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TUNES and SONGS
What do we play? It depends on the occasion, of course, but
you might hear old time style dance tunes from Europe or
North America, waltz-polka-schottische dances, traditional
songs and ballads, folk songs both old and contemporary, and
occasional forays elsewhere. Some choices are unique to a
setting or the other musicians we might be playing with, some tunes crop up most everywhere. We've played
for dances, parties, weddings; as background music, dinners large or small; and special
events; for jams and for no reason at all. There really is
no limit. |
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FIDDLE TUNES
from
Angelina Baker to
Cold Frosty Morning,
Girl I Left Behind Me to
Jackie Tar, maybe
Kitchen Girl, or
Marie's Wedding, and... There are so many great reels and
jigs it would take many lifetimes to sample them all!
Meantime, we do our best with this one life, adding to our
repertoire from all corners and constantly hearing new tunes
we'd like to play.
AIRS & WALTZES
Beautiful tunes for
dancing or listening, old (Battle of Aughrim) or new
(Over the Ice by Keith Murphy); Finnish (Ragvalsin Waltz),
Irish (Si Bheag Si Mhor - O'Carolan), or French (Waltz of the Little Girls),
they hold a special place in our hearts and our instruments.
OTHER TUNES
Variety is not only spice, it's life -- and
music is permeated with it. Some are dance tunes --
Jenny Lind (Heel and
Toe Polka), or Off to California (schottische). Others are
just fun -- Bango's Tune, written by our
mandolin/banjo/ukulele friend Marilyn Ouellette; or
Viiskolome, written by Finnish fiddler and teacher
extraodinaire, Mauno Jarvela.
and SONGS --
Traditional (voyageur era 'Red River
Valley'), Contemporary Folk (Si Kahn's 'Crossing the
Border'), Popular from many eras (Ledbetter's 'Goodnight
Irene', or Bland's 'Golden Slippers', or Yarrow's 'Puff the
Magic Dragon). And so many others.
And not to forget those fun old
"sing-a-long" songs, most of which were, and still are,
old-time dance tunes, like
Cindy and Crawdad and
Oh Susannah. Great fun for playing, singing, and dancing. |
