I wanted to offer a status update on the most recent change I’ve made to our site, specifically our free online lesson library.
Reports have slowly been pouring in from visitors telling us that the videos on our site have been freezing. Problem is, it’s a sporadic issue that I have not been able to recreate it on my computer—on any web browser—which makes it a very hard-to-debug bug!
After a couple weeks of racking my brain trying to find a solution, I went ahead and ripped out the player I was using and installed a different one. My hope is that the problem will be gone now—and that a larger problem won’t take it’s place!
So if you had problems before, please try the videos again and let me know how they work for you. And please, please, keep the feedback coming! This website is run by one person (me) and try as I might, I can’t catch all the bugs myself!
Cheers,
—Luke
p.s. – I was thinking I would also post a recap of all the website upgrades and changes we made (by choice or necessity) in the past couple months, but I am getting exhausted (again) just thinking about it. So let’s just say, I am hopeful that we’re entering another period of website stability now, and can turn our attention to bigger and better things—like new videos and products!
Elizabeth Englund, a reporter for UCSC’s newspaper, recently interviewed us and watched one of our guided slow jams unfold…
In the third and final class of the Mountain Music Workshop, 10 students file into Harvey West Club Room and begin tuning their banjos, fiddles and guitars. This is no average music class — the students have learned all that they know not by rote, but by simply listening and playing together.
“Some of them are brand new to their instruments!” Leslie Abbott said excitedly.
The Mountain Music Workshop is taught twice a year by the Abbott family, and tonight Leslie Abbott and her son Luke lead the lesson. Luke is confident that his protegés are ready to lead the jam while he sits back and facilitates.
“Who wants to lead the first song?” Luke asks.
Some of the students are clearly uneasy at this prospect, and his question is met by nervous laughter and glances around the room.
“The worst thing that will happen is that it will all fall apart, and that will be fun,” Luke assures them. “Don’t be shy, play nice and loud!”
On Wednesday, we taught the first class in a three-week course that we offer twice a year through Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation. Kyle and I brought the Abbott-y Blogcast camera with us to document the experience. You can see the result above. Pardon me if I sound gushy, but I was (and am) just so excited about helping all these folks get started playing music together! Several of them hadn’t ever played with others before. It was so rewarding!
Last year, we made some big changes to the class to make it easier to teach. Now, anyone can lead a class. No musical talent or teaching experience is required; only a basic understanding of the ToneWay Music Method and a willingness to learn and use the curriculum we’ve prepared. Read Become a Jam Coach for more information.
Don first wrote us in September of 2009, asking for information on getting a jam group going in his area. He told us:
I am 63. I’ve set around and accompanied myself on the guitar for years, just strumming and singing, giving little attention to timing or meter. About twice a year, I venture into some jam sessions. I do pretty good on songs I have down well like “Faded Love” or “Red River Valley”, but will tend to break time on other songs.
If you’ve been to our web site before, you may notice some changes. For starters, we have a new name: The ToneWay Project. Our “Mountain Music for Everyone” moniker will still be used on our materials and elsewhere, but the main name was changed to reflect the ongoing nature of our work.
In addition, we have a new, short, easy-to-remember website: ToneWay.com. I’ve been working on the new site since early 2009; much of the changes are “under the hood”, but there are some significant improvements to the JamPool so I hope that makes it even more useful going forward. There are also more changes on the way; more videos, some enhancements to the song collection, perhaps… suggestions welcome!
Finally, we have the new blog. What will show up here? Who knows. Stay tuned!
