Classic-Banjo
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Dell Schottische and Boquet Mazurka by Frank Converse
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Comment by Rob MacKillop on May 5, 2023 at 11:20
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Haha, Richard, that is hilarious!
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Comment by Michael Anthony Brown on May 5, 2023 at 12:35
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The TV probably has a lot to answer for but perhaps also the reduction in house designs with a genuine 'front parlour' together with thin walls is also to blame.
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Very interesting, Mike.
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Comment by Jody Stecher on May 6, 2023 at 13:51
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I think there are at least 2 related societal changes that happened. One change is from active participation in music (both singing and instrumental music) to passive hearing (which may not involve actual conscious listening). Another change is from active participation in the arts in roles other than that of the artist to a passive role or none at all. This becomes clear if we cast our net wider. In the USA in the 1950s it was a normal activity for all the members of a family to sing together, particularly on weekends, in the car, at extended family gatherings, or any other time. The singing was not directed at an audience and, for the most part, no one was praised or criticized for singing well or poorly. This was so in my family and in most other families in most or all parts of the USA, and no matter what the country of family origin. The repertoire was anything at all, including songs from the Old County but also songs heard on the radio. Radio did not cause the change from active to passive. But then along came Television and that was the beginning of the end.
In India in the 1950s my raga teacher used to have weekend musical gatherings at his Bombay home. Guests would bring food and blankets and the music would go continuously for 24 hours and more. You slept when you got tired, right there on the floor of the music room in the middle of it all. This was not Join-In music. It was individual singers and players and accompanists taking turns. Most of the music was done by members of the host family.and their students. Attendees typically were whole families including grandparents and babies. But it was not passive listening. This music involved listening as if you were the performer. It was active participation and there was a feedback loop between music maker and audience which was expressed both as circulating energy and as vocal comments of approval. My teacher told me about those days with nostalgia and with regret that it had ended. I asked him why it didn't happen now ( the 1970s). He said "that was a different time". Eventually I found out from some of the people who had attended these marvelous gatherings what was the cause of the change from that different time to another time. They all knew the answer. It was television.
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This may not be exactly relevant but there does seem to be an increasing interest amongst young people in Anglican choral music. Our church in N/cle upon Tyne has a traditional Sunday service for which we can support four Choral Scholars (don't have to be christians just respectful of the setting). Their anthems are a form of active participation for the congregation who are also encouraged to join with the settings for the service. The scholars are all university students, very keen, and have a network of friends who also sing and can be called upon to stand in during illness or to increase the size of the choir for a special event.
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Mike Bostock, I had to read your last post a few times, trying to make sense of it, before realising that it is all one sentence, and Until should not start with a capital letter. I mention this just in case someone else is scratching their head :-)
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Thanks, Rob, my limited amount of hair was diminishing!
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I was also unable to decipher the secret code.
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Comment by Tom McArdle on May 6, 2023 at 20:37
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“Parlor“ music happens in my life occasionally. The reason why it doesn’t happen more often is usually busyness, illness, and conflicting schedules. TV is not much of a factor, although personal devices do serve to take up time and add to the drag.
once I started playing ukulele, I got involved in a monthly group at a music store. We used to hold monthly “music nights “ at our home. People would attend a few times, and then it would dry up.
I just attended a monthly “beginner” bluegrass jam, at that same music store, today. I’m not super interested in bluegrass, but I thought it would be good for me as a musician, and good to just hang out with some new people.
thankfully, the internet gives us virtual “parlors”, and places to discuss things.
this has been a fascinating thread! Thanks, everyone!
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Mike, With regard to your comment "the banjo in the 19th and early 20th century period that is relevant to us was amateur, intimate and connected to community'. Many kinds of amateur societies arose with the advent of the 'industrial revolution' they catered mainly for the newly emerging lower/upper middle classes, and although many of these societies were concerned with education and self improvement, an underlying purpose of these societies was to provide a meeting place where young people could mix and mingle and hopefully, where young women could meet a suitable husband. The banjo and the many clubs established throughout the UK, featuring all of the fretted instruments were part of this development.
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