Here's a tricky little piece. Well, at least the variations are pretty busy, so if it's tipping down over the weekend settle down with this and limber up your fingers. Who said arpeggios aren't fun? I must point out that variation VI doesn't play back very well on midi but the notation is correct - linger over the quavers slightly and dash the triplets off. Have fun!

X:1
T:Oh!Dear! What can the matter be?
M:6/8
L:1/8
Z: Peter Dunk 18 July 2008
C: Trad - Variations by Tom Clough
K:Gmaj
d3 d3 | dBg dBG | c3 c3 | cAB cBA | d3 d3 | dBg dBG | ABc BcA | G3 G2 d :|
dBc dBc | dBg dBG | cAB cAB | cAB cBA | dBc dBc |dBg dBG | ABc BcA | G3 G2 d:|
L:1/16
"Var I"
|: d2BcdB g2BcdB | d2BcdB edcBAG | c2ABcA a2ABcA | c2ABcA agfed^c |
d2BcdB g2BcdB | d2BcdB edcBAG | E2G2c2 B2c2A2 | G6 G4 Bc :|
"Var II"
|: dcBcdB dcBcdB | d2B2g2 d2B2G2 | cBABcA cBABcA | c2A2a2 g2f2e2 |
dcBcdB dcBcdB | d2B2g2 d2B2G2 | E2G2c2 B2c2A2 | G6 G4 Bc :|
"Var III"
|: d2B2G2 D2G2B2 | dGBdgd bagfed | e2c2A2 D2F2A2 | FDFAdA agfed^c |
d2B2G2 D2G2B2 | dGBdgd bagfed | E2G2c2 B2c2A2 | G6 G4 Bc :|
L:1/8
"Var IV"
|:d2 b B2 g | GBd DGB | c2 a A2 c | DFA cBA |
d2 b B2 g | GBd DGB | EGc BcA | G3 G2 B/c/ :|
L:1/16
"Var V"
:| edcBAG edcBAG | BGBdgd bagfed | fedcBA fedcBA | FDFAdA agfed^c |
edcBAG edcBAG | BGBdgd bagfed | E2G2c2 B2c2A2 | G6 G4 Bc :|
L:1/8
"Var VI"
|: d (3BdB e (3cec | d (3BdB BAG | c (3AcA a (3bag | f (3gfe d (3ed^c |
d (3BdB e (3cec | d (3BdB BAG | EGc BcA |[1 G3 G2 B/c/ :|[2 G3 G3 |
W:
W:
W:
W:

offtopic

... and here's something
for tallship for this weekend
or
here... just down the road from me, today till monday lunchtime.

It would be nice but alas Liverpool is a fair step from Kent! I've not visited any Tall Ships at all this year which is a bit disappointing; I am a fan, but that's not the reason for my username, that's another story ...

To me that tune is all greek to me. I now empathise with people who cannot read music. I'm keen to translate that alphabet soup into a language I can read.
Is there any "secret English business" in that code, or does it translate perfectly into Anglo? (or recorder, tin whistle & so on)
I presume the letters are notes of the same name?
Please, what is the significance of the capitals, and the numerals?
Are the vertical lines bars, and : the same as in written music?

The tune is presented in ABC format more of which more can be found HERE

Hello Steve, no secrets here mate; abc is a text based scoring language that you don't need to learn unless you want to transcribe music yourself. To see, hear and print the music above simply highlight and copy the text and then paste it into an online converter like the Tune-O-Tron. Click submit and there you have it. You have the choice of listening to a midi playback or viewing and printing a high quality .pdf document. Enjoy!

Some folk can actually play straight from the abc I believe but that's not something I've ever attempted. There are plenty of learning resources on the net and more tunes in abc format than you could shake a stick at. Do bear in mind that they're all written by people like me so errors do creep in ...

Pete.

What fun and how wonderful! A bit like Hanon (piano exercises) for the concertina!. What a great way to warm up every day... but it will be long time before I can the variations from memory.

