Interested in four sticks technique, jazz harmony, scales, Barry Harris improvisation concepts for steelpans plus more. Send me an email to start your online session at seanjazzthomas@gmail.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdC5HVHrQSohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdC5HVHrQSo
Dr. Anthony Achong Comments on; The ''PanART Hang Documentary: A Propaganda-Filled, Dissemination of Lies'' (Part 1) Posted by Rudy Kendall on July 3, 2016 and Reply posted by Michael Paschko.
I initially intended to email this piece only to Felix Rohner who first drew my attention to the WST blog posted by Rudy Kendall but because of its importance, and because my name was mentioned in one of the blogs that followed, in order to put the records straight and inform the readers, I now betray my oath of not using the Social Media. I don’t know Rudy Kendall. I also read the blog reply by Michael Paschko. I know him. These blogs and others posted on the topic, contain a number of errors and lots of nonsense!
When Rudy writes (in his blog) what is right and makes sense he tends to follow it with an equal amount of writings irrelevant to the issue at hand. Some of these irrelevant issues were first introduced by Rohner through his writings outside the blog. I don’t have time for what’s irrelevant even though some of them, from both side of the argument, upset me: like when Rohner writes about my people of Trinidad having “lost their roots.” Or when Rudy in writing about the vision recorded in the Book of Revelations, where St. John describes the hair of Jesus as white as wool and white as snow; Rudy Kendall changes this to “wooly hair,” something altogether different, in order to suit his own interest. Don’t you know you never attempt to alter the Word of God for any reason whatsoever? However, even though his style is clearly different from mine, I commend Rudy for his defense of our people’s culture, our history and our Pan. Likewise, Rohner must be commended for his contribution to the Pan particularly for his introduction of nitrided steel; not a new material but new to Pan.
There is another indirect contributor to the blog, the “narrator,” who, as reported by Rudy, states, ''The central place of the tuner is symbolic, if not divine. It is he who knows how to put the sound back into the drum.”
Achong replies: What meaning can one give to this compounded nonsense? Absolutely none! Maybe the narrator is making reference to the musical drum and the drum tuner. But I state categorically, the Pan (in any form, standard Steelpan or Hang) is not a drum. The phrase “to put the sound back into the drum” has no technical interpretation for there is no sound to “put back” into the drum, so it does appear that the “divine,” who can do the impossible, is being implicated here. Pan Tuners (including myself, and certainly the hundreds that I know or have met and spoken to) are neither “symbolic” nor “divine.” Whether or not the “narrator” singled someone out for divinity or has the power so to do, on this matter of divinity I leave this “narrator” in the hands of God! While the “narrator” remains there, one can only hope that God has mercy on him for his utterance “The world of music welcomes an entirely new musical instrument,” seeing that he cannot tell the difference between a drum and a Pan, not even the difference between what is new and what is not, and most importantly, the true identity of The Divine!
Michael Paschko makes an almost equal number of errors but some of them are quotations so it is not always entirely his fault. I only have time for one or two. Okay, three!
Paschko says (1): "The pan generated a completely different principle from that of the oil drums. What the real meaning of this sentence is, we will see below.”
Achong replies: Whatever meaning is given to this nonsensical statement, that meaning cannot be correct. There are real musical instruments called “Pan” but there is no musical instrument called the “oil drum.” “Different principles” therefore cannot arise. You cannot compare the two! Only in America (so I thought, until reading Paschko) do you hear Steelpans being referred to as “steel drums” or “oil drums”; these are “hangover” expressions from the visiting American Tourists to Trinidad in the 1950s and 1960s, drunken by excessive “rum and coca-cola.” But the more sober, native Trinidadians, who are better educated on Pan, don’t use those expressions.
