally does, tempos are fluctuating wildly, mistakes are being made. Your guitar player looks to be in an ugly mood, and your drummer appears to be asleep on his throne. The audience is joining him in his siesta. You are flubbing passages that have been on automatic pilot for years, and you’re so distracted by the seeming chaos on stage that you can’t seem to regain control no matter how hard you try. What can you do to make everything right again?</p>
<p>Smile. I know, you don’t really feel like smiling at this moment … but do it anyway. Fake it. You’ve lost control, and no matter how hard you work to get it back, matters are just getting worse. So stop working so hard at trying to regain control. Let go and smile.</p>
<p>Chances are things aren’t as bad as you perceive them to be. I tend to record my performances, utilizing a little application that comes standard on my iPhone. After a particularly vexing set, I’ll go backstage and listen to it to find out what happened. I call it my “Performance Post Mortem”. What I’ve found by doing so is that things often don’t seem as catastrophic on the replay as they did while I was playing. Even when there are mistakes to be heard on the recording, they often don’t seem all that bad when listening to them offstage. And the things that can be fixed or corrected or improved can be addressed in simple communications with my band mates either backstage or during rehearsal.</p>
<p>That look you got from your guitar player? The one filled with anger and disgust? When you talk to him about it, you may find that he’s fighting a bad case of indigestion. Or maybe his back is hurting. Perhaps he’s just upset with himself for not playing up to his personal standards. What about the sleeping drummer? Well, if you talk to him, you may find out that he was just focusing on trying to keep things together. Whatever the reason may be, you can always talk to your band mates after the performance or between sets to find out if there truly is a problem … or if you just misperceived the situation.</p>
<p>Here’s the deal: If there is really something bad happening onstage that seems to be spiraling out of control despite your best efforts, then it is out of your control. There is nothing you can do to fix it while onstage. So you might as well smile and try to enjoy the ride.</p>
<p>I have found that when I do this, things tend to get better. It may not be a perfect fix, but it does seem to help. I can have a lot of fun laughing at myself onstage, and the mere act of doing so seems to liberate me from the angst of looming catastrophe.</p>
<p>It’s much the same in life. Life is, after all, just a much bigger stage. Things go wrong, efforts misfire, family and friendships get a little rocky. No matter what you do to fix the situation, it just gets worse. So let go of your expectations for a perfect life at that moment, take a deep breath, smile, and settle down to enjoy the ride.</p>
<p>Nobody’s life goes completely according to script. Unless, of course, you are writing for a Soap Opera. Even then, life throws in a few surprises and cliff hangers that you didn’t necessarily plan. It makes for some interesting times. As a musician, it is also fodder for some very creative and poignant writing.</p>
<p>The solution to losing control over any situation is to give up, let go, and enjoy the ride. You can always try to fix things a bit later when your emotions are less pungent. But that is for later. Right now, all you can do is make the most of a bad situation by smiling and enjoying what you can. You’ll be amazed at how this can alleviate the pain and distress, and even in some cases make the problems magically disappear.</p>
<p>No one is ever fully in control of Life. But everyone can control how they deal with it. Decide to make the most of a bad situation and smile. It sure beats the alternative.</p>
<p>If you like this post and would like to read others like it, please visit <a href="http://www.fidldin4you.com/fiddleosophy">www.fiddlin4you.com</a>. Your comments and feedback are appreciated.</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/77/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/77/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=77&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/9508242013-06-16T05:23:45-07:002017-01-14T08:10:23-08:00When life sucks … Smile! Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>Everything is going wrong on stage. Your band is not performing as tightly as it normally does, tempos are fluctuating wildly, mistakes are being made. Your guitar player looks to be in an ugly mood, and your drummer appears to be asleep on his throne. The audience is joining him in his siesta. You are flubbing passages that have been on automatic pilot for years, and you’re so distracted by the seeming chaos on stage that you can’t seem to regain control no matter how hard you try. What can you do to make everything right again?</p>
<p>Smile. I know, you don’t really feel like smiling at this moment … but do it anyway. Fake it. You’ve lost control, and no matter how hard you work to get it back, matters are just getting worse. So stop working so hard at trying to regain control. Let go and smile.</p>
<p>Chances are things aren’t as bad as you perceive them to be. I tend to record my performances, utilizing a little application that comes standard on my iPhone. After a particularly vexing set, I’ll go backstage and listen to it to find out what happened. I call it my “Performance Post Mortem”. What I’ve found by doing so is that things often don’t seem as catastrophic on the replay as they did while I was playing. Even when there are mistakes to be heard on the recording, they often don’t seem all that bad when listening to them offstage. And the things that can be fixed or corrected or improved can be addressed in simple communications with my band mates either backstage or during rehearsal.</p>
<p>That look you got from your guitar player? The one filled with anger and disgust? When you talk to him about it, you may find that he’s fighting a bad case of indigestion. Or maybe his back is hurting. Perhaps he’s just upset with himself for not playing up to his personal standards. What about the sleeping drummer? Well, if you talk to him, you may find out that he was just focusing on trying to keep things together. Whatever the reason may be, you can always talk to your band mates after the performance or between sets to find out if there truly is a problem … or if you just misperceived the situation.</p>
<p>Here’s the deal: If there is really something bad happening onstage that seems to be spiraling out of control despite your best efforts, then it is out of your control. There is nothing you can do to fix it while onstage. So you might as well smile and try to enjoy the ride.</p>
<p>I have found that when I do this, things tend to get better. It may not be a perfect fix, but it does seem to help. I can have a lot of fun laughing at myself onstage, and the mere act of doing so seems to liberate me from the angst of looming catastrophe.</p>
<p>It’s much the same in life. Life is, after all, just a much bigger stage. Things go wrong, efforts misfire, family and friendships get a little rocky. No matter what you do to fix the situation, it just gets worse. So let go of your expectations for a perfect life at that moment, take a deep breath, smile, and settle down to enjoy the ride.</p>
<p>Nobody’s life goes completely according to script. Unless, of course, you are writing for a Soap Opera. Even then, life throws in a few surprises and cliff hangers that you didn’t necessarily plan. It makes for some interesting times. As a musician, it is also fodder for some very creative and poignant writing.</p>
<p>The solution to losing control over any situation is to give up, let go, and enjoy the ride. You can always try to fix things a bit later when your emotions are less pungent. But that is for later. Right now, all you can do is make the most of a bad situation by smiling and enjoying what you can. You’ll be amazed at how this can alleviate the pain and distress, and even in some cases make the problems magically disappear.</p>
<p>No one is ever fully in control of Life. But everyone can control how they deal with it. Decide to make the most of a bad situation and smile. It sure beats the alternative.</p>
<p>If you like this post and would like to read others like it, please visit <a href="http://www.fidldin4you.com/fiddleosophy">www.fiddlin4you.com</a>. Your comments and feedback are appreciated.</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/77/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/77/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=77&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/8145992013-05-24T10:23:49-07:002017-01-14T08:10:23-08:00Is there such a thing as too much practice? Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>Is there such a thing as practicing too much? Why not ask a painter if there is too much paint on the canvas?</p>
