Celtic Traditions

This picture is from the Dayton Celtic Festival.  I play accordion for the band Sons O'Blarney.

You can find out more about the band here.  www.sonsoblarney.com

We've been playing together about 7 months.  When we started I didn't know any celtic music.  I like it well enough, but had never aspired to play it.  Now I like it.  Why?  It may come as no surprise that it's very conducive to getting audience response and interaction.  Since we do traditional Irish tunes, many people know all the words and sing along with us.  Some of the songs have long established traditions for when you are supposed to clap and shout responses to the band.

With the last name of Makofka, I grew up with polkas; ethnic music with Eastern European associations.  But I have to confess that Celtic music is every bit as much fun to play.  It can be fast.  ie crazy bluegrass fast.  As you can see in the picture, we don't have a fiddle player, so I get to play the fiddle parts.   It has been wonderful for my technique and dexterity.

Two of the songs we sing, "Finnigan's Wake" and "The Night that Patty Murphy Died" are about death and Irish wakes.  There is something healthy about including these subjects in music.  The Irish tradition for approaching death is rich and instructive.  I'm not Catholic or Irish, but if someone wants to have throw a wake for me when I'm gone it's okay with me.

Audience Response: Winning Over the Holdouts

This week's musical adventure was at Hidden Meadows Day Camp in Centerville, OH.  The high point of the show for me was that a kid who saw my show two years ago remembered that GNIROB is BORING spelled backwards.  For more information on this concept, go to www.mrmusicmaker.com

Notice the little girl in the yellow outfit.  Look at her body language in the first picture.  She has decided she is NOT going to be participating.  This was during a song where everybody makes animal noises. (technically, pet sounds, with references to Elvis and the Beach Boys)  By the second picture, she has soften a little.  This song is a dance contest between the grown-ups and the kids.  The adult leaders at the camp were GREAT and made it fun for everybody. (note:  They were great leaders, not necessarily great dancers.)  By the third picture she is in full motion.  Yes, the accordion is out and they are dancing to the Beer Barrel Polka.  What can I say, it's effective in multi-generational settings.

I point this out to support my idea that audience response is significant.  There are some artists who are so into their music (and themselves) that they probably wouldn't notice if the audience left while they were playing.  And some audiences enjoy being musical voyeurs; watching, but not participating in intimate exchanges between an artist and his music.  But for me, I'm looking for some response to let me know the music is getting through.  I'm trying to win over the holdouts who have walls of resistance to whatever effect I am trying to produce with the performance.

If you are going to music to benefit others, you have to participate in a circle of response.  You put your music out there and notice the audience response.  Then YOU respond to the feedback you are getting from your audience.  This puts the music in the context of social interaction and makes it more than just entertainment.  I believe this gives live music a greater therapeutic advantage than prerecorded music.

GoodTime Accordion Band at Bethany Village

Whenever we play for a senior center, we bring a lyric sheet so that the audience can sing along.  The tunes include Tennessee Waltz, Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue, Love Me Tender, You are My Sunshine, and other old favorites.  I usually lead the singing.  Today something unusual happened.  I usually sing the songs and expect that the audience will sing along.  But this group responded differently.  When I sang, they sat back and listened; passive observers of a reasonably entertaining show.  The songs they participated in the most were the songs that I didn't sing.  When it was just them singing they sang more loudly and enthusiastically.

The picture below shows the audience at the beginning.  They were waiting for lunch to be served and for us to start playing.  By the end of the show almost everyone was talking, smiling, and laughing.

We don't really feel like we've done our job until somebody gets up and dances.  This time it took us the entire show to make it happen.    We ended the show and were doing an encore performance of Beer Barrel Polka as they were walking out, when one couple finally started to dance.  It might have taken so long because it was a Ladies Luncheon and all the men were in the kitchen cooking and serving.  But Garrison Keillor would probably say it's because they were Lutheran.