Response to Joe's Response

Joe's response: http://ethnomusicologyandme.blogspot.com/2008/11/feedback-to-hopes-response.html

You noticed something I wasn't even quite aware of. I really do seem have a pretty rigid dichotomy between the fun part (participating) and the for research part (observing). I admire Titon’s approach a lot and I think it’s something I could learn from. My situation is different than his, though. One of the things I didn't mention was that I am the youngest in the group by at least—I’ll be diplomatic and say fifteen years. So at the same time I am trying to blend in and be an average member of the group, I’m not. I have this project to do for my music class and I’m a teenager. But this is a group where differences are never overwhelming. I had a great conversation with Martha and L. last night. We were waiting for Bob to come and unlock the hall, and they started talking about various college kids who've played with them. L. mentioned that people frequently stopped coming because as the semester changed so too did their schedules and then she turned to me and said, “You’re not allowed to do that!”

People have expressed a great interest in seeing the results of this research. As I mentioned earlier, I emailed out the link to this blog, and I told people I’d give them copies of the interview transcripts and also CDs of their interview if they wanted them. I’m planning on writing my paper on next week’s dance and people have expressed interest in seeing that as well. We won’t talk about how behind I am on those transcriptions because that’s a secondary issue, but being more serious, it does make me much more careful about what I write and what I do. Since I want to continue playing with the Jammers, I don’t want to offend, hurt or annoy anyone. I have enjoyed playing in the group so much and I look forward to doing it for the rest of the year.