Continuing with Gelsenbury's theme of playing more English tunes, here's two sets of Playford tunes I recorded a couple of years ago. The first set is The Parson's Farewell followed by My Lady Cullen: The second set is: The Maid Peeped Out The Window followed by Lulle Me Beyond Thee: Sorry but there's no mandolin on this one. Here's a good source for Playford tunes: http://www.eastleighfolkdance.org/MainlyPlayford.pdf
Childgrove Parson's Farewell Quickstep to the Battle of Prague
Quite majestic sounding, all of it. I can hear garbled vestiges of Greensleeves in that peeping Maid (I guess Henry VIII had her head chopped off?) David, where is that beach in your Parson's video?
Lovely stuff David & Eddie, will try some of those. Allen Alexander's books are a great source of early English music..... http://www.guitarandlute.com/early_mandolin.html and another good site http://www.izaak.unh.edu/nhltmd/indexes/dancingmaster Here is my take on Goddesses from Allen's book 'Early Dance Music for Mandolin' I did a couple of years ago on the ipad..... https://soundcloud.com/toshmarshall/goddesses-060512
Bertram, the beach in the video is at Pacifica California, it is not as famous as the bluff shown far in the distance in the opening shots. Mori Point was the location used for the ending of the movie, Harold & Maude.
Thanks David, I kind of suspected it would be California - that hazy sunshine so much resembles the photos my daughter sent when she was there last summer.
Great stuff! I must revisit that Playford book.
Lots of good tunes in Playford. I went through a pretty serious Playford addiction a couple of years ago, when I recorded videos of 55 Playford tunes, most solo on my Mid-Mo. They're all collected in this playlist: Playford playlist This predates my multitrack recordings, but I have since also recorded a few Playford tunes with harmonies: Even this only scratches the surface, there are just so many tunes in the 17 editions of the Dancing Master. I strongly recommend the Jeremy Barlow Edition published by Faber Music. While there are lots of free online collections, the Barlow book has every single tune along with all the variations between the editions (consistency wasn't Playford's strong side), and it's more than reasonably priced at 10 Pounds in the UK. Martin
Parson's Farewell
Haven't done anything for a while and have been struggling a bit with mandolin, but David has inspired me and I did Playford's Grimstock. This version is from Allan Alexander's book 'Early Dance Music for Mandolin'.........
So good to see you back, Tosh. That's great playing, and I'd almost forgotten what a pretty sound your mandolin has.
Thanks Marcelyn, I will try and do a bit more playing.....
The Irish Lady - Anniseed Water Robin from Playford's 1651 edition.
Wonderful music from everyone. I followed Martin's advice and bought the Complete Country Dance Tunes edition. I'm glad Tosh is back also, great tone and playing on the Shippey.
I was determined to make it worthwhile to have taken my mandolin on this business trip. So I caught up on the Parson's Farewell. One mispick towards the end, otherwise nothing seriously damaging. EDIT: By the way, one of the next projects has to be My Lady Cullen. David, how did you decide on these two as a set? They go incredibly well together.
Here's my crack at Goddesses using the Ceccerhini bowlback and the Buchanan Octave. First ever successful recording!
The Goddesses is a great tune, and you have the full four parts there. Well played!
Nicely played and recorded. Those instruments sound great together. Congratulations on your first submission
Miller's Jigg #2 is a slip jig, but in 9/4 instead of the usual 9/8, so I have taken it at a fairly sedate pace.
Nice tune Duncan.
I have had to give myself a kick up the backside, I have been very slack over the last year or so, work commitments and other hobbies get in the way, and it's got to the point whether to continue or not! I decided to get myself together a bit more and have started to work at the mandolin again. It would be madness to give up !!!! Anyway inspired by you good people I have had a bash at Kemp's Jig. Jeremy well done mate, great stuff. Duncan I will look Miller's up, can't remember if we have done it or not. I appear to have two YT channels and I can't delete the other one without losing all the vids so I will leave as is for now. Rusty but here!
Glad you're alive and kicking (whichever part you want), Tosh. Giving up is not an option
Nice playing Tosh, good to have you back.
Nice one Tosh, I do like Kemps Jig. Class credits
I was so impressed by Tosh's rendition of Kemp's Jig I thought I would learn it. So I went to my usual Playford source and lo & behold I found Kemp's Jegg, a completely different tune which is actually a jig!!! I tuned my octave & mandolin to ADAD to give it a modal sound and added some percussion, bowed bass and concertina.