Thanks,
Pamela

Lester, Pete, thank you for the pointers.
Got it all written down now & turned into midi.
The tune-o-tron didn't like me, but once you know the code (thank you for the link Lester) it is straightforward (& quite fun) to copy it onto music staves.
A very pretty melody, much nicer than the version I had filed away to learn.
I stand in awe of anybody who can sight read (play) from that ABC notation.

One important thing to remember is that the text must be pasted exactly as is, inadvertently add a blank line before the text and it will mess up; syntax is critical with abc. That said I've had the Tune-O-Tron act strangely one or twice recently, you could always try the converter at O'Regan's which has the added advantage of being able to transpose abc to other keys.

Would I be correct in assuming this melody sounds particularly pleasant on an English?

The tune-o-tron now likes me. Problem solved (an operator problem, there is nothing wrong with the tune-o-tron)
It is an amazing tool.
For transcribing by hand, I found it more accurate to read from ABC than from staff notation (no lines to confuse with my no longer youthful eyes, just simple unmistakable "a-b-c")

Now that I have seen the tune-on-tron in action, my .midi/sheet music software is found to be wanting, must find something better. (or perhaps my software is fine, just suffering from operator trouble)

Not when I'm playing it. Unless of course you would enjoy listening to it played very s-l-o-w-l-y! Sounds grand when Sal plays it on recorder or whistle and the Cut and Dry Band knock it out well on a handful of Northumbrian pipes. Not sure how hard it would be to play smoothly on an anglo but I won't be trying it just yet on the melodeon.

Good to hear your getting on well with abc; like I said, there's a wealth of stuff out there on the net.

Oh, and if you thought that tune was a bit of a challenge, wait till you see what I've got lined up for next weekend.

Pete.

Edited for the traditional typo.

Exellent tune!
There was some problem with displaying converted music, variation 6 was dropped off.
But I deleted first 5 and it displayed the last one.
So now I just have to print it and combine in one sheet.
I especially like the last one, with triplets.
The point is to learn to play it crispy, and with good rhythm.

Where is my metronome, when I need it?
Anybody seen my metronome?
Excuse me sir, have you seen my metronome?

Tha-an-ks!

Yes, for some reason the low res version only displays a single page, the .pdf shows the whole thing but prints it on two pages. Glad you liked the tune (and variations). Another one coming up at the weekend but that might be the last for a while due to lack of suitable material.

Time for this weeks offering, a taxing little ditty with plenty of variations. If it plays too fast for you on the midi playback alter the Q: field in the header (fifth line down), changing this value to 100 will make it quite pedestrian. Oh, and don't ask me what on earth the title means because I haven't a clue!

X:1
T:Cuckold Come Out Of The Amery
M:4/4
L:1/16
Q:1/4=110
Z:Peter Dunk 20 July 2008
K:G
"1"
|: ABcA c3d e3d e2g2 | G2G2 B3c dBAG BcdB |
ABcA c3d e3d e2g2 | d2cB g2B2 A4 e4 :|
"2"
|: g3e c2g2 e2c2 efge | dcBA G2d2 B2G2 BcdB |
g3e c2g2 e2c2 efge | d2cB g2B2 A4 e4 :|
"3"
|: ABcA cdec efge cdec | GABG BcdB dBAG BcdB |
ABcA cdec efge cdec | d2cB g2B2 A4 e4 :|
"4"
|: gfef gfef gfed cdec | dcBc dcBc dcBA GABG |
gfef gfef gfed cdec | d2cB g2B2 A4 e4 :|
"5"
|: cege cege cege cege | Bdgd Bdgd Bdgd Bdgd |
cege cege cege cege | Bdgd g2B2 A4 e4 :|
"6"
:| A2ed c2ed A2ed c2ed | G2ed B2ed G2ed B2ed |
A2ed c2ed A2ed c2ed | BcdB g2B2 A4 e4 :|
"7"
L:1/8
|:gceg ce/f/ gc | gBdg GA/B/ de/f/ |
gceg ce/f/ gc | dc/B/ gB A2e2 :|

Well spit it out man!

