Playing on tape, the first two phrases of a song
(Leadbelly’s “Black Betty”). Repeating
the two phrases and singing along with them, until I have learned them and
gotten the feel of the original performance.
Playing the next two phrases;
repeating four phrases until I have learned them. Continuing by adding, each time, two more
phrases until the entire song is learned.
Oh Vito, you can repeat 'em and repeat 'em, but it's hard to get "the feel of the original performance".
ReplyDeleteMy sister did an M.F.A at Iowa 10 years after Vito. He was still a big force in people's minds there.
I met Vito when I worked at the Whitney. I'll tell you about it sometime. It was quite an experience, one I enjoyed but found kind of overwhelming. What I like about this piece is that it works quite well, I think, as a blog post. I love Black Betty. Curtis
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