Paschko, in writing of nitrided steel, goes on to further quote: “This was a completely different principle than using a steel drum as raw form. This lead us to initial acoustical examinations: How can this raw form be tuned? How does it sound? “
Achong replies: As I said before, there is no different or completely different principle! This rawform (nitrided steel) as all others that have been tried, aluminum, brass, stainless steel etc, is tuned in the same way as one tunes the Pans made from the traditional low-carbon steel drum rawform. They ALL operate under the same set of principles. No “new” geometry is required either. Not all metals are equally good however. The sound is NOT in the metal (a common mistake) but in the Dynamics. This common mistake of “sound in the metal” is often made by listeners who, on hearing the sounds of a properly prepared Pan, are so mystified that they attribute the beautiful tones to the metal. I have seen this mistake even among Pan Researchers. The Dynamics is the first secret I have revealed to you.
Paschko refers to my book “Secrets of the Steelpan” (indirectly through a review by Rohner) so he and readers of this blog should read this 1200-page book to find all the facts, all the secrets and the correct answers.
Paschko says (2): “The second was the idea of the hands on the sheet metal. Trinidad doesn't play the Pan with the hands. In the whole world people are seldom playing with the hands on iron or steel.”
Achong replies: This statement is factually and historically incorrect. Pan players in Trinidad, in the early days, first played Pans with their bare hands or wrapped their hands with cloth. I have seen it in the early days, as a boy, so I bare record! I can vividly call to mind an event of some 65 years ago, of a man carrying what today could be classified as a “Bass Pan” but in those days were called “Doo Doops” (for its sound), while “beating” the instrument with his left hand which was wrapped in white cloth. My memory on this is so clear that if that player were alive today, I would recognize him for he stared directly at me! I thank him for that experience which has helped to shape my fondness for the Pan! In Pan Practice, covering the hand with cloth is regarded as “bare hand.” In connection with these “early days” Rudy Kendall is right when he speaks about the early Pans being convex (upward) like the Hang. While all early Pans were not played with the bare hand, it is neither convenient nor expedient to play the concave (downward) Pan, as found today, with the bare hands. Bare hand playing restricts the musical range of the instrument to the lower registers. Read the Chapter on Stick-Note Impact in my Book to find out why! This is why the hand-playing Hang cannot go much higher than 9 notes. The restriction on musical range is not on how many notes you can physically place on the Pan surface but how many can actually be played and be heard either by playing by hand or with a stick. This is fundamental to all Pans whether you call them Pang, Ping, Hang, Handpan, Tenor, Cello, Double Seconds, Quadraphonic etc. (Please Read my Book.) As the early Trinidad Pan Makers extended the musical range of their Pans upward, they also introduced, because of the fundamental reason just given, cloth bound then rubber bound sticks of various sizes. In cultural shows in Trinidad, performers would often “bring back” the early Pans played with bare hands. Paschko has probably never played the notes (all on the lower registers) of a Pan Cello or Double Guitar with his thumbs! In Trinidad, Steelpan Tuners like me, do! We may not do this in concert but when tuning and while up close to the notes, quite often, since we know what to listen for, it gives us a better understanding of the tone and the behavior of the note surface.
The real problem here is that aural music and its appreciation are very subjective. If one wants to say that a modified timber creates a new instrument I would argue that it merely creates a different sound. When a trumpeter places a mute at the horn end of his trumpet, does that create a new instrument or just a different sound? The same holds with the violin when, with your fingers, you pluck rather than bow the strings. Plucking is like using the hand (thumb) on the Pan, while bowing is like using the stick on the Pan. Now you can blow a conch shell as a musical instrument. But when you stand on the seashore with the conch shell to your ear, does the rustling wind and the crashing waves combine with the shell to create a new instrument? It is subjective isn’t it!
Paschko says (3): “The third was the integration of the air resonance into the Hang sound. The Hang is a vessel. Understanding the interplay between the modes in the sheet metal and the Helmholtz resonance was one important aspect that drove…………Gubal, Hang Gudu and Hang Urgu.”
