Robert Fisher

My wife just called from the next room "Is that a bass pedally thing?". I love it!

Right Sqzbxr! I didn't name them up front because I wanted people to have the surprise of not knowing what was coming next... Both songs about getting older and settling down. Not that I'm anywhere near that stage of life .

An odd pairing, quickly learnt and recorded so that I can join in the fun: https://soundcloud.com/7wheels-1/odd-pairing

There are so many variations on this tune! I chose to use the music from: http://abcnotation.com/tunePage?a=www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/Olson/BM3.ABC/0065 And recorded: https://soundcloud.com/7wheels-1/packingtons-pound I was initially a little intimidated by all those flats... but one of the reasons I got an EC was to be able to play in whatever key took my fancy. There's plenty of month left, so perhaps I'll see what else I can do with it.

I'm amazed by how well you got it out. It's not the same as the version with pizzicato fiddle, but it still works - at least in the context of TOTM. Thanks for angsting!

8 degrees C max today (46 F) and -5 C apparent temperature when the wind and humidity is taken into account. Still a good time to learn new tunes though.

The first tune is Little Brown Jug, a perennially popular American tune/song first published in 1869. It was a popular children's song when I was a kid, though with simpler lyrics (but different from those on the Wikipedia link), and back then I didn't understand that it was supposed to be about alcoholic beverages. Thanks. Its good to know that it has a name. I just listened to a big-band swing version of Little Brown Jug on youtube - compared to the guitar, fiddle and lagaphone version from my childhood its from a different planet!

Thanks for the encouragment. I find it supprising when a tune like this falls easily beneath my fingers (and frustrating when it doesn't). Hopefully that will happen more and more.

Well that was fun. I should have had a closer look at this piece earlier. https://soundcloud.com/7wheels-1/emmas-waltz

Talk about slow. I think my brakes are stuck on this month, but here is a tune for the thread: https://soundcloud.com/7wheels-1/polka I don't usually play by ear... in fact almost never. I have no idea what I'm playing so this time I had to play by ear. In school we regularly did dance classes and this polka was a perennial favourite. I've talked to friends from around Australia and they all know this tune from school so it is probably education department approved. I segue at the end into another tune that we always danced the polka to too.

I've struggled a little with this one. I really wanted to use the Mozart score and record multiple tracks for the different parts... but I really find it hard playing in time with myself. I was hoping to improve on this recording, but I've more or less run out of May. So: https://soundcloud.com/7wheels-1/michael-turners-waltz

That's very listenable (if that's a word). A calm and thoughtful 3 minutes.

I'll kick off with a fast version of J Scott Skinner's Cradle Song. https://soundcloud.com/7wheels-1/cradle-song-fast I much prefer it slow... and had to fiddle with the speeded up version a little to make it work-ish.

Very nice . The sort of arrangement that I might aspire to.

I'm sure that you've all been wondering "Where's Robert gone?"... We've just come back from an epic holiday to the USA, visiting New York and California, seeing the tourist sites and visiting relatives and generally having a good time. I've just been trying to catch up with all that's been posted over the last couple of months and have enjoyed listening to all of the recent posts. Before turning to the May threads I thought I'd try my hand at a tune with esoteric time signature just to get back into the swing of things. I've recorded an old English folk song called Death and the Lady which my wife sings sometimes. I don't think that it was originally written with a specific time signature in mind - in fact it probably wasn't written at all. The arrangement that Helen has switches from 3/2 - 3/4 - 5/4 - 4/2 - 3/4 - 4/2 - 3/2... all in just the first verse. The second and third verses are not straight repeats of the first, but vary in subtle ways... so I didn't go there. I've just recorded the first verse as a sampler and a warm up for the Speed Zone. https://soundcloud.com/7wheels-1/death-and-the-lady

I'm finding this really hard! It either sounds plodding, or completely messy (no comments about my previous recordings here please). While I'm not really into jazz or blues, I do listen occasionally.... but this is the first time I've ever tried to play in that style. I might need to see if I can play drunk

I've also been racking my brain trying to place that tune. My wife would place it immediately - she is very good at that sort of thing - but she's in New York at the moment and has ignored by emailed pleas for help. But then it suddenly came to me and now I can sleep at night again.

I've just uploaded the Dr Who Theme: https://soundcloud.com/7wheels-1/dr-who-theme They have played around with the theme quite a bit over the years, so apologies if this isn't your favourite version. I started off thinking that I might tap out the rhythm with my foot while playing, but I found it incredibly hard to keep the rhythm consistent and ended up recording the foot tapping as a separate track... and once you start multi-tracking...

I'm afraid that we won't be going this year... too much going on at the moment. I'd love to go though and camp for the weekend... so maybe next year.

The music I used to learn... though not exactly what I ended up playing: X:1 T:Mazurka des ecoliers de Saint-Genest M:3/4 K:Emin L:1/8 E FE|:B2 Bc de|B3 B cB|A2 BA GF|G2 EE FE|B2 Bc de| B3 B cB|A2 BA GF|1 E3 E FE:|2 E4 ed|]: c2 cB cd| e3 e dc|B2 BA Bc|BG E2 ed|c2 cB cd|e3 e dc| B2 AG FG|1 F2 E2 ed:|2 E3 E FE|] E6 |]

My practice time is still quite limited, but I've managed to randomly choose a French Mazurka to learn and here it is: https://soundcloud.com/7wheels-1/mazurka-des-ecoliers-de-saint My internet sources say that it was composed by Gilles Chabenat and is called "mazurka des écoliers de Saint Genest". I'm still not quite clear as to what contributes to the essential Mazurkaness of a piece. If anyone has views on this I'd like to know!

I'm supporting the deployment of a new space debris laser tracking system this month (there wouldn't be many others with that excuse) so my time is limited. I've had a quick burl at playing the Sheriff - no tricksty interpretations this time, just trying to stay on my horse: https://soundcloud.com/7wheels-1/sheriffsride

Well done. For someone with sore hands you play a sprightly tune. I look forward to the foot bass addition. My father's hands are not in a good shape. He showed an interest in playing concertina when I started learning - having heard people playing them in the pub when he was much younger. But he didn't have the flexibility to get around the keys. I'm hoping that that isn't hereditary.

Just a thought: Who is it who has the foot bass? I imagine that this tune would work wonderfully!

Very nicely done from both of you - but I loved the rhythm in the accompaniment. Both this and Wolf's version - not an ompah in sight. (Not that I have anything serious against ompahs... but variety is what TOTM should be all about.)