Cynthia Cathcart wrote: > May I put on my Pedagogy Hat? Now, I don't play the fiddle...
Neither do I... :-) However, the situation I'm considering is the very first lesson for a Beginners Whistle class. I would like to start off by getting them to learn, say, three notes: G, A and B. We'll noodle around on that for a while and then I'd introduce two more notes, say E and D. From that it would be a short way to introducing a tune which used all these notes and only these notes. The high D is a problem because it takes a particular skill to play it, and I'd like to wait a while before learning that skill. > ...I look more for tunes that have lots of repetition in pattern, > rather than focus solely on tunes that have just a few notes. The > Steve Foster tune "Oh! Susanna" for example, works real well with my > American students, because it is very familiar (they already know the > tune, so I don't have to teach that) and the first, second and fourth > phrases are identical... This is the ideal: a well-kent tune with few notes so that, very quickly, the students would achieve the playing of a tune on a new instrument to them. The polka I posted is a good example in some ways, but it's not well-known. I'll be looking for suitable tune, but I thought I'd ask y'all for help. > ...Au Clair de la Lune is the same way... Yes, and the first part uses only three notes (e.g. G, A, B)! > BTW, anyone know what "Stole My Wife" is about? Is it reflective of > some old wedding tradition, like the American tradition of > decorating the newlyweds' car so they can't get away quietly for the > honeymoon? I can't say I know that tune. Where does it come from? -- Nigel Gatherer, Crieff, Scotland [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/gatherer/ Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
