Next up is "Flowers of Edinburgh". This is one of the more ubiquitous traditional Scottish tunes, so I'm surprised I'm not finding mandolin lessons for it. The mandolin examples on YouTube seem for the most part to come from the fine tune-of-the-week social group members. Sheet music and discussion from TheSession.org here: https://thesession.org/tunes/2549. It is printed in the Fiddlers Fakebook, Randy Miller's New England Fiddlers Repertoire, Christine Martin's Traditional Scottish Fiddling, and I'm sure many other places, with many similarities and minor variations. It was published by James Oswald under this title in 1751. I've heard it played in both stately and sprightly manners. It has evolved into a country dance tune (with particular steps associated with the tune), so sprightly might be the more common style. This example is somewhere between the two extremes. It is the first tune of the medley.
http://www.whiskeyjamkc.com/sites/wh...nburg.mus_.pdf . pdf from the local jam I went to last week
http://www.whiskeyjamkc.com/sites/wh...=5a7377a0f10d5 . mp3 same source.
oh and they don't really play it anywhere close to that slow :P
There’s also a tab here http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/ir..._edinburgh.htm for those, like me who can’t read standard notation.
Found another good tab here: http://www.mandolintab.net/tabs.php?...burgh&id=02890
Here's my crack at it:
Nice job Bluegrass. Pretty fast learner and played really well, congrats. Is this a DDU picking style that we should be using?
Very nice, Bluegrasscal_87, thanks for sharing! Clean picking there.
That's really good, 'grasscal, especially for not even a week into the month. Nice steady rhythm and clean notes. Let me guess - the cat walked across your keyboard and schmoozed with your mic. But you didn't flinch. Show must go on. I plan on playing the tune up over the fretboard like you did - it makes a nice tone quality that seems to fit this tune.
Thanks, everyone. Yeah, I was recording with my phone and had an email come in that seemed to booger with my mic, haha . That was about my 9th take last night so I refused to stop at that point because I was tired, hah. I get comfortable playing and then the minute I turn on the camera my brain stops communicating with my fingers. As far as picking goes, Ellsdemon, I don't know if you're familiar with www.banjobenclark.com but he has a picking exercise lesson that has really helped me in terms of building speed and fluidity when playing. It's a pretty steady DUDU picking style which seems to help with moving between strings, at least that's what I've found. I enjoyed this month's tune. Looking forward to learning more alongside you all!
That sounds great, Blugrasscal. You're getting nice tone and really solid picking.
So, here's my contribution, and my first ever video of me playing. I've spent a long time today ( and yesterday) trying to capture a perfect version of this tune - and this is not perfect. However, I wanted to produce something to at least demonstrate the effort that's goneinto this. And before my wife throws me and my new mandolin out the door. This is played on the Kentucky KM-150 I got on Wednesday :-) So please forgive the mistakes - it may never be correct in front of a camera The tune is from the first piece of notation @kevinstueve posted. I've another version of the Flowers of Edinburgh in the works, so stay tuned :-)
Nice job, sport. Two things caught my attention. One was the fact that you were able to recover from a rough spot and get everything back on track without loosing your place. The other was the ease with which you shifted up the neck toward the end of the B part (not to mention the decision to do so). I say that was a pretty good job. And I like your new Kentucky - it really sounds good.
Great job, sport! You kept a consistent rhythm throughout, even when you hit the rough spots, which is often hard to do. I also really like the arrangement you played. It's a bit more ornamental.
Thanks guys. I prob should have said I had the music in front of me. I was, a long time ago a good fiddle player, but classically based - I struggle to memorise pieces. But I’ve played that so often I may be able to do it without music! I found the B part surprisingly hard - but found that shifting into third made it flow much easier rather than some arkward cross strings. Left hand, and position changes feel pretty natural. Mastering the right hand is the challenge. The Kentucky is great - bought unseen on Amazon after someone on another thread pointed out the price - not something I thought I’d ever do. And i’ve not had to change the setup, just tuned it. Not what I expected. Last comment is I changed my pick today, after reading a thread in this group. Been using a fender medium, and went for a Dunlop .96 ( the thickest I have here ) and played with the curved edge made a much more mellow tone. Now I’m going to try a Primetone tri.
Great job, sportsnapper. You're doing so good with mechanics for such a newbie! I think the violin background gives you a leg up. I loved it, and looking forward to the next release you've teased us with. BTW, yes, that Kentucky looks and sounds great. Good score on your part.
Very nice, Sportsnapper. I'm fascinated by the shift up the neck. How does that work? Why does that work? Nice tone from your new Kentucky. Enjoy your pick exploration. It's still surprising to me that a little piece of plastic makes such a tonal difference.
