Yeah, I get that a lot! I've had a few in my club tell me in so many words that it is somehow improper to play anything outside of the traditional tabbed-out-on-paper playlist, too. They're coming around, though.some people would say that playing a dulcimer through an amp is nothing short of blasphemous.
Yes, my husband and i play fiddle/dulcimer/banjo for charity events sometimes and often for the local farmer's market. For those events we volunteer. My favorite part is when little children and toddlers start dancing around us in pure happiness- I love it! That's one reason I love to play right in with the people rather than on a stage area...i love when the children come up and touch my instrument gently in wonder, like it was magical. Awesome .The real fun busking though (my opinion)... - it's watching those little kids dance to a tune or hearing a story from someone about their now gone relative that "used to play that sort of music..."
Hi Andy...Yes, it was a rails to trail. It is the section that goes thru town. There is a playground, several picnic areas and the depot, in the area.
Andy Huffman said:Bravo Vicki! Bravo! What a great story. Was this on the rails to trail?
I busked this afternoon. Well, is it busking if you don't get any tips?! ~8-)
I had 20 minutes between my music lesson and picking up my grandson. I went to the riverwalk, sat on a bench and played. It was a very difficult thing for me to do. I've never played solo, in public. I took a deep breath and started playing. The world did not end, I did not throw up and no one noticed when I made a mistake.
Most people just walked by, some smiled and nodded. One little girl asked what I was playing...she thought is was some kind of violin. I told her about my dulcimer. In those short 20 minutes, I grew more as a musician than I have in years of playing in private or a group.
As for blocking traffic, I didn't. (People were exercising so they didn't stop, but they may next time. If they do, there is plenty of room to get off the trail). If they didn't like it, all they had to do was move a few steps away to be out of earshot.
My dulcimer was much quieter than the thumping music in the parking lot, the noisy motorcycles or crying kids. I'm going back...soon...but I'm taking a tin cup. ~8-)
I busked this afternoon. Well, is it busking if you don't get any tips?! ~8-)
I had 20 minutes between my music lesson and picking up my grandson. I went to the riverwalk, sat on a bench and played. It was a very difficult thing for me to do. I've never played solo, in public. I took a deep breath and started playing. The world did not end, I did not throw up and no one noticed when I made a mistake.
Most people just walked by, some smiled and nodded. One little girl asked what I was playing...she thought is was some kind of violin. I told her about my dulcimer. In those short 20 minutes, I grew more as a musician than I have in years of playing in private or a group.
As for blocking traffic, I didn't. (People were exercising so they didn't stop, but they may next time. If they do, there is plenty of room to get off the trail). If they didn't like it, all they had to do was move a few steps away to be out of earshot.
My dulcimer was much quieter than the thumping music in the parking lot, the noisy motorcycles or crying kids. I'm going back...soon...but I'm taking a tin cup. ~8-)
I've never been to Chicago - I can only imagine it's a pretty packed place the likes of NYC, London, Paris, Munich, etc... Those have a long and storied history of street performance (busking is simply playing in a public place for tips - so most "street performers" whether hired and licensed or begging for alms are buskers) that has at times even extended into some pretty important religious and political change movements.
I don't see that a performer takes up any more space than does a hot-dog or balloon vendor, nor does he impede traffic any more. The street performer certainly takes up less space than does a 'sidewalk sale'. He's no louder than the city's regular traffic and much less loud than a police or ambulance siren. He can't compete with a 500watt car-stereo rolling boom-box or even with a stock Harley Davidson. He can't take up all that much sidewalk that a normal person can't walk around him with minimal effort and if he's gathered a crowd then that would imply that someone wants to hear/see the performance, a passerby might want to notice that and take a minute to see why.
He doesn't inconvenience the foot traffic anymore than does a group of tourists standing in place staring at the rooftops. No more than does that couple saying goodbye with a long kiss - right in the middle of the doorway. No more than do old-friends meeting on the street and deciding to stop there in the center of the walk to reminisce on old times. Far less than do those poorly behaved children zipping in and out of every crevice and corner they can find while mom obliviously chats on her cell...
He's unlike any other business person you encounter - his product is try before you buy and he won't be all that offended if you enjoy the entertainment and don't offer to pay. He doesn't bombard you with billboards and bus-placards extolling the virtue of his particular art over all others, creating a visual cacophony of material greed, he just puts it out there for you - free. Take it, or leave it.
He can't, while performing, give the "can you spare a dime" pinch that the typical vagrant beggar offers and at least is offering some service - a moment of entertainment - in return for his lunch.
Given the pace of our society these days, he serves the needed function of slowing things down just a little. Of course, some people don't have enough time to slow down and listen to a musician or watch a mime or hear a story... they're in a hurry to reach the end of the race. They have places to be, things to do, people to meet, ... how sad for them - they don't even notice the birds in front of Saint Paul's.
I'm in no hurry to hasten the end of my life though - I'll take a minute to see if the busker can entertain or inform me. If not, I move on. If he can, I toss him some coin. He has an important social function that a free society can ill afford to restrain.
Just my thoughts though. Some people disagree.
Andy, I'm all for freedom of expression, but I retain the right to use an off switch on my TV if the music or "Expression" becomes something I don't want to listen too. It's difficult to turn off a street performance.The force sometimes needed to get around some of them reminds me of fast flowing water over stones. You get turbulence and rapids in the normal flow of pedestrian traffic. And when you only have a few minutes to get to your train stop, a slowing or stoppage of the flow of foot traffic is a pain. If a performer is in a park and out of the way, that's a different story.And as for taking art and culture as being a nuisance, well, a small jazz band playing in the canyon created by State Street in Chicago doesn't add to the cultural level of the city. It simply adds to the decibel level "in a city overrun with the sounds of traffic, people, and technology." It isn't the icing on the cake, it's the straw that breaks the camel's back.Some people call graffiti art, and freedom of expression, to me it's vandalism.it becomes a matter of free speach. The current ruling is you cannot prohibit free speach in any public area where it has a tradition of assembly.