<p>Of course, I’m speaking about practicing a particular tune or piece of music, not practicing in general. But just as a painter needs to know when to stop painting, so does a musician need to know when to quit practicing a tune and start playing it.</p>
<p>My definition of practice is an activity designed to take weaker elements (techniques, tunes, parts of tunes), isolate them, understand them, and then work on them in a focused fashion until they are no longer weak. Therefore, if you have practiced a tune to the point that there are no weak spots, you have done enough.</p>
<p>Then it is time to let go of that focused attention and begin playing the music.</p>
<p>If you continue past a certain point in your practicing, you will become fixated on the mechanics of the section or tune you’re working on and miss out on the music inherent in the tune. In fact, you could even anticipate making a mistake there, and that momentary distraction can wreak havoc on your performance. (See my previous blog on “stage fright”.)</p>
<p>We never reach perfection in our pursuit of it, but we do attain higher levels of skill and musical taste. So, before you suck all the life out of the music and make it a mechanical monstrosity, stop practicing and PLAY!</p>
<p>Sometimes in life we work too hard at something, over and over again, and forget to balance that hard work with actually living our lives. Take the man who has devoted his entire life to earning as much money as he can so he and his family can enjoy a nice retirement. 40 or 50 years go by, and although his bank account is plush and his retirement fund healthy, he has lost the best years of his life to work.</p>
<p>What I am trying to convey in this blog is that a balance needs to be struck between practice and play. Once the work has been done, then enjoy the fruits of your labors! Don’t wait for the perfect time or place or performance …. Music is designed to bring joy into your life, but if you always keep a leash on it because you haven’t “practiced enough”, you will find yourself postponing that enjoyment and denying yourself the thoroughly enjoyable experience of sharing that music with the world.</p>
<p>The other aspect of this topic is that there is more to life than just practicing. You can only pay attention to something for a finite amount of time before your mind is saturated, you lose focus, and end up spinning your wheels. What a waste of time! Get out of the practice room, hang with your peeps, go surfing or skiing, take a walk … your practicing will be much improved because of the break.</p>
<p>I’d like to recommend Julia Cameron’s <strong>The Artist’s Way</strong><em></em> for a more complete, in depth explanation of this idea.</p>
<p>Don’t stop practicing altogether, but know when enough is enough …. and then PLAY!</p>
<p>For this and other blogs like it, please visit <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com/fiddleosophy">www.fiddlin4you.com</a>. Enjoy!</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/75/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/75/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=75&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/7718662013-05-18T10:03:16-07:002017-01-14T08:10:23-08:00Fiddlin’ ’round with Sligo Rags at Disney California Adventure<p><a href="http://fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/20130518-150241.jpg"><img src="//fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/20130518-150241.jpg?w=460" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="20130518-150241.jpg" /></a></p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/73/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/73/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=73&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/7715752013-05-18T08:36:48-07:002017-01-14T08:10:23-08:00Stage Fright – a new twist: fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>This subject comes up time and again, musicians wondering how they can “overcome” stage fright and perform flawlessly on stage. Let’s take a look at the last part of that statement first.</p>
<p>To begin with, there are no flawless performances. We never live up to our own expectations, which is why we strive so hard to improve ourselves. This is as true for the professional as it is for the beginner.</p>
<p>On the other hand, every performance can be flawless … at least from the audience’s point of view.</p>
<p>Now for the first part of my original statement. Stage fright is not something one can “overcome”, as if it were the enemy causing you to make mistakes and play out of control. Rather, it is a perspective that can be changed with a thought.</p>
<p>Too many musicians approach performance as a battle, something to overcome. I have found that when I approach performance as an opportunity to share, I am not afflicted with the nerves associated with stage fright. Instead, I find a connection with my audience that energizes and inspires me and fills me with joy. This is why I perform. I do not perform in order to show the world how perfectly I can play … because if I were to do that, I would be sorely disappointed every single time.</p>
<p>Try this for yourself and see if it works for you. And remember the reason why you started fiddling in the first place: For the joy of sharing music that you love.</p>
<p>This perspective applies equally well in all areas of life. The next time you are stressed about a project at work, or a situation at home, get outside of yourself and make the emotional connection that brings you joy and fulfillment in the activity. Let me know how this works for you!</p>
<p>If you enjoyed this blog and are interested in reading others like it, please visit my trad tune learning website <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com/fiddleosophy">fiddlin4you</a>. While you’re there, be sure to stop in at the store for <strong>FREE</strong> downloadable tunes. These tunes are my arrangements of traditional Celtic tunes, each section recorded at slow, medium, and fast tempos. With the sound files, you will also receive a PDF and jPeg of the written music to help you learn the tunes more easily. Enjoy!</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/70/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/70/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=70&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/6837582013-05-06T07:52:14-07:002022-05-23T01:47:12-07:00Perfection: Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>Why is it that we don’t expect anyone else, other than ourselves, to be perfect? And why is that we care so much about others not seeing how imperfect we are?</p>
<p>One of the difficult things about learning how to play the fiddle/violin as an adult student is the extreme aversion we have to making any mistakes. I find that my students are constantly slowing down, stopping, tensing up, grimacing, etc. in the vain attempt to avoid screwing up. The result of such attempts is poor tone, bad intonation, multiple mistakes, and frustration bordering on the homicidal desire to smash the fiddle over their teacher’s head.</p>
<p>As children, we had no expectations about being perfect. Why? Because we were perfectly happy to play and explore and to share and to interact. We lose most of that as we come socialized adults. We measure our weaknesses against others’ strengths and always find ourselves wanting. Because we can’t measure up, using the yardstick we create ourselves, we vainly attempt to hide our imperfections with various self-defeating behaviors: Rushing through life to minimize others’ exposure to our imperfections; ignoring weak spots and pretending that they don’t exist; focusing entirely on weak spots to the exclusion of everything else and refusing to let go when they have been dealt with; continually looking backwards to past mistakes, or looking forwards to possible future mistakes, rather than being fully in the present moment; and giving up entirely and becoming depressed, anxious, despondent, angry. We label ourselves as losers if we can’t live up to our idea of perfection.</p>
<blockquote><p>“Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything.” <em>Gustave Flaubert</em></p></blockquote>
<p>We are smart, intelligent, clever, and fairly well-educated human beings. We have access to all sorts of tools and techniques to conquer just about anything we can imagine. Why is it that we fall prey to our pursuit of perfection?</p>
<blockquote><p>“When you’re passionate about something, you want it to be all it can be. But in the endgame of life, I fundamentally believe the key to happiness is letting go of that idea of perfection.” <em>Debra Messing</em>
</p></blockquote>
<p>It is because we believe, much like the greyhounds racing around the track chasing the mechanical rabbit, that we can catch the prize. We may win the race, but we are disappointed because we didn’t get the rabbit.</p>
