HEllo Ardith,

On Wed 2039-Jun-15 23:52, Ardith Hinton (1:153/716) wrote to Richard Webb:

RW>  I don't get exposed to enough new and different living
RW>  out here in the sticks, sorta miss it at times.


AH>           I can relate.  Years ago a friend of ours lived on a
AH> cattle ranch in the interior of BC.  The grass-fed steak she served
AH> us was as smooth as butter ... I've never eaten so much at one
AH> sitting before or since.  Her neighbour on the other side of a
AH> common wall was apparently addicted to C/W music, however, and we
AH> very soon tired of hearing identical bass lines repeated again &
AH> again. We also found when we visited the area a bit later that in at
AH> least one of the local eateries a Caesar salad = a lettuce & tomato
AH> salad with Caesar dressing. As an ex-waitress I realize how far this
AH> notion has deviated from the original concept.  What you gain on the
AH> swings you may lose on the roundabouts....  :-) 

  Can relate to both points.  Kathy's daughter
listens to nothing but that ersatz new country, no swing, no waltz, rarely a
shuffle, all a straight rock common time
signature >  .



RW>  None of my neighbors are music listeners really it seems,
RW>  not like the city where just in the course of walking up
RW>  the road you were exposed to a lot of it.


AH>           Yeah.  The upside for me is hearing live music from the
AH> window of an apartment or from buskers on the street.  The downside
AH> is the people who leave their car radios blaring away while they run
AH> errands somewhere else... (sigh). 

YEs there is that, but I got spoiled by NEw ORleans I guess, the buskers on
the corners downtown, the variety of
different forms of music one might hear just walking up the
street.  tHe church a block from us when we lived center
city and managed the apartment complexes had a full blown
praise band, and they did their services earlier than the
church I attended, which meant that during their services
I'd end up doing the SUnday morning constitutional dog walk
about the time they really got into it.  I really enjoyed
listening to their rhythm section, quite good, and I told
their pastor that on a couple of occasions.  I'd end up
standing on that corner a lot waiting for my dog to do her
morning stuff so I could stoop and scoop while enjoying the
praise band.  ONe hot bass player and a very good drummer!

RW>  SEems the lady who lives up the hill from us has a son
RW>  who's started to take up the drums, and he seems to
RW>  practice a lot in his garage.  IN fact, it was that
RW>  which made me remember the joke "when does the drumming
RW>  stop" I think I posted in this echo .


AH>           If he wants to practice where he can get serious about
AH> whatever he's not yet able to do very well... with no concerns about
AH> who may be listening... I'd suggest distancing himself one way or
AH> another from the rest of the family. In some cases, however,
AH> would-be musicians are banished to the garage for good reason.  When
AH> we heard a drummer practising in a nearby apartment a few months ago
AH> we sent him/her a message... via another tenant in the same
AH> building... to the effect that our community band needs more
AH> drummers.  OTOH, during the year I was studying choral conducting &
AH> practising three instruments in addition to the clarinet the
AH> neighbours on both sides of us moved out.  I'm quite sure you
AH> wouldn't want to hear me attempt to sing *or* to play the violin...
AH> [chuckle]. 

  I keep telling Kathy she shouldn't sing, she
couldn't carry a tune in a tank truck to be honest, but
she's always singing to the dog.  dOg thinks it sounds good
I guess.

sInce I wrote that message I talked to the young man a
couple of times, and suggested he spend a little more time
working on basics, and use a metronome, just to get
consistency.  HE practices a lot of the flashy stuff, fancy
rolls etc. but wasn't practicing the basics.  I also
suggested if not the metronome, get some headphones and his
favorite music and drum along.  IN fact, one of the reasons
we ended up conversing was his mom suggested he talk to me
.


Regards,
           Richard
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 * Origin:  (1:116/901)