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This is the time of year when posters for the annual Fiddlin’ Down the Tracks contest begin to sprout on the walls and bulletin boards of Tehachapi businesses. Along with the usual information on date and location, the current poster includes a tribute: "This year’s contest is dedicated to the late, great fiddler Howdy Forrester." Who is Howdy Forrester? There could be hardly a better opportunity to point to a volume which a local author published this year, Gayel Pitchford’s Fiddler of the Opry: The Howdy Forrester Story.
Many readers will know Ms. Pitchford from her intense participation in the local music scene, as a highly respected string teacher, concert mistress of the Tehachapi Community Orchestra, and the fiddlin’ component of the band Fiddlin’ Red Hatties. After reading her new book, one assumes she will enjoy further fame as the author of a meticulous biography, a book which will intrigue musicians and music enthusiasts alike.
Howard "Howdy" Forrester’s best-known role was that of fiddler for Roy Acuff’s band, the Smoky Mountain Boys, a position which he held for over 35 years, but to state even this accomplishment as the be-all, end-all of his achievements would be misleading, to say the least. He was also a composer of such striking originality that his tunes ("Wild Fiddler’s Rag" being a prime example) are embraced by a generation that, often as not, does not even know his name. Above all, his influence as a steady, innovative performer on the Grand Old Opry helped to popularize a style of music that might otherwise have faded. Pitchford does not hesitate to attribute the continued popularity of (contest-style) old time fiddling in a large part to the influence of Howard Forrester. Unfortunately, while Forrester’s music and influence have survived, they have survived largely as achievements by an unknown hand; his decades of appearances on the Grand Old Opry were made as a backing musician, part of a band instead of a solo name.
Pitchford’s book puts a face and a name, a whole life behind that "unknown hand". In doing so, it opens yet another role for Forrester—that of an inspiration. One fact that shines throughout the book is that Forrester never had formal music lessons. He began playing the fiddle about the age of nine in his home in Tennessee, coached by his mother who was a guitar player. He learned tunes by mimicking the notes that she would sing for him. Forrester thus developed a good ear which would later enable him to integrate aspects of artists he admired—Fritz Kreisler not the least among them. Such a knack for picking up styles and techniques would be enviable in itself, but coupled to it, Forrester had a great will to learn and the humility required to embrace new methods. While Pitchford’s biography is invaluable in the amount of information it presents on a strangely neglected artist, I would say its biggest impact comes in its demonstration of what a determined human being can do. Forrester did not become a good fiddler. He became a great one—and even then he was eager to improve.
(To read the entire document click on "View Documents" and then click on this article, "The Man Who Made the Music") |
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More than once I have been in a public place, struggling with an instrument that bears a vague resemblance to an obdurate and highly vocal octopus, when an innocent bystander stops to watch the fight. The question is almost invariably the same:
"Aren’t the bagpipes hard to play?"
I pause to collect the receding dregs of consciousness, move my left shoulder to see whether it is dislocated or only weary, feel for my lips, which lost all feeling quite a while ago, take a deep breath–and tell the truth.
"No, they’re really not that difficult to play. They’re just hard to play right."
In the interest of learning to play them right, members of the Tehachapi Mountain Pipes and Drums recently attended the California Summer School of Piping. This week-long camp is held every year at the Army and Navy Academy, a prep school in Carlsbad, and taught under the auspices of the College of Piping (Glasgow, Scotland). Students (there were nearly 70 this year) alternate classes and practice time from about nine to five every day and have the added bonus of nightly lectures and instructors’ concerts most evenings.
While the instrument most often connected with pipers is, naturally, the bagpipe, there is a good deal of behind-the-scenes work on a much milder instrument known as the practice chanter. This is a vaguely recorder-like object which contains a double reed (similar in shape to an oboe reed) of plastic. While the tuning and fingering are the same as that of the chanter on a set of pipes, the overall effect is much less daunting. As the player does not have to put so much effort into breathing he can pay more attention to his fingering, thus it is standard practice to begin a piper’s education on the chanter, moving him to the pipes only when he has mastered the basics. At a more advanced level the chanter is still an excellent teaching tool, allowing a piper to memorize a tune or eradicate his musical faults without sharing his struggles with the neighborhood. The majority of time at pipe camp was spent on the chanter.