Achong replies: I don’t want to get mired in scientific or technical details here so I shall try to be short and simple on this one as well. “Modes in the sheet metal” is not a good technical term, but I shall allow it to pass (only in the blog). The use of acoustical (air) resonators on Pans, or its operation as a semi-enclosed vessel, is not new. They have been tried and discontinued on Pans in Trinidad many years ago and suggested for the ill-fated G–Pan more recently. The natural resonances of a given Helmholtz resonator in any shape or size cannot be made to agree with a contiguous list of notes on the musical scale not even with all the musically tuned modes found on the Hang. When the Hang is played, you may not always be listening to resonances between the notes and the Helmholtz (Hang) cavity! But if, on the Hang, you depend on Helmholtz resonances, assuming you tune to a key-note (which you must), then you lose the higher partials on that note (unless you are slack in your definition of partials). But then also, the other key-notes are in trouble because the cavity resonances do not all correspond to the musical scale not even over a small range! The key-note on the physical note itself to which the cavity is tuned, also suffers by its interaction with the Helmholtz resonance and by the loss of its higher partials. You end up with a compromise (not good in music). The Pans fabricated by Rohner are tuned with weak higher partials from the octave upward anyway (when compared to standard Trinidad made Pans) so this loss may not be seen as detrimental (this is the compromise) although, at the same time, you must further limit the musical range on the individual Gubal, Hang Gudu and Hang Urgu. Making modified Hangs with single notes will not solve the resonance problem; the compromise remains.
Treating the Hang-Helmholtz problem in the simple manner as above, is not fair to the Pan Makers/Tuners, so I need to be a little more technical (but I shall limit the level of technicality in this blog). The compromise I wrote about above is deeper than what it first appears to be! Once you allow the notes of a Pan (Hang, Tenor or whichever Pan) to interact too strongly with the resonant states of some other mechanical or acoustical resonator, the vibrational properties (frequencies and tonal structure for example) of the Pan notes are changed. Since the resonant frequencies of the two systems in question (Hang notes and Helmholtz cavity) are generally different and the intended mutual interaction is purely acoustical (through the air), and therefore weak and linear, there can be no interaction at all! In this case the “interplay” sought by Paschko, does not exist! What happens then, on hand or stick impact, is that the two systems are independently excited. You, at your ear and brain, are then simply combining and listening to, two simultaneous but independent sounds. If you proceed to match two of the frequencies, one on each system, so that the systems interact (“interplay"), then the simple explanation above suffices to explain the effect (for now). If, you now proceed to couple these two resonances too strongly, then the corresponding keynote and its associated upper partials on the excited note (only that note) are seriously affected even to the point of becoming untunable or of short truncated duration or both (this is a non-linear problem the details of which, are outside the scope of this blog but you can find it all in my papers of the 1990s onward and fully, in my book). Pan Tuners encountered this problem long ago but did not understand the problem. Their only recourse, the proper one, was to avoid those acoustical and mechanical resonators. Sadly, some more recent researchers are still unaware of this (maybe in my opinion, they are either stubborn or pretend to be, after being told) and try to include these resonances in their “inventions!” The result, “inventions” that do not and cannot work as proclaimed. Sometimes, only close examination can reveal the truth!” I am not asking anyone to close down their program; I am only giving advice against something that can prove to be costly and lacks room for further improvement (to the full satisfaction of musicians) or are unworkable in the long run. The ill-fated G-Pan mentioned earlier is a strong case in point. In addition to the resonance problem, there is more that has gone wrong with the G-Pan designs (read my book)!
With the Pan, what we call progress should not be the substitution of one compromise (or nuisance) for another compromise (or nuisance). Company policy should not be “who cares if it works or not so long as most people think it does!” As a Pan Scientist and advisor to The Steelpan Tuners Guild of Trinidad and Tobago, I cannot live with or tolerate such standards!
