We don’t know how many of you will be around on Tuesday 10, but we’re going to come along and play some tunes. All welcome as usual, from 8pm at the Plough. Hope to see you there.

Just a quick reminder that we’re having one of our summer sessions tonight, Tuesday 13 July. From 8pm, slow for an hour, quicker later, all acoustic instruments welcome and hopefully a lot of fun. Free of course. I’ve been playing Captain Lanoe’s Quick March a lot recently, and Double Lead Through. See you there!

Our regular tune session is tonight. I’ve been hearing some fantastic tunes recently, including the LNB Polka, The Lass of Richmond Hill, The Celebration March and Willafjord. Plus all our regulars of course. Do come — all acoustic instruments are fine, and you’re also welcome just to come and listen. See you there!

Just to remind everyone that our first session of 2010 will go ahead tomorrow. We start at 8pm. Easy tunes played slowly for the first hour or so, anything goes after that. It’s a bit warmer now so come along to the Plough! All acoustic instruments welcome. Admission free.

Just in case any of you had forgotten, our regular monthly tune session is tonight. All acoustic instruments welcome — look at the session page for some tunes or there’s a likely list further down the blog. Different tunes welcome of course. See you there!

We had a nice time at the session last night, and played some super tunes. Some you might like to try — Young Collins, the Reedsdale Hornpipe, Monck’s March, L’Inconnu de Limoise.

Everyone thought I should blog to mention that Liz, who’s previously been to our session (though it’s a bit far for her), was on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square last Friday, playing folk tunes on her concertina. She was supported by a side of morris dancers and a load of instrument playing reprobates, including me. You can see it all on the One and Other website.

The October session will be going ahead as usual tomorrow, October 13, at the Plough. We’ll get under way from 8pm, with easy tunes in the early part of the evening, leading on to more of a free for all later on. All acoustic instruments encouraged. Hope to see you there!

Well, the first session of the ‘new term’ is tomorrow, and I promise that we are going to play tunes slowly in the first half. If people start speeding up they will be Suppressed. No new tunes for the tunebook this month I’m afraid. Instead, I offer you a list of some of the tunes that have been either played at our session, or played at Simon Care’s ‘dead easy English tunes’ session at Towersey. Most of these are readily available online.

Common Time tunes (Polkas, Marches, Reels)

Amoco Stomp
Bear Dance
Bobby Shaftoe
Brighton Camp/ The Girl I left Behind Me
Buttered Peas
Dark Girl Dressed in Blue
Donkey Riding
Jack Robinson
Jenny Lind
Jimmy Allen
Lads a Bunchum
La Russe
The Lass of Richmond Hill
Maggie in the Wood
Oh, Joe, the Boat is Going Over
Princess Royal (major version)
Rakes of Mallow
The Rochdale Coconut Dance
Rogue’s March
Roxburgh Castle
Salmon Tails Up the Water
Speed the Plough
Three Around Three
Three Jolly Sheepskins
Tip Top Polka
Tralee Gaol
Uncle Bernard’s Polka
Willafjord
Winster Gallop
Young Collins

Jigs

Black Joak
Cock of the North
Dingle Regatta
New Rigged Ship
Oats and Beans and Barley Grow
Oscar Woods’ Jig (Tiger Smith’s)
Oyster Girl
Plane Tree
Seven Stars

Waltzes/Mazurkas

En Avant Blonde
La Valse de Noel (Bruno Le Tron) (known in England as Bruno’s Waltz or the Metro Waltz)
Michael Turner’s Waltz
Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be
Rose of Raby
The Man in the Moon

Hornpipes

Kafoozalum
The Keel Row
Lemmy Brazil’s No. 2
Off to California
Soldier’s Joy
Sportsman’s Hornpipe
The Trumpet Hornpipe (Cap’n Pugwash)

Tune Resources

http://www.lewesarmsfolkclub.org/LAFC/Lewesfav.html (The Lewes Favourites, 200 or so tunes with abc)
http://folkmusicnotes.wordpress.com/ (Eclectic choice of tunes with sources, mostly English and French, playable sheet music)
http://www.village-music-project.org.uk/ (rescuing old tune books, abc)
http://www.thesession.org/ (loads of tunes, Irish emphasis, sheet music and abc)
http://www.ceilidhsoc.org/ (Sheffield Ceilidh society, print your own tunebooks or first line cheat-sheets)
http://abcnotation.com/ (What is this abc thing anyway? Links to abc readers for all platforms)

Walthamstow Folk is starting a regular monthly English tune session in the New Year. The plan is to pick a weekday evening, run from 8-10, and you’re all welcome to come along with your acoustic instruments and join in. The first hour will be a beginner’s session, where we lead easy tunes from a list at a steady slowish pace. The second hour will be more of a free-for-all, where people can play whatever they like. Session nights will be free.

We’re sticking pretty much to tunes in the English tradition, though obviously tunes from all over the world find their way into the English tradition, and I’m sure they will in this one as well. But it’s not an Irish session or a singaround. (For an excellent singaround, you should try the Waltham Abbey folk club on a Monday night).

In case you’ve never played English tunes; they normally come in 32 bars, consisting of an 8 bar A part (repeated), followed by an 8 bar B part (repeated). This is played two, or three, or four, or ten times, or however many people like. One person starts, and people join in when they know what the tune is. After a bit (commonly three times through, or indicated by the word ‘change’, or by a grunt, or a nod of the head or a movement of the leg), the first person changes to a different tune and everyone else joins in again. And then, perhaps, a third tune. Or not.

To get you started, here are some tunes you might like to try; we’ll get music up by and by for people who read it, but these tunes are easily findable in many tune books or online. They’re organised into sets, but you can play tunes in any set you like, or just on their own. Most of these are tunes we play at the club on Sunday evening, in our little scratch band. You’re very welcome to come and join us then too.