Hi ya'll! I'm not back home yet, but I do have access to a real computer, so I have posted a new poll, and updated the table of contents, and am watching the videos and reading the posts that have been posted in my absence. I would like some input as to the polls. As this group grows, we've tried to figure out the best and easiest way to make it a working group that most of the members enjoy and get the most out of. We do have over 200 members, but just a couple of handsfulls of members who post videos. Which isn't to say that the other members don't get anything out of it.... they may actually be the ones who get the MOST out of them... learning from those brave enough to post! So, just because you don't post videos, doesn't mean that your input or opinions are any less valuable! In the beginning, when our membership was small, our first few weeks of official tunes were just chosen by me from the suggestions by the members. After a few weeks, I got polling permission from Scott, and I would put up a new poll every week, from tunes suggested every week by the membership. This meant that every week, I'd have to post a discussion asking for tunes, then I'd have to put up a new poll made up of tunes from that request. Then, I'd have to post the 'Official Tune of the Week' every Friday. My schedule for August 1 through mid September, was going to be such that I would not be able to manage the group this way, so I made up a poll that would last during 4-5 of those weeks, and had Mike Romkey keep an eye on the poll, and post the official tune each Friday. Some of ya'll have indicated that having a poll go on for multiple weeks was less than desirable. I have had several suggestions on how I could run the poll / tune of the week, and I'm certainly open to suggestions! One suggestion is that I post a new poll every week, using the tunes from the previous poll, and adding one new tune to replace the one just voted in. I could have a running discussion entitled 'Poll Tune Suggestions' and ya'll could submit your tune suggestions from that, and I would just use that running discussion to make up the poll, rather than having to request new tune suggestions each time I make up a new poll. Here is my observation, on the subject. I made a poll with 10 tunes, from tunes suggested by the membership, trying to incorporate a range of genre. If I make a new poll each week, then every week, a majority (split between 10 tunes) will win. There's usually a pretty close race between several tunes.... Let's say there are 40 votes, and the one who wins got 8 votes. That means that 32 voters DIDN'T get the tune they would like. If the majority (split between 10, which is different than the majority in a 2-3 choice race) is usually BG, then chances are, the tune of the week will always be BG. In this last poll (which I admit, 5 weeks IS a little long), there were 43 members who chose to vote. We used 5 tunes on the list, and those 5 tunes received 35 of the 43 votes between them. This way, in 5 weeks, the VAST majority of our members got a tune that they voted for. Since this isn't a political poll, but rather a poll to determine the tune of the week, I feel that having a poll run for several weeks, actually works to better represent the interests of our membership. I think that if I am going to post a new poll every week, then there should be only 2-3 tunes to choose from, rather than 10. I could still generate the poll from a 'poll tune suggestion' discussion, as I suggested earlier. That way, it would really be closer to a true majority. I'm open to input and suggestions... please let me hear from you, and I'll keep you informed as to the direction I've decided will work best. The current poll is entitled Poll for weeks 19-22, however, if ya'll decide you want it to not run that long, I'll post a new one before that! Just a reminder, it's Wednesday, and the new tune will be announced Friday. So far, just 14 of ya'll have voted.... Thanks to all of you who are keeping this great group alive! Barb
OK, I'll try to sway the masses. Magic Foot is a great tune that I would like to learn to play. I have it on one of the transatlantic sessions in which the composer Russ Barenburg plays along with Aly Bain and others.
Sharon Shannon, Paul Brady... who else? Can I change my vote?
ABCs: X: 1 T: Magic Foot M: 4/4 L: 1/8 R: barndance F:http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3461 2009-09-02 19:56:32 UT K: Gmaj G2Bd ddBd|ddBd cAFA|G2Bd ddBd|cAFA G3F| G2Bd ddBd|ddBd cAFA|G2Bd ddBd|cAFA GBdc| |:BGdG BdBG|EGcG FAdc|BGdG BdBG|1AddB G2dc:|2AddB G2 gb|| ad~d2 Add(d|d2)~d2 Adgb|ad~d2 Adde|dBAF G2gb| ad~d2 Add(d|d2)~d2 Adgb|ad~d2 Adde|d2(d2 d)BAF| |:G2Bd ~d2BG|FGFD A,DFA|GBdB FGFD|A,DFA G3F:|
I think it's fine the way it is to be honest Barbara - if we all got to vote each week I think it would probably be more fun, but if that's hard to manage, it's not a problem at least for me.