It was largely this emphasis on the chanter which permitted the students to learn the assigned tunes in a timely manner; one of the focal points of the camp is a public concert at which the various classes play (from memory) the tunes which they were assigned earlier in the week. The preparation for this concert provides, in turn, a realistic environment in which band tuning can be explained and demonstrated. (There is a widespread fallacy that bagpipes cannot be tuned; five minutes at a band session with a conscientious instructor stalking from drone to chanter would convince anyone that not only can they be tuned; they had better be tuned.)
(To read the entire article, click on "View Documents") |
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Now that spring is here it’s time to think about music festivals. Have you ever been to one? For many years I used to drive up to Mammoth and see the sign "Millpond Music Festival" and say to myself, "I sure would love to go to that." I also used to read about some of my favorite artists appearing at the Strawberry Music Festival and wish I had been there. Not until I moved to Tehachapi did I ever finally get to one. I am only sorry it took me so long to get to some of these great musical happenings.
Here is a sampling of what is coming up:
May 5th & 6th down in Indio at the Empire Polo Fields will be a new music festival called "Stagecoach." The emphasis will be on country music but they will also have some bluegrass and folk groups too. The line up is extensive with four stages and music will be going on from morning to night. Two of my favorites, Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams will be there along with a whole host of big name country artists, Brooks & Dunn, Sara Evans, Alan Jackson, Willie Nelson, George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Earl Scruggs, Nickel Creek, Ricky Skaggs, Chris Hillman & Herb Peterson, Marty Stuart, just to name a few. A newer artist, Abigail Washburn, will be there and I was fortunate to see her perform live at a "Folkscene" taping just a few months ago. She is very talented, plays the banjo clawhammer style and writes songs in Chinese. I am looking forward to this new music festival. Mountain Music will have a booth there, a musical petting zoo (for the young and the young at heart) and will host some workshops on banjo, harmonica, ukulele, strumstick and more. For more information on Stagecoach see their website: www.stagecoachfestival.com.
Mother’s Day Weekend is the popular Parkfield Bluegrass Festival. My friend, Charly, says it’s a really cool place. They have 65 acres of flat "boon-dock" style camping sites, plenty of shade, hot showers, food and craft booths, a good musical lineup and lots of jamming. For more information and tickets see their website at: http://www.parkfieldbluegrass.com
The Strawberry Music Festival is like slipping back in time to the ‘60s for two weekends out of the year. The music is eclectic and the groups can be folk, bluegrass, swing, blues, Celtic and jazz. There is also a little city of musical events going on in the camp sites. There are some camps such as: "Camp Pig Out, "Camp Obey Bob" and "Camp Crud" that have such popular jam sessions you might never make out to the music meadow. Strawberry is held twice a year, Memorial Day Weekend and Labor Day weekend. The festival is located at Camp Mather near the north side of Yosemite and their website is: www.strawberrymusic.com. The Spring festival is sold out but maybe you can make it Labor Day weekend.
There are lots more to choose from. Time to get out to a music festival this year! You will love it! |
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The First Rehearsal by Deborah Hand
Monday evening, March 12, 6:30 p.m., St. Jude’s Episcopal Church.
Twenty-four musicians are finding their places among chairs set up in the back of the sanctuary. Everyone is talking excitedly. Some are old friends, and some are meeting for the first time. There’s an even mix of ages, from Jr. High to retired adults.
We bring in boxes filled with binders, and a pile of sheet music that hasn’t found its way into them yet. The day has been a mad scramble at Mountain Music trying to get the music binders ready and we didn’t quite make it. But here we are at last! After many, many months of anticipation, preparation and dreaming, we are finally ready for the first rehearsal of the Tehachapi Pops Orchestra, or T-Pops, as we’ve begun to call it.
Through fortuitous timing, we have been able to hire Robby Martinez as our conductor. Robby is head of the music department at Bakersfield College and the Music Director for the Desert Community Orchestra in Ridgecrest. Some of us know his work first-hand from participating in his programs in the past.
Once our music is handed out I ask Robby if he would like to start. “Give them a few more minutes to settle in,” he says. “Let everyone feel comfortable with where they are sitting. They’re getting to know each other.” I get my cello out and help others tune up. Some of these folks are regular students, but there are some adults who haven’t played in months or even years.
