Been some time since my last post and a lot has happened since then..
●I pushed hard on my bagpiping and made it up to Grade 3 solo! What an honor!
●I moved down to Arizona! Yes, it gets hotter than heck but so beautiful! Monsoon season is my favorite! (I like a little excitment.) 😉 P.s. if you haven't experienced one you need to Google 'Arizona Monsoons'!
●Met a wonderful man and got married!
●Not only that but my two sisters and I all got married within 3 months! Yeah, sorry Mom and Dad! 😥
●Worked for a year now in the string repair department at the awesome, and very large, Milano Music on main in Mesa. Was a great experience and made good friends. 😀
●And now we finaly get to today! *phew!
Teaching music full time in Mesa and now in Phoenix too!
For more info on lessons click on my lessons tab up top ⬆️!
Good to be back again after all the excitment and would live to hear from you!
Feel free to comment below!
Hello again, folks! Yesterday I competed in my first bagpipe competition! (I posted the video of it at the end of of this post and you can skip there or if you are a piper and want to hear about some helpful tricks I discovered that helped me, keep reading.) :) Let me say that, though I have competed many times on mandolin and a few other stringed instrument, and gotten familiar with the competition nerves this was a whole new ball game! When I first started taking lessons on my practice chanter I was thinking of just competing with a band and not so much solo. My favorite part about performing has always been playing with an ensemble, and it still is and I don't think that will change, but when my pipe teacher suggested I try playing at a solo competition it became a huge motivation factor in pushing myself to practice and get to a performance level. Nothing makes you practice like playing solo. No place to hide, yikes! ;) In my practicing, once I was able to play through my whole four-part 2/4 March, I realized I would have dry mouth trouble that, funny enough, would make it hard to keep my lips from starting to stick to my teeth. Yes, you can laugh. ;) Though it might be fun doing a Bugs Bunny impression while playing pipes it doesn't help too much with getting an air-tight seal on my blow pipe.
I started using lots of chaptstick thinking that would do the trick but it was still to dry and sticky and there would come the Bugs Bunny again! haha #GummySmilesRock ;)
Then one day it came to me.
Oil!
I had a bottle of Young Living's V-6 oil I pulled out and instead of putting more chaptstick on I used that. And...
IT TOTALLY WORKED! Woohoo! :D The other thing I would notice, after playing for a while, was that my throat would also dry up. About as dry as bleached bone in Death Valley. (Trouble is, water didn't always cut it. Plus, who has time to go pee every two seconds at a competition because you kept chugging' water all day!) ;) Then I saw it at work. (I do instrument repairs at a music store.) Vocal spray!
Again, worked like a charm! So, after a couple months of practicing a little over an hour a day, learning my solo tune on my practice chanter and then building up stamina on my bagpipes, the day came and it was time to do my best. Fingers crossed! :) Saturday morning we drove up to Piping in the Deseret, hosted at a school up in Layton, Utah. Super nice and cool people running the event as well as participating in it! This competition wasn't along with any Highland games like ones during the summer. Just solo drumming, piping, and small bands, which was nice for for someones first competition, I think. No worries about getting lost in crowds trying to find where you need to go, worrying about rain or wind, or hunting down bathrooms. ;) And finally, my number:
(Oh, and my judge: Seamus Coyne was my judge and looking him up online the night before, and seeing all his awards, might not have been the best idea for my nerves but as I learned he's a real cool and nice guy. *thumbs up) I felt good about my performance when I finished...Okay, I was really psyched about it!! I had some things here and there but no huge bumbles, which I was really good at making during practice at home. ;) And...2nd place!!
I got 2nd place for 2/4 March in grade 4!
