So I show up at the kids lesson, without the kids! Armed with fiddle, didn’t want to cancel on her as the kids were at their “meet the teacher night”  so I thought, why not. She’s kinda adorable, and a touch ditsy.

 

I brought a waltz, thinking if nothing else maybe she can run through this with me….but instead she asked if I could play some kids fiddle tunes and couple of easy tunes as she strummed along on her guitar….after teaching the grandkids how to play the hoedown, I was feeling a little disappointed that I had to play it again.

 

….and the hour flew by with my music still in my case….while she exclaimed it would be great if I could play this and that, which I did. Then we payed a couple together on the fiddle, one of us on harmony, she had a ton of sheet music available. We laughed through about 10-15 tunes, some I knew, some I didn’t, she told me some old stories about playing along with different people.

 

At the end of the hour I was a little disappointed that I had not been able to learn the tune that I had brought with me, I gave her a hug and said I’d be back with the kids in 2 weeks. I drove home thinking I wish I had learnt something.

 

I decided to look her and the people she had talked about growing up with up online. She was one of the few lady's to be inducted into the Texas fiddle hall of fame, had a lifelong record of achievements and championships and such, played along with some of the all time greats in bluegrass and such, was a little older than I thought….had been through some things, I felt very humbled.

 

.…then it hit me, how wonderful to have spent time and played alongside her, it would have been such a missed opportunity if I had insisted she teach me the tune I had brought. I had not gotten my normal stage fright, I had winged it through every tune, laughed and improvised. I'm sure I was pretty bad at some of them, but she kept saying how much fun it was…I believe she had me start simple and work my way up, keep relaxed, play without thinking….and enjoy…what a fabulous hour!