Since 1994 TASC has been organising Events & Workshops to encourage the use and enjoyment of Folk Music in Mid Wales and the Borders

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Llandinam Village Band


The Llandinam Village Band operated between 2003 and 2009. It was a new approach to creating bands, as it was primarily a teaching band, open to all at the beginning of a project, which then worked towards particular events. These could be anything from a few individual pieces, played informally, to full blown ceilidhs. It included the memorable Italian Evening in Llandinam Village Hall, and a Carnival Ceilidh at CARAD in Rhayader.

A similar approach was attempted with the creation of a Radnor Valley Band, but the distance meant it was a little difficult to operate in the same way, though a band with that name still appears to be going strong.

TASC's direction of work changed with the creation of the Severn Suite in 2006, but the ideas behind the work continued, however, in the Folk Powys programme which led to the creation of DiEnw and Monty Folk. Another early experiment was the workshops in Beulah that led to the Beulah Music Festival Ceilidh.

The ideas behind the project were discussed at some length by TASC trustees, and the guidelines are set out below, along with some other pictures from the project.


AIMS
Our aim is to try and encourage more people to get involved in playing folk music, but not lose sight of its distinctive nature. The key features for us are:

  • respect for the music
  • making artistic decisions within the band not without
  • a commitment to making the music as good as it can be
  • a clear idea of what we are playing for, and choosing appropriate music
  • some awareness of the larger contexts, e.g. seasonal customs, regional and historic repertoires, dance forms, good session practice etc.

THE CHARACTER OF THE BAND
The band needs to make sure it has:

  • a culture of mutual support - helping weaker members of the band if necessary
  • skills to play in a variety of situations
  • a varied repertoire for different needs and different occasions
  • the practice of putting the ensemble ahead of the individual but never undervaluing the individual's contribution.

BAND PRACTICE
We need to steer rehearsal time between two stools: if no-one takes responsibility for the evening we drown in a cacophony; but as grown-ups we don't really want to be told what to do without chance to comment. Here are some suggested guidelines:-

  • Each session or project has a leader
  • He or she is very clear about what they are trying to achieve in a session
  • Their aim should not be challenged - but the way of doing it can be.
  • Remember that different people work in different ways.
  • Keep one-to-one conversations about the work to a very brief chat OR say "can we take some time out to work on this?"
  • We all exist as individuals within (and for) the band. We don't want to encourage people to be just carried along and hide within the sound. Your aim isn't not to be heard. Ask for feedback from others - How does this sound? Should I be playing louder/quieter/ more sparse/ more complex/using a different instrument/shutting up altogether?
  • Experiment, review & try again, remembering it's OK to fail. Let's learn to not to take mistakes personally!

Beulah Festival Ceilidh Band