Rita Hamilton wrote:
> I'm wondering just what you would use as your music source books.
> Would you mind sharing?
Hi Rita. Luckily I had compiled such a list back at the beginning of
April, so here goes:
1. Clan Dumphries Miscellany - a collection of sheep-calls,
cattle-summoning songs, mussel-sellers' ditties, etc, adapted for
the German Flute and Harp
2. Reeves's Rip-Roaring Reels - original tunes from very old and
legendary box-player from Stanley, Lanarkshire.
3. MacCauliff's Collection - A seventeenth century manuscript of tunes
from the Glenrothes conurbation, Fife
4. Skinner's Trashcan - a modern American book, a small collection of
tunes composed by James Scott Skinner but of which he personally
was ashamed.
5. Hastingius Caledonius - Scottish dance tunes adapted for the Spanish
guitar and maracas
6. Cathcart's Selection - Music for the wire strung harp, didjuridu and
cathedral bells.
7. Gatherer's Musical Gumption - a single sheet consisting of the
celebrated ukulele player's greatest hits
8. Hoy You! Tunes in the East Leith Style - Edinburgh fiddler Derek Hoy
presents tunes auld and new, including the newly-composed "The
Blessing of the Tartan"
9. Celtic Soporific - Gentle, evocative tunes with sensitive backing
ideal for getting the baby to sleep
10. Kerr's Magical Musings (all five volumes) - when a hapless
compositor set hundreds of Scottish dance tunes back-to-front
publisher JS Kerr was furious. However, on playing through the
collection, he realised that they sounded better that way, and this
remarkable document was released. ALP Scots Music Group in
Edinburgh now have three classes dedicated to playing reels, jigs
and strathspeys entirely the wrong way round, and I have heard of
a session breaking out in Silver Spring, Maryland, US, where if any
harpist attempts to play a tune forwards, they're bombarded with
filthy looks.
I'm not sure how many of these books are still available, but for a
suitable fee, I'm sure something could be knocked up. Cheques and
international money orders to the usual address.
--
Nigel Gatherer, Crieff, Scotland
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/gatherer/
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