Re: The next generation
I find it quite moving to watch children follow their parents' musical and artistic traditions, and I'm happy that your daughter is following in your footsteps -- or foot taps. You don't say how old your daughter is, but I have three daughters, all of whom followed their daddy into fiddling while under ten. The older two played only in family settings. As they reached their teens, Dad and his musical tastes became less cool. In their early teens, they dropped fiddle and now play rarely if ever. My youngest daughter grew up in the Ottawa Valley, where there's a vibrant fiddling culture. She went to fiddle contests and camps, where there were many other children her age tp make music with, older teenagers to emulate, and adults to learn from. She joined young fiddling friends in an old-time music group, with three fiddles, a guitar, and piano. They met regularly, and sometimes played at old folks homes, fairs, and such, earning a few bucks along the way. She's now nearly twenty-nine and although she plays other instruments and has developed in varying musical directions (singing, songwriting, jazz, blues, rock, experimental music), she still fiddles regularly (mainly Cape Breton, Irish, and Canadian old time), sometimes supplementing her income by busking at farmers' markets. As well, she sings some of the folk songs that she learned from Dad and his friends.
Gtani7 said, "The happiest kids i ever saw were at BG festivals..." Bluegrass encourages group playing, and I suspect that these kids were playing with their age mates, as well as learning from older folks. If you want your daughter to continue this interest, I encourage you to find a scene in which she can play her mandolin with peers. But then, people are quirky. Some introverts hide for years with an instrument in their basements then emerge when they're really good.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
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