Strzelecki Stringbusters Kindergarten
A community project

Some of the members of Stzelecki Stringbusters, notably John Werner, has taken upon himself to try and teach beginner musicians songs, technique, comrade and lot of other things.

The idea is to learn a song a month and then get together and perform at a real concert. This is a big step.

The numbers varied, but I'm talking about thirty to forty budding musicians attending rehearsals once a month to to learn the melody of a simple song. That takes some commitment.

The instruments breakup is:

• Guitar
• Banjo
• Mandolin
• Fiddle
• Ukulele
• Double Bass
• Dobro

Most instrument sections comprised around six players, except for Ukulele which had two, and Double Bass and Dobro which had one each.

I decided to participate in the scheme in an effort to play Dobro in a group. There just isn't a lot of groups my way that do that, so I jumped at the chance.

The monthly rehearsal was held in the back room of the Yinnar hotel. The attendees formed a circle combined of groups of instruments. John Werner led from the centre playing Double Bass. At times rehearsal became a little chaotic because of the enthusiasm of members. Instrument groups would cluster together to work out their parts to the exclusion of the other groups and John. Sometimes it became difficult for John to control the evening as he had effectively lost control.

There's a lot to learn to play a gig and I don't think a lot of the people appreciated how much effort is required. Things to learn were:

• Concentration. Learn how the melody goes and become fluent with it.
• Listening. When your instrument group doesn't play the solo, your instrument group need to play a little quieter.
• Playing position. At rehearsal everyone was sitting down. At the gig everyone will be standing and that will make performing a little different.
• Tune your instrument. Just sounds better when everyone is in tune.
• Respect. Just fit in and don't big time. The idea is that it's a group not a solo show.
• Arrangement. The best way to play a song. Mostly the verse chorus was sung and then each instrument group played the melody. Near the end of rehearsals things became a bit more sophisticated where only a few on the instrument groups would play and the others remained quiet.

The big night was the last Wednesday in November where the Kindergarten group was the opening act. The members I'm sure felt a little unaccustomed to standing and being physically much closer to each other to fit on the stage. Heat was another issue, lots of comments on how hot it was on stage.

All in all the group was accepted by the audience to loud applause and I'm sure everyone had a good time.

I wonder what will happen next year?

Follow Up note:

I asked Garry White what was happening next year and he informed me it would be a jam. I can't see anyone from the kindergarten being part of that. What a pity.