Different interpretations

[Tim Twiss]

Minstrel Banjo (or Early Banjo) lends itself to a wide variety of expression. I was thinking of this today when I was playing "Devil's Dream". I play this one both fast and slow. The original way I heard this was really slow, from the "Minstrel Banjo" CD with Bob Carlin playing it. That is how I did it for a long time...still do. Sometimes I play it quicker, as I posted today. Sometimes, we tend to play a tune in the way we first heard it...I know that is true for "Grape Vine Twist" as Bob Flesher plays it. I can never get that phrase out of my head. Anyway, lots of ways to do this music. It's good for us to explore what "might have been" back in the original days, and it is good to do that kind of historical reasearch. In the end when we play it for our own enjoyment or for an audience, it is our individual ownership that counts. 

[Paul Certo]

Kind of becomes "Experimental Archaeology," doesn't it? The thread counter in me wants all my reenactment stuff to be right, but I also grasp that this is not possible in the modern world. I have to bring drinking water to Rendezvous, as I can't trust the creeks any more. I have to carry a certain amount of food, as game laws/firearm codes won't let me shoot something every time my stomach dictates. And so on. The reprints of the early banjo tutors are a blessing, but knowing how humans tend to reinterpret what we learn, most period musicians probably adapted songs to their own tastes,and to the dictates of personal ability. I know my limitations dictate a lot!
Paul