Virtual Band Practice

So many meetings! Today right after work I had a union meeting, then I had a weight loss meeting. Yesterday the guitarist in our band said she was setting up a Zoom meeting for right after work, but when the rest of us tried to log in, it said the host hadn't started the meeting yet... because she was puttering around in the garden and completely forgot about us. Hardingfele started her own Zoom meeting, and then she and another fiddler took turns playing the melody while the rest of us muted ourselves and played along. The third fiddler said she just wanted to listen, then she noted that the fiddle playing the melody never kept a consistent tempo, so why didn't I (as the only rhythm instrument present) play the chords with everyone else joining along on mute? I demurred, saying it would be very hard for me to just play chords while not hearing the melody. In fact, when I did try playing bluegrass chops, I couldn't hear the fiddler over myself, so I had switched to playing harmony. The third fiddler thought the whole thing was a waste of time and we should all practice on our own, but I said it was much harder for me to practice alone than for the melody instruments, so I appreciated it. The third fiddler said I should unmute myself and play along with one of the fiddles, and we said it would sound terrible because of the delay, but we would demonstrate... and afterwards she agreed, that would never work. I really enjoyed playing along with the melody because it felt like we were making music together, although their erratic tempos did make it really hard to play with them. We tried reels, jigs, and waltzes, and the waltzes (which I have always considered the most boring) worked the best, probably because they are the easiest things to play. I suggested using a metronome next time, since that would help with the erratic tempos. Anyway, we'll try it again next week.

Later in the evening I got together in Google Hangouts with the Rosary Ladies, and we had a really good chat before we prayed the rosary, and another one afterwards. After that I did Night Prayer, and of course we all chatted afterwards, and then I got into another chat with some friends. I think I talk to people now more than before this whole Shelter in Place thing, maybe because it's always a slight challenge to get together in person, and I have never really liked talking on the phone. I don't have the same aversion to video chats, because you almost feel like you are talking to the person face to face, so I kind of like them. Which is good, because I foresee a lot of them in my future!

Famous Hat