Re: [scots-l] Brechin Session

For those of you nearby/interested there will be a session on Brechin at the Caledonian Hotel on the fourth of June (next Friday) at around 20.00. Do they play James Oswald's Brechin Reel? - Kate D.

Re: [scots-l] Brechin Session

Sorry I don't have time just now to make an ABC. It's in the Caledonian Pocket Companion. I only knew because he also put that reel in his Thistle Sonata. - Kate D. We'll see tomorrow! Nevertheless, I didn't know about this tune, Could you post the abc for it, please? Do they play James

Re: [scots-l] Kerr's Reel and Strathspey Pages

The puzzle remains, however. Surenne's characterisation of the foursome, at least according to the evidence collected by the Fletts, seems to be found only in the anarchic choices of the Kilberry piper. The arrangement in the books seems to point to a well-founded practice on the dance floor,

Re: [scots-l] Kerr's reel-and-strathspey pages

have the dance moving from strathspey to reel, but not back to strathspey again. I didn't think that the layout necessarily meant that they went back to strathspeys after reels in a dance. I just thought it was like in Cape Breton, where you wouldn't dream of playing a strathspey without a reel

Re: [scots-l] Re: Petrie's collections

I have a further question: these tunebooks seem to be inconsistent in noting which tunes were composed by Petrie and which were from other sources (in the first tunebook there's no authorship info so I assumed most tunes were Petrie's own, however I found several that I know to be traditional.

Re: [scots-l] Petrie's collections

Please eliminate the bass line, and, to the extent that you are willing to do the work, use usual keys: d, g, c, a or f. I await the result. Some researchers do look at the bass lines, although those people will want to see the original anyway. Even if not to play, the bass line tells you what

Re: [scots-l] Petrie collections

I have a facsimile of Robert Petrie's tune books (thanks to Jan Tappan), which I think have never been reprinted, Llanerch Press reprinted them, they're still available and not very expensive. Llanerch Press reprinted George Petrie. That's an Irish collection. - Kate D. Posted to Scots-L - The

[scots-l] confused fiddlehead attempts whistle

Hi folks, I've been attempting to learn to play the whistle lately (can old dogs learn new tricks?). I'm wondering about the ornamentation. I can see that pipe-playing whistle players naturally approach ornamentation a certain way, which is quite different from what my fiddle-playing

Re: [scots-l] Sandy Duff

The High Reel? Nice tune which I haven't played for maybe 7 years :-) Are you starting to play more Irish tunes Kate? I'm not playing much of anything, but I'm starting to think about what I would like to play when I get going again. - Kate D. Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish

Re: [scots-l] Re: Sandy Duff

It's not in Gore because it's a pipe tune. Where have you read about The High Reel? There seems little doubt on the evidence: X:609 T:Sandy Duff B:Scots Guards, Standard Settings Thanks Nigel! That's so often the explanation when I can't find a tune in Gore. I don't have very many pipe books,

[scots-l] Sandy Duff

I've now read in two places that the Irish tune The High Reel is descended from a Scottish tune by the name of Sandy Duff. However, neither Sandy Duff nor Alexander Duff is listed in Charlie Gore's index and I haven't been able to locate any reference to the tune in a Scottish collection.

Re: [scots-l] Skinner's Colours

I think his observations reflect the physical characteristics of the fiddle. Oh yes, I am such a fiddlehead that I forgot to say that. I often recognize the key a fiddle is playing in from the character of the tone (although possibly I'm subconsciously noticing which strings are open as

Re: [scots-l] Skinner's Colours

On Sunday, October 5, 2003, at 04:51 PM, Nigel Gatherer wrote: Somewhere I saved James Scott Skinner's list of colours which he assigned the various keys on the fiddle. Where did I put it? I don't know about colours, but here's how he characterized the keys in A Guide to Bowing: C major Bold,

Re: [scots-l] Ferintosh in Linlithgow

Just a note to say that Ferintosh (Dave Greenberg, Abby Newton and Kim Robertson) will give an informal and FREE performance in St Peter's Church, Linlithgow this Sunday 15th September as part of Doors Open Day/Linlithgow Folk Festival. Sunday is the 14th, yes? I think it's at 2 pm, although I

