[Bards] What can we do to make things better

[Gerald Norris]

Our community likes to think of itself as a nurturing community that
encourages new talent to grow.  We do a fair job of it, but from time to
time we go too far and try to nurture that which just ain't there.  A silk
purse / sow's ear dilemma.  And who, among us, wants to be the one to go
tell the gentle that they really should consider accordion lessons?  I
promise you, I'm not struggling to be first in line.  

That having been said, how do you tell a person who wants to be a
nightingale that they're a crow?  How do you handle someone who wants to be
a skald that a stutter of that magnitude is just REALLY hard to get around?

In Stargate, HL Alden hosts a once a month gathering of bards/performers
where the forum is open; in the months before Eistedfodd we sat around
drawing words from a jar, other times it's working on pieces we'd like to
perform, and occasionally talk turns to the state of bardic in our kingdom.
I think it has proven to be a good venue for those seeking improvement.
It's practice, something that performers know they need to do, but the
day-to-day activities of life often pull us away from practice because it's
not sexy - performing in a room by yourself on a phrase and repeating it
until it becomes effortless.

What can we do to make things better?  Hold more non-event gatherings so
that those who are unfamiliar with the forum of a bardic circle can learn.
Find other forums for performances besides bardic circles.  Volunteer to
spend an hour at children's activities telling a story or teaching a song,
follow a warrior's effors through the day's list to compose a piece based on
their deeds, sing/play for the noble's luncheon.  I've done two out of the
three, and I may someday have the opportunity to follow said warrior's
efforts in the list.  

Classes on bardic are attempts to teach the intangible.  Allow me to try to
explain.  

There are enough people that react in a positive manner when I perform to
convince me that I do a good job of it, but why?  There are more refined
voices, those better with keeping the verses straight, others with wider
pallettes of song and story.  It's the intangible, whether it's engaging the
audience or putting the right amount of "life" in the performance.  Others
have the same question, and I'd bet all the money in my pockets right now
that the answer is different for each one who reads this and performs.  I am
of the opinion that the gatherings are much more effective than the classes,
no matter the number of pages in the handout.  I'm not trying to discourage
classes, I just think that the gatherings tend to have a longer period of
exposure to the intangibles for those who are having trouble with the
concept of engaging the audience, the importance of constant tempo
(especially when singing with others), how to "read" the mood of an audience
and where it should go.

Damn!  This was supposed to be short.

-----Original Message-----
From: bards-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:bards-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of
willowjonbardc at juno.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 2:51 AM
To: bards at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Bards] What can we do to make things better

In the Elfsea  area we  have a lot of up and coming bards and performers.
Not everyone who performs Thinks of them self as a bard. 
We have two active but different  bardic gatherings. HL Eleanor does one
which is a working on technique session. She has help many people improve
their technique and then we have our once a month meeting at Tarkus'. This a
mini event and is lots of fun. 

I think our education is helping individuals not stay "bad" bards. The nice
thing about Tarkus' is we give feedback. I think the secret to improving
individuals is Feedback.

By the way anyone in the Dallas/Ft. Worth this Friday we are having our
gathering that day. I will send info later.
willow   

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