Superstition or Real?  There are many things in music that seem to be just a little too odd to be true.  People that love what they do can very easily become fanatical about it (and many times do); often they don't even know they are a fanatic.  My wife says that I am stubborn; that just isn't true, and I will argue with anyone that says different. In music, especially bluegrass, people do things that just appear superstitious.   

Let's look at some of those really weird things and see if we can find make sense of them.  

Superstitious?  Bluegrass musicians often keep rattle snake rattlers in their instrument; they claim that it sounds better, so they have been told.  No one seems to be sure that it works, but it's a common occurrence.

Possible Explanation  Rattle snake rattlers have the ability to absorb moisture much like the little white packets that you find in some food packages.  Instruments need to be at a constant temperature and humidity as much as possible to keep the material from expanding and contracting.  This kind of movement will destroy and instrument over time.

Superstitious?  What about the fourth voice in a three singer band?  Now we are hearing things!

Possible Explanation  The idea here is that we need to hear things.  No, not dead people!  This is a part of our normal practice when we get together.  The three of us harmonize until we hear the forth voice and then we practice until we hear it every time that we sing that song.  Just as a string is heard that is badly out of tune, so are voices.  When the string is tuned, it can hardly be heard any more.  

Our practice session:  Keith Howell sings the lead part, Doug Trivett and I trade from tenor to baritone depending on how our voice fits the song.  Keith starts off and we jump in where the back up vocals are needed.  While blending our voices, Keith tries to hold a good note while Doug rattles out a note while I only hear the echoes in the swollen cavities of my sinuses.  It's a real mess!  As we start to predict what each other will do, we begin to tune our voices.  With practice, we slowly tune our voices together into a single, well tuned instrument.  When our voices become tuned, all of the bad notes disappear like the string that was tuned.  The individual voices are no longer heard because we are now as one, and we all become "the forth voice" as a group. The lead singer will be heard, because he is singing the lead note which is the dominate note of the three notes. That is another lesson.

Superstitious?  The Stradivarius violin is so honored that many musicians will practice on lesser violins so that a bad note will never hit that Strad.   

Possible Explanation  Will a bad note hurt an instrument?  If it does, mine would have exploded years ago.  If a musician is that fanatical about their instrument, they must be serious about playing the best music possible.  Everyone should do the best that they can at what ever good they intend to do.  Maybe we should honor our instruments and give it our all, and see what it gives us in return.

Superstitious?  I build violins and I always listen to bluegrass music while the building is in process. I do this as a constant reminder not to dishonor the music with a bad instrument.  

Possible Explanation  Antonio Stradivari was the greatest influence to the violin in all of history, yet he never got the chance to love bluegrass as we know it.  I believe that he crafted the instruments that he was building as he honored God with the accuracy of his work.  Maybe he was given a special gift for his effort or maybe he had his mind on what he was doing.  If the money for our labor is all that we are working for, then we are missing out on a world of wonder.

Superstitious? Doug Trivett is a third generation instrument builder, and he was taught to listen to the wood as it talks to him.  Voices again?

Possible Explanation  The wood that goes into an instrument has individual tones, just as it has a tone as a completed instrument. From the tap of the builder listening for specific tones in a particular section, to the slightest brush of the finger tips across the surface, there are sounds that come from the wood.  How might the builder arrange all of these tones into one perfectly tuned instrument?  I don't think that he can, but I believe that if his mind is on his work to that extent, the workmanship needed to create the next Strad is close at hand.

Tip! If the strings feel dry and your fretting fingers will not slip along the string properly, rub the side of your nose and the oil from your skin will make your fingers slip like greased lightening.  Really!  (Yes, it's kind of gross but it really works and you don't have to worry about forgetting your nose!)  

Guitar

Hi, I'm Doug Trivett.  Let's look at a section that I use many times when playing bluegrass guitar.  This section can be done many different ways, but we will learn one and you can change it as you learn to use it.  Every lead break has to have an ending just as it has to have a beginning.  Learn this ending and see if you can apply it to you break.  Listen to my Example!  Tip!  Hammer-on, from 9 to9.  Slide on the others.