<p>We need to chase our mechanical rabbits and be able to let go of our need to actually catch it. Chase your dreams, but don’t refuse to accept what you achieve because it doesn’t match in every detail your original dream. Be happy with success and achievement that falls short of what we were originally aiming at, and realize that we are headed in the right direction.</p>
<p>In the pursuit of perfection, the only thing we should expect is a perfect enjoyment of the pursuit.</p>
<p>As Vince Lombardi said, </p>
<blockquote><p>“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”</p></blockquote>
<p>We find that imperfections in others adds to their character and personality. Why should it be any different for ourselves?</p>
<p>For this and other blogs like it, please visit <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com/fiddleosophy">www.fiddlin4you.com/fiddleosophy</a></p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/66/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/66/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=66&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/645442012-11-10T06:14:47-08:002017-01-14T08:10:22-08:00Getting out of your Comfort Zone: Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>I am listening to a great audiobook called “The Tools”, by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels. I highly recommend it, both audio and print. Great narration, wonderful information.</p>
<p>The first “tool” that they discuss is called the “Reversal of Desire”. In a nutshell, this tool is used when a person gets stuck in their comfort zone, avoiding all pain and discomfort to the detriment of their dreams and goals. Humans have a “gift” of avoiding uncomfortable and/or painful things, but the only way we grow and succeed is to face these things (fears). The key is to take the avoidance desire and turn it around: Actively desire the pain, the discomfort. Mentally yell, “Bring it on!” at the cloud of fear, and then use that fear as energy to move forward. For a better explanation, I highly recommend you read “The Tools” for yourself.</p>
<p>I have seen this tool work in my life and the lives of my students. I remember, way back in the Dark Ages when I was a teenager, being so afflicted by stage fright that I had difficulty performing in front of anyone … especially my teacher. The adrenaline would flow, I would start to shake uncontrollably just at the thought of performing in front of any audience.</p>
<p>One day, while I was taking a lunch break from my job as a salesman at Sears, Roebuck, & Co. in a shopping center located in Salt Lake City, Utah, I had a breakthrough. It was the Christmas holiday season, and the mall was packed with shoppers. For some reason, I was walking through the crowded food court with my violin case in hand. I thought, “Man, it would be really scary to have to play for all these people.” Immediately my blood stream was flooded with adrenaline, and I wanted out of there as fast as possible.</p>
<p>I clearly remember what happened next.</p>
<p>I thought, “This is stupid. You need to face this fear and embrace it once and for all time”. Yeah, right. So I found a bench that wasn’t being used, opened up my violin case, climbed up on the the planter behind the bench, and commenced playing Christmas carols to hundreds of unsuspecting shoppers. For the next 45 minutes I played continually. I felt energized and invigorated, and a feeling akin to spiritual ecstasy.</p>
<p>I realized then that my fear reaction was exactly the same, physically, as the reaction I got when riding the roller coaster at the local theme park. The only difference was my perception of the event. One seemed “scary”, the other “exciting.” From then on, I have relished performing in front of crowds, large or small, and to this day I look forward to that adrenaline rush.</p>
<p>If it hadn’t been for my accidental use of the “Reversal of Desire” tool, I doubt that my life would have been so rich. I am living a life of constant excitement and opportunity due to that one life-changing instance.</p>
<p>Is there something in your life that you are afraid to confront? Would confronting it take you out of your comfort zone? Use the “Reversal of Desire”, mentally scream “Bring it on!” at your fear, and watch your opportunities open before your eyes. </p>
<p>For more blogs like this, please visit <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com">www.fiddlin4you.com</a>, your place on the web to learn traditional celtic tunes the Fast, Easy, and Fun way.</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/62/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/62/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=62&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/2231392012-10-01T06:07:53-07:002017-01-14T08:10:22-08:00Resetting norms: Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>Denis the Menace once said, “How come dumb stuff seems so smart when you’re doing it?” A typical sentiment of the young given voice by a comic strip star, it is also something many adults ask themselves.</p>
<p>As we grow from childhood into adults, we learn that we must work hard if we want to succeed. We learn to equate hard work with sweat and concentrated effort. Hard work means sore muscles, right?</p>
<p>Wrong. This perspective is as silly as insisting to the used car salesman that you will pay him $2,000.00 more than he has already quoted you. It’s as inane as you declaring that you will “give 110%”.</p>
<p>You cannot give more than you have. And you would not spend a dollar more than a car is worth. Why, then, do you insist on spending more energy than is necessary to accomplish your goals?</p>
<p>Anybody with any business sense knows that one must find the least expensive way to get the most of want he wants. Otherwise, bankruptcy is in the near future. </p>
<p>This blog isn’t about wasted effort, though. Not really. It is rather about resetting norms.</p>
<p>A “norm” (at least in the context I will use it) is a “normal state or set of behavior patterns that a person relies on automatically”. Success = hard work = sore muscles is a normal pattern that most of us fall in to easily.</p>
<p>I have a fiddle student who, for the past two years, has been struggling to reset this norm. He wants to succeed at being a fiddler, so he works hard. He sweats. He exerts enormous amounts of energy and muscle power. He spends hours practicing, and he is physically tired when he is done. What does he get for all this effort? Sore muscles and enduring frustration.</p>
<p>As I said, we have worked for the past two years at resetting this norm. It is a very difficult thing to do. Think about it: How do you “work” at being relaxed? Nevertheless, this student has made tremendous progress and is now able to actually observe and correct when he is working too hard. He is able to play tunes after a week of practicing the smart and easy way, rather than the usual months of hard “work” he used to put into a tune. And yet, just the mere fact that he still has to think about it means that he has more “work” to do in order for this norm to be reset permanently.</p>
<p>So how do you reset a norm?</p>
<p>First, you have to realize that your norm isn’t working for you. It is not accomplishing for you what you wish it to. In fact, you should realize that your norm is actually sabotaging your efforts to achieve your goals. For example: Most people tell lies (or untruths) in order to get or avoid something. A person who is a habitual liar, however, tells lies even when those lies have the opposite result. They don’t even think about it; it is normal for them to lie. If you are a habitual liar, the first thing you need to do is realize that lying isn’t working for you. In other words, it’s wasted effort.</p>
<p>Second, you need to be constantly vigilant. In the case of my fiddle student, I had him stop every now and then to observe how his body was feeling. Is it tense? Relaxed? Where am I feeling the most tension. Asking questions like these and taking inventory of his behavior at that moment got him in the habit of knowing when he was expending too much effort.</p>
<p>Third, you need to replace your norm with a different state or set of behaviors that WILL get you what you want. This seems harder than it is most times. Take my erstwhile student: Just how does one work hard at not working hard? In addition to vigilance, you need diligence. Stick to it. Stay focused on the goal rather than the behavior.</p>
<p>And finally, you must check in from time to time to see how you are doing. Until you have internalized this new behavior set or state so well that you no longer even think about it, you will need to assure yourself that you are not backsliding into old habits.</p>
