Mandolin and English Dance Music

[James]

I recently returned to Pennsylvania from three weeks in England, visiting my wife's family and enjoying some really hot English ceilidh band music. #Here are some highlights:

In mid-June I attended the folk festival in Lichfield, where Dave Brown, an English fiddler, gave a great workshop on playing in a dance band and introduced me to his own lovely compositions.

Then on to the Dent Folk Festival set in the stunningly gorgeous Yorkshire Dales. #The British band Shooglenifty headlined the festival and Luke Plumb, from Down Under, drove the band with his super-hot mandolin picking. Shooglenifty's new live album, Radical Mestizo, showcases Plumb's virtuosity. #Fabulous stuff.

While in London I picked up an album by a band that often plays for ceilidhs at the Cecil Sharp House in London--the Committee Band. #Ten superb musicians, with Penny Gillet on mandolin, project a "wall of sound" that is a Phil Spectoresque avalanche of irresistible dance music.

Up in the quiet hills of Northumberland, I visited for a couple of days with luthier Stefan Sobell, a superb instrument maker, of course, and an equally fine person. #I brought my mandolin "home" for repairs, as I commissioned this mandolin from Stefan some thirty years ago. #It was the first mandolin he sent to the States, and it's sounding better than ever now. #Funny, my wife comes from a town close to where Stefan lives. #I met her five years after I received the mandolin from Stefan. #I'm pleased that the mandolin and my wife are both from the same part of the world. #Who knows, perhaps MAS evolved into SAS (Spousal Aquisition Syndrome). #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Anyway, it was a great trip filled with great music and good times. I'm now inspired to learn more tunes in the English ceilidh dance tradition. #Anyone else out there playing either English ceilidh music or its more courtly cousin--English Country Dance music?

James

[billkilpatrick]

i suggest that "mas" and "sas" are highly incompatible. #together, they have the potential of creating a lethal and extremely costly combination.

for one thing, while your "s" might tolerate "mas", she's bound to get touchy and balk at the idea of "sas". #in which case you'll probably find that the "a" money you'd earmarked for "mas" will be spent on "an'cs" (alimony and child support) - making you extremely "an'csious" and unable to devote as much time to your mandolin as you formerly did.

another downside, depending on your musical tastes, could be that the tragedy of your "d-i-v-o-r..." etc. will inevitably lead you into the nether regions of the country and western repertoire ("you took a fine time to leave me lucille", "that's all she wrote", etc., etc. in which case your up-tempo, toe-tapping, english reel buddies won't want to play with you anymore.

go for one or the other but not both.

... and as the old joke goes: i know this will be a hard decision to make as i'm sure you love your spouse very, very much.

[Bobbie Dier]

I have been working on the 150 "Mally's Cotswold Morris Tunes". They are pretty simple tunes to learn by ear. There are SO many of them. I was inspired by Ashley Hutchings at Cropredy Festival. We also saw Morris Dancers on the streets at Cropredy. The tunes are mostly played on melodeon but work well on mandolin.

The tunes sound like and sometimes are the same as the "Old Time" tunes I have been playing for years.

[mad dawg]

i suggest that "mas" and "sas" are highly incompatible...
I agree -- to me, they would seem inversely proportional. However, as one embraces and exercises their MAS, I think that there is an increased risk of exposure to SRS: Spouse Reduction Syndrome.


Regarding the Shoogles, I would love to see them live, but I guess I will have to catch them while travelling as well, as they never seem to make it to California. The closest they have come to date has been to BC, and I just missed getting to seem them fronted by Iain MacLeod a few years back at Rootsfest in Victoria (I had to travel for business, so I missed the festival. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif )

[Dagger Gordon]

I've played 2 gigs which also featured the Shoogles in the last month or so.

In June a ceilidh band I'm in played the Island of Eigg independence day celebration dance. My lot do the ceilidh dancing - eg Strip the willow, Dashing White Sergeant, Waltzes, Barn dances etc- followed by them,where everybody basically jumps about.