Finally, we start. After brief introductions, we take out the first piece, a version of Bach’s “Sleepers Awake,” scored for High School Orchestra. Robby gives us a downbeat, but we all come in at different times. He stops. “Look at your music, memorize your first note, and now watch me,” he says gently. We try again. It’s still a bit ragged. He laughs. “I want to see all your eyes right here.”
This time, we come in mostly together. We play the piece through. It’s not terrible, but not everyone makes it to the end. Robby gives some encouragement while a couple of us scour the boxes for the timpani part amid comments that we didn’t know Bach wrote for drums and saxophones. We try the piece again, and it sounds better with the timps. More people hang in to the end.
We switch to another Bach piece, a suite from “Anna Magdalena’s Notebook.” The first movement is a minuet. We play it through twice. We’re getting more of an ensemble feeling each time.
The second movement is an Aria, a slow piece in a minor key. Halfway through, Robby stops us. ”I feel like I’m conducting three orchestras at once,” he says with a laugh. “Please check out the key signature, the time signature, and notice if there are any repeat signs.” He taps his fingers over his heart. “Now, I want you to listen with this,” he says. “Just listen to the music as I conduct.” He begins to conduct, moving his baton gracefully in time with the piece we had just tried to play. We all watch him, and everyone is silent as we begin to hear the music in our heads and hearts.
“Now let’s play it,” he says when he gets to the end. We take up our instruments, and this time we make music with one voice.
You can tell we all feel it together. We have become an orchestra.
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Ukulele Fever by Maria Weir Werth
Every time I turn around, it seems another person I know is buying a ukulele. Why all the interest? Suddenly, there are hundreds of ukulele clubs around the planet, and even an orchestra. The “Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain” tours around the world and will be in the USA in June. If you would like more information on this group, check out their website at: http://www.ukuleleorchestra.com. You can listen to several of their pieces and get an idea what they are up to. I think you’ll be surprised.
The “machete” was brought to Hawaii by Portuguese farmer immigrants in 1879. It was a four-stringed small guitar-like instrument, and when played, reminded Hawaiians of a jumping flea. The Hawaiians named the instrument “ukulele,” which means “jumping flea.”
There are several great ukulele players right here in Tehachapi. Mika Villaren and Rusty Jones both grew up in Hawaii and are pros on the instrument. Mika has begun teaching. Coming from the island of Maui, Mika has been playing most of his life and has shared his talents at ukulele workshops and performances. He says that the ukulele makes people smile, is easy to learn and brings back good memories. His latest students, Bob Beach and Dale Folwell, are playing quite well according to Mika. We’re hoping Mika will have time soon in his busy schedule to resume his workshops here at Mountain Music.
I’ve had ukulele fever for a long time. A few years ago my niece, Katie, was going to school in Hawaii. She said that many of her friends would congregate in the park and play the uke. She fell in love with the “jumping flea,” too, and learned to play IZ’s (Israel "Bruddah Iz" Kamakawiwoʻole) version of “Over the Rainbow.” One night she called me and played the entire song over her cell phone and it was so sweet. When she came back to the mainland four years ago, we took a ukelele workshop together at Pierce College in Woodland Hills and I was hooked! The teacher was quite a character, Michael McClellen and we had a great time taking this class and getting more ukulele fever.
Last year at the NAMM show (a big trade show for music stores that happens every year in Anaheim), I played a tenor ukulele made of koa wood and just had to have it! It was a display model, but I convinced the dealer that I desperately needed it. He gave in and sold it to me, and I love it! I have learned a few chords and can accompany myself and play along with friends.
Another way to get involved with the ukulele and to catch the fever is to join a ukulele club. A new club started up in Lancaster and meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at Nick’s Pizzaria. If you would like to join or get more information you can call John Birsner at (661) 949-7717. If the fever gets contagious enough here in Tehachapi we can start our own club at Mountain Music. (Call us at 823-9994.)
If you want to pass the ukulele fever on you can donate a ukulele to “Ukes for Troops.” This is a group in California that donates ukuleles to our troops. If you would like to participate, check out their website: www.ukesfortroops or call Anita Covoli-Cullen, Co-founder of Ukes for Troops at (714) 846-9017.
Isn’t it time for you to get that ukulele fever too? I think the smile is guaranteed.