Re: [scots-l] Ferintosh in Linlithgow

Ferintosh will also be in Penicuik, Biggar, and Stirling on this trip. Dates? from http://www.dungreenmusic.com/Greenberg/Greenberg.html#schedule : Sept 12 (Fri) 7:30 pm concert. Penicuik Arts Centre. Sept 13 (Sat) 2 pm workshops: cello, fiddle, clarsach. The Corn Exchange Theatre, Biggar.

[scots-l] reassurance

latter CD goes a bit wild, with Frith and Zappa compositions alongside Bremner, Christie, and MacGibbon... Don't worry too much -- they're not mixed -- just on the same CD! It makes sense, really : - ) - Kate D. -- http://www.DunGreenMusic.com Halifax, Nova Scotia Posted to Scots-L - The

Re: [scots-l] reassurance

Oh wow, so he finally gave into temptation eh? I knew that would eventually happen when he started playing Purple Haze on the fiddle in front of us :-) Well, that was fairly atypical. Frith and Zappa and the Finnish tunes were David McGuiness' idea, and the Hungarian tunes are due to my

Re: [scots-l] Modal Tunes (but seriously)

A double bass player looked at the sheet music and played along with the tune. He then complained that it was in two sharps but was in E minor. My explanation that it was a dorian not an aeolian tune ( I do hope I got this bit right) was greeted with some derision. OK, if modes do not mean

[scots-l] Oswald

I am listening right now to a sonata by Oswald, The Virgin's Bower which will be on the forthcoming Ferintosh CD (David Greenberg, fiddle - Abby Newton, cello - Kim Robertson, harp). It's the most baroque art music of anything on there, but there is other crossover between trad and baroque

[scots-l] Arrochar

Has anyone been hiking in Arrochar? Is there a bridge there? {This is the title of a tune recorded by the Five MacDonalds, who were fiddlers from Cape Breton). - Kate D. Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to:

Re: [scots-l] Arrochar

Where is this tune written down Kate? Oh, it's actually already in the DunGreen Collection, but I'm revising. I never actually had that particular Five MacDonald's LP in my hands before yesterday, so I hadn't realized the tune was on any recording by that name. I had thought maybe it was a

Re: [scots-l] Benjamin Franklin on Scottish music

Jack Campin wrote: he thought that the harmony arose from *successive* tones in the music - each note harmonizing with its predecessors, and the sequence of intervals being chosen to make this work, which implies a preference for melodic intervals wider than a tone. I don't know very much about

Re: [scots-l] Re: More Scottish fiddle questions

interesting to have on the net... And Niel Gow, who probably wouldn't have a computer yet. Oh he might have one, but Nathaniel would be the one using it. - Kate D. Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to:

Re: [scots-l] Squirrel in the Tree

I think the reason Sandy smiles when he plays it is because he thinking about Doug MacPhee (the CB piano player) who absolutely abhors the tune. I'm pretty sure that Sandy will play it at least once whenever he's accompanieed by Doug just to jerk Doug's chain. I've heard a few stories of

Re: [scots-l] simple tunes for young fiddlers

I usually use Bonnie Tammie Scolla as an early beginner tune. I teach it as a song first, then the tune on the fiddle. It isn't Cape Breton, it's Shetland. Yes, that's the one I was thinking of. I don't have the music for it. I thought I would never forget it after hearing it last summer

[scots-l] projecting at dances

it still leaves me puzzled about how musicians fared at dances there. In the days before electricity were people much quieter than they are now? I think this must have been true. At Cape Breton dances today, the sound systems are so powerful that people shout to each other in order to have

Re: [scots-l] Tunes for 1st of August

Sorry for cross-posting. Me too! I replied to the Kitchen Ceilidh one but then I remembered that I think maybe someone had discussed the King of Sweden on the Scots List before, so: Does anybody have the notation or abc for a pipe tune 'Coc ard' or the song An Taillear Mòr. I know that it is

