oh boy! someone is going to write a song about me!

I am an unashamed user of an ipad in musical settings. It functions as the current version of my personal "fake book" with all the songs I know, what key I"m doing them in, what verses in what order, what chords. If I'm in a situation where I want to pull up a song that I haven't played in a long time, the aide to memory the digital version gives me helps me not make a total fool of myself. These are songs I know to a goodly degree, for I've worked on them, arranged how I want to do them. I stopped being embarrassed by having my own book of lyrics years ago, when I took a ballad singing class with Frank Harte, source of a zillion collected songs, who had a binder on his lap to remind him of what version of a song he was doing.   

It's not the tool, folks, it's how it's used. iPad/tablet or smart phone being used the way folks do the dreaded Rise Up Singing, yeah, that annoys the hell outta me, too, when folks are reading lyrics to songs they are only passingly familiar with, or just looked up online. If it annoys ya so much, be specific about actually KNOWING a song before trotting it out in the settings where ya deem it inappropriate.

I recently had the pleasure of Judy Cook singing me a song she was working up for a program - and she pulled up the lyrics on her phone to make sure she had it right. Sure she wouldn't be doing that onstage, but in a group of friends? Fine by me.

I'm waiting for my verse now...

Joanne in Cleveland (who looks at Mudcat on her iPad)