English traditional music classes - Gun & Spitroast, Horsmonden, Kent

The next class is on the evening of Wednesday 9th October; the plan once again is to practise an established list of tunes ahead of playing for a barn dance at Horsmonden Village Hall on Friday the 25th November.

Please pass this message on to anyone who might like to know about these events - it's quite ok for anyone who would like to be involved to join us now or at any time, including during the run up to the dance. At the barn dance itself, there will be no obligation to play every tune.

Here's the (slightly amended) list of tunes:

The Hundred Pipers (march)
Cock of the North (jig)
Soldier's Joy/Little Brown Jug (48-bar march suitable for some versions of the Virginia Reel)
Strike the Bell (32-bar step hop)
Off to California (32-bar step hop)
Haste to the Wedding (jig)
Rig a Jig Jig (jig, natch)
Albert Farmer's (fast hopstep, barndance kind of thing)
The Sloe (polka)
The Heel and Toe Polka (polka, natch)
Oh Joe the Boat is Going Over (polka)
Rosalie the Prarie Flower (fast hopstep, barndance kind of thing)
The Gypsy Waltz (waltz)
The South Wind (waltz)
Astley's Ride (polka)
Donkey Riding (polka)
Speed the Plough (polka/march kind of thing, though it's technically a hornpipe...)
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean (waltz)
Shave the Donkey

All these tunes can be found on the class website at http://frittendenfestival.com/free-traditional-music-classes-at-the-gun-and-spitroast-horsmonden/

Here's the usual blurb about these classes:

Learn to play traditional tunes for music sessions and dancing in the company of other beginners. Play slowly and practice whatever's causing difficulty for you. Join fiddler, concertina, melodeon and guitar player Gavin Atkin at the Gun & Spitroast pub at Horsmonden, Kent (TN12 8HT) on the SECOND and FOURTH Wednesdays of each month at 8pm until the summer.

Please feel free to join us at any point through the year - we do play our tunes very slowly to begin with, and play only a two or three over and over again on any given evening!

Admission is free. Typical instruments might be melodeon, fiddle, concertina, mandolin, harmonica, whistle or banjo, but we'll be just as happy if you pitch up with percussion (say, a triangle, tambourine, cajon, or snare and hi-hat) or a saxophone or electronic piano. Reading music isn't necessary, though it definitely helps!

Contact Gavin at gmatkin@gmail.com or 07985 522734