In order to be helpful to everyone concerned with this issue, I should make clear that the extent of the Helmholtz resonance problem is not too obvious on the present Hang precisely because of the hand-playing action which limits its musical range. If the range is extended upward and the Hang then played with proper sticks (hands would not do), the full problem would be revealed to the player and listener. The present Hang must be played directly with the hand or a matching soft, lossy, stick! There is another problem on the hand-playing Hang, that of Contact Noise, which only grows worse as you extend the musical range upward and play with the bare or covered hand. I shall not go into the details of this other problem here (by now readers should know where they can find the information).
If readers are waiting for me to say whether or not the Hang is just another Pan, well you can find it in my replies above if you haven’t already done so. But since it was Felix Rohner of PanART, who first drew me into this online discussion and asked for my opinion, being true to my profession, I categorically state the following: The Hang is a Steelpan (Pan) having limited musical range (low registers only) because of the chosen method of direct Hand Playing. Helmholtz cavity resonances are only partially employed but when fully employed, further restrict the musical range, even to the extreme limit of a single note. Resonances between the Pan notes and the Cavity will in all cases alter the tonality of all partials, even making the notes (as sets of musically related partials) untunable when the resonant interaction is made sufficiently strong. The strength of the coupling between note and cavity resonator, increases as the separation between the resonant frequencies of note and cavity is reduced i.e. as true resonance is more fully employed. For the sake of musical acceptance, compromises must therefore be made, precisely because of the use of the hand and the use of an attached resonator. Generally, because of the intrinsically non-linear mode of operation of the Pan (which I first proved some 30 years ago), resonant attachments will always adversely affect tonality. The case of the “loose chime” is well known to all Pan Makers! While it may appear attractive, to some, to incorporate resonators on the Pan, performance of truly pristine Pan Operation is always degraded. The physical properties of the hand (fingers and thumb) gives the Hang note impacts similar characteristics to that obtained when playing the Pan Cello with soft standard size sticks. The hand is a natural, personal item; therefore the tonal character of the Hang is player dependent.
Dearest Pan Women,
I read most of the interviews with you on ‘When Steel Talks’.
Pretty impressed by all of the stories, how you all came in contact with Pan.
What strikes me the most, is the dedication you all have towards this instrument.
It is exactly the way I feel about Pan. Although I came in contact with it when I was 5 years old, it took me about 45 years to find someone who could teach me to play.
In the sixties there were a lot of steel bands here, due to the Dutch Antilleans, who came to Holland to get an educating or work. But somehow the people in Holland became less interested and now there are only a few professionals left.
A shame, but what can you do…
As you all seem so dedicated to this instrument, I wondered if you read about my project on São Vicente, one of the Cape Verde islands.
Since the ‘boys’ on WST hardly react I thought I’ll give it a go and see if the ‘girls’ are more interested.
Last February I introduced the steelpan there, during carnival.
As there is hardly any money there I was only able to get a free stay and meals for whoever wanted to join me. Only one came!
But never the less I took a few pans with me and taught the inhabitants of São Vicente how to play, which resulted in playing the carnival tune during the parade. I must say, that I was very surprised and proud they picked it up so easily!
They loved the sound of it and want to learn everything there is to know about it.
Now I want to start part two of this project and I hope you can help me in this.
They need some pans to start a small band, but they can’t afford to buy them. Maybe one of you has a pan somewhere laying around, which you don’t need anymore. Doesn’t matter what pan it is, they are happy with any pan!!!
I got an offer from two people who want to build pans over there, which I really appreciate. But there are no oil drums with the right thickness on Cabo Verde, so they have to be imported as well, which will also cost money.
So my hope is that you can help them. Read my former post about it if you have the time. And if you have any other ideas, please tell me.
Hope to hear from all of you soon, even if you can’t help. Just to know that you care about spreading pan to this country.
Here are two links from the carnival. Hope you like!
https://youtu.be/n6k1ceZ7-jY ( from 2.30 min.)