Over all, a super fun day of competition. And getting to see the Wicked Tinkers didn't hurt either!! ;)
For parents, there is a list of things you hope you never have to hear your child say, and "I'm going to learn to play the bagpipes!" might be on the top of that list. You see, in the 14th century or so, the bagpipes were created and designed by hoodlum teenagers in the thatched hut garages next to their parents thatched hut homes. This all came about when one such hoodlum teenager named Alasdair AinsleyMcPatty, fell for the Homecoming Highland Queen, Sophie McKenna McRea. In those awkward 14th century middle ages, a boy had no stratocaster to woo the women folk, and knowing that, Alasdair came up with the solution. Inspired by her beauty, and of course the desire to makes as much noise as humanly possible (it's just a thing), the young man attached three old hollowed out logs to the carcass of a mountain goat. And despite not having developed the blowpipe as of yet, and having to operate such a contraption in a manner that resembled giving CPR to an utterly deflated goat, it was just the trick in wooing the fair maid. And that's how the bagpipes were developed! So, why am I giving you this historically accurate history lesson, you ask? ...Well, I don't really know why...? But I am learning to play the pipes! Last summer (2016) I decided I was going to really get into learning it, and after some time on my practice chanter learning the scale, playing tunes, and getting into bagpipe shape I was ready to look into getting my own set of bagpipes!
Getting my new Gibson practice chanter!
And made this cute carrying case for it cause I'm cool. ;)
I always knew I had Scottish lines in my ancestry (Patterson being one of them) but I realized that not only is it my largest percentage, followed by Finnish and German, but I have multiple scottish lines and clans I come from (Yeah, they probably all hated each other and fought all the time). ;)
I went for the Wallace Classic 2
And as everyone knows, playing the pipes is just half of the coolness factor... We also get awesome outfits. ;)
Got my uniform together!
It took me a while to research and settle on what I wanted but I finally figured it out and got my pipes in September.
I've now joined the Wasatch & District grade 5 band and along with getting ready for our band competitions this year (2017) I am also getting ready for my first solo competition on the bagpipes in February. It's coming up so fast; it's only a few weeks away! Yikes, better get practicing! We'll see how it goes! -E
Hope all is well with you and that you've had an enjoyable summer!
Other than wishing I had a swimming pool, I that I could jump in every hot California day, it has been very nice for me. ;)
A few weeks ago I had the very cool opportunity to talk to Pauline, one of the awesome people at WiMN (Women's international Music Network), and talk a little about building guitars, playing and teaching music, and learning woodworking from my awesome Dad. :)
Hello all! :D What an adventure we had! We are back in California now but Wyoming will always be one of my favorite places in my life. :) Wyoming is a stunningly beautiful place to visit, and the winters, though chill and quiet, are breathtaking!
Every shot's a postcard!
Road home from church
My little sister Sarah finished her mission in Boston, Massachusetts!!!
We were so excited when we picked her up at the Cody airport, I did a little decorating with some fun homemade crafts. :)
It's always time for Christmas lights! ;)
I'm back at Cordoba! It's good to be back in the shop making and playing great guitars with some great people. :)
1970's Rodriguez and I
My brother and his two-man beach partner won their second international gold at the St Pete Grand Slam! Working their way to the Rio Olympics 2016!
Hope you are all having a wonderful summer and making lots of great memories with your loved ones! Until next time! -Erin :)
Okay, this will be my last post till after Christmas. ;) My dear friend, Steph Hartman, and I have played and toured together for years and have come together to record a beautiful Christmas lullaby for you!
Enjoy this FREE Download, "Away in the Manger"! (Recorded on a Tascam portastudio in Houston, Texas and a Blue Yeti studio mic in Cody, Wyoming.)
This wont be a long post, just one to wish all my family, friends, and followers a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. :) This will also be my last post for 2014! But don't worry, I'll be back come January 2015 with some exciting news and events about my family! Aahhh!! :D Good cliff-hanger, huh? ;)
But now it's farewell to good old 2014. I've had a lot of things to be grateful for this past year. Two of which are:
My new niece!
We welcomed my new niece into the Patterson family this year, and what a sweetie she is! Meet baby Ray! <3
Me and sweet baby Ray!
Too CUTE!! :)
I also went through the Los Angeles Temple! Such a beautiful day!
Me at the L.A. Temple!
With my folks
You might have seen one of these temples around and have probably wondered what they are all about. Well, look no further! Here's a really great and simple video about temples. :)
That's all for now! Hope your holidays are full of family, friends, and awesome food! Merry Christmas and God bless! -Erin :)
Erin here! Welcoming you to the second episode of my "Guitar Shop" series!