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"The Art of Improvisation" By Deborah Hand
Improvisation -- the art of playing music freely without notation or memorization – is usually thought of today only in terms of jazz or blues. Yet until the last century, it was found in classical music, as well. Mozart was famous for his improvised cadenzas. Beethoven, Chopin, Shubert and Liszt were also known for their skills in this art. Bach wrote examples of how to improvise in his “Inventions and Sinfonias.”
Many classical musicians today, however, can hardly play a note that isn’t written down on the page. Cadenzas in concertos, the part where the orchestra stops and let’s the soloist take over, were traditionally meant for improvisation but are now almost always played from a written transcription. I even know fiddle players who have little “improv” ability beyond adding ornamentations to a memorized tune.
Before coming to Tehachapi and “jamming” with folk and traditional musicians, I was one of those purely “paper trained” musicians. I had rarely played more than “Happy Birthday” on my cello without music to read. But in the jams, I gradually started improvising harmonies behind folk songs until I gained at least some courage at it.
Last summer I attended the “New Directions in Cello Playing” Festival in Sacramento and was introduced to a wonderful method of playing and teaching improvisation for classical string players. We’ve been trying this around Mountain Music in trios and quartets and having great fun with it. All it takes is the ability to play a C scale in tune and the willingness to really listen and connect with the other musicians.
It’s hard to describe this method, but basically, we start by playing whole notes – any notes in the scale – and progress to quarter notes, then just open up to playing what we feel and tossing the ball, so to speak, from one player to another. In many ways, this is the purest form of music. We all just play, and make our own music, without any preconceived “tune” or composition. Although our experiments have been with string players, it probably would work with winds and brass, too.
If you are a string player who can play a C scale, we invite you to come give it a try at our Birthday Party on February 17th. From 12 to 2, we’ll intersperse fiddling and these free improvisations. Listeners are welcome, as well. It’s a real ear-opener!
Here’s the entire schedule for that day. It’s all free and open to everyone:
12-2 Focus on Strings – Fiddling and Improvisation
2-3 Beginning banjo workshop with our new banjo teacher, Ken Leiboff (aka Campfire Ken). Bring your own banjo or borrow one of ours.
3 – 3:30 Performance by Will James, Celtic and Americana Music
3:30-4 Ken will come back for a sizzling harmonica workshop.
4:15-4:45 Performance by Paint a Rose, Celtic Music
4:45 Open jam session, featuring teachers and other members of the Mountain Music family. New friends are welcome, too!
We’ll have a birthday cake, along with special sales in the store all day. And, of course, at some point in the day, we’ll all join in an improvised rendition of “Happy Birthday” to Mountain Music, now starting its tenth year!
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Happy Birthday, Mountain Music by Deborah Hand
It’s funny how 10 years can seem like a blink of an eye or an eternity. Mountain Music officially opened it’s doors to the public ten years ago Valentine’s Day. It seems like yesterday. It seems like forever!
We started at 121 East F Street, where Marty Pay/Farmer’s Insurance is now. We didn’t know that our downtown was already in a slide, or how far down the bottom would turn out to be. The Stockyard was still open, before the fire. Remember the shoe repair in the back? The 10-year cycle brought East F Street down, and now back to life again.
Will Patton and I started Mountain Music together, with lots of help from Flo Patton, Tony Aldava and other musician friends. Will taught banjo, and I taught guitar, violin, viola and cello. By the end of a day, my head was alphabet soup from reading in three clefs and trying to remember which instrument I was tuning. Will and I had been playing music with Bill Lorenz, so we signed him up to teach guitar. Then Gayel Pitchford came to down, and before long she had two full days of violin and viola students.
We already had the beginnings of the Tehachapi Community Orchestra, first at Bear Valley Christmas Sings and the previous summer with Beverly Chapman Roberts conducting. The new visibility of a music store provided a gathering place. Our little band of mostly string players was joined by brass players, clarinetists and others, and become the full orchestra it is today.
We also held weekly jam sessions. In the summer, they were outside on the plaza. There had been a weekly jam for years, run by Steve Hepner, that moved around to different houses. It had a semi-permanent home in Jon Hammond’s woodshed, then at the original Java Café in Old Town and later at the Pacific Rim Café.
Five years ago, we moved to 206 East F Street. Even though we more than doubled in space, we still need more! We kept the jams going for about a year, but people kept going off and forming bands. Next spring and summer, we may join forces with the Art Center and get the jams going again down there.