It's working the way it is and I'm learning a bunch of tunes. If it ain't Baroque ...
It seems just as popular to put up videos of tunes that haven't been 'agreed on'. No issues from me - having fun as it is.
I think it's better to have one poll a week, and use the tunes that are over from last week's poll, and include some new tunes depending on how many tunes are on the poll (the lesser, the easier, in my opinion, 5 tunes or such in a poll). If the tunes that get the higher votes are usually bluegrass tunes, that should be an indication that the majority of the members want to play bluegrass tunes. I don't see a problem in that. And yes - there's always the "other tunes" option. I've been away and now I'm very busy but I'll try to add something as time goes by - just not this week.
big problem for me is - i don't know what half these songs sound like, i've never heard them before. most of the time i get lucky and find a rendition on youtube and vote accordingly but my "vote" isn't an informed one. "keep it simple" has got to be the way to go - whatever is easiest for you, barbara, is jake with me.
My sense is that it would be better to have a new poll each week and replace either just the previous week's winner, or some other number (2, 3, 4?) of the tunes that get the least votes. That keeps people engaged at the site and voting, for one thing. Keeping a poll in action for four weeks does make it more likely more people will pick a winner. It's easier to administer, and as a busy person myself, that's a certainly a legitimate reason for keeping it simpler. The obverse way of looking at leaving up polls for multiple weeks -- and this is speculative but I bet it does happen -- is that if, out of the ten tunes, most people want to learn tunes 1 and 2, but have little interest in the others, then there is a likelihood that weeks 3 and 4 will feature tunes that relatively few people want to learn, thus depressing participation. If every week we play the tune the most people want to learn, then it seems likely we'll be pleasing the most people the most amount of the time. But either way is cool. Or some other way. By the way, "Magic Foot" is a great tune. Beware of the ABC posted on the Session. It's in the wrong key!
I have not been able to post videos lately due to my work schedule but I still enjoy visiting this group when I can get a chance. I am not sure what polling method is best for the group but one thing that I would like to mention is that sometimes it was nice to see a few weeks in advance the more popular tune of the week polling so I could select one and have a little more time to practice it before posting a video. But it is nice also to be able to add more songs more frequently. Decisions, Decisions. Whatever is decided I will still be around to enjoy the site and from time to time participate. Lastly, I really appreciate the core video musicians that participate on a regular bases. Keep your strings singing!
Thanks for all the input! Still haven't decided on exactly how I'll end up doing it (and it will probably change as the group grows, and as my time/scheduling issues change!). As long as I have access to a computer, I don't have a problem posting a new poll every week (or two). I will probably start a new discussion for poll tune suggestions, and just work from that discussion. We all look at something, and see it different ways. In the poll that went on for 5 tunes (out of 10), the tunes chosen were: #14 Bill Cheatham (9 votes), #15 Southern Flavor (7 votes), #16 I Am A Pilgrim (5 votes), #17 Harvest Home/Off to California (7 votes) & #18 Bluegrass Stomp (7 votes). There were a total of 43 votes (over the 5 week period). Given those numbers, and the fact that we have over 200 members, to me the spread between the 5 tunes seems pretty close! So, it seems to me, that in those 5 weeks, we learned the tunes that 35 people wanted to learn. But, I could be seeing it all wrong! As far as participation, we seem to have a core group of video submitters, who submit regularly, both to the official tune of the week, and who submit 'other' tunes. I believe we also have a pretty substantial number of members who are using these submitted videos to learn from, even if they aren't submitting videos of their own. I feel that this group is very beneficial to those members, as well as the members who are submitting videos! Also, we do have a wide range of 'preferred' genre of music. I play Old Time, and Celtic (IT) music, so it's much easier for me to learn a new tune in those genre. I don't play bluegrass, so those tunes don't come as easily (and some tunes just don't interest me!) This is summer time, when people's schedules are often VERY busy, so that also contributes to the number of video sumbissions each week. The current poll, which has a couple of hours left, has had 27 voters. The current winner has 7 votes (Cherokee Shuffle). Close behind are Campbell's Farewell to Red Gap (5 votes) Wayfaring Stranger (4 votes) Flowers of Edinburg (4 votes) & Magic Foot (3 votes).
Some more musings from me... When we have an official tune of the week, a fair amount of the early submissions, are from those that already know the tune. Which is great, as it gives those that want to LEARN the tune, something to work from. And, while we do have a new tune each week, members certainly don't have to learn that tune in a week, and can submit their video WHENEVER they finally learn it, and feel satisfied with their video! So, there's really no pressure there, to learn a tune in just one week. Like I said before, some tunes are going to be of more interest to some people, than other tunes... if the tune of the week isn't something that interests you, you can always work on one of the other official tunes, that you haven't yet submitted, or one of the 'other' tunes that you like. The 'other' tunes.... I love this function, actually more than the 'official' tunes. These are submitted by someone who already knows it (at least well enough to submit a video), and are great for others to learn from. Some of our 'other' tunes have had many other people submit their videos... some are just the one original submission. But, that doesn't mean that they aren't being used by our members to learn from! One thing that I'm curious about.... on the official tune of the week poll (and poll suggestions)... do you think they are tunes that the person who suggested them (and who vote for them) already knows (thus can quickly submit an awesome video?), or a tune that they don't know, and want to learn? I would be interested to hear some input on this, as well! I've not suggested a tune, nor have I voted for a tune, so I can't tell you from my perspective! Out of the 18 tunes that we've already had as official tunes, I already knew 8 of them. I've been out of pocket for the last 4 tunes, so I haven't learned them (well, I already know the Harvest Home/Off to California medley), and I made an attempt at most of the others before that. How about the rest of ya'll?
I really have no interest in voting for a tune I already know and may, at times, not even post a vid of a tune I know. Sometimes I will. Just depends. As of late I lurk around the polling place to see how the voting's going and will vote to sway a tune to the lead position should I be interested in it and it's close enough that my vote will make a difference. For instance, I'm very interested in Magic Foot and may vote for it just to get its numbers up thought it looks next week will be Campbell's Farewell To Red Gap, a great tune that I don't have cold but have played it many times off and on over the years...only time will tell how Magic Foot fares.
Like Joe, and maybe others, I don't vote for a tune I already know. In fact, I haven't voted for any ITM, even though that's my main interest, because I see this group as a way to get introduced, and be motivated to learn, tunes in genres I wouldn't otherwise seek out (a long-winded way of saying - I wouldn't seek out bleugrass, but I'm enjoying many of the BG tunes, and will actually post a few someday.) However you do it, and keeping your life easy is important, Barb, I like having a choice of genres, and the chance to learn representative tunes in each.
I'm usually quite happy whether it's one I know or not. If I know it well, I try to make it new by playing it in a different way to how I learned it.
I too would not vote for a tune I already know. I'm here to learn new tunes which I'm doing and if I don't like the official tune of the week there are plenty of "other" tunes to learn. Barb, do whatever is easiest for you on the polls, it seems to be working fine as it is.
I post "unauthorized" vids of the tunes I know. I vote for the ones I want to learn, but I post a vid of the winner if I can.
Hey, Eddie, they aren't unauthorized... I authorized you to post whatever you want! They are unofficial!
Since I learn any tune I want to learn right away, there is not much sense in me voting, because by the time the voted-for week comes, I would already know it. But thanks to the "Tables of Content" I rediscovered Week 1 and I am currently learning Road to Lisdoonvarna and might post into an official Thread for the first time the coming weekend, breaking the record of late posting.
I'd like to remind everyone that going back through the past weeks, both official, and 'other' tunes, and maybe posting on a tune you hadn't done before, is a good way to get them back in the mix! Every new reply on a post, brings it back up to the top!