First off, I hope you've had a wonderful week and haven't eaten too many cookies, like me. (But if you need a couple good recipes I'll link them at the bottom.) Second, if you're not familiar with Amy Grant's Christmas albums, get them! :) Now to business!
Tip number three comes to you from my friend and previous supervisor, Andrew: Tip #3: "Be a super fast learner and don't mess up." And there you have it! ;) But really, when you're working on $3,000+ guitars right off the bat, you don't have much room for error. Yes, it would be wonderful if you could be given practice guitars to cut your teeth on, but I have found that if you think it's okay to mess up on a guitar it becomes easy to do a less than top notch job. And where's the good in practicing with that mind set? Sometimes it doesn't hurt to have a little 'fear of God' to help you do your best, right? ;)
Scoring finish
I now give you "Erin's top 4" skills/traits you need in instrument building: (In no specific order)
Great hand-eye coordination
Creative thinking/visualization
Enjoy working with your hands
Taking pride in your work
Oh, and not being afraid of the occasional splinter
See you at the next episode of "In the Guitar Shop"! Happy Holidays! :) -E P.S. My favorite holiday treats, from my house to yours! :) Chewy Molasses cookies!
Cowboy Cookies!
My Mom's famous chocolate chips cookies! (minus the pecans and coconut) ;)
I thought it would be fun to write a few posts about what I have learned in my last year working in a guitar shop!
If you're like me and have always had an interest in stringed instrument construction at one level or another, either to build your own instrument or to do minor repairs on one of your own, then you know how hard it can be to find good information about luthiery online. So I thought I would do my part to remedy this through writing a series of posts and giving you some great links on the subject.
@ the 2014 Anaheim NAMM show
Not unlike my musical education, I am more of a hands on learner than a book learner. Sure, books are great, but to me they are more for subsidiary education, especially when the subject is fairly new to you. So, when I decided I wanted to get into guitar and mandolin building, I knew that I wanted to work or apprentice under an experienced builder. Having a background in woodworking, along with playing guitar, I was able to more easily get a manufacturing position. Tip #1: Get accustomed with hand and power tools! I was lucky enough to find a job with Cordoba guitars, the type of small, custom shop I was looking for. Though it may seem cool to work for big companies like Fender or Taylor you will most likely find yourself one of a hundred in an assembly line, doing the same thing every day. That may seem okay to you at first cause, heck!, you're building guitars! Right?! ;) But you will most likely burn out and be left with a very limited resume.
Cordoba Master series (Torres, Hauser, Rodriguez, Reyes)
You also may know how hard it is to find online job listings for "acoustic guitar builder" and the like so I have a tip for that too: Tip #2: Find some companies or builders/luthiers that you like and check out there website or contact them about jobs and apprenticeships. Like with musicians in similar genres it's a small world, so once you get your foot in the door and meet some people, you'll realize how everybody knows everybody. So, if you are looking to work or apprentice in a guitar shop, do some research! A great resource for finding these builders is The Fretboard Journal. They have great interviews with guitar, mandolin, and other instrument builders in their magazine, but I especially like their podcasts you can listen to here or on iTunes here and here.
And as always, enjoy the video!! -E :) P.S. It's pretty awesome! ;)
It's great to be back online after the long break!
Now, I know I told you all the news I was moving back to California but I didn't tell you the "whys" and "hows".
I got a job as a guitar builder, aka guitar luthier!
What most of you may not know about me is that I have worked construction my whole life with my father. (I even made my first guitar when I was 10 out of scrap wood. Let me tell you, it was beautiful! ;) haha!)
I know instruments and I know woodworking. So when I came across a job opening at Cordoba Guitars in Oxnard, right next to my home town of Ventura, I jumped at it!
I have now been working here for about 4 months and it has been wonderful! Our shop here in the U.S. is no big ol' production line. No, we have a shop of 5 people (including me) who build the Master series guitars and cool prototypes.
All the guys at the shop-yes, not surprisingly I'm the only lady on site ;)-are super skilled at what they do and are just great people to work with and learn from.
We have a big guitar show coming up which we're getting ready for and we are in the proses of building two beautiful limited edition Torres and Hausers.
Hauser (left) and Torres (right) w/ granadillo back and sides.
