October Snow (again)-Stumbling On - Burning Bright 2020

October Snow  (pdf) : Stumbling On (pdf)

 It's the end of 2020 and tonight I'm embedding the video that Erik Sessions and I filmed as our contribution to the annual Decorah Burning Bright holiday concert. 

The first tune, October Snow, has already appeared here by itself but Erik and I play it as the first tune in a set that includes the aptly titled "Stumbling On." That title refers to both the character of the tune itself and the fact that this has been a year where it was often difficult to keep our balance and continue to move forward. 

For the last 20 plus years Erik Sessions and I have played music together regularly; as members of Contratopia, in other Decorah area bands (The Western Home String Band, etc.) and as a duo. This year we played together only a handful of times, especially since March. 

The video above was recorded quickly, I think sometime in late October. I had sent Erik the music for the tunes in advance. We had a brief conversation about how many times through and some simple arrangement ideas. Then we ran through the tunes once and made the recording. There are plenty of mistakes on my part but I'm OK with them.

I'm fervently hoping that Erik and I will be able to play together much more in 2021 than in 2020. Despite the challenges ahead in the coming months I hope that everyone reading this blog manages to have a happy new year. Stay safe and take care of each other.

Emma the Baker and Little Bread

 

Emma the Baker - Little Bread (mp3) (pdf)

Today's tunes are the result of a commission by some good friends, Bill Deutsch and Martha Davis, who asked me to write a couple of tunes as a Christmas gift for their fiddler daughter, Emma. Bill was one of the first musicians I met when we moved to Decorah over 25 years ago and we have played together, off and on, in several groups and settings over the years. Martha was my colleague when I worked at Luther College's Preus Library.

Emma has grown from a talented young fiddler into an excellent player in that time and now lives in Germany where she is a professional baker and an active musician. Among other things, she is the long time fiddler with the popular Irish music band Paddy's Last Order (paddyslastorder.de). So today I can share the demo I made of "Emma the Baker" and "Little Bread." Many thanks to Bill and Martha for bringing these tunes to life!

The end of the year is upon us but I hope to add one more post on New Year's Eve. I hope you enjoy these tunes and that you give them a try on your instrument as well.

Seasonal Suites for Octave Mandolin or Mandocello (including the new Autumn Suite)

 

Seasonal Suites for Octave Mandolin or Mandocello, (pdf book combining Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn Suites from this blog, only $5).

Autumn Suite, November, 2020 (for Octave Mandolin or Mandocello)

(Octave Mandolin version pdf) (Mandocello version pdf)

1. Amber (mp3)

2. Russet (mp3)

3. Golden (mp3)

4. Scarlet (mp3)

5. Auburn (mp3)

Today's post completes a project begun in February 2019. The Autumn Suite presented here is the final piece of what I am now calling Seasonal Suites for Octave Mandolin or Mandocello. I have really enjoyed putting these suites together for the the players of the "big mandolins" and I have been very pleased by the positive responses I have received from the Big Mandolin Community.

If you have been following the deployment of these suites over the last two years, and you have been printing out the sheet music for your own use, then you can simply print a copy of the Autumn Suite and you will have a complete set. 

My hope is that some folks will decide to pay the price of a cup of fancy coffee and buy the new book I have compiled in order to have all of the pieces together in one handy place. Just click on the link above for the web page for the book which includes a Paypal Buy Now button. I'll send it out to you quickly.

I may someday compile all of my recordings of these pieces into one album as well, but that's a project for another year. Right now I'm just happy that I managed to finish the Autumn Suite and put together the book before the end of this very strange year.

Just a reminder, while these pieces were created and arranged with the octave mandolin and mandocello in mind there is no reason that players of the regular mandolin can't play them as well. I think these pieces would sound good on the "little" (CGDA) mandola also but I didn't create versions in alto clef. If you play the CGDA mandola and can read bass clef that is your best bet.

However you come at this music I hope that you find something to enjoy in playing and hearing it. I certainly had a good time composing these tunes and playing them on my own octave mandolin. Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me with this project.

Ten Easy Duos, no. 8

 

Ten Easy Duos, no. 8 (mp3) (pdf)

Back in 2017 I wrote a little duo for two mandolins. At a loss for a title I foolishly called it "Ten Easy Duos, no. 1", thinking I would just toss off a few more in the next few days. Now, years later, that "Ten" has become something of an albatross.

I have posted nos. 1,2,3, and 6 on this blog but nos. 4,5,7 have yet to be completed, or maybe even started. I do, however, have no. 8 here today. Who knows when, or if, there will be more.

In any event, I had fun writing this one and fun recording it. Find a duo partner and see what you think. As usual, I leave things like dynamics and fingerings up to the player. Have some fun with it. Or you can just play along with my version.

The photo above was taken last week along the Upper Iowa River, near where the stream from Dunning's Spring enters. We are facing upriver towards the College Drive bridge.