Here is the second tune in our new set, Major Mackie, or Major Mackie’s Jig. This is tune from the late 1800’s, it turns up in English, Scottish, Canadian and American traditions. It was first published in the ever popular series Kerr’s Merry Melodies.
Here are the dots, followed by videos of the tune and rhythm parts.
Here is our first official tune of the term, Captain Lanoe’s, aka Captain Lanoe’s Quickstep, Marionets (sic) or Marionets Cotillion. This is an English country dance tune from the late 1700s.
Here are the dots:
Here is a video of the tune, followed by one for the guitars/ukes/percussion:
Here is the video and dots for Ladies Pleasure, a tune from the Fieldtown Morris tradition and one that changes meter from 6/8 to 2/4. The ‘2’ over the patterns in bar three (and elsewhere) indicate a duplet, so instead of each main beat dividing into three quavers as it would normally in 6/8, it divides into two quavers.
Here is the video:
Here are the dots – the structure would normally be ABCBCB.
Here is the development of Uncle Bernard’s, transposing the tune down a minor third to the relative minor of E minor. Since the tune starts and finishes on the tonic (G in G major or E in E minor) and moves mostly in small intervals, we were able to move it down without making very many changes – we only tweaked bar 30 (middle of the B section), bringing the melody down to an E rather than sticking on the G. In the video below I have included the version notated and then a version without the adjustment.
This new version can be played as a complete tune in its own right, or added to the end of the major version as C and/or D sections.
Here is a PDF:
Something a little different this week – an extremely old hymn from Orkney in the Lydian mode. This mode is similar to a major scale but has a raised 4th, it’s quite an unusual mode but very beautiful! We tried harmonising with minim F-G patterns in the first half and minim C-D in the second half, as demonstrated in the second video (you could actually play C-D all the way through). We added single cuts in between repeated notes and turns in places where the melody descended by one or two steps.
Here are the dots, with a PDF beneath:
Here is a video for a plain version and one with ornamentation, and a video of the tune and harmony together:
Here are the dots and videos for Uncle Bernard’s, an English polka.
Here is the basic arrangement that we put together, as a PDF:
Here is a video of the parts – the sound quality isn’t great, but you get the idea!
Here is the tune from the last week of term (with one week owed and to be made up by me this coming term), The Wind that Shakes the Barley. This is a fantastic Irish reel and follows on well from The Witch in the Glen. Here is a video with a slow and faster version:
Here are the dots, with some suggested bowing/phrasing patterns.
Here is a PDF:
Here’s Monday 21st’s tune, a jig from Shetland called The Foula Reel, aka Da Shaalds o Foula, or Boanie Tammie Scollay. It’s a pentatonic (five note) tune that’s deceptively simple and repetitive!
Here’s a video with a slower and faster version:
Here are the dots, with the harmony/bass line.
Here’s the PDF:
Monday 28th’s tune is Hector the Hero by James Scott Skinner. Written in 1903, the tune was composed as a tribute to Major General Sir Hector MacDonald (1857-1903), a celebrated and decorated military officer who died of suicide following public accusations of homosexuality. Scott Skinner’s tune has remained popular since it’s composition.
Here is a video of the tune, with a slow and plain version followed by a faster and more decorated version of the tune.
Here is the download of this tune, and a second version with suggestions of bowing, variation and ornamentation.
Here is the B section of last week’s tune Gille-Callum, with further ideas on how to practise these rhythms:
Here’s a video of the B section and some practise methods:
Here a video of the whole tune played slowly:
Finally a PDF of the whole tune and chords:
and as a little extra, here’s the E5 chord for the ukulele players!
Finally, I’ve done a simplified version of the tune here, essentially removing a few (but not all of) of the trickier rhythms, for anyone who would like it: