Summer 2014 Music Travels @marilynmcneal - Tumblr Blog

Cycling

My name is Marilyn McNeal and I am a musician, instrument maker and technology instructor living in Oakland, California. What follows is a series of photos and videos that document the four weeks I spent in Russia teaching a workshop about the diddley bow, a one-stringed musical instrument played in the American rural south during the 19th and early 20th centuries. I launched an Indiegogo campaign to help defray expenses related to this project. The campaign has finished but you can still visit the page and read an overview. A link to the workshop outline is here. I taught in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Izhevsk and Yekaterinburg at a school, two artist collectives, a music hall and a summer camp. Workshop participants ranged in age from 5 to 65, city dwellers to country folk. It was a tremendous pleasure and privilege to learn, share and explore with my hosts, friends and students. Thank you everyone who helped make this trip happen. For more information about my work, please visit marilynm.org.

#marilyn mcneal #diddley bow

Irina explores the diddley bow. She helped me file my registration papers in Moscow and runs a school for children there. A link to her school's website is here - June 2014

#diddley bow #exploration #Moscow

Sitting in with a blues band in a park in St. Petersburg, Russia. This was an amazing opportunity for me to play my proto blues instrument with a Russian musician interpreting blues music! The diddley bow was used by blues musicians as an inexpensive and versatile way to achieve tone and percussion. It has been discussed as a precursor to the blues slide guitar, which is exactly what this guy was playing.

#diddley bow #St. Petersburg #Russia

Working with students at my diddley bow workshop at Klass Truda, an artist collective in St. Petersburg, Russia - June 2014

#diddley bow #workshop #St. Petersburg

In June 2014, I taught a workshop about the history and construction of the diddley bow in Izgurt Village, a village in the Udmurtia, Russia.

#diddley bow #workshop #Udmurtia #Russia

Anatoly helps Valentina build her instrument at the diddley bow workshop, Udmurtia, Russia - June 2014

#diddley bow #workshop #Udmurtia #Russia

Valentina explores the sound of the diddley bow she made in our workshop, Udmurtia, Russia - June 2014

#Udmurtia #Russia #diddley bow

I sang Ezekiel Saw the Wheel and Go Tell Aunt Rhody for the audience at the village singing festival, Udmurtia, Russia - June 2014

#Udmurtia #Russia

Photo with women from several Udmurt villages, Udmurtia, Russia - June 2014

#Udmurtia #Russia

A photo with the women of several villages in Udmurtia, Russia - June 2014

#Udmurtia #village life

Just off the bus, I mingle with village women gathered for the singing festival, Udmurt village, Udmurtia, Russia - June 2014

#babooshka #singing #ethnic

Practicing my diddley bow while we wait to go to the festival, Udmurt village, Udmurtia, Russia - June 2014

#diddley bow #Udmurtia #Russia

Participant playing a diddley bow we made at art collective Tvorcheskaya Dascha, Izhevsk, Russia - June 2014

#diddley bow #workshop #Russia

Instrument making materials spread on the grass, Budapest, Hungary - June 2014

#instrument making #Budapest

Teaching a diddley bow workshop to children at Masha's Farm in Tula, Russia - July 2014. A complete photo set is online here.

#diddley bow #tula #Russia #workshop

Julia looks on as we make the Diddley bow.

#Diddley bow #workshop #summer camp #Russia

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Summer 2014 Music Travels