Seed of Music

It's official, I've been through an amazing [school] year at Espace TourneSol. All that remain is the end-of-year show this Sunday.

We're working out a set for the Bodhrán group class with the an amazing guest musician and a special spotlight (no spoilers for now).

Speaking of Bodhrán, I have upgraded from a student-quality Walton's Bodhrán to a real handmade Bodhrán from Brendan White. It is such an amazing difference to play with a quality instrument. In a way, I have to re-learn how to play.

I had the amazing privilege of spending some time talking to Louise Vautour (amazing fiddler) yesterday. It was an amazing experience to be able to talk with such a skilled musician. With her, I was able to finally put my finger on a major problem with how I practice and how I should approach a practice routine for my instrument and the direction I want to take with it (traditional). My routine was fundamentally broken and like most musician who learn on their own or learn with minimal supervision, I never really learned how to practice. It's one thing to figure out where you want to go musically, but it's another to figure out how to get there.

I have thrown away the practice routine I came up with in January and will be working on a new one based on the discussions I had with Louise. Once things slow down with things happening with La voix des jeunes I will apply that new routine. I'm excited to see where this brings me. In no way will it hurt my progress in what is my true artistic love: music.