This happened again on Friday at a wedding in Ullapool, where the guys were in town en route to the Hebridean Celtic Festival on Lewis. The wedding wasn't in a hall, but in a smallish hotel cafe/dining area called the Ceilidh Place(which I greatly recommend if you're in Scotland), and you won't ever see them in a more intimate setting. They weren't as loud as usual, and it was lovely.

Incidentally, we always finish weddings with Auld Lang Syne, so yours truly ended up leading the singing with the Shoogles backing me! An unlikely singing career highlight (not usually noted for it!).

The North of Scotland is currently enjoying a lot of sun, long daylight hours and lots of music.

Slainte,

Dagger.

[Martin Jonas]

English country dance and morris music works just fine on mandolin. Here are a few fun tunes:

Banbury Bill (http://www.nigelgatherer.com/tunes/tab/tab6/banbb.html)

Winster Gallop (http://www.nigelgatherer.com/tunes/tab/tab6/wing.html)

Staines Morris (http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiSTAINESM;ttSTAINESM.html)

Shepherd's Hey (http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/cgi/abc/TuneGet?F=PNG&U=/~jc/music/abc/England/MorrisRing/Shepherds_Hey_6.abc&X=1&T=SHEPHERDSHEY&N=ShepherdsHey.png)

Nonesuch (http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/cgi/abc/TuneGet?F=PNG&U=/~jc/music/book/playford/Nonesuch.abc&X=29&T=NONESUCH&N=Nonesuch.png)

Drive The Cold Winter Away (http://bassett-street-hounds.org/songs/praisexmas.php)

Princess Royal (http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/cgi/abc/TuneGet?F=PNG&U=/~jc/music/abc/England/MorrisRing/Princess_Royal_1.abc&X=1&T=PRINCESSROYAL&N=PrincessRoyal.png)

The Nutting Girl (http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiNUTGIRL;ttNUTGIRL.html)

Martin

[PhilGE]

Ho Ho! How wonderful to even see Morris dancing mentioned on this site! For those not initiated into this realm of folk dance and music, HERE (http://www.ucolick.org/~sla/morris/whatisit.html) is one explanation.

[Steve L]

I was lucky enough to play guitar for a Longsword dance side for a while. English ritual dance is an interesting scene. I got to perform at the Sidmouth festival in Devon a couple of years ago and heard a lot of great music. If you ever get a chance to see The Witchmen Morris or the Molly dancing side Pig Dyke Molly don't miss them. My former team is called Orion...most famous for a sword dance to the tune of Dave Bruebeck's "Take Five".

[James]

I spent most of my time up in Darlington in Co. Durham where the days stayed light until 11:30 PM or so, and then sunrise at about 3:30 AM. #Great for late visits with family and for playing games with the kids.

While in Oxford I went to a nice folk music shop, The Music Room, where I picked Nick Barber's book, "English Choice: 96 Tunes with Chords, from English Traditional Music Sessions, Selected by Nick Barber," along with the two CD's that accompany the book. #I find the book/CD package very useful in learning the right rhythms for the tunes. #Last time I checked, Mel Bay in the States carried the book but not the CD's. #

Dave Mallinson publishes the book/CD set in the UK, and along with other book/CD sets put out by Mally Productions--John Kirkpatrick's English Choice and Pauline Cato's Northumbrian Choice--there are some excellent resources for learning English traditional dance music.

One of the music workshops at the Lichfield Folk Festival was given by the American multi-instrumentalist Gene Murrow. #Gene's advice for playing for dances came down to four major points: play short notes (not really staccato but close to it); emphasize the off beats (sit back a bit on the off beats and don't rush them) in order to lift the feet of dancers (gravity taking care of the down beats); play some harmony; and be rock steady in terms of tempo and beat.

I find that the melodies are relatively simple and elegant but the challenge is in playing English dance music rhythms that lift the feet of the dancers. #And, my musical accent so far tends to be more American than English.

That wedding sound like a great time Dagger. #Thanks for the tunes Martin, and to all on the thread. ##

James

[Bobbie Dier]

Morris dancers at the Cropredy festival in the UK. The musicians are on the left.

