The Murphy Method Blog

Murphy Henry

I am always proud when I get an email like the one below, telling me about Murphy Method students getting out there and playing! With Barbara’s permission, I will share:

I remember when I met Murphy at banjo camp and she asked me what I wanted to do with my banjo and I told her that pretty much just wanted to play for my grandkids. Now, several years later, I do play with my grandkids in our little “Granny and her GANGsters” bluegrass band. We play on the street together and have been playing at some community events.

The kids are loving it. It is especially good for the oldest one who is 13 and has Tourette’s. He is on the bass and I am amazed at what he can do. I just ordered Murphy’s two first bass DVDs for him and I told him when he gets through them I’ll get him the slap bass DVD. We have an 11 year old on the mandolin and he has worked up three breaks, “Boil Them Cabbage Down,” “It Takes a Worried Man,” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” Oh, also “Amazing Grace.” Then our littlest one is a 10 year old granddaughter who plays two breaks on her banjo and clogs up a storm. Folks always throw money in the case when she starts dancing when we busk!

In October we are going to play at the opening of a corn maze in town and it will be our first microphone experience. Wish us luck! I bet there are a lot of other women who are using their banjos in interesting ways, too. I’d like to hear about them. Not that you professionals aren’t interesting! Thanks for listening.

Barbara

And as an added bonus, I will tell you that Robyn, one of my Fiddle Sisters (also known as Logan’s mom), and I went hiking on the Appalachian Trail this past Saturday. Since I am just beginning to build up endurance, we only hiked one hour in and then one hour back out. I started limiting my exertions after experiencing digestive malfunctions on several hikes that were too long (three hours), too hot (high 80s and humid), and too dry (only two bottles of water).

Saturday’s hike was a three-bottle hike and was definitely not too dry since we walked most of the way back IN THE POURING RAIN. I amused Robyn toward the end by singing bluegrass rain songs in full voice: “It’s Raining, Raining, Raining Here This Morning,” “Listening To The Rain,” “Little Cabin Home On The Hill” (with the line just listen to the rain beat on my window pane), and the decidedly non-bluegrass “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” by which time we were at the car. Soaking wet. And yes, we had rain ponchos in our backpacks, but by the time we decided it was really raining hard, we were already wet, so why bother? We were a little chilly, however, but a quick trip to Starbucks fixed that! Soon after, I was back home, showered, pajama’d (can pajama be used as a verb?), and curled up with my new 800-page Diana Gabaldon novel An Echo In The Bone, anxious to find out what’s been happening to Claire and Jamie Fraser. In fact, that’s where I’m heading right now…