Cordoba just recently came out with some cool videos with behind the scenes of our shop. You can even spot me here and there in both videos. (I'm the one with the short blonde hair and denim shop apron.) ;)
In the shop I take the guitar once it has been assembled and will do everything from binding, neck carving, truss rods, fret boards and frets, to bridges, nuts, saddles, tuners, and setup.
I'm super proud to be a part of Cordoba; we put out some killer guitars!
And with that I will leave you with a sampling:
Enjoy!
Well, it's been a fun and crazy summer at the Patterson house!
My little sister Sarah (one of my very best friends ever!) left on her 18 month mission for our church this summer, and though we miss her beautiful spirit, spunk, and smile in our home she is sharing them with the wonderful people of the Boston, MA area! :)
After my little sister left on her great adventure the rest of my family headed down to southern California to visit with family and watch my brother Casey Patterson, along with teammate Jake Gibb, win the Asics beach volleyball World Cup held in Long Beach!
Watch out for these guys in Rio 2016!
And lastly, I am moving back to my home town of Ventura county, California!
This was an exciting yet a bit surprising change of plans and, though I will miss my friends and bandmates here in Utah, it will be great to see my old friends and go to the great jams down there again.
(Check out my facebook musician's page for a fun video of my last Utah gig with some great friends last Friday!)
I'm back!
Back to my house, back to my wifi, back to microwaves, and back on the blog!
I spent this past weekend camping up at the OFOAM (Ogden Friends Of Acoustic Musicians) festival and state instrument competition, which was up in Ogden (as you probably figured). :)
Some friends and I decided to drive up last week to compete and see the amazing Adam Steffey and the legendary Sam Bush!
Sam Bush is well known for his rockin' mandolin and he did not disappoint on Friday, playing well into the night and cold!
I got in a good rest that night though cause Saturday morning brought with it the mandolin competition! (And for those of you who have done one but not the other, performing for an audience and play for judges presents two very different psychological challenges! The latter of which is quite a bit more stressful for me!) ;)
But I had been working towards this for months and so I was ready!...I hoped. ;)
(Fyi, I played my own arrangements of Salt Creek and New Chance Blues. Two great tunes!)
So, how did I do...?!
...yeah, other than the grubby camping garb...
I got the blue ribbon! :)
I was pretty excited to win first! I also got some great prizes like the Loar mandolin and the automatic contest entry to nationals and 5-day festival pass at Winfield!
I was also happy to be with my Mother when I got the award.
My Mom has always been such a great support to me at competitions, performances, and beyond! And so it was such a treat when she surprised me and drove up that morning to see me get my award!
Love you Mom! :)
By the way, if you are looking into buying a not-so-expensive mandolin that has good sound and build, I have to say the Loar LM 220-vs, at under $400, is great! (Most mandos only start sounding good at the $1,000 point, and then can even climb up to $10,000!)
I have to tell you I wasn't sure about it at first, but once I got jamming on it I was pleasantly surprised!
I play a Collings MT myself, which is just beautiful and hard to top, but I will enjoy playing this Loar at jams and festivals cause of its good bluegrass tone coloring, projection (which is important for acoustic jams), and playability.
The music at this festival was great, and it had some new and interesting bands that caught my ear, like: Elephant Revival (you have got to watch their percussionist play! YouTube them!), Run Boy Run (beautiful arrangements and vocals), and the Ugly Valley Boys (just plain bluesy fun).
It was a fun festival with prizes, friends, and jamming, but one of my favorite parts about it was meeting Adam Steffey and the beautiful music his band, The Boxcars, played!
Adam pulls tone out of the mandolin like Rumpelstiltskin spins gold! (...that was weird...Redo!)
Adam pulls tone out of the mandolin like no one else! He also has so much finesse and taste in his playing!
Plus, if you have noticed, he is one of the few non-tenor bluegrass male vocalists. ;)
Such a great and genuinely nice guy! (And 6'4" by the looks of it, which continues to say a lot for tall mandolin pickers.) ;)
So, now I'm back home relaxing (and thankfully showered!) and making plans to go to Winfield this September.
