According to the schedule, our tune of the month of December, 2021, is supposed to be "Mississippi Waltz" by Bill Monroe. But I am going to exercise my discretion as the genuine but unofficial writer-upper of the TOM project and proclaim an interruption. December is a holiday month, so I declare the Tune of the Month to be any tune that reminds you of December and/or the month's holidays. Modern, ancient, pop, bluegrass, folk, classical, Christmas carol, wintery, easy, difficult -- whatever. And then, next month, with us all properly fueled up from holiday feasts, we can tackle "Mississippi Waltz". And if nothing else, do practice up on your tremolo this month -- you'll need it for "Mississippi Waltz".
A little stroll down memory lane: When I started getting into the mandolin and found the newbies group, I decided to post videos of my progress … there was no TOM going at the time … and five years ago, I recorded God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen … it was pretty rough and sloppy sounding. Four years ago, I recorded Silent Night. Here they are https://youtu.be/N_ou06hu4A0 https://youtu.be/FcsfCBsk7rI
Here's one of my oldies, too. "The Cross of Savannagh" is a tune written by Zoë Conway, an accomplished Irish violinist (and fiddler). I found it one day while browsing through thessession.org. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt_0qdh0yko Guess who owns that 1910's Vega bowlback now? Here is another one with no music that I made way back when Mark and I were NEW Newbies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6jRfHRLZJw
Mark, I couldn't get the embedded Silent Night to play, but the link worked. I noticed your A to F Conversion Kit Soliver armrest on Silent Night! What a hoot. I may actually work up a new ditty to post this month as well as any old ones. I know I have an old Christmas-y video on the waldzither, too.
Oh this is awesome thanks Henry, that’s as corny now as it was then, and just as awesome. Happy Holidays everybody.
Great to hear these old efforts. I must say, that even though you've both progressed a ton, these hold up pretty good (apart from the last one, which will always be corny). Here's one I did a couple of years ago as as a sort-of-new newbie, when I began to explore chord melody. Although on the slow side, this still sounds pretty good (to me), and I think it gets across the seriousness of the season
That was pretty good BBCee. I don't remember seeing that one before.
Well done Bruce!
Great idea, Hank. And, Hank, Mark, and bbcee, thanks for sharing the baby pictures!
Well here's one hot off the press. Played with that new old Lyon and Healy model C. https://youtu.be/qcyTOISEoq8 I noticed that the SAW group is posting videos both ways to cover all the bases, so I did too.
You're getting a great tone out of that L&H, Honkety! Good version of King Wenceslas.
Well I can’t compete with some of y’all’s picking but my daughter wanted to hear a couple of Christmas songs so I dredged up an easy one I learned last Christmas… https://youtu.be/Oz4IEHDLvwM and another easy one I looked up this morning. Of course by the time I played it ten times to memorize it my wife was completely cured of ever hearing it again https://youtu.be/9F9CBtjcLCI
Thanks NDO. Good job on both. Let it snow!! It's supposed to start snowing here today. Just drizzle so far. Merry Christmas!
Nice job, NDO. And if it is in the service of pleasing your daughter, all the better!
This is one that's holiday-ish, I guess, a set of variations on "Greensleeves" (aka "What Child is This?") by James Oswald. Oswald (1710–1769) was a Scottish composer and cellist. The late John Goodin arranged several of Oswald's guitar pieces for mandolin. Greensleeves is old, probably from the 16th century. Rumor has it that it was written by the infamous Henry VIII, but this is probably not so. I've been working on two sets of variations: this is the shorter of the two. You're welcome. Each variation is supposed to be repeated, likely with ornaments, etc., but I chose to not make it twice as long. You're welcome again.
Nice job, Louise! Good picking! And an interesting selection. There is a tune called "Greensleeves Jig" in the MC Tabledit Library that I have always thought was quite clever. I now recognize it is a simplified version of the first variation in your James Oswald piece.
Wow Louise! That was beautiful. Thank you for posting that. Very nice variations.