If you love Scottish trad music, are under 27 (and older than 16) you should consider entering the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award. Entering the competition is a process. It makes you think about your repertoire and how you want to be perceived. It is an exercise in setting yourself a goal. A goal to achieve making 3 tracks (tunes or songs), an opportunity to listen to yourself and make any improvements needed.
As musicians we don’t do this too often and sometimes the first opportunity we have to listen to ourself is when we record an album. At this stage it is often too late to make any desired changes to our technique. This shouldn’t be a scary process – it should be fun! If we have decided that music is going to be our career or we just want to keep improving this is something we should all do regularly. Emma Tomlinson from the Routes String Quartet wrote a great check list for proper practice for Hands Up for Trad that features a great technique to getting better.
So – go for it! Enter the Young Trad Award – it’s not just about getting through to the semi-finals – it’s about personal development. You won’t look back!