Kind regards
Deanne Pijl, The Netherlands
Learn to play Trinidad & Tobago's greatest Calypso standards from the first published Calypso Real Book
Go to the book here: https://a.co/d/i83fiBC
Check Out ''Smooth Sailing'' by Rudy Applewhite@ Smooth Sailing
OSA Pan Alive July 29 2016 Results
1. Pan Fantasy 258
2. Afropan 248
3. Salah's Steelpan Academy 244
4. Silhouettes 243
5. Golden Harps Int'l 238
5. JK Pan Vibrations 238
7. Panatics Steelband Network 232
8. New Dimension 226
9. Pan Masters 225
St. Jamestown Youth Centre 192
JAZZ WORKSHOP SERIES
Chapter 1-5
Every Space & Note Counts
An Introduction to Jazz Pianist, Composer & Educator - Barry Harris
Hosted by Steel Pan Trust for ALL Intermediate/Advance Steel Pan Musicians
presented by: Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Alumnus - Sean Thomas
areas covered:
• Barry Harris rules for major, minor & dominant 7th scales
• Rhythm, and rhythmic aspects of playing, sight reading
• Learning to hear a song form
• Learning to hear through a bass/drum solo accompaniment
• Stop time and ‘trading’ solos
• Ear training through cycle of 4ths w/ applied chord progressions
• Scale and chord relationships
• Creating melodic ideas through the scales
• The Blues
requirements:
• Can play major, minor & dominant 7th scales proficiently in 12 keys
• Knowledge of reading a chord chart
venue - Cowgate Day Centre, 18 Cowgate Road, Greenford UB6 8HQ
date - May 13th - May 16th, 2019 - Duration (3 hours per day) time - 6:30 - 9:30pm cost - 100
more info: 44(0)203 659 2131 or s.gray@steelpanagency.com
Friday, April 17, 2020 | 7:00 PM | The Sean Thomas Quartet
The Sean Thomas Quartet will present a STAY at HOME repertoire for all to enjoy.
The repertoire will touch on selections by Stevie Wonder, Sonny Rollins, Bob Marley, Duke Jordon & Miles Davis performed by a cast that's passionate about making music. The Quartet features Kayton Lane (Drums), Nolan Koskela-Staples (Bass), Greg Snider (Saxophone) and Sean Thomas (Steelpans). https://www.reillyartscenter.com/live/
Liam Teague just spent a week in Fairbanks, Alaska with the community steelband Cold Steel and the West Valley High School culminating in a concert yesterday afternoon. Here is the link to last an hour radio interview from Friday filled with solos that he performed in the studio.
Liam is on his way home to prepare for the NIU Spring concert webcast on April 26 and Liam will also be at the Kennedy Center on May 29 and 30 with the National Symphony for the premiere of a new Andy Akiyo concerto for pan and orchestra
Greetings my PAN JAZZ COMMUNITY, Here are the key takeaways from this lesson 3:
1. Practice the C Major scale from the Tonic-7th and 7th-Tonic starting on beat 3
2. Pay attention to the different feel between triplet rhythms and eighth/sixteenth notes
3. Finally, pay attention to the application of the C Major scale to triplets and eighth/sixteenth notes.
Like & share our Facebook page: Facebook.com/panjazzcommunity
Thank you for your attention, and happy practicing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwEs5-gPa1Y
My 4th collection of original tunes for Steel Pan, entitled "The Panoramic View," is now available. The book features 20 songs in lead sheet style (melodies and chords) for small combos to play. For soloists and students, every tune comes with backing tracks featuring a "band" behind the player. My other collections, “Sea Breeze,” “Chasing Summer,” and “Put It Behind You,” are also available through Tropical Shores Productions. I'm very interested in working with bands, arrangers, and players to adapt the music for YOUR needs!
You can listen to the entire demo recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahJWPtHQWyY
Or download a copy of the demo album here: https://panoramicview.bandcamp.com/album/the-panoramic-view
I hope any or all of these tunes get added to your set list! Enjoy!
