Playing Fiddle » Scottish and Irish

Au Cluin thu mi mo nighean donn (Are you hearing me my brown haired maid?)

Ellen — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 05:08:35 +0000

I’m quite taken with this tune, Au Cluin thu mi mo nighean donn (Are you hearing me my brown haired maid?) by Iain McColl. It’s a Scottish Gaelic air. So someone enlighten me. I am not sure how to define Gaelic versus Scottish versus Irish. I said “Scottish Gaelic” because that’s how it’s described in the booklet that comes with the DVD. Regardless, it’s a lovely tune and quite easy to learn off Play Scottish Fiddle – Intermediate, a DVD I picked up off Amazon.

I tried to find an YouTube video of it or some other rendition but failed.

I have a hard time playing it as slowly as it’s played on the DVD. But I’m working on it.

Playing Scottish Fiddle

Ellen — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:47:10 +0000

A while back I bought a DVD on playing Scottish fiddle, Play Scottish Fiddle – Intermediate by Sarah Naylor. I haven’t bought many instructional DVDs like this but it seems quite good to me. There are 6 songs, excuse me TUNES!, taught and they cover a nice variety of rhythms and tempos. There’s a reel, a jig, a strathspey, an air, and two marches. There are also individual exercises on a few specific bowing patterns like the Scots Snap and driven up bow.

She’s quite easy to understand and has a lovely accent besides. The filming is done quite nicely with good closeups of bowing and fingering. The songs are taught at a nice pace. I’m used to learning them backwards but I can get over that.

Overall, I would recommend this video if you want to learn a few Scottish tunes.

Traditional Scottish Music Online

Ellen — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:55:39 +0000

Just found this great site, AyePod.net. I’ve been enjoying listening to their podcasts of a radio show on traditional Scottish music. They’ve also got recordings of various sessions and sell some instructional programs for fiddle, whistle, harp, and concertina.

Edited to add, here’s a better link with a detailed listing of the artists on each podcast. Some great stuff, from fiddle to pipes to rock to vocals.

Scottish Fiddle Music

Ellen — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:18:53 +0000

I’ve been learning a few Scottish tunes. Listening to Old Blind Dogs was what sparked my interest in learning fiddle. I sounded out a few tunes, like Margaret Cromar’s and Leaving Lochboisdale. Lately I started practicing them again, as well as some I’ve learned from listening to Alasdair Fraser older albums, in particular Return to Kintail and The Driven Bow. Some I have sounded out and others I have started with the transcripts in The Fiddle Music of Scotland, a great book I picked up a while back.

What I’m practicing

Ellen — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:39:59 +0000

I’m trying to memorize Jenny’s Welcome to Charlie this week. My teacher likes the Frankie Gavin version but I’m having an easier time listening to Martin Hayes slower version, Jenny’s Welcome to Charlie.

Last night I tried to play through most of the Celtic tunes I’d memorized at some point or another. Many needed some refreshing but I was pleased with how quickly they came back with a quick glance at the music or playing of a recording. I’m still trying to memorize an adapted version of Sharon Shannon’s Jean’s Reel though. Some songs just seem to get stuck partway done.

These songs were pretty solid:

99 March
Lucy Farr
Bobby Casey’s Hornpipe
Banshee’s Wail
Blind Mary
Caisleean na n’Or
Calum Squire
Girl That Broke My Heart
Jenny Dang the Weaver
Love Won’t You Marry Me
Miss Susan Cooper
Pretty Peggy
Stool of Repentance
Whistler from Rosslea

So now I should go practice some of those songs that were less than fresh!

The Moon and Seven Stars

Ellen — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 04:33:33 +0000

Learning a new tune for St. Paddy’s day, The Moon and Seven Stars.

When John first introduced the backwards building concept I absolutely hated it. But, being me, if I’m paying someone for advice I do try to listen! So I kept trying it out–and lo and behold it works!

It’s now normal, and oddly enjoyable, for me to learn a song by playing it through a few times and then starting to memorize it by learning the final phrase. Then the penultimate phrase and then adding in the final phrase. Then the 3rd from the end phrase, then working in the last big, which I already know.

The result is that I relax as I get to the end since I know it the best.

That’s such a different feeling from when I used to memorize stuff from the front end. I’d get more and more nervous the more I played, since I was getting into less familiar territory. Now I might tense up a bit in the beginning (the newest stuff) but then I’m past that pretty quickly and can relax and just play.