The weekend weather forecast doesn't look too good in the UK, so here are a couple of tunes to get the fingers working, both should be played fairly staccato but it was too much trouble to try and get the abc spot on. These tunes appear on a CD called "The Wind in the Reeds" which is still available (in the UK at least). A brisk jig and a triple hornpipe seem to go well together and Pheasant's Dance is a particularly pretty tune. m3838 should enjoy this one.

Pete.

X:1
T:Pheasant's Dance
D:Cut & Dry Band
O:Northumbria
M:6/8
L:1/8
Q:1/4=200
K:G
B2 c ded|c2 B ABc|dBG E2 A|FDF G3:|
B2 G c2 A|B2 G A2 g|dBG E2 A|FDF G3:|
BdB cec|AcA BdB|GBG AcA|FDF G3:|
f2 d gdB|gdB a2 A|Bcd E2 A|FDF G3:|


T: Rusty Gully
M: 3/2
L: 1/8
Q:1/4=130
K: Gmaj
|:G/A/B/c/ dG BG FA Ac BA|G/A/B/c/ dG BG DG GB AG:|
|:g2 f2 eg fd df ed|ce Bd Ac BG GB AG:|

Edited to correct the abc for Rusty Gully, which was, as Roger Gawley correctly pointed out (see below), musically incorrect. It plays much better now on the Tune-O-Tron! - Thanks Roger.

That would be the CD that should have been called "The (almost) Complete Cut and Dry Band" featuring Alistair Anderson with the two Robbs and two other Northumbrian pipers whose names will not come right now. So they should be played very staccato if you want to get the pipes sound.

I know a record shop (OK, I partly own it) that would be happy to send the recording to any part of the world.

The other two were Jim Hall and Colin Ross.

tallship has beaten me to filling in the names.

Having printed out the tunes and taken them home, I see that something funny has happened to Rusty Gulley. The time signature is given as 3/2 but there are six quavers to the bar. Now, around here (northeast England) Rusty Gulley is generally played with an alternating rhythm. Take the dots as they come out and treat the time signature as being alternately 3/4 and 6/8. Actually a few 3/2 tunes seem to do this but not always so regularly.

Not explaining this very well. Think of each bar as six notes, whatever they are and place the accents in the odd-numbered bars on beats one, three and five of the six and in even-numbered bars on beats one and four. I think this is what the Cut and Dry Band do on The Wind in the Reeds but they play it very fast.

Will try to dot this out over the weekend, Roger

Pete
Rusty Gulley is oft combined in sessions in t' South East, with The Dusty Miller, ABC below.

X: 1
T:THE DUSTY MILLER
B:John of The Greeny Cheshire Way
N:� John Offord, Reproduced with permission
M:3/2
L:1/8
K:G
B3 c d2 B2 A2 G2| F2 A2 A2 B2 c2 A2 | B3 c d2 B2 A2 G2 | D2 G2 G2 B2 A2
G2 :|
|:B2 c2 d2 e2 f2 g2| a2 A2 A2 c2 B2 A2 | B2 c2 d2 e2 f2 a2 | g2 G2 G2 B2 A2
G2 :|

Play Dusty Miller first, followed by Rusty Gulley. And you will see what I mean!

Chris

I had a copy of Rusty Gully in Pete Loud's Northumbrian, Tyneside and Other Fiddler's Tunes book but it was written differently and was not as 'busy' as the Cut and Dry band version. The abc I posted here came from The Session website and the midi file plays back pretty much as the Cut and Dry Band played it so that was good enough for me. I'm a moderate sight reader but I sometimes struggle a bit with the less common time signatures, I didn't even try to count this one I just know it plays like the version I'm familiar with.

Pete.

I've now edited the abc in the original post so that Rusty Gully is written as proper 3/2 but I'd still be interested to see the notation as you described it Roger.

