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I don't understand what people are arguing about. The OP has made clear that he's right, and no one else's experience and knowledge matters. All he wants is a discussion in which everyone defers to...

B.B. King calling his guitar, "Lucille," was very cool, but me calling my mandolin "Karen" doesn't have the same vibe, so I'll leave my mandolin nameless.

It's kind of confusing. Great Britain is an Island, the largest of the British Isles, and consists of three countries, England, Ireland, and Scotland. All of these countries contain smaller islands....

As David said 'way back, Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" in C major is a good one, well known and played at weddings over generations. I'm with David on the subject of ethnicity and musical interests....

I think there have been many editions between the original and the 2013 re-publication. I bought a brand new copy, just like Frank's, in the early 1970's. There was no publication date or...

This Scottish site says that The Scottish Violinist was published in 1900. I'm surprised that I can't find more sites with the original publication date, as Scott Skinner was popular internationally...

It couldn't be done on fiddle either. Skinner (1843-1927) often gave alternate ways of playing a tune, which is what he did here. He was a highly skilled, trained musician and a stage performer, who...

Not that simple. Are you referring to Europe, the continent, or Europe the political entity, i.e., the European Union? Many geographers regard Ireland, Great Britain (the island) and even Iceland as...

Thanks for the article, David. It was good to see everyone's comments in one place. This puzzled me though: "Although the String Band later became a brilliant festival band in the UK, Woodstock was...

Just came across this impressive video, with Mike Marshall playing and directing the orchestra. I assume that they're on tour elsewhere. Other videos have women, including, I believe, Caterina...

I don't believe that was true at the time. To some degree, the term "Celtic" was popularized in the 1970's, with Williamson being a promoter. "Celtic" was around earlier, often used by romantics and...

Welcome to the Cafe.

In future, when changing strings, please video yourself! ;)

Relax your hand on a table or the arm of a chair, lift your index finger, curve it and press the tip for a second as you would when playing, lay the finger down and relax it, do the same with the...

Thanks for that, Don.
Bill Monroe was influenced by the African-American fiddler, Arnold Schultz.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Shultz
In the 1920s and 30s, mainly northern record companies...

Your work is most appreciated, Scott.

And a tip o' the hat to the moderators, who assist in creating the atmosphere that we all (well, most of us) value at Mandolin Cafe.

Frank, you ol' tear-jerker, you. Nice singing.

From the same period, here's some fine mandolin playing by Nancy Blake at 33:20. The tunes are: Within A Mile/Durham Rangers/Far from Home/Primrose Lass.

If the links don't work, search for...

I'm with the "you've got to play fast" school. I know that in tai chi, after doing the moves slowly for years, you're supposed to be able to use them rapidly when necessary for self defence. However,...

I hear them singing words. ;)

"Un Canadien Errant" is an anthemic song in Quebec. In 1837, some Canadians in Upper (Ontario) and Lower (Quebec) Canadian rebelled against the colonial...

You might be interested in Lisa Ornstein's (bilingual) book, Danse Ce Soir – Fiddle and Accordion Music of Quebec (Mel Bay). She's an ethnomusicologist and an excellent fiddler, who has been studying...

An afterthought: To be fair to fiddlers, a fiddler might work for some time at mastering a complex tune or medley, using sophisticated techniques, then go to a "session" to find that fellow musicians...

To tell you the truth, even fiddlers can't keep up with "the Fiddlers." You're relatively new to this, Sue, so it'll take time. In fact, many never get there. Miles Davis, so I'm told, couldn't play...

I always enjoy your playing and interpretation of tunes, Colin.
Various sources attribute this tune to Davey Arthur in the mid-70s, before he joined the Fureys, though it has clearly gone into...

Play da blues, Frank! That was wonderful. Your mandolin has beautiful tone.

The tone when you tune your mandolin to A-G-E-D?