Re: [scots-l] Good fusions, bad fusions

Toby, your definition of fusion must be different than mine; when I think of fusion I think of groups like The Peatbog Faeries and Shooglenifty, not Alasdair Fraser! What are you defining his style as a fusion of? -Steve Gosh, I also would say that Alasdair Fraser plays some sort of fusion

[scots-l] reel speed

While we're talking about reels, and since there are a good smattering of fiddlers here, I will hazard another question: how fast are they usually played for dancers? One organization here in the States advertises the actual tempo of reels at 130-140 per half note/minim. Ignoring the fact that

[scots-l] Lancers, Quadrilles

However someone mentioned that the square sets are not an import from the Scottish Highlands, like the step dancing is. Rather the square sets were imported from either the States, England or other parts of Canada, and jigs fit the right meter for the dance. Supposedly they evolved from the

Re: [scots-l] lift the bow off the strings?

Title: Re: [scots-l] lift the bow off the strings? I've never heard of a 'straight slur' where you briefly stop then continuein the same bow direction. It's supposed to sound very staccato. But it doesn't mention in the book if it is acceptable to lift the bow off the strings! I don't know if

[scots-l] Re: Nathaniel Gow

Andrew Kuntz wrote: I'm looking for a portrait or likeness of Nathaniel Gow... Nigel Gatherer wrote: There is one on my website at http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/gatherer/perf/fiddlers/nathg.html That looks to be the head from the portrait in the Glen Collection of Scottish Dance Music

Re: [scots-l] Nathaniel Gow

I'm looking for a portrait or likeness of Nathaniel Gow There's one in the Glen Collection. I only have a photocopy of it. - Kate D. -- http://www.DunGreenMusic.com Halifax, Nova Scotia Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your

Re: [scots-l] Re: J. Scott Skinners new CD

Can't you mathematically 'correct for' poor cylinder speed control to get an idea of what speed he was playing at?. Seems that if you know the info about the apparent pitch and the apparent tempo, and one makes a few basics assumptions: such as the tune should be played in the key of ?? and the

Re: [scots-l] Maids of Arrochar

Does anyone have any information about the tune 'The Maids of Arrochar'? I see it listed on Nigel's ABC site (as a jig, but I've only heard it as a slow 6/8) as coming from the Gow collection, but does anyone know whether Gow wrote it? The only people I've heard playing it are Tommy Basker and

[scots-l] Re: J. Scott Skinners new CD

I like the album as a historical document, to hear how Skinner played, what he played, what speed he played at, and so on. I have that old vinyl LP also. You can't actually tell at what speed Skinner played from the LP because, although it may have faithfully reproduced the cylinders are

[scots-l] Celtic Studies 310

Hi folks, There was some interest on the Cape Breton list when someone else posted about this, so I thought I would mention it here. I will be teaching an online distance course for the University College of Cape Breton starting in the fall. It is a credit course which anyone can take. It

Re: [scots-l] Few Notes

I came across the Irish polka below, and what drew me to it was how few notes are used in the tune (five in all). I'm trying to find Scottish tunes which use as few notes, for use in teaching complete beginners. Any suggestions? I always use Mairi's Wedding in A. Works out well on the fiddle

Re: [scots-l] Tempi and other not so dumb questions

Re Stuart Eydmann's recent e-mail on the subject: I am very interested in the work you refer to which was done by Dr. Peter Cooke... to explain the internal rhythmic variation in traditional players which gives the music its particular lift, lit and drive. Is it available? Alexander, we

Re: [scots-l] Another dumb question? [improvisation]

This reminds me of another probably dumb question I have: Is a snap considered an optional ornament? What I mean is, can you substitute it for 2 eighths or for a dotted 8th-16 combination for effect, or is it only played when written? You might substitute cuts/birls/triplets for a snap made up

