Let's have some of Norman in his prime!
https://youtu.be/IA2CtM1B1Ak
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!
...
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.
...
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...
Ha Ha,
'They' used drones! I can assure you the film crew was extremely small - my pretty inexpensive phone was propped up against the milk container on the kitchen table.
But thanks for the...
Hi John,
Thanks for that.
Yes, I always tune DGdae. Suits my music much better than C. It helps give a certain open-tuned, citterny quality to the instrument, which I like. I've always been...
Here's another early morning video which I did after breakfast today.
It's an old Scottish air from the Simon Fraser Collection called Ruairi Dubh, also known as Roderick Dhu, the Clanalpin Chief....
Here's another early morning video which I did after breakfast today.
It's an old Scottish air from the Simon Fraser Collection called Ruairi Dubh, also known as Roderick Dhu, the Clanalpin Chief....
I would add that I did think Robin was a pretty good guitar player (listen to First Girl I Loved) and later became a good harp player.
He could play various other things, but I never thought he...
Ah, The Incredible String Band.
Some of their stuff sounds pretty dated now, but I think that Robin's songs First Girl I Loved and October Song are really great, and I actually listen to those...
I recorded this wee video early this morning after my porridge. This is my arrangement of an old reel called The Cross Of Inverness, which I have set to a slightly different rhythm. I'm playing my...