@sleet - Thanks. I use the shift to simplify (for me) bar 15 -and avoids crossing stings in that particular bar (I know, you cross stings in the previous bar but the fingering is a simple 13131. And you can also sound the d string at the end of bar 14 if you want as it's adjacent when you're in third position. I've attached my pdf with some fingering added. https://www.dropbox.com/s/o6q57ntkpy..._Edinburgh.pdf It's all personal preference I think. I'm happy adding that in - and I'm still getting used to sounding open strings - as a violinist we used to always avoid open strings as the tone changed so much.
I am glad I found out: Complete video from which I clipped (and bleeped) this is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI864aZJkdE
yea so my sheet music say Edinburg -- definitely wrong, sportsnappers says Edinburgh (seems closer) but I always thought it was Edinborough,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh Been there, done that ;-)
OK. Here it is. I could practice it more, but the version would remain the same. Maybe a few fewer warts and blemishes. Doing it now frees up time to play around with a backburner project.
Henry, you're fast becoming a recording hero. I loved your performance of this fine tune. Loved your confidence and the clarity and cadence of your notes and rhythm ... and what a special bonus to hear the waldie! That thing has a great sound and you know how to make it sing. Bravo! I don't know about the chick at the end there. She seems to be one of the grammar/vocabulary policewoman types Edit: Ah! I just watched your earlier video of this wee Scottish lass (and her original YouTube one). I'd skipped it earlier when on my phone. Now I've been edumacated. It's Aidenbruh! Aidenbruh! NOT that difficult.
Nice job, everyone! Henry, you and Waldo seem to be getting along famously. How do you have him tuned?
Louise, I tuned the four double courses (low to high) D-A-E-B, then put on a fat guitar string for the bass string and tuned it to G, one octave below the mandolin. So you could think of it as an octave mandolin, but that bass string is a bit "touchy". I played the tune on the upper four courses, key of D. So I guess you could think of it as a sort of alto mandola that can reach down to octave mandolin range if absolutely necessary. Mark, I heard the wee lassie's remark about Welsh, thought of you, and knew I had to include it. My wife and her sisters are, to me, the flowers of Edinburg. They grew up near Edinburg, Illinois. And its Ed-In-Berg, thank you. In the same state with Lima (pron. Lye-Ma) and Cairo (Kay-Row). And not too far from Peru, Indiana (Peeeee-Rue).
Nice job, everyone! Bluegrasscal, not only early in the month, but nice & smooth. Sportsnapper, great first video. With a position shift, you showoff! Hank, that Weber is a lovely thing, and you played it with oomph and confidence. Looks like that Bohm is here to stay too! Nice job getting it playable.
very nice Hank - intresting to see your picking action which uses a lot of wrist movement. Great video though - and makes me feel better that it wasn't quite perfect :-) Very nice tone too....
Great job, Hank!!
Sports, with your comment about wrist action in mind I went back and watched my wrist in the video. I see a big difference in 'wristiness' between Mando and Waldo. More wrist with Waldo. Is that apparant to others, too? My story on that: I have been trying to develop a smoother, more sustained sound. I think part of the answer is less wrist and a bit more forearm in the picking stroke. And almost no perceptible finger action. The problem is that it takes practice to do that with any picking accuracy. I have been playing the mandolin for almost three years now. I have been playing that wide neck Waldo for about a month. I know where the strings are on the Mando. I have to feel around and find them on Waldo. So on Waldo I am doing that wristy, diggy, pick stroke which gives me a better chance of hitting the string I want to hit. On old Manny, I have developed enough confidence to start using the more sweeping, armsy stroke. Do they teach handwriting in grade school nowadays? Remember way back in the olden days when they taught something called "the Palmer method"? You had to write with your whole arm and you had to practice drawing continuous circles over and over and over all across the page. If the teacher caught you using your wrist, or heaven help you, your fingers, you would get whacked with a ruler on the back of your hand. I think what I am trying to do is learn to play using the Palmer method. Anyway, sportsnapper and others, above, thanks for the comments. Oh, and my wife reminds me that Illinois also has a New Berlin, pronounced BERRR-lun.
ever been Nevada Mo . Ne VAY da Mo . or Versailles Mo . -- Ver Sails . Mo
Good job guys. I have got to get to work.
"Is that apparant to others, too?" Henry, your question prompted a re-watch, and I think I can see a bit of what you mean about digging in a bit more on Waldo. Really though, what impresses me most about the entire performance is the general ease and command you have of these instruments. Again, great job, a fun listen, and bravo on the tone you're pulling from each instrument.