<p>Resetting a norm that isn’t working for you isn’t easy. Why? Well, for one thing, you tend to be fighting yourself. Ask yourself, “If I am fighting myself, who wins?” Self-help is always the hardest thing to do, because what is required is a leap of faith … a letting go. You have probably used that norm like a crutch for most of your life. It’s going to be scary to throw it away and trust yourself when you say, “Arise, take up thy bed, and walk” (John 5:8, King James Bible).</p>
<p>It doesn’t take a miracle to reset a norm, just a lot of “hard” work.</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/57/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/57/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=57&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/1921642012-07-22T13:08:00-07:002017-01-14T08:10:22-08:00Why do I play the fiddle? Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>I recently taught an introductory fiddle lesson to a seveteen-year-old young lady. At the end of the lesson, she asked me, “Why do you play the fiddle?”</p>
<p>That’s an interesting question. Why do I do anything? Certainly, I do not play the fiddle because it is an easy road to riches. I do not play the fiddle because my parents forced me to do so, either. And life as a performing musician isn’t something anyone would say is remotely “easy”. So, why do I do it?</p>
<p>The short answer is this: It makes me happy.</p>
<p>There are other reasons, of course, but they all lead back to this one overriding consideration.</p>
<p>I advised this young lady that as she continued in her search for her next fiddle teacher, she keep in mind the fact that playing the fiddle should be fun. I should also have told her that it should be fulfilling on a very personal level, and it should bring her happiness. Her next teacher should help her find these things in her own playing.</p>
<p>I am currently reading a very good book called “The Fire Starter Sessions” by Danielle LaPorte. She makes a great statement: “Knowing how you actually want to feel is the most potent form of clarity that you can have … When you’re clear on how you want to feel, your decision making gets to the heart of the matter … First, get clear on how you want to feel. Then, do stuff that makes you feel that way.”</p>
<p>Are you unhappy with your choices and decisions in your life? Figure out how you want to feel. Make changes in your life that will lead you to feel that way.</p>
<p>As for me, I think I will continue fiddling around for a while longer. And helping other budding musicians find the joy and happiness that I get from sharing my music through the violin.</p>
<p>~ Michael Kelly, fiddler of Sligo Rags (Celtic Bluegrass Fusion)</p>
<p>For more blogs similar to this, please visit <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com">www.fiddlin4you.com</a>, your place on the internet to learn Trad Tunes the Fast, Fun, and Easy way.</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/53/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/53/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=53&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/1731182012-05-29T10:36:46-07:002017-01-14T08:10:22-08:00Flexibility: Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>When I was attending the University of Utah, I had the opportunity to study privately with some really wonderful teachers. One of them, Margaret Tyson Klein, introduced me to the teachings of Kato Havas and taught me a lot that has helped me throughout my life since then.</p>
<p>Another teacher I loved and respected was a Russian Jewish emigre from the bad old days who had studied in the very intense conservatories of communist USSR. His name is Mischa Boguslavsky. And I’ll be honest with you: He scared the shit out of me most of the time.</p>
<p>Mischa was the professor in charge of the Honors String Quartet, of which I was a part of the entire time I attended. The Honors String Quartet was (and probably still is) a chamber group that received scholarship money to represent the University in that area of music performance. Mischa actually threatened to make it the Honors String TRIO once if I didn’t buckle down and work on my bow hand. He scared me so much that I FORGOT how to vibrato — literally — for several years afterwards.</p>
<p>Mischa and I had kind of a love-hate relationship after that. He was there to make me into a concert violinist. I was taking a double major with an eye on a BA in Psychology. One day he became so frustrated with me that he said, “Michael, if you do not put music in front of God, country, family … then you will NEVER be a concert violinist!” I just looked at him, smiled, and replied, “That’s quite alright by me, Mr. Boguslavsky. I just want to fiddle around, anyway.”</p>
<p>Believe it or not, after that confrontation, Mr. B and I got along famously. He relaxed quite a bit, and he even opened up about a lot of things.</p>
<p>I thought when I started this whole journey with my violin that I’d end up in some orchestra or chamber group, struggling to make enough money to pay the bills. I’d have dozens of private students, most of whom were probably made to play the violin by their parents. I performed in the orchestra pit of many a ballet, opera, and musical before I realized that I wanted to be on STAGE, not down in the PIT. I still wanted to perform, but just not in the way I had always envisioned.</p>
<p>Since that time, I have performed in bands that played Rock ‘n’ Roll, Country Western, Western Swing, Blues, Jazz, and Bluegrass. I even played fiddle in a Reggae band for a while up in Park City, Utah. Now I perform with Sligo Rags, a Celtic Bluegrass Fusion band I started over 10 years ago after I moved to Southern California. And I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it.</p>
<p>Mom and dad both tried to convince me that (a) I should choose a more lucrative career; and (b) I should pick one thing and stick with it. I used to think that I could and would never play anything but Classical music, and that was a good and proper thing to “stick with.” I have come to realize that flexibility in ones dreams and goals is even more important than the tenacity needed to accomplish them.</p>
<p>A fiddler needs to be flexible in so many different ways. It’s essential, in every movement of the body. But a musician also needs to be flexible in the heart and mind and soul. Then again, the same can be said for every living, breathing human being.</p>
<p>I moved to Southern California to play Country Western music. That was where my heart was. I am now, heart and soul, an Irish musician. I learned to play the violin/fiddle in order to express myself musically in ways that I can’t verbally. Now I sing, write, teach, and record as well as perform on my instrument of choice. My dreams and goals have changed over the years, and I have changed with them.</p>
<p>I’ve met people who, in their quest to succeed in life, deny themselves any opportunities outside of their chosen path. They think of those chances as distractions and impediments. In reality, they are being inflexible with their dreams and goals. They are insisting that the Universe bend to their will. As a result, they close and lock the doors to many opportunities that might help them along their path because they can’t SEE how they would benefit.</p>
<p>I’ve met violin teachers who thought that there is only one way learn how to play the violin. They close their minds and ears to anything that seems different from what they know, and as a result, they stay stuck teaching the same way their entire lives. Even if there is a more efficient, productive method or technique, they turn their collective noses up to it in scorn. The outcome is that many of their students give up the violin BECAUSE IT IS TOO BORING OR STULTIFYING. The students want to create, while the teachers want them to behave.</p>
<p>Parents sometimes fall into this trap, as well. A child wants to BE or DO one thing, but it doesn’t fit into the parent’s idea of who their child is. Who wins this battle?</p>
<p>I have met people of various faiths and religions who tell me that their god answers their prayers. He/She is always there for you if you but listen to the “still small voice.” But I’ve also seen that people with this kind of faith falter when that voice tells them something that doesn’t fit their preconceived idea of what the answer SHOULD be. They are not flexible enough in their minds and opinions to accept what their god is telling them.</p>
<p>One of the ways I have learned to be flexible in my life is to incessantly ask questions. Everyone has the right to ask questions. You may not get answers, but you can always ask. And keep asking. Eventually, you’ll find someone that gives you an answer which resonates in your soul. It might take you down a different path than you had ever imagined, but the journey will be worth it.</p>
<p>My hope for everyone is that they achieve all the happiness and joy that this Universe has in store for them. I also hope that everyone is flexible enough in their hearts, minds, and bodies to receive the gifts awaiting them if they but accept them.</p>
