2022 Async Jam

Hello NEFFA-goers!

Remember last year’s awesome online asynchronous jam session where we did a mashup of three gorgeous tunes? We’re going to do it again!! For those of you that didn’t see it last year, click that link, and check out the video; it was loads of fun!

This year our three tunes are Inisheer, Simple Gifts, and Saint Anne’s Reel. Inisheer is a gorgeous Irish waltz, Simple Gifts is a wonderful old Shaker hymn, and Saint Anne’s is a fun French Canadian fiddle tune.

In this Google Drive folder, you’ll find sheet music and recordings you can play along with.

So here’s what you need to do to participate:

  1. Download the recordings and sheet music. (If you don’t read sheet music, that’s okay, just play along with the recordings as best you can!)
  2. Learn the music! Please try to learn it as written in the sheet music and played on the recordings.
    1. Small melodic variations are welcome, but don’t go too crazy! You can hear some examples of these small melodic variations in the recordings.
    2. Harmony parts are also welcome. We can’t promise that they will all make the final cut, but we’ll do our best to fit them in.
    3. We will also need chord-players, so if you feel like jamming along on the chords, you can do that too (or instead)!
    4. Please do not deviate from the chords as written/played.
  3. Turn on the recordings in your headphones, and record a video of yourself playing along while listening for each tune! Make sure you listen carefully to the metronome click so you stay in tempo.
    1. It is not required that you play on all three tunes! If you send in just one tune, we’ll include it in the final arrangement.
    2. Make sure your videos are in landscape orientation, not portrait!
    3. Try to make sure there is as little background noise as possible in your video!
    4. For Saint Anne’s Reel, everyone please play the slow one. For those of you who feel so inclined, you can also send in a video of the fast one! If we get enough of these, we’ll include it as a section in the final arrangement.
  4. Email your videos to stuart@stuartryerse.com. If you have to upload your video to Google Drive first and send a Google Drive link, that is fine. In your email, please provide the following information:
    1. The full name of everyone in your video as you would like it to appear in the video.
    2. The name of the instrument(s) being played in your video as you would like it to appear in the video.
    3. Optional: your favorite joke (clean or not is cool with me).
  5. DEADLINE IS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, AT 11:59pm! – We cannot accept submissions past this time, to ensure the quality of the final project.

We SO look forward to hearing all of you play! This is going to be a fun one!

Thank you everyone, and see you soon!

Stuart Ryerse,
NEFFA Massive Jam

Lynn Noel,
NEFFA Program Chair