After we moved into our present home, we acquired “Fiddlers Crossing”, a catalogue of Scottish and other Celtic fiddle-based music. It’s now online, expanded, with an eBay store, and coming on strong. We have recently added the Grancino Editions catalogue of Baroque cello and string ensemble music, and will be their wholesale distributor, as well.
So what’s next for Mountain Music? The first thing is a big party! We’ll start a sale on Valentine’s day, then have a big music party on Saturday, February 17. We’ll have mini-concerts, jam sessions, improvisation demonstrations, and, of course, birthday cake. Everyone is invited to bring instruments and join in. We’ll have guitars on sale for as low as $50, and different specials each day and throughout the day on Saturday.
When the cake is all gone, we’ll start seriously working towards the future. Plans include the possibility of a building project to house more than just the music store, a greater web presence, an expanded music school program, and the Tehachapi Pops Orchestra, under the direction of Robbie Martinez and Adam Wojack. The decade ahead looks so full that before we know it, we’ll be looking back from 2017!
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They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but I disagree. I say, you stay young by learning new things. I meet people all the time who have finally decided to take up the guitar, banjo, mandolin or various other instruments. Most of the time they say that after years of taking their children to music lessons and wishing they had had that opportunity, now it’s their turn. It’s inspiring to see that happening. I encourage anyone who has ever had the dream to play music, or learn to do anything new, to start today.
Learning how to play an instrument in your adult years can be challenging and frustrating but extremely rewarding. For me, learning as an adult has been much more productive than when I was young. When I was younger, it was easier to put things off and think I had plenty of time for learning. I did say to myself way back when that when I was 50 I was going to play in an orchestra. I didn’t really have a plan on how I was going to go about it, but somehow it always stuck in my mind. Well, that dream materialized last Christmas with the chance to play Handel’s Messiah.
That opportunity came through a series of offers where I simply said “yes” instead of “no.” It’s so much easier to say “no” to things that are difficult, but last year I got up enough courage to show up at Gayel Pitchford’s Jr. Orchestra and rehearse with her group. Gayel has some terrific players in her group. For me, it meant stepping out and taking a big risk, because even though I have played bass (mainly electric bass) for many years, I don’t read music very fast (mmm, I don’t read books very fast either). I have relied on chord charts or learning by ear for playing contemporary music, but if you want to play classical, it’s pretty hard to play by ear or get by with chord charts. I have learned a tremendous amount with the Jr. Orchestra in a short time.
Last Christmas, thanks to my Mother, Maria Weir, I learned how to play most of Handel’s Messiah. I didn’t think I would actually play it because it seemed so hard at first, but I just kept practicing. My Mom, my sister, Tracy Barns, and Debby Hand all were very encouraging. I kept expecting another bass player to show up and take over, but guess what? Another one didn’t show up. I played most of it, skipped a few things that were out of my league, and had a thrilling experience. Jim Peck, our conductor, and all of our players, performed a beautiful Messiah at Mountain Bible. (We will be doing it again December 17 – so all you fence sitters, now it’s time to give it a try).
Last Tuesday, I stuck my neck out again. I finally showed up at a Tehachapi Community Orchestra practice. Several people have been encouraging me to go -- Wayne Thompson, Jim Peck and others -- but I just didn’t have the nerve. Even Ron Brzezinski, the incredible string bass player for the Tehachapi Community Orchestra, who was transferred to New York last summer, told me to show up last year and just play. I had a million reasons why I shouldn’t go but I finally decided to step up to the plate once again. It was quite an experience. I watched a lot of notes fly by, and little by little I found a few here and there. I sure have my work cut out for me. The other players were so gracious, supportive and encouraging. I am certainly not up to their level now, but who knows what a little time and work will do for me. I am heading down to my mom’s house on Thursdays for the maestro to tutor me once again. |
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Our latest shipment of Christmas songbooks from Hal Leonard included the “50th Anniversary Edition of The Alfred Burt Christmas Carols." These carols have a special place in my heart because my family knew the Burt family when I was a young child growing up in Studio City. For years, my parents, sister and I would sing our favorite Al Burt Carols in four-part harmony at Christmas parties and church sings. I can still sing the tenor part to most of his carols by heart!