<p>For more thoughts and ideas, and to learn traditional tunes the FAST, EASY, and FUN way, please visit <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com">www.fiddlin4you.com</a>.</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/49/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/49/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=49&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/1710612012-05-21T03:38:39-07:002017-01-14T08:10:22-08:00Stretching: Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>I took a trip to the Chiropractor’s office last Friday. I was experiencing back problems that I was not able to remediate on my own.</p>
<p>When I arrived, I did the initial intake questionnaire, spoke with the doctor, and then, dressed in a flimsy gown that opened at the back, I had several X-rays taken of my back.</p>
<p>After the film had developed, the doctor invited me into her office to go over what she had found: Herniated disks in the lower back. Arthritis was in my future, she said. Irreversible, she said.</p>
<p>Then she said that I could prevent the problem from getting worse. “HOW????” My imagination had conjured nightmarish scenarios where I was prevented from ever performing on stage again, so her statement immediately got my attention.</p>
<p>Stretching.</p>
<p>That was her main point. I needed to stretch, constantly, my back muscles in order to alleviate the stresses that were causing the problem to get worse. She showed me a few, then she put me on the table and adjusted my spine. The relief I got from that adjustment, she assured me, was only temporary. If I wanted to remain pain free and mobile, I needed to stretch.</p>
<p>I have a friend online whom I mentioned my back problem to just yesterday. He was very empathetic; he had, after all, had five back surgeries for a similar problem. I almost started to panic when he told me that! Then he said something that hit me like a sledge hammer: “You need to stretch. A lot. Every day, for the rest of your life.” He went on to say that the surgeries seemed to have less effect on him than the stretching did, and he assured me that if I followed my doctor’s “orders” and stretched, I wouldn’t need surgery.</p>
<p>So this morning I am sitting here with a dull ache in my lower back, thinking about stretching. It is not an unfamiliar concept. But it is definitely not my favorite activity.</p>
<p>As a fiddler and a violinist, stretching certain areas of my body is a necessity. The muscles need to be relaxed and flexible in order to allow the fingers, hands, and arms to move quickly and efficiently. Even holding the instrument is an awkward enterprise, with the neck bent to one side. Any tension can cause real discomfort and interfere with your ability to play.</p>
<p>In addition to normal stretching routines to relax the muscles in neck and back, fiddlers practice scales, arpeggios, finger and bowing exercises … hopefully every day of their life. Sometimes, just as in normal stretching, there is a type of pain or discomfort involved. Your bigger muscles are tense, and they need to release. Anybody who has practiced Yoga knows the type of pain I am talking about. It is necessary, but it is fleeting. And when the muscles release, you are then able to do what you need to do without parts of your body fighting you.</p>
<p>As I said, it is not my favorite activity. But it is necessary.</p>
<p>It is also necessary in other aspects of my life. Ever feel like you are stuck in a rut? That there should be more to your life than there is currently? You can stretch yourself in more ways than just physical.</p>
<p>Education, formal or otherwise, is one way we can stretch our minds. Learning anything new, including a musical instrument, allows you grow in different directions. I love to read books, and find that my thought processes are more flexible the more I read.</p>
<p>Reaching out beyond what one knows is a form of stretching. I am relatively new to the whole internet thing, and social networking and marketing were, just a few years ago, a mysterious unknown. And yet I have my own website. My own blog. My own online business. The opportunities I have now are vast, and “stretch out” before me. The possibilities are endless, because I reached beyond what I “knew” and was familiar with and stretched out for more.</p>
<p>One final story. Back in 1998, I was a property owner. With my wife of the time, I owned nine rental properties. One day, my wife asked me to remove a cover from a particular property’s Swamp Cooler. (For you Californios, that’s an “air conditioner” that uses water vapor to cool the house.) Now this house had a very steep pitch to the roof, and instead of normal roof tiles, it had an aluminum treatment. The tennis shoes I was wearing were old, the soles pretty much useless for traction. I went up the ladder, stepped onto the roof, climbed up to the peak … and then my feet slid out from under me. I fell from the roof and landed on my butt and left elbow.</p>
<p>At first I thought I was going to get off scott free. After all, I have quite a bit of cushion on my backside. Then I was ripped with agony from my elbow. After a trip to the Urgent Care Center down the road, I found out that I had shattered the ball of one of my forearm bones. I went to the hospital the next day, and seven bone fragments were removed and the end of the bone shaved smooth.</p>
<p>The surgeon insisted that I have Physical Therapy, as he had bruised the nerves in my arm digging around for the final bone fragment. I would not be able to use my left arm unless I had intensive PT. I didn’t have insurance to cover that expense, and told him so. He shook his head morosely, and then suggested that I try to stretch it as much as physically possible. He didn’t hold any hope of it doing any good without a specialist helping me, but there ya go.</p>
<p>I had made plans to visit Nashville in a month and a half, and had in fact lined up several opportunities to perform. Now, unfortunately, it looked as if I wouldn’t be able to play for 6 to 9 months. If even then.</p>
<p>I won’t bore you with all the gory details, or try to impress you with tales of how, after a good deal of crying, I set out on an impossible quest. Instead, I’ll pick up the story four weeks later, when I went back to the surgeon for a follow-up visit.</p>
<p>“I see you went to a Physical Therapist after all,” said the good doctor, as he manipulated my arm and hand around.</p>
<p>“No,” says I. “Well, you must have. This is an extraordinary improvement, and one I wouldn’t expect even with physical therapy.”</p>
<p>“No,” I insisted, “I can’t afford physical therapy.”</p>
<p>“Then, how?”</p>
<p>“Well, I looked at my right arm, moved it around, and then forced my left arm to move that way. It hurt like hell, and I screamed and cursed a lot, but I kept at it until my left arm and hand could pretty much move like my right. And then I started all over again the next day.”</p>
<p>The surgeon shook his head again, and said, “Impossible. Stretching like that is too painful on your own.”</p>
<p>“Not when you’re motivated.”</p>
<p>Thank you for reading my thoughts on stretching and how it applies not only to the fiddle, but to life as well. For more blogs like this, and to learn traditional fiddle tunes the FAST, EASY, and FUN way, please visit my website: <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com">www.fiddlin4you.com</a>.</p>
<p>~ Michael Kelly, fiddler, Sligo Rags (Celtic Bluegrass Fusion)</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/41/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/41/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=41&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/1710622012-05-18T21:21:55-07:002017-01-14T08:10:22-08:00Balance: Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>My favorite violin teacher in college introduced me to the writings and philosophy of Kato Havas, a wonderful concert violinist and teacher from England. Kato Havas wrote a couple of small books which I highly recommend to you, especially “Stage Fright”.</p>
<p>Kato’s philosophy is basically that the violin is an easy instrument to play . . . IF you are balanced and relaxed.</p>
<p>Take a look at the violin. It is a study in balanced tension. The average full sized 4-string violin has 32 pounds per square inch of pressure on the bridge. Supporting that, underneath the Spruce top plate, is a small dowel about a quarter inch in diameter called the Sound Post.</p>
<p>This little piece of wood is wedged between the top and back plates of the violin, and must be shaped to match the interior slope of each plate. It is NOT, as some suppose, glued in place.</p>
<p>The Sound Post, as insignificant as it may appear in its precarious position supporting 32 psi, is considered the “engine” of the instrument. It is what causes the top and back plates of the violin to vibrate at the same rate in complete synchronicity Without it, not only is the instrument in danger of cracking, the violin cannot produce those pleasing tones it is known for.</p>