Here are a couple of hornpipes that go well together. Alistair Anderson's Fancy needs a little thought about the fingering if you're playing it on an English but otherwise it rattles along quite nicely. Enjoy the weekend.

X:1
T:Alistair Anderson's Fancy
C:Will Atkinson
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=140
R:Hornpipe
Z:Peter Dunk
K:G
(3DEF | G>BF>G E>GD>C | B,>DG>B c>ed>c | B>GD>G B>dc>B | A>GF>G A>cB>A |
G>BF>G E>GD>C | B,>DG>B c>ed>c | B>gf>e d>BA>c | B2G2G2 :|
F>G | A>cF>A D>FA>c | B>dG>B D>GB>d | c>eA>c B>dG>B | A>GF>E D>GF>G |
A>cF>A D>FA>c | B>dG>B D>GB>d | c>eg>e d>BA>c | B2G2G2 :|
F>G | A>cF>A D>FA>c | B>dG>B D>GB>d | c>eA>c B>dG>B | A>gf>e d>cB>A |
G>BF>G E>GD>C | B,>DG>B c>ed>c | B>gf>e d>BA>c |1B2G2G2 :|2B2G2G3 |

X:1
T:The Shining Pool
C:Willie Taylor
R:Hornpipe
Q:1/4=140
L:1/8
M:4/4
Z:Peter Dunk
K:D
(3ABc | (3def (3edc d>BA>G | F>AE>A D2 F>G | A>dc>d B>dg>f | (3efe (3dcB A>gf>e |
(3def (3edc d>BA>G | F>AE>A D2 F>G | A>dc>d B>de>f | (3cBA (3gfe d2 :|
f>g | a>fd>f e>cA>G | F>Ad>f a>fd>c | B>gg>B A>ff>d | (3efe (3dcB A2 f>g |
a>fd>f e>cA>G | F>Ad>f a>fd>c | B>gg>B A>ff>d | (3cBA (3gfe d2 f>g |
a>fd>f e>cA>G | F>Ad>f a>fd>c | B>gg>B A>ff>d | (3efe (3dcB A2 (3ABc |
(3def (3edc d>BA>G | F>AE>A D2 F>G | A>dc>d B>de>f |1(3cBA (3gfe d2 :|2(3cBA (3gfe d4 |

Nice tunes. I tried them out on my front porch. A lovely way to spend a pleasant, if warm (80 F), fall afternoon when I should have been grading.

Chris, as we both seem to live in t'Sarf East perhaps we should go out of our way to bump into each other at the Tenterden Festival next weekend as I only live four miles away and you're probably going anyway ...

I am between 40 and 50 miles away but I am anticipating going there on Saturday.

I do not know any details of the programme so I do not know specifically where I will be, but if there is a good music session going, I am sure I will find it.

- John Wild

This one's been driving me potty for a few days, can't seem to get it out of my head so I thought I'd share the insanity.

X:1
T: Whinshields Hornpipe
C: JL Dunk
M:2/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=110
K:G
d/c/| BG GB | AD D2 | GG G/A/B/c/ | d>B dg | ec ce | dG GA/B/ | cB AG | FA d>c |
BG GB | AD D2 | GG G/A/B/c/ | d>B dg | ec ce | dG GA/B/ | c/B/A/G/ Fd | G3 ||
d | g>a g/f/e/d/ | BG GA/B/ | c/B/c/d/ c/B/A/G/ | FA Ad | g>a g/f/e/d/ | BG G2 | AA B^c |
d3 d | g/f/g/f/ g/f/e/d/ | BG GA/B/ | c/B/c/d/ c/B/A/G/ | FA Ad/c/ | BG GB | AD DB |
c/B/A/G/ Fd | G3 ||

As a footnote to the tune above, I found this in Pete Loud's excellent collection of Northumbrian and Tyneside Tunes which I can't recommend enough. It's packed with great tunes, each more playable than the last.

