Fridays
11:30am - 1:00pm Advanced Class New Tunes and Review
Zoom will be available for all classes.
Please check in with me on the morning of the class if you’d like to drop-in. Limited class size.
March Madness Session 6 weeks
Feb. 28 - Le Tourment, O’Keefe’s, Black Diamond, Fox Hunter’s Jig, Margaret’s Waltz, La Belle Catherine, Salt Creek and Cherry Orchard
March 3 -Berceuse Pour Hannah, Review Jam
March 10 - Merry Blacksmith, Sandy Broon’s Jig, June Apple, Green Willis, Robertson’s Reel, Salt Creek, Cherry Orchard and Berceuse Pour Hannah
March 17 - Gneeveguilla Polka, Review Jam
March 24 - Out On the Ocean, Vals des Jeunes Filles, Kevin McHugh’s #1, Danish 3-Part Waltz, Reel Saint Joseph, Cherry Orchard, Berceuse Pour Hannah and Gneeveguilla Polka
March 31 -Breaking Up Christmas, Review Jam
Winter Session 6 weeks
Jan. 10 - Review: Planxty Irwin, Possum Up a Gum Stump, Hog Eyed Man, Cooley’s Reel, Morpeth Rant, Eagle’s Whistle, The Bear’s
Jan. 17 - Robertson’s Reel by Tom Anderson (Da Slockit Light) video starts at 2:40 / Review Jam
Jan. 24 - Review: Snow Waltz, Morrison’s Jig, Lilting Banshee, Coffee, Father Kelly’s, Pete’s March, Robertson’s Reel
Jan. 31 - Salt Creek, Review jam
Feb. 7 - Review: Reconciliation Reel, Swinging On a Gate, Hills of Lorne, Vals des Jouets, Penobscot Memory, new tunes from 1/13 and 1/27
Feb. 14 - Cherry Orchard, by Lissa Schneckenburger, Review jam Lissa playing her own tune on YouTube
Fall and Late Fall:
Video/Audio: Swinging On a Gate, Reconcilliation Reel, Cooley’s Reel, Fox Hunter’s Jig, Margaret’s Waltz, Planxty Irwin
Sheet Music: Swinging On a Gate, Reconciliation Reel, Cooley’s, Planxty Irwin, Margaret’s Waltz
Morpeth Rant, La Belle Catherine, Eagle’s Whistle, Father Kelly’s
Valse des Jeune Filles, Valse des Jouets, Danish Waltz in 3 parts, Tam Lin
O’Keefe’s Slide, Out On The Ocean, Kevin McHugh’s Jig #1
Possum Up a Gum Stump (variation), Hog-Eyed Man, The Bear’s, The Black Diamond
Early Spring Tunes:
Father Kelly’s Reel - FKR SLOW FKR MED FKR 120bpm FKR 160 bpm. FKR 204bpm
For some bowing inspiration, watch Ellery Klein!
For some serious jam, watch Patty Kusturok!
For a lullaby version of the print version I used, listen to the Portland Collection surprise!
Tam Lin Music with Bowings (revised 3/24/24)
Tam Lin Practice Slow (60bpm) Tam Lin Practice Medium (80bpm) Tam Lin Practice Fast (100bpm)
Danish Waltz in 3 parts (sheet music) - taught at the Gangspiel Workshop
Video of the music and dancers!