<p>Now consider the fingers on the string: In order to change the pitch of the string, you must shorten the length of it by placing your finger on it with enough pressure that it touches the fingerboard. Not enough pressure and you get a bad tone. Too much pressure, you’ll get a good tone but handicap your ability to move quickly and accurately.</p>
<p>Now consider the bow. It is essentially balanced between the tip of the thumb coming up under the stick and the tip of the pinkie pressing down on the top of the stick. There is just enough pressure to counterbalance the weight of the bow. The other fingers are wrapped around the stick for security and control, but remain very relaxed. Too much pressure from any part of the bow hand creates an ugly tone.</p>
<p>Finally, there is the violin hold itself. “Hold” in this case is a misnomer. It is really a balancing act. The violin needs to rest comfortably between the jawbone and the collar bone, with just enough pressure to counterbalance the weight of the violin sticking out from your body. Too much pressure does nothing other than create some real physical problems for the violinist/fiddler. Not enough pressure and you risk dropping the instrument.</p>
<p>It takes some getting used to, but when the violin and the bow are balanced properly, there is no weight to speak of . . . and no danger of losing control.</p>
<p>So why, then, do most players have problems with this balance? Why is playing the violin considered to be so difficult?</p>
<p>It’s because we, as human beings, feel like we need to exert a lot of energy and pressure in order to control the instrument. In reality, the more we try to control it, the more likely we are to fail.</p>
<p>In order to succeed, you need to search for the balance. You need to find the sweet spot that gives you the most using the least amount of effort (pressure).</p>
<p>Think about how this can apply in your life outside the realm of music. </p>
<p>Let’s assume you are worrying at a particularly obnoxious problem in your life, and you’re looking for solutions or answers. You try really hard, hitting the problem from every conceivable direction. You spend hours on it, your head aches and your shoulders are tense. Nothing.</p>
<p>You go home that night, play with your kids, get ready for sleep, and just as you’re going to bed, BAM! The answer hits you. Or perhaps it comes to you as you wake up the next morning. But it’s there, seemingly appearing effortlessly out of thin air.</p>
<p>Why did the answer come so easily when you had struggled with it throughout the entire day?</p>
<p>You were exerting too much pressure, expending too much energy on the problem. You were choking your ability to find a solution with all that wasted effort. And you were making yourself hurt, as well. Kind of hard to think when you’ve got a headache.</p>
<p>Balance your energies. Use just enough to get the job done. Anything less, and the results are ugly. Anything more, and at the very least you are wasting your efforts. At the worst, you are handicapping yourself.</p>
<p>Contrary to popular sentiment, you should always look for the easy way to do anything in life. If you are in balance, everything is so much easier.</p>
<p>Please check out my Trad Tune learning website at<br><a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com">www.fiddlin4you.com</a> for more ideas on how to play the fiddle – and live your life, too – the FAST, EASY, and FUN way.</p>
<p>~ Michael Kelly, fiddler, Sligo Rags (Celtic Bluegrass Fusion)</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/34/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/34/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=34&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/1710632012-05-18T16:30:31-07:002017-01-14T08:10:22-08:00Letting Go: Fiddle as a metaphor 4 life<p>Ask any of my current or past students: I have metaphors and analogies for EVERYTHING. Sometimes they don’t make a whole lot of sense, and I’ve hade many eyes roll at me over the years. But most of the time, they get the idea.</p>
<p>One of the hardest things for anyone to do in this life is to LET GO. We love to feel like we’re in control; that if we just work really, really hard, we’ll get a handle on whatever it is we’re struggling with.</p>
<p>In my lessons, I teach that this is anathema to progress. The harder you work at something, the LESS LIKELY you are to achieve your goal.</p>
<p>What?!?</p>
<p>Let me put it this way: Your muscles, and even your brain, need to act and react with lightning speed and extreme dexterity. When you work HARD, your muscles contract, tighten up, and put the brakes on. When you CONCENTRATE, you actually slow down your thought processes so you have enough time to think in conversational language about what you’re focused on. Both efforts lead to failure because you are attempting to SLOW EVERYTHING DOWN THROUGH FORCE.</p>
<p>The more effective way is to LET GO. Allow your body to react in a relaxed, EASY, and balanced manner. It will respond so much faster and with a higher degree of accuracy if you ALLOW it to move.</p>
<p>Don’t concentrate; instead, FOCUS. Refine your attention, hone it to a sharp point, but don’t slow down your thought processes by concentrating. Your brain works a billion times faster than you can speak, and when you concentrate, you are actually slowing down your thoughts to conversational speed. Again, ALLOW your brain to function at peak capacity. It can go forwards, backwards, up, down, in or out, all before you can type WTF? It doesn’t have to make a logical progression; it will get there by any route or all routes, and it will do it faster without you concentrating.</p>
<p>Another thing I counsel my students to let go of is emotion, especially the emotional response we have to mistakes. What we tend to do as humans is say, “Hey, wait a minute! I just screwed up! We’ve got to go back and figure this out, I cannot and will not continue on until this is handled!”</p>
<p>There is a time and a place where it is appropriate to go back and look at one’s mistakes. But here’s the kicker: You screwed up, it’s in the past, and you CANNOT FIX IT. You can work to improve future performance, but you can’t change the past. So LET IT GO. It’s human nature to fixate on our imperfections to the extent that we are “fixed” in place and cannot progress. This frustrates, angers, and depresses us, and those emotions are the glue that keep us fixed in place. Acknowledge the emotions, acknowledge the mistakes, ALLOW them to MOVE through you and then LET THEM GO. MOVE ON.</p>
<p>I have not yet mastered the art of doing this in my own life, but I have found that LETTING GO works EVERY time I apply it. You will find similar techniques in meditation practices around the world.</p>
<p>Check it out for yourself. And please visit my website at <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com">www.fiddlin4you.com</a></p>
<p>~ Michael Kelly</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/30/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/30/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=30&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/1710642012-05-14T05:50:44-07:002017-01-14T08:10:22-08:00Upcoming and New for the www.fiddlin4you Trad Tune Learning site<p>I have big plans for my new Trad Tune Learning site, <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.fiddlin4you.com</a>!</p>
<p>In addition to the FREE Tune Of The Week, I am going to offer other freebies. Such as mini lessons on how to play Irish ornamentation. Proper practice technique. Scales and modes. These will be a mix of free downloads and links to YouTube videos that I will be making in the very near future.</p>
<p>Also, although this site is primarily an Irish tune site, I will be expanding the repertoire into the American fiddling tradition, taking tunes found in that fabulous source book “The Fiddler’s Fakebook” and giving them the same treatment.</p>
<p>Just with these two ideas, I am guaranteed to be busy for awhile! But I’m always open for suggestions . . . !</p>
<p>Check out <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com">www.fiddlin4you.com</a> to see all the latest! And check back often, because I’m always uploading new tunes.</p>
<p>~ Michael Kelly, fiddler, Sligo Rags (Celtic Bluegrass Fusion)</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/25/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/25/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=25&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/1710652012-05-14T05:29:37-07:002017-01-14T08:10:22-08:00New Trad Tune Website<p>For several years I have been gnawing at an idea to start a website. A site that would utilize some of the same techniques I’ve been using over the years to teach my private students.</p>
<p>One technique in particular seems to be effective 100% of the time: Allow the student to play along with the teacher … all the time.</p>
