Message-ID: <alpine.NEB.2.11.1508081216310.16000@panix3.panix.com>
From: Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>
To: Cyb <cybermind@listserv.wvu.edu>, Wryting-L <WRYTING-L@listserv.wvu.edu>
Subject: Sterling 19th-century banjo in a myna mynor key
Date: Sat, 8 Aug 2015 12:18:46 -0400 (EDT)
Sterling 19th-century banjo in a myna mynor key http://www.alansondheim.org/radio093.jpg http://www.alansondheim.org/mynorbanjo.mp3 when I play I'm always trying to extend my abilities, try something new until I've exhausted it. here, the banjo is tuned to a minor key, and because of the instability of the minor (hence myna bird, mimic, new languages), especially around the third, I can move freely and quickly through different episodes, structures that come and go; towards the end of the pieces, tunes appear and disappear, almost but not quite dance music. it's hard to keep track of the structures, especially since the way I play involves fast runs up and down the neck, which brings muscle memory constantly into play - where have I been, where am I going? and these are general questions of course, for which the instrument becomes a chora or microcosm of potential and ultimate stasis, only here, within the playing, there's still quick thinking and a bit of time on the planet.