I was drawn to this particular tune by the composer's uncommon surname which is the same as mine - so I had to give it a go. Try as I might I can find nothing else at all written by J L Dunk, so was this possible relation an early 'one hit wonder' or does someone here know better?

I've heard a few versions of Whinshield's before, and it's always been one that has stuck in my head. It's usually the first tune I play when I pick up a whistle. I never heard the name of the composer, however. Here are a few recordings on FARNE from an old fiddler:
http://www.asaplive.com/archive/detail.asp?id=B1701004
http://www.asaplive.com/archive/detail.asp?id=P0010011

Extraordinary, but I can quite see why. It seems pretty complex at first but it's one of those tunes that rolls out all on its own and is a perfect warm up piece. Many thanks for the links, it's pretty enlightening to hear what fiddlers did with the tune although they're very faithful to the dots.

Well, it's certainly firmly fixed in my head now and may well drive me insane at this rate. It kept me awake at about 3.00 am this morning; I just couldn't get it out of my head.

Great tune Pete, thanks for sharing it!

It's a pleasure John as long as it's not driving you right around the bend!

Here we go with a two part Christmas special, a piece by Alistair Anderson called Windy Gyle. There are two very different parts one laid over the other to spectacular effect. The first part is in 6/8 and played very slowly so don't think it's any kind of jig as such. The second part will follow in the next few days, a 9/8 slip jig played at a blistering pace over the top with two bars of 9/8 to every bar of 6/8 but actually it still sounds charming if the whole thing is slowed to a manageable pace. All you need now is another musician to join in; I need someone to play the fast bit ...

X:1
T:Windy Gyle (6/8)
C: Alistair Anderson
Z: Peter Dunk. December 2008
Q:1/4=60
M:6/8
L: 1/16
K:G
|:B3AG2 d4 D2 | A6-A6 | c6 B3AG2 | A d-d4 B6 |
B3AG2 d4 c2 | A6 D3GA2 | B3AG2 Ac3A2 | G6-G6 |
D4 A2 A3Bc2 | d4 G2 c6 | B3AG2 d4 D2 | A6-A6 |
D4 B2 B3AG2 | A d-d4 c6-|c3 d c2 B3AG2 | Ad3D2 G3 :|

Very nice. Takes a lot of gyle to play it! I await part 2.

Chris

I've edited the original post as I got the timing wrong, it's actually two bars of the slip jig to each bar of the slow 6/8 air. It should be played in the following order:

Slow air twice through solo
Slip jig twice through solo
Air and slip jig together until your fingers drop off.

Here's the slip jig, Merry Christmas!

X:1
T:Windy Gyle (9/8)
T: 2 bars of 9/8 to one bar of slow 6/8 air
C:Alistair Anderson
Z:Peter Dunk December 2008
Q:1/4=240
L:1/8
M:9/8
R:Jig
K:G
"1" |:BAG d2 F G3 |BAG G2 BA2 F | DED F2 G A3 | FGA A2 c B2 d |
"5" edc g2 c G2 c | dcB g2 B G2 B | AGF d2 A D2 F | GAB dBA G3 |
"9" BAG d2 F G3 | BAG G2 B A2 F | DED F2 G A3 | dAF D2 E F2 A |
"13" GBd gaf g3 |afd c2 A F2 A | Bcd G2 B d2 f | gdB cAF G3 |
"17" ABA d2 A F2 A | D2 EFGA c2 e | ded g2 d B2 g | e2 d cde A2 c |
"21" def gfa g3 | gfa g2 d cAF | D2 F ABG A3 | DEF ABc edc |
"25" BAG d2 F G3 |BAG G2 BA2 F | DED F2 G A2 B | c2 d edc g2 f |
"29" edc g2 c G2 c | dcB g2 B G2 B | AGF d2 A D2 F | GAB dBA G3 :|

I see this thread was started in warm weather.................I'm just looking out at 26" of snow and thought I'd check C.net for any good tunes ( this is one of my favourite C.net places) before I go out and shovel.By the time I've gone through all these great looking tunes I'm thinking the snow may have melted ( or not!)
Thanks for the tunes,Pete, and let me respond with this one I heard a little while ago....not so difficult just a great tune with four parts and from the same tradition.
Cheers Robin

Pete,

The notation I have for this - from one of Mr A's workshops - is in the key of A and there is a harmony line to the slow air.

