From: hjfeld@acs.bu.edu (harold feld)
Newsgroups: alt.music.filk
Subject: Re: Filk instrumentation
Date: 22 Nov 92 04:19:58 GMT
Organization: Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

In article <kf3agYu00UhWE2D3N2@andrew.cmu.edu> eg1n+@andrew.cmu.edu (Eli Brian Goldberg) writes:
 >[Kay sed...]
 >
 >One interesting thing I've noticed in here is the number of people who took 
 >up the piano then discovered they preferred the guitar.  I have TRIED to 
 >learn the guitar several times and invariably found I'd rather go play with 
 >my keyboard.  So I finally bowed to the inevitable and have been using the 
 >keyboard for accompaniment.  I'm not really to the stage where I can 
 >perform much with it - I still do most of my filking either a capella, or 
 >with the assistance of whoever cares to join in with a guitar or whatever 
 >(last LAFA filk, one of the filkers whose last name I have managed to 
 >forget, oh the shame of it - her first is Marilyn and she has a VoicE - 
 >brought along a lot of percussion instruments and we all had fun playing 
 >with them.)  But I find that I am willing to sit down and practice it 
 >without it turning into a chore. 

>IMHO, it would be fascinating to do a survey of instrumentalists at a filk
>con to see which instruments psychologically appeal to them, and to get
>a broad idea of their personality traits.  I know one filker who picked
>up the guitar so-so, and then tried a Mandolin, and within a few minutes
>was picking out Celtic songs, and just fell in love overnight...Likewise,
>there's one person's style of guitar playing which I honestly can't do
>a passable imitation of, and then there was Fish's style, which is much harder,
>but seems to just "make sense".  It would be equally interesting to see
>why certain playing styles subconsciously appeal to certain people more
>than others...
 
>I would also be very surprised if there wasn't any psychology research done
>on this; there IS a branch of musical psychology.  Anyone know details?

>[3 months of social science really HAS rotted my brain... ;]


>           Hate is not a traditional family value: Boycott Colorado! 
> Internet: eg1n@andrew.cmu.edu Filknet: "Hey, you with the 12-string guitar!"
> SnailMail: Eli Goldberg, Box 4352, 5115 Margaret Morrison Rd, Pitt, PA 15213

A few points on this instruments business:

1) It seems to me from personal experience that a lot has to
do with the general atmosphere of the sing/social group and
this plays a big part in what instrument people feel comfortable
with.  It also plays a big part in how quickly you pick things
up.  Trying to learn by yourself is a lot harder than imitating
the people accross from you.
ex: I am a beginning percussionist (I know, what's that
got to do with music? :-)) and am not yet particularly good.
Last week a bunch of SCAdians got together for a bardic bash.
We started to do one of these *long* (at least 40 verses,
probably more) English folk tunes.  I had a tamborine, someone
else had a dombek, there were also random drum things and
sticks scattered around.  We started in, and pretty soon even the
folks playing harp or guitar switched to precussion.
I found myself doing far more complex things than I'd ever
managed before, partly because I was supported and
observing about a dozen other precussionists.
(BTW, this was a total blast for all of us and we
ended up singing the whole thing.  Took about 30 minutes,
but we'd all pretty much lost track of time by then.)

2) Social/economic situation makes a difference in
what you play. My drum was essentially free from
another SCAdian.  No way I could afford a piano or
guitar.  I have some difficulty finding a place
to practice.  If the local jongluers guild didn't
meet regulalrly, I wouldn't get in any practice time.
All of these take musical instrument choice out of the
psychological and into the practical.

Harold Feld