That was great David, really love the bass on that version, it adds so much depth to it, awesome. Bertram, promise not to give up if you don't mind suffering !!!!! Jeremy, you are on a roll !!! The version I did comes from Allan Alexanders great book "Early Dance Music for Mandolin". I found some abc's and modified the Kemp's Jig one to close to what we play in the group, but you need to get Allan's book for the full version. X: 1 T:Kemps Jegg M:6/8 L:1/8 %Q:110 R:Jig K:Dm d>ed d>ed|c>de e>dc|d>ef e2d|c3 A3:| F3 G3|A6|F3 G3|A6|F2E F2G|A2A A>GF|E2D E>FE|D3 D3|| X: 1 T:Kemp's Jig B:Playford - The Dancing Master 16th Century O:England Z:Mandolin Self Help Group M:4/4 L:1/8 K:D |d4 e4 |"D" f3 g f2 e2|"Bm"d2>e2 d2c2|"G"B2A2 "A"B2c2|"D"d4 d4| fefg f2e2 |"Bm"dcde d2c2 |"G"B2 A2 "A"BABc | "D"d4 d4 | "F#m"f2a2 f2a2|f2 ag fe d2|"Em"e2g2 e2g2|"Dm"e2d=c "A"B2^c2| "D"d2A2 F2A2|d2AG FGA2|"G"B2A2 "A"BABc|"D"d4 d4| "F#m"f2a2 f2a2|f2 ag fe d2|"Em"e2g2 e2g2|"Dm"e2d=c "A"B2c2| "D"d2A2 F2A2|d2AG FGA2|"G"B2A2 "A"BABc|"D"d4 d4||
Here is a great version of Kemp's Jig by Gryphon, an English Folk Rock band from the Early Seventies. Have been doing some re-union gigs lately.
Good work all around -- Playford is such a great source for tunes! I've been uploading my recent Playford tunes as separate threads, but it may be useful to link them here as well for easy reference: Portsmouth (11th Ed., 1701): Jamaica (4th Ed., 1670), slow version inspired by Dave Swarbrick: A Trip To Paris (often found in Playford collections, but actually from Walsh's "The New Country-Dancing Master" (1711): Parson Upon Dorothy, or The Shepherd's Daughter (2nd Ed. 1652): Epping Forest (4th Ed., 1670): Mr Beveridge's Maggot (9th Ed., 1695): Maiden Lane (1st Ed., 1651): Heart's Ease (1st Ed., 1651): All In A Garden Green (1st Ed., 1651): The Merry, Merry Milkmaids (1st Ed., 1651): The Bonny Bonny Broom (1st Ed., 1651): Martin
Hi Tosh, nice to hear you back. Your Kemp's was well done! Loved it. David - awesome as usual. Love the bass and now we have doumbek too! Martin - very prolific and great playing.
I wasn't expecting that extra of "pase El agoa" in the Gryphon version! Another great melody, albeit not English. I didn't know there were two completely different tunes called Kemp's. I know the one played by Tosh, I must learn David's. Great playing on both counts!
I am ready to drive the cold winter away, we can take my truck.
That's a nice tune- well played and illustrated.
While dinner was simmering on the stove (hence the apron!) I managed to record the two Kemp's jigs in one or two takes. Having some electronic accompaniment helped! First, here's the 4/4 version with backup from Easy Band for Android: And then there was my opportunity to play along with the great David Hansen on the 6/4 (which is also in my Playford book):
Well done Dennis, I like your backup band on the 2nd one. Oh and you look good in the apron.
Links to some other Playford tunes in the Song-a-Week group: All in a Garden Green: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/gr...cussionid=4832 Mr Beveridge's Maggot: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/gr...cussionid=4843 Epping Forest: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/gr...cussionid=4851 Heart's Ease: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/gr...cussionid=4837 Jenny Pluck Pears: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/gr...cussionid=3663 Maiden Lane: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/gr...cussionid=4839 The Merry, Merry Milkmaids: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/gr...cussionid=4829 Portsmouth: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/gr...cussionid=4968 Upon a Summer's Day: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/gr...cussionid=3675 And there may even be more that aren't labelled as Playford in the table of contents!
Here's the original thread for The Parson's Farewell To Lady Cullen 2020
Fine picking so far, and a nice idea for a thread David! I found another Playford tune I recorded once: gathering Peascots:
Lovely tune, Christian, and well played.
John, you and I did 'Newcastle' in 2019...that's a Playford tune. This is a lovely song you have done CC. I like the melody and your mando/guitar combo.
ENGLISH TUNES RESOURCE abc files: http://www.rudemex.co.uk/library/ABC/01tunelib_abc.php -a fair number are not English but European and beyond, but who’s counting?!
Really smooth playing, Christian. The first couple of bars sound just like "All in a garden green".
Thanks folks, I think I'm going to look out for some other Playford tunes. And thanks Simon for the link to the songbook.
Really nicely played, Christian, elegant, warm rhythm and atmosphere.
CC - on the music video John and I did - the music notation and tabs are included for Playford's Newcastle. ..probably somewhere near the back. it was from a year or more ago...so look in my uploads and look for two swans..and the title 'Newcastle' Also Robert Balch from 'TradMusic Lover' has a really nice slow version on his channel.
Nice that you have it on the vid Ginny, maybe I should start doing that too, always encouraging to see. It’s also here in the pdf that David recommended above http://www.eastleighfolkdance.org/MainlyPlayford.pdf tune number 79
Newcastle is a great tune. That's on my to-do list as well.
Thanks for the link to the tunebook. I will try Newcastle one fine day.
Portsmouth, I have given this version a wonderful modern flavour that I believe some of you guys will love very much. I have placed the mechanics and building equipment there especially for effect. You will like this effect a lot also. -and why does this page take 5 minutes to load? Page 2 please!
Fine playing on your octave mandolin, Simon. I leave all other topics to comment by others …