I think the the order of play on the 'Syncopace' cd and on the 'Windy Gyle' cd is the slow air solo, then slow air with harmony line, then the slip jig alone, then the slip jig with slow air and then back to the slow air played in unison. The Syncopace version is my favourite; it starts with a lone cello playing the slow air melody - shivers down the spine for me!

Hello John, I got the dots from one of Alistair's workshops too and it does say at the top that it was originally in A. The slow air does indeed have a harmony line, I was just too lazy to transcribe it but I'll probably do that over the next few days. As for changing it back into the original key of A that's simple with an abc file using the converter at www.folkinfo.org or the one at O'Regan's Tunebook. I might post the tunes in the original key in a little while.

I don't know why Alistair changed the key for the workshop unless it was to accommodate the diatonic instruments or musically challenged players.

Windy Gyle in A. I'll add the harmony to the slow air as soon as I can

X:1
T:Windy Gyle (6/8)
C:Alistair Anderson
Z:Peter Dunk. December 2008
M:6/8
L:1/16
Q:1/4=25
K:A
|:c3BA2 e4 E2 | B6-B6 | d6 c3BA2 | B e-e4 c6 |
c3BA2 e4 d2 | B6 E3AB2 | c3BA2 Bd3B2 | A6-A6 |
E4 B2 B3cd2 | e4 A2 d6 | c3BA2 e4 E2 | B6-B6 |
E4 c2 c3BA2 | B e-e4 d6-|d3 e d2 c3BA2 | Be3E2 A3 :|


X:1
T:Windy Gyle (9/8)
T:2 bars of 9/8 to one bar of slow 6/8 air
C:Alistair Anderson
Z:Peter Dunk December 2008
R:Jig
M:9/8
L:1/8
Q:1/4=240
K:A
"1" |:cBA e2 G A3 |cBA A2 cB2 G | EFE G2 A B3 | GAB B2 d c2 e |
"5" fed a2 d A2 d | edc a2 c A2 c | BAG e2 B E2 G | ABc ecB A3 |
"9" cBA e2 G A3 | cBA A2 c B2 G | EFE G2 A B3 | eBG E2 F G2 B |
"13" Ace abg a3 |bge d2 B G2 B | cde A2 c e2 g | aec dBG A3 |
"17" BcB e2 B G2 B | E2 FGAB d2 f | efe a2 e c2 a | f2 e def B2 d |
"21" efg agb a3 | agb a2 e dBG | E2 G BcA B3 | EFG Bcd fed |
"25" cBA e2 G A3 |cBA A2 cB2 G | EFE G2 A B2 c | d2 e fed a2 g |
"29" fed a2 d A2 d | edc a2 c A2 c | BAG e2 B E2 G | ABc ecB A3 :|

this can be heard played by Alistair as a member of Syncopace, on the CD 'Syncopace', I think the only CD with this particular combination.

- John Wild

Yes, I have the Syncopace CD and jolly good it is too. There's also an excellent version of Windy Gyle on a CD called " Ifran frammande land" by Swedish folk combo 'Ditt Ditt Darium' (one of whom is Emma Reid); this arrangement features two vocalists singing the slow air and is quite haunting.

Anyway, here's the slow air with the harmony line in the keys of G and A.