Hi all! So, just a short blurb. One of the band/duos I'm in is headed to the studio this week to lay down a few demo tracks! Finally, right?! ;) We will be putting them up for your listening enjoyment once recording and posts are finished. Plus, I should have a few free and freeish ;) shows I'll be playing this month which I will keep you posted on. And now for some sibling bragging. ;) My professional beach volleyball playing brother, Casey Patterson, along with teammate Jake Gibb just won gold in the FIVB Grand Slam in Shanghai, China! We are all so proud of him and excited for more great things to come! You can read about it Here.
That's all for now! Make sure to check back in soon and have a wonderful weekend! :) -Erin :)
Do you want to play in a bluegrass band but aren't getting picked up?
Even though you may be a good player and even have a knack for picking tunes up, there may be a few things you have overlooked that could solve all your problems!
Sorry, couldn't help it. ;)
Hi there! It's me again!
Today I felt like bringing up a topic which tends to get overlooked or forgotten by many a musician.
Back-up is the name of the game!
And I'm not just talking about mandolin and guitar players. Though back-up can be a bit different on each instrument, they all play it (yes, even the fiddles). ;)
The name 'back-up' sounds just like what it is. You are not playing the melody but instead are being a support to it.
Musicians who play back-up at any given moment should act as a compliment to, not a distraction from the song or breaks (solos) within it.
I could just get into the intricacies of bluegrass band arrangements and how to use a good sense for back-up as a tool of total awesomeness but I think that it is more important to talk about the Jam.
I say 'more important' because the jam is pretty much the sunday school and missionary field of great bluegrass picking and bowing. (I know, weird analogies but go with me on this.) ;)
The Jam.
It's a place of learning, leading, following, and observing. It's a place to be creative and take risks but most of all it's a great place to listen.
If you want to be a good, and especially a great picker you not only need to learn to play but also how to listen, and I don't mean just listening to yourself.
The best bands out there know this and are tuned into the sound of the band as a whole. They understand each instrument's unique voicing and know how to best compliment and play off each other. It's a constant game of balance, juggle, and lock-in throughout a single tune. You could say that it is this ever changing and adapting of the musicians and their instruments that give a song it's breath or life pulse. And you can only do that with good listening ears.
Now, you could say there are these unwritten rules for jamming, and though these may be more heavily suggested at one jam then another it is always safe to go by it. ;)
Note: This can also be a good review for the non-beginner, as well!
May I present...
The Patterson rules of the jam!
(Well, they're more like guide lines..) ;)
1. Typically, whomever picks the song is in charge of starting, giving direction when needed, and ending it the song.
(To signal a tune's end just simply lift a foot for everyone to see...or bust a jig! Your choice.)
2. Typically, a whole melody is played through once by the person kicking it off and then is passed down one person at a time around the circle, clock-wise or counter, what ever you like. If your turn is coming up and you don't want to take a break just signal to the person in line after you. They will either take it or pass as well and it will just keep moving down the line.
3. Everyone will have a chance to choose a song as it moves down the line so don't worry, you'll be up soon. And again if you don't have a tune you want to play just pass.
4. One should pick a tune to play that most the people in the group know. If you pick a song that may be a little too obscure it may end up being a 'Jam Buster'. (Meaning, you might be the only one who knows the song well enough to play it or for it to be fun. No one wants a jam buster.) ;)
5. Always, when one person is taking a break everyone else playing back-up should adjust their volume to accommodate the instrument taking the break. For example, the banjo and fiddle are typically louder when taking a break than the mandolin or guitar are, therefore the back-up should adjust to this change in volume.
And here lie possibly the two most common and aggravating 'Jam Busters'. The 'I-would-love-to-hear-your-break-but-I-enjoy-the-sound-of-my-own-chords/back-up-far-too-much-to-tune-it-down-a-little' syndrome which can then be followed by the 'No-one-can-really-hear-this-guy's-break-so-I'll-just-play-the-melody-with-him' counter by another. These are two risky moves that may luckily result only in a death glare. ;)
And us mandolinists are not always completely innocent, mind you. Mandolinist love their 'chop' chords and think it sounds cool to play the melody on top of the fiddle sometimes. ;)
There you have the basics for making a good jam and being a great band mate. Hope this helps!
And if the jams you go to tend to sound more like this...
...then it might be a good time to share some of these tips with your friends. :)
