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Female
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Interests
Making Textiles (I'm a tapestry weaver by trade), learning tunes by heart, walking with my dog, reading, having tea with friends
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Idaho, USA
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Sarah Swett's Achievements
Advanced Member (3/6)
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A great group of people indeed, Jim. Such delight to feel utterly at ease, which in turn makes room for all kinds of adventurous learning. Thank you..
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It was fantastic. Just working on some of the myriad new NESI learned tunes in my stash. What a joyful time. I feel so fortunate.
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Article: Contra Dancing In Brooklyn
Sarah Swett replied to Jody Kruskal's topic in General Concertina Discussion
Great excerpt Jody. Yay Brooklyn! -
Love this theme! So many favorites -- Charles O'Connor, Henry McDermott Roe (1st air), Carolan's Draught, Princess Royal... What to add? My favorite! Loftus Jones, a tune I know (or once knew), pretty well. Apparently, however, in the months since I las recorded or posted on C Neg and I'd forgotten what pushing that little button does to my brain and fingers. N tries later, I deleted all attempts and started again with Carolan's Concerto -- and then only came up with one short recording with a minimum of fumbles. At any rate, here it is! Once through. https://soundcloud.com/mildredestelle/cs-concerto-1x Sarah
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Tune Of The Month, Feb. 2015: Metsakukkia
Sarah Swett replied to Jim Besser's topic in Tune of the Month
oops -- signed my name twice but didn't say the other thing I meant to add, which is how much I like listening to the subtle variations in emphases and timing and hope to hear some more examples of grace note choices. This is yet another area in which I feel my playing is lacking so appreciate all the discussion above. thanks! Sarah -
Tune Of The Month, Feb. 2015: Metsakukkia
Sarah Swett replied to Jim Besser's topic in Tune of the Month
Wow! Fantastic. Such a great combination of instruments. Thanks. Fabulous. Thanks so much for getting me going on this gorgeous tune. Love the accompaniment . Sarah Sarah -
It does indeed answer my questions-- though now it will take a bit of effort to 'cure, myself of the sharpened note. The folk process , or at least finger habits, can be powerful. A fellow I sometimes play with learns everything by ear. Sometimes he will bring dots for the rest of us and we duitifully play and learn that version, only to find ourselves clashing when we play together. He is not going to change his habits/ patterns to suit us or the written notes, so I,ve found myself adding or eliminating many a sharp in the interest of the group sound. How, then to retain both versions in my head just in case?? Thank you David. And for the great story as well.
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Theme Of The Month For December, 2014: 'tis The Season
Sarah Swett replied to Jim Besser's topic in Tune of the Month
Thanks! That was lovely. More satisfying to me than listening to the choirboys! Angelic though they sound (and, I'm sure, actually are...). -
Question about Abbot's Bromley Horn Dance. I have a version in my pile 'o tunes that has a couple of differences from the versions listed above and I wondered what people thought. 1. Measure 4 of the B part: the first note in my version (C in the PDFs version Jim posted above) has an accidental sharp. Changes the feel to keep it natural, which most of the YouTube versions also seem to do. Is my version (the sharpened version) an anomolie? 2. Measure 1 of the C part: 4th note goes up a 4th from the third note ( instead of a step); measure 2, the 4 th note goes up a fifth ( vs. a fourth). Not sure my terminology is correct so hope this makes sense. As an ancient tune, clearly there isn't just one 'proper, version, but I'd love to hear some thoughts on the matter before the one I have and sort of know becomes embedded in my fingers and brain
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Great combo! Thank you for that.
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Theme Of The Month For December, 2014: 'tis The Season
Sarah Swett replied to Jim Besser's topic in Tune of the Month
SImply gorgeous! Thanks. Yes indeed! Lovely. Perfect timing too-- I saw the dots for Valse d'hiver the other day (in The Waltz Book 2), started to play it, and now can,t stop. What a treat to hear it 'for real.' -
Tune Of The Month For October, 2014: Crested Hens
Sarah Swett replied to Jim Besser's topic in Tune of the Month
Nicely done. You maintained a nice even tempo, not always easy when playing slowly. Good example of melody playing. Nice indeed. Great to hear an example of the clean, clear melody Sorry I'm going to have to be the bad guy here, but we're here to learn, and nobody will learn anything if nobody points out obvious problems with a performance. This tune is in 3, and you have to feel the 3-beat pulse in your bones if you're going to play it with any degree of effectiveness. The same would be true if it were in 2 or 4 or any other time signature. Gerry is missing this inner sense of the beat as evidenced by the fact that he consistently (four times, every time it comes up) plays the C-natural in the B section as a quarter note (crochet) instead of a half note (minim), leaving a 2-beat measure. So, Gerry, your homework is to learn how to internalize the beat, to make it more important than the notes, so that you are incapable of making a mistake like that, even if you play wrong notes. And everyone else... If you really didn't hear the problem, you have the same assignment. And if you did, well, we need to learn how to constructively criticize, or, as I said, nobody will learn anything. Thanks, David! Much appreciated. Time for metronome and dance practice --though I've always been a waltzing klutz. Question --When using a metronome for tunes in 3/4, do you find it easiest to have it beat once per measure to really emphasize the downbeat? Or is there a better approach? -
Marionette A La Planchette Playing The Wounded Hussar
Sarah Swett replied to brandon's topic in Concertina Videos & Music
Brandon -- these are fantastic. What great faces! Another whole wonderful world of music and Dance. I knew nothing about these, so am thrilled to be introduced. Now to have a look at Alex's. -
Tune Of The Month For October, 2014: Crested Hens
Sarah Swett replied to Jim Besser's topic in Tune of the Month
Oh my, but that was a treat. I really like the way the two melodic lines worked together. Did you write the accompaniment? And how fantastic to have melody and harmony on two instruments. Not only do you get the pleasure of playing with someone else, but you avoid the finger contortions and honks of trying to accompany yourself. Or so it seems to me….