X:1
T:Windy Gyle (6/8)
C: Alistair Anderson
Z: Peter Dunk. December 2008
Q:1/4=60
M:6/8
L: 1/16
K:G
V:1
|:B3AG2 d4 D2 | A6-A6 | c6 B3AG2 | A d-d4 B6 |
B3AG2 d4 c2 | A6 D3GA2 | B3AG2 Ac3A2 | G6-G6 |
D4 A2 A3Bc2 | d4 G2 c6 | B3AG2 d4 D2 | A6-A6 |
D4 B2 B3AG2 | A d-d4 c6-|c3 d c2 B3AG2 | Ad3D2 G6 :|
V:2
|:D3CB,2 G,4B,2 | A,4 D2 F3EF2 | G6 G3DB,2 | C F-F4 D6 |
B,3CD2 F4 E2 |D6 F3EF2 | G4 B,2 CF3D2 | B,6 D3CB,2 |
A,4 D2 D3CA,2 | G,4 D2 E6 | D3CB,2 G,4 B,2 | A,6 D3EF2 |
G4 D2 B,4 C2 | D F-F4 E6-|E3 F E2 D3CB,2 |CF3D2 [D6B,6]:|

X:1
T:Windy Gyle (6/8)
C:Alistair Anderson
Z:Peter Dunk. December 2008
M:6/8
L:1/16
Q:1/4=60
K:A
V:1
|:c3BA2 e4 E2 | B6-B6 | d6 c3BA2 | B e-e4 c6 |
c3BA2 e4 d2 | B6 E3AB2 | c3BA2 Bd3B2 | A6-A6 |
E4 B2 B3cd2 | e4 A2 d6 | c3BA2 e4 E2 | B6-B6 |
E4 c2 c3BA2 | B e-e4 d6-|d3 e d2 c3BA2 | Be3E2 A6 :|
V:2
|:E3DC2 A,4C2 | B,4 E2 G3FG2 | A6 A3EC2 | D G-G4 E6 |
C3DE2 G4 F2 |E6 G3FG2 | A4 C2 DG3E2 | C6 E3DC2 |
B,4 E2 E3DB,2 | A,4 E2 F6 | E3DC2 A,4 C2 | B,6 E3FG2 |
A4 E2 C4 D2 | E G-G4 F6-|F3 G F2 E3DC2 |DG3E2 [E6C6]:|

I'd like to hear it, sound very intriguing. Maybe I'll input it into some music scoring software I have to get an idea with a MIDI version. Hm, wouldn't it make quite a showpiece played on a single duet? Simply transpose the air down to C and play it on the left, and transpose the slip jig up to C and play it in the right. That'd even fit on my small 46-button duet... HA!

silly duplicate.

Go for it Jeff, you're a far better player than I will ever be and your suggestion is impossible on a English anyway but to be honest I think left and right hands playing in different time signatures is perhaps a step too far for anyone. So make my day and prove me wrong!

If you're dying to hear it, the Syncopace CD it is still currently available in the UK, message me and we'll sort something out ...

Pete.

It's also on the CD 'Windy Gyle' by Northumbrian piper Anthony Robb and others, where it's played more slowly than the Syncopace version. Alistair is also on one track on that cd, playing concertina.

Hear the version Pete mentions here. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...endid=166435063

Thanks for the link John, I had no idea that Ditt Ditt Darium had a MySpace page or I would have linked to it myself. I would recommend downloading the mp3 and listening via a dedicated player unless you have a decent sound system connected to your PC.

...................great posting/thread, team !!

I played the tune (Windy Gyle) from the sheet music a couple of times and though "Neh"
But then hearing Ditt Ditt Darium playing it. Fantasic ! I'm constantly surprised at how inadequate written music is to express a good tune......I guess it's what we've got but MP3's etc are for me a really useful technology.
Good New Year to all
Robin

Good to hear you'll be having fun with it Robin; I guess the next step will be to take it down to the local session and get them playing all three parts.

There are many occasions when I play a tune through from the dots and don't 'get' it; having the abc listing and being able to play back a midi of the tune at least gives you a basic idea of what's going on but I agree it's nice to hear tunes played by real people, especially when it's as complex as Windy Gyle.

Clever geezer that Alistair Anderson. Consummate musician, but I think his greatest talent is actually that of a composer, he's certainly turned out some lovely tunes in his time.