<p>How do you do that when you’re not teaching Bill Gates’ kids? No one wants to pay for 365 violin lessons a year, especially at my rates.</p>
<p>I started tailor-making recordings for my students so they could play along at home and in private. This teaching tool, although a huge investment of my time, paid off wonderful dividends in every instance.</p>
<p>So my dream was to create a website where students around the world could pop on, choose a tune, and then play along with teacher. And I only had to record the tune once. Maximum outreach with minimum effort.</p>
<p>As I said, I grappled with this idea, or dream, for several years. I made several abortive attempts to start it up . . . but where do you begin with something like that? I had never launched a website before, I had absolutely no experience whatsoever. All I had was a dream. And I had the drive.</p>
<p>The most difficult part in the whole process was getting a consistent recording process that I was happy with. I had the tunes. I had the time. I had the will. But I would start recording one way, do several dozen tunes, and then stop for a while. When I came back, I would record in a different manner, with different settings, microphones, cables, etc. I got a different sound. This made me very unhappy, and I re-recorded those dozens of tunes several dozen different times, discarding all my previous efforts.</p>
<p>A big thing about recording is the isolation one needs to produce a good sound. I couldn’t very well issue something for sale that had an airline jet passing through, or a baby crying in the background. Or the neighbors next door fighting again. But I didn’t have the money to get this huge project recorded in a real studio.</p>
<p>Charlie Knoth, a student of mine, mentioned that a new rehearsal studio had opened up right across the way from his business. I looked into it, and I thought perhaps I could find the isolation I needed there. That worked for about a month. Then the drummers showed up. And worse, the bass players with their huge amplifiers. They had the whole Spinal Tap thing going on. They never met a decibel level they didn’t like, as long as it was above 100 db.</p>
<p>So I had to record when these “musicians” weren’t hashing through their stuff and rattling the walls. I’d go into the studio at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning and record for 5 or 6 hours. That’s when the Rap musicians would show up. Who would’ve thought that Rap artists even knew what “morning” is?</p>
<p>I had just about given up, and Charlie had moved his base of operations a few blocks north to a larger warehouse. One evening, as I was giving Charlie his lesson in my studio and the bass guitars and drums cranked it up to 11, Charlie offered to build me a studio inside his warehouse. Made to order. I couldn’t believe it. He would charge me what I was paying to rent the studio from hell, and it would be perfect for what I needed. Awesome, I said. Let’s do it!</p>
<p>So on May 1st of 2012 I moved into my new studio digs and began work in earnest. I recorded with a Chinese built ribbon microphone and a used all-in-one recording deck, and the results – to my ears – were amazing! I started the arduous process of editing and uploading the tunes and the sheet music (arranged by yours truly) onto the website and launched it on May 11th.</p>
<p>I had done some research amongst some of my peers years ago to see if my idea had any marketable merit, and the one comment I kept getting (in addition to “awesome” and “why hasn’t anybody done this before?” and “it’s about time!”) was “You need to charge more for this!” Apparently, $4.99 for 9-18 tracks plus a PDF and jpeg of the sheet music seemed, to them, too little.</p>
<p>I disagree. I want musicians to keep coming back and using the site often, and I don’t want them to feel like they have to mortgage their girlfriend’s apartment (is such a thing possible?) to do so. Therefore, each tune, which is organized into an album, is available for $4.99. Period. So what if some tunes are 2 or 3 times longer than standard? It’s one tune for $4.99.</p>
<p>And because I wanted everyone to experience the success of using these recordings, I decided to provide a FREE Tune Of The Week on the home page. You can’t download it, and you won’t get the sheet music for it, but you can hang out on the home page and play the tracks for that tune as often and for as long as you like. Try before you buy, don’tcha know?</p>
<p>Also, when you are looking at the tunes currently available on the STORE page, you can preview every track in order to get a feel for the tune and make sure it is something you want to purchase. And if you click on the album artwork, up pops the sheet music for you to look at. How cool is that?</p>
<p>I have been blown away by the response to the site just in the first few days since I announced on Facebook that it was up. I have hits from people all around the world: Australia, Austria, Italy, Ireland, Great Britain, Canada, and all over the United States. The average time spent on the site is roughly four minutes, so obviously folks are taking the time to listen to the tracks. And yes, I have ways of tracking that particular bit of info.</p>
<p>The only downside to this whole project is the amount of time it takes me to upload the tunes I’ve already recorded onto the site. I have over 50 tunes ready to go, and less than 20 have been uploaded. But hey, it’s happening. I still have to go to work in order to pay the bills, and I still have to make time for rehearsing and recording. And let’s not forget that I have a sweetheart and a beautiful baby girl at home who expect a modicum of my attention as well.</p>
<p>But it has begun. I’ve made the start. People are interested, and I am happy that my dream is coming true. All the other stuff will be taken care of in time.</p>
<p>If you’d like to check out the site for yourself, visit <a href="http://www.fiddlin4you.com">www.fiddlin4you.com</a>. Be sure to let me know what you think!</p>
<p>~ Michael Kelly, fiddler of Sligo Rags (Celtic Bluegrass Fusion)</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/20/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/20/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=20&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/1710662011-10-17T06:25:48-07:002017-01-14T08:10:22-08:00Courage and Fear<p>I’ve been reading again. Today I read a chapter in Florence Scovel Shinn’s “The Game Of Life (And How To Play It)” (1925). In it is a passage I want to quote directly that treats the subject of Fear:</p>
<p> “I have a friend who said nothing could induce her to walk under a ladder. I said, “If you are afraid, you are giving in to a belief in two powers, Good and Evil, instead of one. As God is absolute, there can be no opposing power, unless man makes the false of evil for himself. To show you believe in only One Power, God, and that there is no power or reality in evil, walk under the next ladder you see.” Soon after, she went to her bank. She wished to open her box in the safety-deposit vault, and there stood a ladder on her pathway. It was impossible to reach the box without passing under the ladder. She quailed with fear and turned back. She could not face the lion on her pathway. However, when she reached the street, my words rang in her ears and she decided to return and walk under it. It was a big moment in her life, for ladders had held her in bondage for years. She retraced her steps to the vault, and the ladder was no longer there! This so often happens! If one is willing to do a thing he is afraid to do, he does not have to.</p>
<p>“It is the law of nonresistance, which is so little understood.</p>
<p>“Someone has said that courage contains genius and magic. Face a situation fearlessly, and there is no situation to face; it falls away of its own weight.</p>
<p>“The explanation is, that fear attracted the ladder on the woman’s pathway, and fearlessness removed it.</p>
<p>“Thus the invisible forces are ever working for man who is always ‘pulling the strings” himself, though he does not know it. Owing to the vibratory power of words, whatever man voices, he begins to attract. People who continually speak of disease, invariably attract it.”</p>
<p>I have often heard that fear is an acronym for “False Evidence Appearing Real”. Our imagination creates scary situations based on false reality, and when we add real facts, real reality to the situation, it no longer seems so scary. In fact, the scary situation seems to disappear altogether.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether the situation one is afraid of is real or not, confronting it head on always seems to minimize the actual fear. If you don’t confront or face your fears, the imagination feeds the fear and makes it more intense, often debilitating.</p>
