bowburner’s four hundred and thirty-six comments

Maybe some tunes are easier to know than others. Most recently I’ve been learning Rolling in the Barrell and Mountain Dew as a set. I have listened to both the same number of times. more…

I’ve only composed one tune. A friend was producing a CD and asked me to write “a little jig” to go on it. Not being a composer at all I had no idea where to start and procrastinated for weeks. more…

I believe memory works like this: Short term memory may learn a tune very quickly but it’s gone within a few hours. To store something in longer term memory takes several days, or weeks, of practice. more…

Those jokes are just fowl! more…

You can’t beat a good old Duff note. It even has a beer named after it 😎 more…

I was playing a gig at a posh hotel. I handed my fiddle over to my friend to hold and it was a case of I thought she had got it and she thought I had got it and the fiddle fell to the floor between us. more…

In the late ’80’s in the midst of the troubles I friend of mine was over in England from N.I. One day he accidentally left his flute on a bus. When he got home and realised his mistake, he called the bus company. more…

My fiddle has the following label: “Copy of Nicolaus Amati. Fecit dresdae fil anno” I took it to a luthier who told me it was probably from the 1920’s and worth approx £150. more…

If I have to I can play without a warm up, but generally I play better with one. It doesn’t take more than a few minutes to get the fingers moving fluidly and the brain working. more…

I think it’s a matter of finding the right session Green. I, like you, have a family and work and a house to maintain and all the other commitments life throws at us. more…