With thanks,
Aaron Abrahamson Cote
Steel Pan Artist, Composer & Educator
Master of Music, UIUC
The Merry Tones Learn To Play Pan Vacation Camp began on Monday 11th July at the Merry Tones Pan Complex, 1 Bagatelle Road, Diego Martin. An introduction to the Steelpan artform, the Camp caters to ages nine to seventeen years and features Pan Playing techniques, Steelband history and Music Literacy. The Camp ends on Thursday July 28.
Tomorrow, I suggest what may work. But for now, understand that these are corrupt men of ill will. The former president dared relay a threat to me, and had my mother very concerned in 2014. At Roger Israel's office, while on speakerphone, the rogue ex-leader would engage in an expletive-filled rant, telling the (then) permanent secretary to "DON'T GIVE DEM GODDARD BOYS NOTHING!", in our attempts to get help with the town hall meeting. (Yeah; we got nothing. lol.) And, all this while he paying his former education minister hundreds of thousands (that's the money we know about. Remember, the house in Holder's name, the BMW X5, and the Porsche Cayenne?) The PDF file is the audit report in its entirety. Honestly, I do not recall which "whistleblower" forwarded it to me, but, again, they ALL came to me, to do their dirty works, and to clear their names once the works were done. Quite frankly, my well-being is still threatened by these men, who seem to run the association like a mafia organization, more than a body for ALL panmen and panwomen. Kiss his ring, and Diaz made you filthy rich. Maybe he should run for the POTUS office, for we all see that despots have huge followings and immense power. Oh well, make me a martyr. Take me out, like you warned my brother, Don Diaz. If not, I will continue to expose you and any "culture vulture" roaming with our subculture. (Not into kissing rings.) The steelbands have rewarded you very handsomely; allow someone else to "eat-ah-food-nah". To the Awoke: Watch for the "kickbacks" to the retired King, once the Prince from south assumes the throne that was prepared for him. That's the campaign we are witnessing before our eyes; a handpicked young ruler they can manipulate, because they know he is weak and a "useful idiot"! George D. Goddard.
A tribute to Starlift & Ray Holman
Lyrics By Henry O. Miller. https://henryomiller.com
THE PEOPLE SAY THAT WE BEATING SWEET
HAVE PEOPLE WILD IN THE STREETS
NOW PANMEN WANT TO DICTATE
WHAT ALL STEETBANDS SHOULD BEAT
WOMEN SHAKING WAISE
GOING CRAZY IN THE PLACE
STILL, THEY MASH-UP WE TENOR
AND DESTROYED WE BASE
BUT IT’S WE THEY WANT TO SPOIL
AFTER YEARS OF TOIL
BUT THEY CAN’T MAKE THE GRADE
WE WERE NOT AFRAID - AFTER
ALL WAS SAID AND DONE
WE CAME BACK WITH -PAN ON THE RUN
IT WAS ADVANTAGE
THEY WENT ON A RAMPAGE
IT WAS PAN ON THE RUN
FOR EVERY MAN AND WOMAN
THEY SAY PAN ON THE MOVE
STILL, PAN-MEN DISAPPROVE
BIG FIGHT! CARNIVAL SUNDAY NIGHT
IT WAS A BURNING SHAME
BUT PANMEN GOT THEMSELVES TO BLAME
TELL ME WHY WE CAN’T COMPOSE
BUT BETAT PENNEY LANE
WHAT PANMEN DIDN’T UNDERSTAND
STARLIFT WANTED TO ADVANCE PAN
FROM THE BIG YARDS TO
THE CONCERT HALLS OF THE LAND
BUT IT’S WE THEY COULDN’T SPOIL
WE CONTINUED TO TOIL
WE WERE NOT AFRAID
WE STILL MADE THE GRAD
AFTER ALL THEIR FIGHTING AND CONFUSION
WE CAME BACK WITH PAN ON THE RUN
IT WAS ADVANTAGE
THEY WENT ON A RAMPAGE
IT WAS PAN ON THE RUN
FOR EVERY MAN AND WOMAN
THEY SAY PAN ON THE MOVE
STILL, PAN-MEN DISAPPROVE
BIG FIGHT! CARNIVAL SUNDAY NIGHT
NOW PAN HAS COME A LONG WAY
PAN AND PANMENMEN ARE HERE TO STAY
BUT WE MUST NEVER FORGET D HISTORY & YESTERDAY
THANKS - FOR YOUR BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS
AND WHAT WILL ALWAYS BE THE GOLDEN YEARS
THANK YOU - RAY HOLMAN, THANK YOU
FOR YOUR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS.
