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Fiddlin Al Students and Alumni

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A place for former and current students of Fiddlin Al to post videos of their progress, share comments and ask questions.

51 Members, Created 2/18/2013 -

Administrators: MiG-19 (owner)

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From mcaple on 3/13/2013 11:15:43 PM

Hello everyone, my name is Mark and I have to date taken 46 lessons with Al and and waiting to crack the full year. I am learning through skype and had zero musical experience before speaking to Al and because of this I sometimes see the pain Al experiences during the lesson when I go back to review. He never lets on that pain during the lesson though. I was hoping to put up a couple of videos of me playing but this week I couldn't stop my microphone from clipping everything I recorded which made the video even worse. This looks like a common problem from other banjohangout members with the logitech built in microphone. I think it's a great idea to try to record something that you are learning regardless of where you're at as in the future you can look back and either say "I've flat-lined" or "wow check out that improvement". Anyway I will try to use my girlfriend's laptop this weekend to put something up here. The only problem with that is that she's not too happy as I said I had bought a mute to lesson her pain but the mute really doesn't mute too much. :(

9 Comments
	MiG-19 says: 3/13/2013 11:10:01 PM Welcome! Looking forward to the videos.
	MoPac fan says: 3/14/2013 4:21:20 AM Welcome to the family Mark. Can't wait to see some videos. It's kind of maddening, I can practice and have a song down pat (in my mind) but when I turn the camera or audio recorder on, something happens and it all goes out the window. The same thing happens to me on lesson day. I can practice and practice and think I have the material down and soon as I get to Al's, it goes away and I turn into fumble fingers. I did get a good attaboy last time though. A big smile came on Al's face and he said, "Now that sounds like something." LOL, that's a compliment from Al.
	loukiii says: 3/14/2013 5:33:31 AM My wife used to complain too, till I got a mute for her.
	Lewis842002 says: 3/14/2013 6:28:19 AM Welcome:Mark what mute did you buy? I use a mike's mute and it work's great.
	G says: 3/14/2013 12:37:01 PM "My wife used to complain too, till I got a mute for her." :-) I hope for your sake she is not on the hangout. Welcome Mark. I hear what you guys are sayng about freezing up during lesson time. I get to the point where I'm gonna call Ricky Skaggs to get an audition ... then I try to play it for Al !!!! :-) I usually decide to hold off on that phone call.
	mcaple says: 3/14/2013 3:01:01 PM Great to hear I'm not the only one messing up in front of Al. The one advantage of skype is that sometimes I turn my monitor off and I don't see Al looking at me, it feels much easier to play then and he's none the wiser. The mute I bought was a Clifford Essex Havana sliding mute off ebay. Wasn't expensive but don't want to buy a dud again. Does mike's mute really kill the ringing?
	mcaple says: 3/16/2013 8:10:24 PM Ok, not the quickest banjo ever but it is my first recording! !!!!! youtube.com/watch?v=FFB7jcqgD6...ta_player
	mcaple says: 3/18/2013 2:34:45 PM Just a quick question about youtube videos. Are people placing them inside a reply or do me put them somewhere special so that it is easy to see other people's stuff. I would like to for instance be able to go to a cripple creek section and see everyone's videos.
	mcaple says: 3/18/2013 3:30:34 PM Having watched my SLOOOW video I realised a few things. My timing needs a lot of work but I am conscious of that and I have started feeling tension in my jaw and it feels like a habit forming. I realised this after reading the excellent thread banjohangout.org/topic/137106/1 Basically increase speed by removing tension and that includes tension in shoulder, neck, JAW. I am going to really concentrate this week on reducing tension and breathing while I play as I am not sure I always breathe properly whilst playing.
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