Wednesday, February 24, 2010

First Class of 2010

Tune of the Night: The Lark in the Morning - jig in D major.
Here is a slow recording of it to play along with...




We had a wonderful class tonight, full of enthusiastic players on whistle, flute, fiddle, mandolin, and viola, and learned the four-part jig, The Lark in the Morning. Well done! 

I have decided to keep the fee at $10 for everyone during March, as its a bit of a disrupted month. I'm not sure yet if there will be a class on March 17, as its St Patrick's Day, and I look like having a gig, and so does every other Irish music player in the district who could possibly step in to teach, but I will know more by next week. There is no class on March 31 due to the imminent National Folk Festival.

In April, there will be four classes, and they will be $10 each if you pay in advance (ie $40 at the start of the month) or $12 each if you attend casually.

Next week, Wednesday 3 March, we will learn a new tune from 7 - 8pm, then have supper (of course), then spend the remaining time working up three jigs to a good level of comfort and a reasonable speed. The plan is for the tunes class to play one of the sets of tunes at the Ceili in June as part of the Maleny Celtic Winter School. We will have them right up to dance speed by then, but next week we will just work them up a little faster than we learned them, and sort out how to get from one tune to the next. The jigs we will work on are the first three on our practice cd: Willie Colemans (in G), The Black Road (in D) and My Darling Asleep (in D).

Happy playing, and see you next week.
love, Nicole

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Class starts again on Wed 24 February!

I'm delighted that its nearly time to meet again for tunes on Wednesdays!

Class starts again on Wed 24 Feb at the Presbyterian Hall, Cedar Street, Maleny. I try to start the class by 7.05, and you are welcome to get there a few minutes early and have a cuppa.

The first class for the year will be $10, including supper. From March, classes will be $12 if you attend casually, or $10 per class if you pay for the whole month. In March that fee will be $40, as there will be no class on March 31. Its the day before the National Folk Festival starts in Canberra, and I will be rushing down there to get in as many tunes as possible!

If you have any questions about the class, email me on nicole(at)cloudstreet.org. Put a real "at" symbol in there, of course!

Cheers,
Nicole