Henry O. Miller © - 1972 + 6 Revival singers.
Island Jazz Chat is a Jazz in the Islands podcast featuring conversations with Caribbean jazz and panjazz musicians based in the islands and the diaspora. For more, click here.
Andy Narell, globe-trotting and pioneering steelpan jazz musician, composer and arranger chats about his beginnings in the world of steelpan in the 1960s, and the evolution of the sound that he is leading in the 2020s with a new sample library of steelpan instruments created by the legendary master tuner Ellie Mannette. And everything in between. From the West Coast of America to Trinidad to South Africa, to the French Antilles and Japan, the Narell sound and music is a standard for many on how the business of steelpan jazz performance and recording operates. Caribbean and Latin American rhythms, African pulses, post bop references all colour his music, and with a prolific output of recordings, steelpan jazz is part of the global jazz conversation. Wed, 21 Sep 2022
If you can't see the embedded podcast player, click here for the podcast.
Click on the following links. In this time of Lent, it may be a good time to clean up your act, and end your disobeying of the "Commandments". I know I have. May you be governed accordingly, and judged according to your own works.
George D. Goddard.
Mona Goddard's Power of Attorney Letter (Notarized) and Copyright Disclaimer (Signed)
Mona Goddard's Power of Attorney Letter (Notarized) and Copyright Disclaimer (Signed)
Greetings my PAN JAZZ COMMUNITY,
Here are the key takeaways from this lesson2:
1. Practice the C Major scale from the Tonic-7th and 7th-Tonic starting on beat 2
2. Pay attention to the different feel between triplet rhythms and eighth/sixteenth notes
3. Finally, pay attention to the application of the C Major scale to triplets and eighth/sixteenth notes.
Like & share our Facebook page: Facebook.com/panjazzcommunity
Thank you for your attention, and happy practicing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-GQ2z2QNFs
I lost my sister this year, around the time when it would have been Carnival and there was instead "A Taste of Carnival". I'm still processing the loss but wanted to share this as it speaks of a big part of her and of me-our love for pan.I think anyone who reads this shares that love. Do enjoy and respect the copyright!
12th POEM FOR LISA
There was no Carnival this year
A blessing for me a curse for others
Carnival was your time
You loved the music, the colour, the shedding of identity
The happy abandonment of routine daily life
The music that stayed in your ears for days after the season had ended.
You left and once you returned
To nest in the land where you cracked the egg of life
You visited the panyards every year
Like one of the faithful on a pilgrimage
You reveled in every note, every repetition of the song played
Your delight was visible, palpable, contagious…
I shared that love with you as children, adolescents, women
That excitement and wonder
At the miracle of pan and steelband
And I made my own pilgrimage when I could.
On the last real Carnival two years ago
We met in a panyard, danced and continued our separate pilgrimages
And on the big night in the big yard
I, in the audience looked for you among the crowds
Pushing pan onto the stage
In an orderly chaos
I saw you helping the pans of our band to get there
To settle and begin to dazzle
That was your joy- the track, pushing pan onto the stage
One of so many who needed to do that
Like a mother rooting for her beloved child
My joy was the track, then the stands to listen and cheer.
To have a Carnival this year while you slowly expired
Would have been painful, unbearable, unthinkable for me
So I thank the stars for sparing me this year
Next year I will cope and dance one for you.
©Denise Haynes
March 22 2022