Video of class April 5: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/foyD_g67Sd-S0_wUsTzlvqbgEwR1WO2V79jwD9LIfF33b3IJSoXGMfwzkhgGXEqi.E93OvINQglGKmm0C
Passcode: 6AKxY+ry
Out on the Ocean -
Kevin McHugh’s Jig #1 - video of David playing it for us and for those desiring sheet music…
Late Winter Tunes:
Eagle’s Whistle - played by Erika
Played by the Boys of the Lough, played by Kaylee Johnson, played by Jenna Moynihan, played by Adam Agee and Jon Sousa
Valse des Jouets, often paired with Valse des Jeune Filles
Reel Saint-Joseph - a little scratchy in style but a good version of the tune
Reel Saint-Joseph - here’s a cleaner version with stepping and guitar
La Belle Catherine: a crooked Quebecois fave! Get your stepping in gear…
La Belle Catherine - André Brunet performs this classic
La Belle Catherine - by Celtic Fiddle Festival
La Belle Catherine - one more fun one by Tim Chaisson
La Belle Catherine sheet music
The Black Diamond
The Black Diamond - practice
The Black Diamond - on caffeine
Valse des Jeunes Filles - by the lovely Jay Unger and Molly Mason
Valse des Jeunes Filles - by the lovely Northwestern Music Academy
Valse des Jeunes Filles - a mandolin version that’s clean and musical
Valse des Jeunes Filles - a lovely ensemble version I hear us doing
Valse des Jeune Filles - a lovely and inovative introduction
Morpeth Rant - my practice audio
Morpeth Rant - audio with harmony
Morpeth Rant - the middle tune in the set by Pete’s Posse
December 15 - Hog-eyed Man, Possum Up a Gum Stump, Snow Waltz (Snow Waltz Audio)
December 8 - Morrison’s Jig, Coffee, The Bear’s
December 1 - The Hills of Lorne, Le Petite Soldat de Bois, Doon the Brae
Late Fall Session
November 16 - After several weeks of playing Scottish tunes and noticing that no one ever picks The Hills of Lorne, I have decided to teach it again. If I recall correctly, I wasn’t able to teach it in person last year so it will be a first for many of us. This beautiful melody has similarities to Da Slockit Light even though it comes from opposite ends of the country. I hope The Hills of Lorne speaks to you as much as that other favorite. I will be hosting the Afternoon Class on Zoom but will not make an additional recording of the class since I already have a video for review.
The Hills of Lorne - video by Erika Ludwig
November 9 - Fiddle Hell was hellacious and fiddly! Here’s an adorable tune we learned on Saturday night at a 10:30pm (!) class with Éric Favreau. “Le Petit Soldat de Bois” - The Little Wooden Soldier is slightly crooked at the end of the B part with much repetition throughout. In the video, Éric starts off slow and then brings it up to a sweet tempo.
My personal video of Éric Favreau playing the tune at Fiddle Hell
Here’s Steve’s audio file for those of you who download
Esther sent this: Sounded vaguely familiar--so looked it up in "1000 airs du Quebec et de l'Amerique francophone" also goes by Reel du Petit Cheval de Bois, a traditional tune from Louis "Pitou" Boudreult. Here's La Bottine Souriante (around 3:14): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4Fc91Ce2xE
October 27 - I’m in the thick of it now…both the Halloween season and this 3-3-2 bowing pattern. A new reel, “The Witches” was a real struggle to find a bowing pattern for until I realized that once again, the 3-3-2 pattern was called for. This one will have three separately bowed notes followed by three slurred notes for many of the measures. Listen for that in the practice version.
The Witches - practice (80 bpm)
The Witches - inspiration (120 bpm)
The Witches - Faith Grossnicklaus plays The Warlocks & The Witches insanely fast, worth the wow
Sheet music for The Witches
October 20 - After mentioning to someone that I had taught Halloween Reel, they asked if we knew “Ichabod’s Last Ride”. What?!? another themed tune for my collection?!? Too good to pass up, here’s my funky version (as opposed to breakneck reel speed) if for nothing else than I could play that G#dim chord in time and use that new syncopated shuffle bowing we learned for HogEyed Man .
Ichabod’s Last Ride - inspiration
Ichabod’s Last Ride - by someone who actually knows how to play it
Ichabod’s Last Ride - because we need to see and hear this one too!
October 13 - It’s Friday the 13th… and the last class of the session. We’ll get a jump on the end of the month and learn Halloween Reel by ear. Please see new class schedule (time) for the Late Fall Session. I’ll be moving the time to 3:00pm for the late class and keeping the noon one.
