English Fiddle Tunes

Subject: English Fiddle Tunes
From: coriander
Date: 10 Jun 00 - 07:00 AM

Can anyone recommend a good book of English fiddle tunes available in the UK or on the net? My Dad has taken up fiddle recently and wants to play English tunes, but whilst I can find plenty of books with Irish and Scottish tunes, none containg specifically English tunes.

Any suggestions?

thanks

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: Ed Pellow
Date: 10 Jun 00 - 07:34 AM

A particular favourite of mine is A Northern Lass which is a collection of tunes from North West England.

1000 English Country Dance tunes is good too. This and quite a few more English Tune books can be bought from Hobgoblin Music www.hobgoblin.com

Hope this helps

Ed

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 10 Jun 00 - 08:26 AM

Ed's suggestions are excellent; you can also get several books containing tunes from northern English manuscript collections from the Publications page at the South Riding Folk Network site:  http://www.folk-network.com.  Johnny Adams'  Village Music Project is an invaluable resource, too, containing the contents of many manuscript collections in abc format.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: zander (inactive)
Date: 10 Jun 00 - 08:35 AM

Try 1001 English Dance Tunes, edited by Mike Raven. regards, Dave

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: sledge
Date: 10 Jun 00 - 08:55 AM

Try,

www.efdss.org.

The publications page has a lot on offer mainly conected with country dance

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: Jeri
Date: 10 Jun 00 - 09:40 AM

The Barnes Book of English Country Dance Tunes. I found one place to buy it in the UK, but there are probably more: Cotswold Music Society. I haven't heard anyone else's comments on it, but I'm enjoying learning tunes from it.

Information on the book is here

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: Ed Pellow
Date: 11 Jun 00 - 02:11 AM

There is, of course, also Playford's English Dancing Master. There are several online versions, the best of which I've found is here.

Most of the stuff I've found is dance rather than tune orientated, so you might be better off with the book. You could buy it from hobgoblin or efdss (links in earlier posts)

Ed

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST,Liz the Squeak
Date: 11 Jun 00 - 03:49 AM

Are you in the UK? Near London?? Any book you can get from Cecil Sharp House (Camden - sort of north central London, on the Northern line by tube (the black one), and a few mins walk from Camden Station) should be helpful.. I think they have a website, but not sure. They are the HQ of EFDSS so it will have the address on that site.

LTS

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: coriander
Date: 11 Jun 00 - 05:25 AM

Thanks - these have all found me what I'm looking for specifically, and other books I would be tempted to buy - my purse may be making a protest!. I have to confess to having visited the Hobgoblin site many times to check out events, but for some reason I have never looked at the catalogue pages... And I am not very far from the Crawley shop! Thanks Ed, for reminding me!

I keep meaning to visit Cecil Sharp House - it is one of those "next time I am in London" things that I never seem to get to London to do!

thanks

cori

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: selby
Date: 11 Jun 00 - 01:43 PM

there is also English Country Dance Tunes by Dave Townsend The Ironbridge Hornpipe ( a Shropshire tune collection from John Moores Manuscripts ) The Fiddler of Helperby ( The life and music of a YORKSHIRE fiddler) Hope these help Keith

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: Willie-O
Date: 11 Jun 00 - 11:15 PM

Don't know a lot of English tunes but I have a nice album of them (as in, 33-1/3 LP record album) called "Lift the Lid And Listen" made many years ago by young Dave Swarbrick. If you see a copy (other than mine), snatch it up!

Best
Willie-O

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST,Phil Cooper
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 11:17 PM

Another good introduction to English fiddle tunes is Robin Williamson's tunes of English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish Fiddle tunes.

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: greg stephens
Date: 01 May 02 - 07:58 AM

Refreshing this thread. I don't have a computer so can't access everything I would like to at the Village Music Project site. Does anyone use it, and could you advise if you find it useful? It looks totally excellent. Also, as interest inEnglish tunes continues to grow (at last!) perhaps people can add more publications to this very helpful list.

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: Banjo-Flower
Date: 01 May 02 - 10:11 AM

Visit www.traditionalmusic.co.uk it has everything you could ever need

Gerry

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: Banjo-Flower
Date: 01 May 02 - 10:14 AM

Visit www.traditionalmusic.co.uk it has everything you could ever need

Gerry

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: Anglo
Date: 01 May 02 - 10:43 AM

Well it doesn't actually, not unless you want to shell out for their CD-ROM, since most of the listed tunes aren't on the site, and not unless you run a Windows machine since a lot of the stuff is in Noteworthy Composer, which seems to be strictly limited to that platform.

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 01 May 02 - 10:51 AM

The last time I looked at that site, most of the material there had been copied from other people's websites (including this one), mainly without acknowledgement. I hope that situation has changed.

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: Alice
Date: 01 May 02 - 10:54 AM

Online you can get these fiddle tunes in abc format and translate them to notation. John of the Greeny Cheshire Way 1705-1816

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: Anglo
Date: 01 May 02 - 11:22 AM

I was checking some of the links above (from a couple of years ago) and discovered Malcolm's link to the Village Music Project to be out of date. Try here.

Also Ed's link to "A Northern Lass" doesn't work. I found the book on a tunebook site still listed, but with a "sorry not available" note.

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: Anglo
Date: 01 May 02 - 11:32 AM

Alice, that's a great resource. There's at least one tune from that collection, and many more English tunes from nicely referenced historical sources, on a CD by Dave Shepherd (fiddler of Blowzabella fame) and Becky Price (accordion) called "Ashburnham."

Subject: RE: English Fiddle Tunes
From: Anglo
Date: 01 May 02 - 11:33 AM

P.S. ...CD...called "Ashburnham."

Which I heartily recommend.