Last night I played harmonica solo for a morris dance for the first time ever. OK, so it was during a practice session, but a first is a first. This was the Black Joke from Adderbury, a tune I know pretty well and have played plenty of times at home, or in sessions, and even tootling alongside other musicians for dancing, but solo was a whole new experience.
I had to learn to start properly: for many dances you can just play the tune through a few times and the dancers will come in when they are ready, but as is the case with most Adderbury dances, this music starts with a big chord and then we're straight in with a swagger round. After some advice from the other musicians (who were all dancing) I finally got it right and, apart from a bit of a stumble (which the guys gamely danced through) I think things went OK. We got through the dance, anyway.
Our new squire is keen to add some variety into the side, so I suspect now I've been blooded I'll be asked to play more often. We'll see how things go.
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