<p>I’d be interested in knowing how you have dealt with fear in your life. What have you discovered that works for you?</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/13/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/13/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=13&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/1710672011-10-11T10:15:43-07:002017-01-14T08:10:22-08:00Celebrating Unexpected Blessings<p>I came home last night to find my sweetheart in the middle of meditating. At the end of the meditation, she pulled a card from her Tarot deck for each of us. My card? Prepare to celebrate!</p>
<p>I realize that you may not believe in Tarot, which is cool. But my blog today is not about that. It’s about celebrating unexpected blessings.</p>
<p>You may or may not know that my parents lost everything in the big Bastrope, Texas wildfire over Labor Day weekend, just two days after my dad retired. He worked an extra five years in order to afford remodeling their home, in which they planned to spend their retirement. Thank God they were able to evacuate safely, along with all their grandchildren and four dogs and one (of two) cats. Unfortunately, the chickens didn’t fare so well. KFC wouldn’t even touch them after that fire!</p>
<p>When they were finally allowed back on the property to view the results, my dad (who has a pacemaker) collapsed and was rushed to the hospital where he spent the next five days. Again, thank God he is okay. Upon his release, though, he somehow managed to run himself over with his own car, breaking one of his legs and sending him back to the ER. I’m thinking it takes a lot of talent to run oneself over like that, and I’m glad that he’s found a use for his.</p>
<p>The doctors told him he needed to get the hell out of Texas for a while, because it was killing him! So mom and dad made plans to visit my daughter up in Utah, and then travel up through San Francisco and down the Coast Highway to visit me and my boy in Long Beach. UNFORTUNATELY, dad broke a crown and had to wait to have it replaced . . . two weeks after having made plans to leave.</p>
<p>Adding insult to injury, as it were, my parents’ insurance company refused to insure their property for it’s full value until the skirting went in around their house. That was scheduled to go in the week of the fire. Therefore, they are getting a fraction of what they lost in the fire.</p>
<p>What does this have to do with celebrating unexpected blessings? Well, let me tell you:</p>
<p>I decided to plan a benefit concert for my parents, and was surprised at the huge amount of support I received from friends, family, fellow musicians, and members of the community. Six of the top Irish bands in Southern California volunteered to perform, and their fans threatened to swamp the small venues I had in mind to host the concert.</p>
<p>So just this morning, I met with Phil Morin and Vanessa Sepulveda, the General Manager and Manager of the Tilted Kilt in Long Beach, CA. They enthusiastically volunteered their venue to host what has become one of the largest gatherings of Irish music in this area outside of the festivals . . . AT NO COST TO ME!</p>
<p>So right now I am basking in the warm feelings that come from people in my community sharing their love and their talent and their skills and their material goods to support my parents. They are giving to people they don’t even know, simply because they are my parents.</p>
<p>In a way, they are giving back to the people who have made it possible for me to pursue a career that allows me to entertain and uplift them. God, this feels good!</p>
<p>Unexpected? Yes! Blessing? Yes! Am I celebrating? YOU BET!</p>
<p>If you would like to participate and enjoy this concert yourself, here’s the information:</p>
<p>Saturday, November 19th, 2011<br>
1:00pm til closing!<br>
The Tilted Kilt<br>
6575 E. Pacific Coast Hwy<br>
Long Beach, CA 90803<br>
(562) 795-0163</p>
<p>Let me know what unexpected blessings you are celebrating this week!</p>
<p><a href="http://fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/20111011-155801.jpg"><img src="//fiddlin4you.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/20111011-155801.jpg?w=460" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="20111011-155801.jpg" /></a></p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/6/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/6/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=6&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/1710682011-10-04T05:02:39-07:002017-01-14T08:10:22-08:00Golden Rule (Tuesday October 4th, 2011)<p>I’m sitting here at Westminster Cafe in Westminster, CA listening to Akshara Weave’s Cho Ku Rei: Reiki Healing. In addition to writing this, I am drinking coffee and water and smoking the occasional cigarette. This is what I do when I want to relax and process my thoughts.</p>
<p>I’ve been reading a free e-Book called “Napoleon Hill’s Hidden Secret in Think And Grow Rich: Why This Law Of Success Principle Proves The Master Keys To Success” by Gary Vurnum (www.ThisChangedMyLife.com). It’s a short but very enlightening read that anyone in love with “The Secret” would do well to read.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, it explains why Napoleon Hill’s “Golden Rule” is the KEY to making everything else work. What is the Golden Rule? Simply this: “The Golden Rule means, substantially, to do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you if your positions were reversed.”<br>
Page 97: The Law of Success Lesson 16 – The Golden Rule.</p>
<p>The main point that I got from reading this short text is that it is not enough to do good deeds. Rather, your whole thought process must be based on this rule. Think about others as you would have them think about you.</p>
<p>I find that a lot of my thoughts are negative, especially while working in such an ego-centric field as music. How can I NOT think negative thoughts about a fellow musician who has just dropped a clam during a live show? How can I not take personally the perceived glare from one of my fellow musicians?</p>
<p>And yet, I tried this out last Saturday with amazing results. Both of the situations described above happened. Rather than following my normal thought routine of negativity, I thought loving, understanding thoughts instead. I immediately had a feeling of greater connection, not only with my band mates, but with the audience as well. The feeling transported me, the energy created by such a connection literally palpable. I was reminded of the reason why I chose to pursue music as a career. The final result was a fabulous performance that even our sound tech was moved by.</p>
<p>So, did the Golden Rule help me achieve success that day? My definition of a successful show is one that develops an emotional/spiritual connection between me and the audience. So yes, I achieved success that day. And I felt enriched and uplifted by doing so.</p>
<p>I am resolved to make the Golden Rule the central operating principle in my personal philosophy. Success feels great!</p>
<p>I encourage you to read the book and experiment with this KEY idea yourself and see if it works for you, too.</p>
<br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/3/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/3/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=3&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kellytag:fiddlin4you.com,2005:Post/1731392011-10-04T04:35:30-07:002017-01-14T08:10:22-08:00Hello world!<p>Welcome to <a href="http://wordpress.com/">WordPress.com</a>. After you read this, you should delete and write your own post, with a new title above. Or hit <a title="Direct link to the Add New in the Admin Dashboard" href="/wp-admin/post-new.php">Add New</a> on the left (of the <a title="Direct link to this blog's admin dashboard" href="/wp-admin">admin dashboard</a>) to start a fresh post.</p>
<p><a title="Learn WordPress.com—From zero to hero." href="http://learn.wordpress.com/">Here</a> are some suggestions for your first post.</p>
<ol>
<li>You can find new ideas for what to blog about by reading <a title="The Daily Post at WordPress.com—post something every day" href="http://dailypost.wordpress.com/">the Daily Post</a>.</li>
<li>Add <a title='Click the "Press This" link on this page to activate the Press this bookmark feature.' href="/wp-admin/tools.php">PressThis</a> to your browser. It creates a new blog post for you about any interesting page you read on the web.</li>
<li>
<a title="Edit the first post on this blog." href="/wp-admin/post.php?post=1&action=edit">Make some changes to this page</a>, and then hit preview on the right. You can always preview any post or edit it before you share it to the world.</li>
</ol><br><a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/"><img src="//feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/fiddlin4you.wordpress.com/1/" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /></a> <img src="//stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=fiddlin4you.wordpress.com&blog=28121220&post=1&subd=fiddlin4you&ref=&feed=1" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1" width="1" />Michael Kelly