January 2010-5 (Hold That Thought)

Hold That Thought (mp3) (pdf)

Here's a tune from March of 2008 that I recorded today as a slower reel. You can certainly play it faster if you want. I used a recently acquired old Gibson A Jr. mandolin, which has some intonation and tuning issues but sounds really good, to my ears, on this track.

The photo is of the restored Harmonist labyrinth at New Harmony, Indiana, taken in March of 2009.

January 2010-4 (Deer Track, Jan. 29, 2009)

Deer Track, January 29, 2009 (mp3)(pdf)

Back in 2005 I built a web page that contained links to recordings and music for a number of short solo mandolin pieces that I titled Deer Tracks. I have continued composing these short pieces from time to time and here is one that was written nearly a year ago on January 29, 2009.

I really enjoy working on these pieces, following their trails to see where they lead. Sometimes I have to double back and try a different path but usually they wind around to a familiar place for me.

If you approach these as a player my clue to you is that these pieces are usually easier than they appear. Often a simple fingering pattern will produce seemingly odd results. My goal is not to create something "different" or "original" (this is obvious to the serious composers out there), I'm just following certain pathways to see where they go.

If you are interested in some really cool, recently composed music for solo mandolin let me recommend the two books of Caprices that composer David Loeb has generously made freely available through the Mandolin Cafe website this past week. You can find them by following the links in this discussion thread. The great mandolinist Joe Brent deserves much thanks for sharing this new music.

January 2010-3

Wintergreen Waltz (mp3) (pdf) (photo by Pat O'Loughlin)

It's nearly time for Wintergreen 2010, a dance weekend in Bozeman, Montana that is near and dear to our hearts in the Contratopia band. We've been honored to play three times at this great January event and, while we won't be there this year, it looks like it will be a great time again. It appears that there may be a few spots left so Bozeman is the place to be if you are looking for a great dance event next weekend. Music by Crowfoot and our friends Weatherwood, calling by Asheville's Adina Gordon and sound by Mitchell Frey.

Last year on the Sunday afternoon following the last dance our long-suffering hosts, Rab and Mitch, took Erik, Patrice and Pat to a local hot spring for a good soak. I was too beat even for that so I stayed at the house by the fire with the dog. Before I fell asleep I started writing a waltz using Rab's fine guitar but I painted myself into a musical corner and let it go.

Sometime later I took a fresh look at the tune and turned it into what you see here as the Wintergreen Waltz. I'll see if I can get the Western Home String Band to play it next Saturday at our dance here in Decorah in honor of our friends out west.

January 2010-2

Shepherd's Purse (mp3) (pdf)






A tune from March 2009, vaguely Scottish. In my mind related to the wonderful tunes that James Oswald collected and composed in the first half of the 18th century. The title, as far as I can tell, is not one that he used for any of his 96 Airs for the Seasons sonatas which I have spent many hours enjoying.

January 2010-1

Lawn Chair Night (mp3) (pdf)

OK, so 2009 was really So Few Tunes. But it's a New Year and we'll see how Many Tunes make it to this blog in 2010. There certainly are plenty of tunes laying about, it's just the Process that takes time.

Here in lovely Decorah there is a summertime tradition of free concerts every Thursday evening at the courthouse square. These Lawn Chair Night shows are always entertaining and I've often had the privilege of performing there as a member of one band or another.

The first group I became a member of after moving to Iowa went by the somewhat ill-considered name of Just Four Guys. There were in fact (at least at the start) just four of us, and we were all guys. By the end of our short career we often had five or even six members and we sometimes included non-guys as well.

Our first Lawn Chair Night performance was particularly memorable because of a typo on the poster advertising the summer roster of performers. Rather than Four Guys we became, unfortunately, Just For Guys. Lord only knows what the faithful Lawn Chair Night audience expected that evening but I remember that there were plenty of females in the audience despite our forbidding name.

Rumor has it that Just Four Guys may reunite in 2010 for a few select gigs and, if so, I hope to convince the now older and wiser gentlemen in the band to include this tune in our set. Chord-playing musicians will note that the parenthetical chords in the B section of the tune are meant to be played on the repeat of the B section only.

The photo is a reminder of warmer days. In fact an afternoon in the 90s (farenheit) spent last August at beautiful King's Landing in New Brunswick. It was well below zero here last night in Decorah but the sun is out this morning.

The Waltz Lesson (for mandolin orchestra)

The Waltz Lesson (pdf score)

I received the link to this live video of the Fretful Federation Mandolin Orchestra performing my mandolin orchestra arrangement of "The Waltz Lesson" at St. George's Church, Kemptown as part of the Brighton Festival recently. You can read a little more about the piece here:
http://www.mandotopia.com/mtopia/WaltzLesson.htm.

The Fretfuls have been very kind in performing some of my pieces and they always play them beautifully. I strongly encourage you to check out more of their videos on YouTube. Or, if you are in the neighborhood of Brighton, you might want to check their website and go and hear them in person.

Jefferson Lives/Leadfoot/Go Figure

Jefferson Lives/Leadfoot/Go Figure (mp3)(pdf1)(pdf2)

Three reels that I recorded a couple of years ago as a demo for my Contratopia bandmates. We actually played a couple of these tunes for a while but they're no longer in the setlist. I mixed the recording in mono because, at the time, I was enjoying listening to the mono versions of the early Capitol Beatles albums. I still like the feel of this recording, plus I like the tunes. So here they are.

31 Waltzes

Easter Waltz (mp3)(pdf)

In some parts of North America flowers are blooming and Spring has sprung. Here in northeast Iowa things are looking up, but we had some snow yesterday. Friday, however, we were in southern Indiana at New Harmony. The photo above is of a plaque that stands outside the door of the Chapel of the Little Portion. Even though the feast of St. Francis is celebrated in October his words are especially appropriate at the beginning of the growing season.