Hank; I watched this on youtube last night and I've watched it again. Really nice work and love the "octave mandolin" That you thrown in there. I'd love to hear what it sounds after a restoration just based on how much I liked the way it sounds currently. Again, nice job
Enjoyed your video, Hank. It seemed thoroughly unblemished to me. Waldo is like the tuba of the mandolin world, a commanding presence. The fiddle teacher thought it would be a good idea for me to play Flowers of Edinburgh from memory yesterday. Yes, I know the fingering is the same on both instruments, and yes, I've been working on the tune, but it was a wreck. The mandolin part of my brain doesn't communicate with the fiddle part. Very strange. We also have a Lima that is Lye-ma, and a Chili that is Chi-Lye.
Iowa also has a Nevada (Ne-VAY-duh), and a Buena (Bew-nuh) Vista. Madrid (MAD-rid), New Mexico, is a cool little town.
Learned several new tunes this month (learned, not mastered! ) and they're all such cool tunes, I love to play them, this is no exception, great tune.
Very nice rendition Mark. And your drummer is amazingly precise, too! Interesting variant of the tune and some catching rhythmic twists. Sounds nice.
Thanks Henry, most of the triplets are from the score I used, from here.
Really nice, Mark, you were totally in the zone! Great tone as well.
Not sure if this will work. First take on my crappy phone. Well, here goes... https://youtu.be/t6ovWvJkImg
Maybe this will work. HP
Nice tempo Mike. What brand of mando is that?
Thanks. Didnt even last a minute. Its a The Loar LM520.
Okay the camera adds 27 mistakes. I would like to apologize for not tuning first. As for the attire, hey at least I'm clothed :D .
Mike and Kevin, I like 'em both. Mike, I love how you just kinda got this little grin a couple of times and just kept on going. And Kevin, I think you got more comfortable as you got into the tune. It looks like you have less tension in this video than in the last one. You've got the tune, no doubt.
So, this is my second version of the Flowers of Edinburgh. This is taken from thesession.org and is number 12 on the list of versions of Flowers. I particularly liked the upbeat feel of parts C and D. You can hear this version done by Dave Swarbrick on The Ceilidh Album - it's much faster (and better) than my version. It's also a lot easier (IMHO) on the violin - I've played it a few times now and bowing make it easier to get the jaunt and lilt into it - for me anyway until I get my picking style sorted. It's not perfect, but I'm at the stage I need to leave this for a while and move on to something else! I wish I'd been in Endinburgh this Saturday though - it would have been a wonderful night ;-) I've got a notation/tab pdf of this version: here - as I can't see a way of posting a pdf inline in the groups.
That is an interesting version. I am a Newbie with Scottish and Irish music so grab a salt shaker: it sounds almost like two different tunes put together as a "set". But it comes from Nigel Gatherer, so ... Anyway, its got some of that Scottish "snap", doesn't it? There is a lot to this one - it had to be quite a job to get it worked up. The "whew" at the end is justifiable. One thing I noticed is your pick work. It seems like you are doing a fair amount of up-picking where I would do a down-pick. Kind of hard to see for sure. But if so, maybe that helps give it that snap? By the way, it is setting 10 over at thesession.org if someone wants to get the abc file. I plan to try it out. Had to search for this, but I can see that it must have been huge: "Former Scotland head coach Frank Hadden believes Saturday's win over England has resurrected the current side's hopes of winning the Six Nations title." From BBC/Sport/rugby-union Congratulations! edit: I see what Nigel did. I just scrolled way down on thesession.org and found his comment on setting 10 - he presents two tunes that he calls close relatives and when I put those two into EasyABC, I see that his setting 10 is a combination of those two. Thanks for working up that version and bringing it to us.
I had lots of watching to catch up on today Mark, great job. I like the metronome in the background. I should do more playing with a metronome. Real smooth stuff, though! Mike, really nice job even at a bit faster pace. Nice mando too Kevin, good job as well! Looks like you're building good fluidity in your right hand. Snapper, neat rendition. Haha, kudos to you because I don't know that I could have made it through all that, haha.
It's great to have so much interest i the tune of the month! Kudos to all who have contributed so far. Mike, wow. Fantastic job of playing that tune. I saw and heard a couple of little hammer-ons in there, including sort of a recovery one. Love it! Kevin, I agree with Henry, you did an awesome job with this and show less tension than in some previous videos. The video "light on" experience can be a bit intimidating for us, and I think that the more you do it the more smoothly things will continue to progress. Sportsnapper - I'm impressed with your sight reading skills! Nice job on an alternate submission!
