Karaoke

One of my greatest pleasures is to play tunes in accompaniment to a couple of compilation CDs which I have created. Among the artists on the CDs are:

Alasdair Fraser Captain Campbell (S), Archibald MacDonald of Keppoch (A), Little Brown Island in the Sea (A), Roslin Castle in Cm (A)
Aly Bain The Full Rigged Ship (J), The New Rigged Ship (R), The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry (A)
Betsy Hooper Nathaniel Gow's Lament for the Death of his Brother (A), Da Slockit Light (A), Athole Brose (J), Ewe wi' the Crooked Horn (S), Archibald MacDonald of Keppoch (A)
Bonnie Rideout MacDonald Lord of the Isles (A)
Matt Cranitch Connachtman's Rambles (J), Amhran na Leabhar (A), Boys of Bluehill (H), Cliffs of Moher (J), Sheebeg & Sheemore (A)
Johnny Cunningham Hector the Hero (A), Mist Covered Mountains of Home (A), The Skye Boat Song (W), The Dark Island (W), Knocknagow (J), Lochanside (M)
Mairi Campbell Crossing to Ireland (W), Memories of Fr Angus MacDonnell (A)
Old Blind Dogs Morag Haig-Thomas (S), Lochanside (M), Roslin Castle in Gm (A)
Pete Clark Niel Gow's Lament for James Moray (A), Niel Gow's Lament for the Death of his Brother Donald (A), Niel Gow's Lament for the Death of his Second Wife (A), Farewell to Whiskey (A)
Peter Cooper Harvest Home (H), Morrison's Jig (J), The Maid Behind the Bar (R), My Darling Asleep (J), Gillan's Apples (J), Old Joe's Jig (J), The Banshee (R), Walls of Liscarroll (J), Jackie Tar (H), Paddy's Rambles Through the Park (A), The Wounded Hussar (A), Teetotaler's Reel (R), Silver Spear (R), The Butterfly (J), Brian Boru's March (M), Star of the County Down (W), The Merry Blacksmith (R), Cooley's Reel (R)

Legend: A=Air, H=Hornpipe, J=Jig, M=March, R=Reel, S=Strathspey, W=Waltz

Scotland revisited

In the last couple of weeks, I have undergone a reawakening regarding Scottish fiddle music. So many fiddlers identify themselves as "Irish" or "Scottish", but I don't see any reason to restrict my practice or pleasure to one or the other genre. Scottish tunes have their own unique rhythm and flavor and I have a keen appreciation for the beautiful airs, marches, and strathspeys which come from this tradition. Tomorrow night, I will see and hear Alasdair Fraser perform and I will no doubt experience an even deeper appreciation of the music of my Caledonian ancestors.

Circle of fifths

One of the things I enjoy about music is its rationality and structure. The more I play, the more apparent and important theory becomes to me. For a music theory 101 synopsis, one can't do much better than the very informative circle of fifths article in Wikipedia.

Graduation day

John finished regraduating both the spruce top and the maple back of my 1892 Sahla German fiddle. He also lowered the ribs, adjusted the neck height, and replaced the sound post, bridge, & bass bar. In addition, he rehaired my (backup) Rolland carbon fiber bow. The result is that the Sahla has increased power and clarity, particularly in the upper registers.

Regraduating doesn't increase the market value much, so I won't really get a return on my "investment"; however, it plays noticeably better than before and will sell more easily if I ever choose to do so. I sought a relatively inexpensive, but high quality, backup instrument for situations in which I would have been loathe to use Lorelei, and now I have it.