Halloween Reel - practice (new track 10/11/23)
Halloween Reel - inspiration (new track 10/11/23)
October 6 - Maybe I’ve bitten off more than I can chew with this one… I’ve choked so many times on the recordings my eyes are watering. Hog-Eyed Man is a modal tune in A Dorian (play like G). Part of the reason I’m struggling is because while looking up recordings I came across David Bragger and Susan Platz’s album “The King’s Lament”. Then I remembered Anne gave me a book of transcriptions for that album which, I admit, I’d looked at throughly once and decided it was over my head. Their version is SO good though that I just had to learn it their way and hence my becoming a hog-eyed-woman.
Bragger’s version is oldtime at it’s finest. Kick it off with anticipating the downbeat with a 4th finger slide, then master the “syncopated shuffle” (bow one, slur two, bow one, slur two, bow two) and you, too, can play like Bragger and brag about it! The rest of us will play it like Clare and Walt’s video, no doubt.
Hog-Eyed Man - from “The King’s Lament”
Hog-Eyed Man - “Clare and Walt”
Hog-Eyed Man — slow practice — medium practice
September 29 - Possum Up a Gum Stump may sound like a familiar title since I taught a version of it to the Monday Class but we will learn a more complex version that highlights the shuffle bowing pattern when you’ve got 8 eighth notes in a measure.
PUGS - practice audio (90bpm) PUGS - faster practice (120bpm). PUGS - inspiration (160bpm)
PUGS - inspiration by Contradiction and another one (great shuffle!) by Snuffy Jenkins
PUGS - sheet music (because… Matt Cranitch said “learning by ear is fine, but when you’re trying to learn bowings, print versions are so much more helpful.”)
September 22 - Coffee, by Gary Haggerty, was a discovery in the Portland Collection a few years back. Fred Frayer and I play it at the end of a set that starts with Morrison’s Jig, shifts it up a notch to Lilting Banshee then ends with Coffee and goes out with my “The Who” ending (not included in these recordings).
NEW “How to play Coffee” video Part 1
NEW “How to play Coffee” video Part 2
Coffee - practice audio
Coffee - inspiration audio
Coffee - this isn’t the whole tune but I really like what got captured… inspired!
Coffee - by Chalkboard Poets, a really fine version by both players (but I don’t like what they paired it with).
Coffee - sheet music
September 15 - Starting off with an obscure tune that needs a refresher: The Bear’s. It’s in print in the Ten Year Anniversay Book but we need to learn it by ear!
The Bear’s video (please excuse washing machine noise in the background)
Munlochy Bridge (audio file) - a Strathspey that Maggie McRae taught us in ‘22
Highland Lassies Audio Practice Highland Laddies at Tempo
The Boat Band: Jenny Lind Polka
Tam Lin - reel by Peakfiddler Tam Lin - jig by Peakfiddler Tam Lin - reel by MacNeil Fiddle
How to do Bow Work:
choose a small group of notes, no more than one measure’s worth
find a “no finger” way of practicing the pattern, on open strings, just the back and forth of it
then add fingers to the pattern
don’t over-do it, keep relaxed!
find a pacing that lets you practice small sections 3-5 times then move on to the next section and plan to come back to the first sections in a future practice session
when you put it all together start with making larger sections and looping those before taking on the whole enchilada
go slow! aim for 100% accuracy vs. speed - stay calm and in a singing mood
This bow work is part of practicing but is not what we worry about when learning by ear. In both, the priorities are notes and rhythm before bowings. Rhythm and speed are not the same thing. Bowing inclinations will change as you speed up the tune so don’t try to do all the bowings at once - add them in as they are needed and focus on getting the tune in your head and your left hand.
Tam Lin Music with Bowings Tam Lin Code with Bowings Tam Lin Code simple bowings
Tam Lin Practice Slow (60bpm) Tam Lin Practice Medium (80bpm) Tam Lin Practice Fast (100bpm)