Now, more than 50 years since Alfred Burt's untimely death in 1954, his carols have become part of the Christmas tradition for choirs and carolers all over the country. The best known are "Caroling, Caroling," (Caroling, Caroling, through the snow, Christmas bells are ringing), "Some Children See Him," and "The Star Carol." The first two have been performed by the Summit Singers in their Christmas programs. The Star Carol was the last one written, just before his passing, and will be in the Summit Singers' concert this year on December 9th. The Bear Valley Church did their entire Christmas program around the Al Burt carols one year.
Al Burt grew up in the small town of Marquette, Michigan, the son of the rector of the Episcopal Church. Reverend Bates Burt started a family tradition of sending an original carol as a Christmas card each year. In 1942, fresh out of the University of Michigan music program, Al composed his first music for the family card. He wrote the setting for "O Christmas Cometh Caroling," with words written by a Catholic priest from England. For the next six years, as he joined the military, was stationed in Texas, moved to California, and married his longtime sweetheart Anne, Al would compose the music to the lyrics sent to him by his father.
With his father's passing in 1948, Al and Anne decided to keep the family tradition alive. That year, Al's brother, John, sent them the lyrics for "Christ in the Stranger's Guise," which he had discovered on the wall of the Dean's study at Virginia Theological Seminary.
The next year, Al and Anne asked a family friend from Michigan, Wihla Hutson, who was a poet and church organist, to work with them on the words. Anne was pregnant with their daughter, Diane, so a lullaby, "Carol of the Mother," was a natural. At the same time, Anne wanted a carol that spoke to the universality of Christ in the eyes of children, and "Some Children See Him," was born. The team of Burt and Hutson continued writing, alternating the secular carols, such as "Come Dear Children" and "We'll Dress the House" with more religious ones.
The carols were first recorded in 1954, in an album called "The Christmas Mood." My mother sang on it, and I still have a well-worn copy. It was remastered and re-released a few years ago, along with later recordings of the carols. (Tune Town can probably get a copy for you.)
What I love about this anniversary edition is that it includes pictures of the Christmas cards. They were small, and simply illustrated. I have a few of them among my cherished family treasures.
Merry Christmas caroling!
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Musical Gifts By Deborah Hand
What would Christmas be without music? Without carols and the Messiah? Hard to imagine no “Jingle Bells,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” or “Hallelujah Chorus.” The Grinch might have stolen the décor and the presents, but he couldn’t stop the music.
When it comes to Christmas giving, then, is there anything more appropriate than a gift of music? Whether CDs, instruments, music books, lessons, or accessories, your gift will go on and on.
For instruments, many shoppers turn to online websites or big box stores. The low prices are alluring, but as in most areas of life, you get what you pay for. The cheap prices may lure the unknowledgeable buyer into the trap of an unplayable instrument. We often see instruments brought into our store that will cost more to set up properly than the original cost – and will still sound awful!
Before you take the “lowest-price” bait at one of these outlets, visit your local music store. You might be surprised at their competitive prices, and you will certainly get more in the way of service. All instruments are not alike, and the most important element is the “set-up.” For a guitar, this includes the strings, the way the neck is adjusted, the frets are inserted or the bridge mounted. In a violin or cello, it also includes the strings, as well as the shaping of the bridge, fingerboard and pegs. For wind instruments, it’s important that the keys fit properly over the sound holes, that slides work properly, and joints fit together well.
Aside from neck, bridge and fret adjustments in a guitar, the biggest problem with inexpensive ones is that they might not “intonate.” This means the frets aren’t aligned properly on the fingerboard. For instance, if you tune the guitar to be able to play a perfect C Major chord, it might be out of tune when you play a D Major or other chord. In this case, the only solution is to get a can of polyurethane, take the strings off and use the guitar for a plant holder.
For bargain violins or cellos, you’re likely to have a bow that is too soft to play properly, strings that are not much more than wire, pegs that don’t hold, a fingerboard that is warped, a tailpiece that buzzes, and…you get the picture.
You might have some recourse taking a lemon back to a big box store, as long as you have your receipt and it’s within 30 days. More often, your child tries to play the instrument and finally, in frustration, you bring it in to your local music store and get the bad news.
How much better to get an instrument that is “good-to-go” in the first place! A good local music store will stand behind their instruments. They should do a proper set-up before the instrument leaves the store. If a problem should occur later, you are more likely to have it taken care of by the store than trying to deal directly with a manufacturer yourself.
So don’t let the Grinch steal your musical Christmas. Shop at your local music store and give yourself the gift of service!
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