Re: [scots-l] Reel ID Please

I'm not having much luck getting a reply these days - is anybody out there? However, I'll try again. Does anyone know what this tune is? No idea. Do you have some project going with these tunes you have been asking about? - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Re: [scots-l] William Marshall

this tradition. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html

[scots-l] PM William Ross

Does anyone know the dates for Pipe Major William Ross? (If there has been more than one, I mean the one with the collection who composed a bunch of tunes.) Is it correct to say he was 19th-century, or did he overlap with another century? - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax

[scots-l] Circus tunes

by... and as performed by... I just imagined that the tunes were for character and hornpipe dances on the stage. The tunes don't seem very interesting. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish

[scots-l] Johnnie Cope

to be so vague. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html

Re: [scots-l] Places

this song to my guitar group at primary school. Philip It's a great tune, for fiddle too. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your

Re: [scots-l] Maggie Brown's Favourite

that was earlier than Gow, so I think it's Nat's tune. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com

[scots-l] Mrs. Crawford

similarly). Mrs. Crawford's is almost the same as Forneth House which Robert Petrie claimed as his own composition. Maybe Nathaniel Gow reset it (it's a bit better as Mrs. Crawford's, in my opinion). - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen

Re: [scots-l] Session Tunes

about the Nineties Collection, Nigel. I will have to get hold of one. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http

Re: [scots-l] Session Tunes

) The Setting Sun (Ian Hardie) - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html

[scots-l] 6/8 tune for beginners

I've been looking for a 6/8 tune for beginners (all suggestions welcomed) Stan Chapman has been teaching all his beginners John Allan's Jig by Dan Hugh MacEachern for years. I tried it on a class I taught and found it pretty good for the purpose also. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg

Re: [scots-l] Mist-Covered Mountains

of the late King George VI and was played at his funeral, also at the late President John F. Kennedy's funeral. I can send you the translation if you want it Cynthia. - Kate -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L

[scots-l] Old Woman of Mabou

to it! - Kate -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html

[scots-l] Chestnut?

if it is also played a lot in Scotland. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html

[scots-l] Fraser composition in Gow?

. On the other hand, I never looked into it before. - Kate -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com

Re: [scots-l] Tuning and Electronic Tuners

it better? I think I also like it because I amplify it right on my fiddle bridge so it seems like my own instrument making the sound. At a session, when I can't hear a pitch fork, I just tune to what seems to be the average A. - Kate -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Re: [scots-l] What makes a style Scottish?

Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html

Re: [scots-l] What makes a style Scottish?

this turns into intolerance of the opinions and practices of others. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http

[scots-l] The Connoisseur, Sir Harry

it in a book anywhere. In one of the Cranford Publication books the title is The Thistle. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your

Re: [scots-l] 18th C Guittar - pix and details

. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html

[scots-l] Learning methods

of the great collections. -- AY STAN That was a GREAT post and I will keep it handy at all times! - Kate -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point

[scots-l] Rocking Step

ng. I had always just assumed that the title referred to the Rocking Step of the Highland Fling. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscrib

Re: [scots-l] Shetland geetarr

itar stuff is complicated harmonies but simple rhythms. Where's the resemblance? Bass runs? - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point yo

Re: [scots-l] Birlin'

sn't shown with cuts in the Athole Collection, but I heard it that way in Cape Breton -- first quarter note of the second measure. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture

Re: [scots-l] before or after the beat

their influences have been anyway. They can have classical or Irish habits. I think maybe you have to have lived in Scotland for a while to know what's really traditional there -- or have a lot more recorded examples than I have! - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Re: [scots-l] before or after the beat

every once in a while you get Scottish ornaments resembling rolls because of the way a melody happens to go plus the addition of a grace note to fill it out. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional

Re: [scots-l] Birlin'

of how fiddlers bow that one. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html

[scots-l] Sailor's Wife jig

I think for The Sailor's Wife Em is a more usual key than Dm. Not here it isn't - people play it in D minor or not at all (despite it being in print in E minor for well over a century). I have only heard it played in D minor as well. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova

[scots-l] music notation

all lined up the way somebody claimed they were. - Kate D. -- Kate Dunlay David Greenberg Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.total.net/~dungreen Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com