[Martin Jonas]

One of the things that I like about these tunes is that they don't have the macho speed posturing that's so pervasive in Irish and in bluegrass music. They should be played at a rather deliberate speed and with heavy emphasis on the rhythm. There is a lot of skill invovled, but it can't be measured in bpm.

Martin

[billkilpatrick]

couldn't agree more. #the medieval dance repertoire seems to lend itself to frenetic playing - at least here in italy - and it's a real drag. #almost every number ends in cacophony - might be the tights. #i have a feeling that the medieval ages tended more towards "shhhh" than a viking raid but i can't prove it.

[Bobbie Dier]

I would like to study more about the rhythms everyone here is talking about. All I have here is the "Mally's Cotswold " tunes . They are just played through once and it's hard to get into any kind of groove in that short of a time. Does anyone know of a CD that would show an example of the rhythms? It needs to be pretty easy to find like on Amazon. That would be greaaaat http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif

[billkilpatrick]

a list of english dances (jig, reel, etc. ... or gavotte, pavanne, etc. for early music) should give you that info.

[James]

To follow up on Imapickn's post, I suggest looking at the Country Dance and Song Society site. #The CDSS is located in MA is a very good source of English dance music, both English Country Dance and English Ceilidh. #In the Country Dance category my favorite band is Bare Necessities. #They have eight CD's out, all obtainable from the Country Dance and Song Society. #I'm not sure if Amazon has all eight of Bare Necessities albums but they have some. #Bare Necessities is great to listen to and even better to dance to. #

One of the band members in Bare Necessities has published an important book of tunes for the country dance repertoire, most of which can be heard on BN's CD's. #The book is The Barnes Book of English Country Dance Tunes by Peter Barnes. #Volume II should be coming out soon. #

In the ceilidh category I like The Bismarks and The Old Swan Band. #In either of these categories, country dance and ceilidh, the bands play each tune, on their respective CDs, at least six times through and often eight times through, which calls for variations and trading of lead instruments. #There is a definite groove to listen for here. # #

For an overview and evolution of recent trends (from WW II to today) in English dance music there is the recently issued CD "Stepping Up: A History of the New Wave of English Country Dance Music," which is also available from the Country Dance and Song Society. #Here is the link to the CDSS website: #http://www.cdss.org/sales/index.html

James

[Bobbie Dier]

Thanks James. I'm looking into the CDs right now.
ima

James that catalog is huge. I had to bookmark it. That is just what I was looking for. Thanks again

[Martin Jonas]

There are three classic albums from the early 1970s, all of which are great fun and not as po-faced as some of the more academic CDs can be:


Morris On (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006OYLQ/qid=1121784238/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-7959778-2685431?v=glance&s=music&n=507846) is (gently) amplified and has an absolutely stellar cast of musicians: Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick and Barry Dransfield. I strongly recommend this album to anybody except acoustic purists.

The Compleat Dancing Master (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006OYLR/qid%3D1121784422/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/103-7959778-2685431), also by Ashley Hutchings and John Kirkpatrick, is a bit more academic (with theatrical spoken-word segments) and concentrates on tunes from Playford's "English Dancing Master".

Plain Capers (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000590R/qid=1121784596/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-7959778-2685431) is a John Kirkpatrick morris album, and is the obvious alternative to "Morris On" fro the acoustic purists that do mind amplification. Basically an acoustic take on the same concept.

Martin

[PhilGE]

I just located An ABC Library of Morris Tunes. (http://www.ucolick.org/~sla/morris/music/abclib.html)

If you're not familiar with ABC format, START HERE. (http://staffweb.cms.gre.ac.uk/~c.walshaw/abc/) There's an incredible wealth of folk tunes available in this format, many of which can be found using JC's ABC Tune Finder. (http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/FindTune.html)

I've attached a midi sound file of a Morris Dance tune in Quicktime "hinted movie" format . Let's see if "The Black Joke" loads...

-Phil

[mandobob]

A few years back the Shoogles played an annual free festival that takes place on the Knowlton River in NJ.
And, even though I live in NJ, and have access to radio and local cable TV stations, a newspaper subscription, I had no earthly idea that they were there. I can't help but be envious of the parts of the globe where music is celebrated.
Boo hoo. Rant over.