Thanks everybody :-) Hank - sorry I got the reference wrong - posted that in a bit of a hurry. The picking is a mess, and it's the thing I most need to work on - esp. the DUD-DUD for 6/8 time. I also tend to try to replicate what I'd do on a fiddle. Whenit's all getting a bit panicky I tend to just use any stroke. It's worth listening to the Swarbrick version if you get a chance, as it really does have a swing to it. So onto a new tune tomorrow?
It's great to have so many stepping up this month! Mark, I always look forward to how you use your skills and make a tune your own, always enjoyable. Mike, great energy and tone, captures the spirit of the dance. Kevin, great job, smooth picking. 27? I'm not seeing it. Also, I'm borrowing you attire for my video. Sportsnapper, that's a new version to me. Cool. Thanks for putting it up for us. It's more andante than I intended, but it's a short month and it is what it is. I feel obligated to post because I've gone all Scottish with my tunes lately. Strathspey, anyone? Edited: Linked to the wrong video. Oops.
Very nice, Sleet! Nothing wrong with Andante IMHO, even on fast paced tunes I enjoy s-l-o-w practice with a metronome or backing track. Playing up to speed is cool, too, but I like to take the time to find musicality in slow practice - on this and several other tunes of the month, I don't feel I've mastered them well enough and prefer andante I'd love to hear you play some of these tunes on the fiddle as well. It's not against the law to play other instruments here, either. Thanks for the generous comment.
Nice job, Sleet. You make that mandolin ring nicely. I don't remember exactly what mandolin you have played before, but the one you are playing here seems different. New? Different? Anyway, it sounds good and a big reason for that is good fretting technique. Nice sustain.
Hank, that's the Big Muddy M11, mahogany. It likes Celtic tunes. I don't remember if I've used it in video but it's not new. I bought it used from the classifieds a couple years ago at the height of my mandolin acquisition phase. I look at this little flat top and wonder at the sound that comes out of it.
Well Mark, you wanted fiddle. This is the second half of my second version - I was playing around and videoed it. Bear in mind I've only had it out of the case about 5 times in the last 8-9 years - though planning on more often now...
Thanks Gareth! Getting any musical sounds out of a fiddle seems a very difficult thing to me, I've tried a couple times but no way do I have the time or inclination for it; if I were to try, the squirrels, birds and every person in hearing distance would run for cover. I'm always impressed listening to fiddlers.
I have a fiddle. Right up there on a shelf with a jaw harp and a harmonica. Can't play any of them. No, a fiddle is not a fretless mandolin. Not by a long shot. I tried. At least I can sometimes play a D scale on that old flute. I look forward to hearing more from you, Sports, on mandolin AND fiddle.