It's funny people take art and culture to be a nuisance. Expression is shunned for quiet in a city overrun with the sounds of traffic, people, and technology.
I'm not shoveling anything! I'm wondering though...I've been to Chicago and experienced the street performers. I think there is a difference between them and busking. Aren't the street performers licensed, usually found in the same location and trying to make a living? I think of buskers as transient entertainment...does that make sense, is there a difference?
Usually the street performers are licensed, but they are still out there with their instrument cases open for tips. They aren't paid performers. There are festivals around the city that also have stage venues and street performers. However the unlicensed busker still gets around. At least with a licensing system one can hope for some measure of performance level, though you couldn't prove it by me.My objection to most of them is simply that I hate listening to them. Music to me is very personal, I like what I like, and I don't listen to what I don't like. And I certainly object to having certain sounds bombard my ears including, rock, jazz, blues. And many of the street musicians are doing that sort of music. Many are now amped and the decibel level is deafening. I actually had to walk through a crowd of listeners to a small jazz band (loud on drums) and past the booming sound equipment. I clapped my hands over my ears to at least dampen the sound a bit and charged through. There was no way around the group and crowd unless I wanted to step out into on coming traffic. Not a good idea.I really hate street performers. I'll pay to go to a concert, but with street performers that you can hear a couple of blocks away, forget it. The only town that has had street performers and buskers that I enjoyed was Edinburgh. There were bagpipers in the park. And they weren't crowding the sidewalks. I'll take a bagpiper over a jazz or blues band any day. heheheheheee
Dusty Turtle said:As others have suggested, making a joke about not playing a request is probably the best route when you really don't know the material requested.
Dusty,
Having to do with that, one of my favorite things to say between tunes when we are playing out in public is:
"We've had a request from the audience.....but we've decided to keep playing anyway." Always gets a good laugh! :D
I am dying to know what people in New England would request from someone busking with a dulcimer. Probably along the lines of "an explanation of what the heck that thing is???"
Dusty,Having to do with that, one of my favorite things to say between tunes when we are playing out in public is:"We've had a request from the audience.....but we've decided to keep playing anyway." Always gets a good laugh! :DAs others have suggested, making a joke about not playing a request is probably the best route when you really don't know the material requested.
Then again, one of my favorite jokes to say between tunes when we play in public is:Great thread here. This reminds me of playing at my parent's house. Can't remember if it was harmonica or dulcimer that day.Me: "Any requests?" (I really should have known better).My mom: "Could you play somewhere over the hill and far away?Me: "Let me look and see if I have ... hey!"
"We've had a request from the audience......but we're going to keep playing anyway."
Always gets a good laugh! ;D
Glad you called my attention back to this thread, actually, there is a great little routine that Long John Baldry used to do about busking in London ... Don't Try to Lay no Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll .Does anyone play strictly instrumentals when busking? This is something I would love to do when I get good enough but I am afraid my singing will never um, actually be singing. I'd rather just let the instrument talk for me.
There's a story out there from another musical experiment wherein Joshua Bell went busking in DC with his $2,000,000 strad violin.Here's a version of the Joshua Bell story that ran in the Washington Post (Sunday Magazine): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html Another thing you learn is that Metro stations get a big volume and turnover of pedestrian traffic -- but almost all of the people are rushing somewhere.Dick
Well most people in the northeast here have never even seen a dulcimer and wouldn't know what is played on it. I'm usually playing OT with my fiddler and sometimes I play banjo or dulcimer. Usually the audience doesn't know any OT or fiddle tunes, which is what we play. Invariably we get requests for bluegrass stuff, Dueling Banjos, Dixie Chicks, pop tunes.....none of which we play at all. We play what we play and are good at, and most of the time people just listen and seem to enjoy that it's 'different' from what they're used to.One tip I *can* give- and that is don't sit and scowl at your fingerboard while playing. Musicians have a tendency to screw their faces into weird expressions while lost in the playing process. Instead, look around and smile at people and look like you are having a good time for goodness sake- it's infectious!One of the reasons I posted this thread is to learn about what's requested though. Different genres get different requests but some are almost 'must know' if you're out there. When we do string-band stuff, we expect at least one request from Oh Brother Where art Thou . Playing an Irish or Celtic style on whistle I always expect to hear requests for Danny Boy, Scotland the Brave, Irish Washerwoman, etc... the tunes people associate with and know. The old-time religion people always seem to wanna hear Old Rugged Cross, I'll Fly Away, and the like. Dixieland: When the Saints... and Just a Closer Walk. Even mimes get requests - "do the thing where you're in a box". So one key to success is finding out what it is people want to hear and playing that.
I was out once with a bluegrass quartet and, being at the beach, someone asked if we knew any beach music. We did Under the Boardwalk and Blue Moon in bluegrass - it was hilarious. You just have to make a list of what people might expect a dulcimer to be playing and be ready to play some. I just don't know what goes on such a list for dulcimer.
Hi Sally, I never take requests, because I only play tunes I know I can do ok. When people ask me to do something, I'll just say "Well I'm afraid I don't play that one, but I can play this one...."Then again, one of my favorite jokes to say between tunes when we play in public is: "We've had a request from the audience......but we're going to keep playing anyway." Always gets a good laugh! ;DGreat stories, folks! Keep 'em coming... maybe I'll get brave enough, yet! So, do you just play whatever you want to or, do you know enough tunes to do requests? I think that scares me a lot!
