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Unst Bridal March from the Shetland Islands in Scotland. 'Da' just means 'the' in the local dialect.
Also known as Unst Wedding March. Unst is the most Northerly island in Britain.


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Fair comment, but there will be occasions outwith an actual session when you might feel like playing - perhaps sitting in the sun learning a great tune you heard at a session the night before. I...

I don't know much about Flemish Bal Folk, but recently I have been listening to Flemish accordion player Hartwin Dhoore quite a lot, who often plays with his brother Ward, who plays mandola (perhaps...

I'm not completely certain if I'm understanding exactly what you mean by 'bal folk', but perhaps you might be interested in this thread on Music From Central France a year or two ago.
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Definitely was. I know people who, when getting to know someone they had recently met, after a while might ask " Tell me, were you a Robin person or a Mike person?"
Honestly.

And don't forget,...

My experience of visiting Temple Bar in Dublin (not especially looking for a session, basically a tourist) was very disappointing. Pub gigs with very predictable repertoires.
Personally over the...

I wouldn't know about a 'thin living'.
I thought they were pretty popular, actually. They did biggish gigs, and I knew many people who owned LPs by them.

Let's have some of Norman in his prime!



https://youtu.be/IA2CtM1B1Ak

It's not such a big jump from cittern tunings some people use.

For my octave mandolin I tune ADae, and in the past I have taken the top and bottom strings off an electric guitar and tuned it like...

I just read that Norman Blake turned 86 on 10th March, and I would like to wish him well.

I saw him play on my first trip to the USA in 1977, and have always enjoyed him ever since.

Thanks for...

Haven't had an after breakfast tune for a wee while. This is Jimmy Shand's classic tune The Bluebell Polka. It was very popular when I was young, indeed it was a great favourite of my mother who...

Haven't had an after breakfast tune for a wee while. This is Jimmy Shand's classic tune The Bluebell Polka. It was very popular when I was young, indeed it was a great favourite of my mother who...

Hey Aidan,

I just made a video of those jigs I did for you all those years ago.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjWxcbB-QBU

Here's a set of Irish jigs played on my Collings MT.

Sweet Biddy Daly, The Banks of Lough Gowna and Jackson's Jig. One or two bum notes but hey - there's a lot of notes!

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Good for him.

He's a very nice lad and this can can only help the mandolin in Scotland and everywhere else.

No she is from Kiltarlity. I do know the Lochaber lot though.

This is Robert Burns's famous song Ae Fond Kiss, which I was working on for Burns Night recently.

It is played on my Stefan Sobell octave mandolin.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCRrR8j58ZA

This is Robert Burns's famous song Ae Fond Kiss, which I was working on for Burns Night recently.

It is played on my Stefan Sobell octave mandolin.


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I'm not sure about the newish dogma, but I will say that the first time I heard that jigs should be played DUD DUD was here on Mandolin Cafe, by which time I had been playing jigs for years. I am...

I actually play tenor banjo a lot, mainly for playing for dances where I find the sound really cuts through.
However, in a session I tend to prefer to play the mandolin, and an F holed mandolin at...

No, not really. In my experience the sound of the octave gets lost in the general hubbub more than a mandolin. It might be a bit louder than the tenor guitar but it's still in the same range. You say...

This is a recent Facebook home video of Robin playing 'Frosty Morning' on a very interesting looking fiddle.

https://www.facebook.com/RobinAndBinaWilliamson/videos/1386998228586994

Thanks Marguerite,

Wonderfully detailed post.

Hi Caberguy,

I don't worry too much about strict DUDU technique, but I do think it is very important that your upstroke is strong.

So if your teacher is insisting (rather than merely...

Great