Lately my band and I have been practicing for an upcoming wedding gig. Every Wednesday we’ve been getting together to hash out a set list, revisit old tune sets and come up with some new ones. Because of the pandemic we haven’t played a gig together in almost 2 years. So it took a few rehearsals to get our groove back.
Lately though, during rehearsals, we’ve really been jelling. We’ve been exploring variations and arrangements we haven’t done before and it feels good.
I can’t even express how thankful I am to be playing together in person again. I’ve been pretty diligent about practicing on my own throughout this whole pandemic but I think in order to really improve your playing, you just have to play with other people.
It’s been so fun re-visiting old tunes and tune-sets and learning new ones. Telling stories in between tunes and sharing technique, variations and good cheer.
This week’s tune, Last House in Balleymakea, is a hornpipe on our setlist that I learned specifically for our gig. I hope you like it. Next week I’ll share the second tune in this set.
Last House in Ballymakea: Tune 39 of 52
Join me next week for tune #40 from A Tune A Week.
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