Recap: Don & Cindy Roy Workshop

The September gathering kicked off the 2022-2023 year (our 35th) with a great workshop led by Don Roy. He and Cindy worked with a small group of members, no winds or guitars, so we all fit on the Recital Hall stage. They got us up to speed with a new concert set – an Air (Eleanor of Usan), March (Mr. Michie), Strathspey (Carlisle Lasses), and Reel (Riptide), all in F major.

Don gave a lot of bowing suggestions to the fiddlers, and suggested just omitting the pickup notes in the transitions between tunes. Most of the workshop was aimed at getting us to play as an ensemble – not worrying about playing the right or wrong notes, but concentrating on learning and remembering the dynamics of each piece.

His point was that in an ensemble, all the dynamics need to be exaggerated because the sound reaching the ears of the audience is not what each individual performer is hearing, rather it is the sum of all the musicians' output. So remember to pull back after each forte note so you can come back with another if called for. Likewise play the piano notes as softly as phyically possible.