Our first tune for 2009 (after a nearly 3 month layoff) comes from a recording that Erik Sessions and I made at Patrice Pakiz's house back in February. Easter Waltz is a few years old now and Erik and I have played it a few times, both with Contratopia and without, in different keys and arrangements.

The version we play here is how the tune appears in the new 31 Waltzes tunebook that I recently finished putting together. You can click on the link above to learn a little more about the book. If you would like a copy you can follow the Paypal links from the book's webpage to order either a PDF version or a printed copy from me. A number of the waltzes in the book have appeared in this blog but the majority have not. If you enjoy playing waltzes I think you might find several of these tunes to be interesting and fun. With luck you might even discover some "spiritual gladness" hidden within.

December 2008

Snow Drifter (mp3)(pdf)
Pocket Change (mp3)(pdf)
Waitin' On the Julia Belle (mp3)(pdf)

This entry marks the end of the second year of So Many Tunes. I've chosen three tunes from my 2005 backlog to round off the year and a quick count of the entries at the alphabetical listing page tells me that I've managed to record 60 tunes in that time.

Back in January 2007 when I started this project I imagined that I would add a tune or two every week or so. That quickly became more work than I expected and the pace has slowed since those first few months. What began as a fun idea has sometimes become a chore as I try and find the time to record and edit tunes and printed music according to a self-imposed timetable.

So, beginning in 2009 I declare myself (to myself) free of any obligation to add tunes to this blog with any regularity. When I feel like adding something (and I find the time) I will do so. It might be next week, it might be next summer. We'll see what develops.

"Snow Drifter" is a waltz that languished in the key of Am for years before finding new life in a new key. I know a lot of fine guitar players who are a little intimidated by the half-diminished or m7b5 chord but it's really a very useful chord once you get to know it. Nothing else quite like it.

"Pocket Change" is a fun slip jig and feels good to play once you get it under your fingers (at least on the mandolin).

"Waitin' On the Julia Belle" is another of those tunes inspired by the brilliant compositions of Norman and Nancy Blake. I was delighted when we moved to Iowa to discover that the Julia Belle Swain makes its home in nearby La Crosse, Wisconsin. I always looked forward to seeing it during the Great Steamboat Race every year in Louisville, just before Kentucky Derby weekend, but I only thought of it as a boat somewhere on the Mississippi. Now I see it several times a year and can take a short cruise during the season if I want. It's easy to picture John Hartford in his prime just by seeing her on the water.

Happy New Year, more tunes to come.

November 2008

Canny Crow (mp3)(pdf)
Why Not Here, Why Not Now / Share the Road (mp3)
(Why Not pdf)(Share the Road pdf)

Maybe these are old-time tunes, maybe not. We have lots of crows here in Decorah and they have lots of personality. I don't remember what clever act inspired this tune's title but it was only one of many I have seen.

The road above and below, in Palisades Park, is one that I have "shared" many times with walkers, runners, dogs, bicyclists and the inhabitants of large, sometimes speeding, motorized vehicles. The June 2008 flood and torrential rains caused a stretch of this road to collapse and rendered it impassable for automobiles.



The city road crews had higher priorities for repair work which kept the road closed all summer and fall. This was great for pedestrians but a disappointment to those who were unable to drive up the steep road to enjoy the view. I expect that next spring (the road is always closed in the winter to motorized traffic) the road will be repaired and I'll once again be on the lookout for my four-wheeled friends as I walk along.

The Beautiful Days

The Beautiful Days (mp3)(pdf)
1837 Turnpike Road (mp3)(pdf)
A Fresh Start (mp3)(pdf)

A season has passed since the last post to this blog. In northeast Iowa the beautiful days of autumn are gone. The photo above was taken during a stroll on October 8th in Decorah's lovely Palisades Park. The Beautiful Days waltz was written on September 17th and recorded (along with the other tunes in this post) a couple of weeks ago.

Back in August we were lucky to spend a day and a night at Shakertown, Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. In the afternoon I had the chance take a short hike that included a stretch along the 1837 Turnpike Road on the village grounds. I was listening to Norman and Nancy Blake on my mp3 player and wrote this four part tune not long after.

A Fresh Start was written early in the morning (well, early for me at least) on the first day of the fall term at Luther College. I should have been getting ready for work but this friendly schottische insisted that summer wasn't yet over.

Winter won't be long in coming now. Winter tunes will follow.

July 2008

St. Anthony and the Fishes (mp3)(pdf)
Woodhaven (mp3)(pdf)

I came across a reference to St. Anthony and his sermon to the fishes in Alberto Manguel's wonderful book The Library at Night (p.216) during the time that this four part tune was looking for a title. The mention of Anthony reminded me of my "St. Francis and the Birds" tune which has a similar form. This is another of those tunes that I almost didn't write down because much of it is so clearly derivative of other, better, tunes. In spite of that, I did pick up the pen and then I enjoyed playing it over and over. So here it is.

I think of Woodhaven as a medieval tune, a ductia maybe? In any event I've had it around a long time. I think it would also work nicely as an S/A recorder duet if the alto player transposes the bottom line.

June 2008

Quarry Hill Road (mp3) (pdf)
Our Own Way (mp3) (pdf)
Off to Minnesota (mp3) (pdf)

It's been quite a month. The above photo (taken by Paul Scott of decorahnews.com) is a view from the levee less than a hundred yards from our house, probably on the day (June 9) that we were ordered to evacuate our neighborhood. All ended well for us but many of our neighbors suffered substantial basement flooding during this unprecedented event. Many more photos of the swollen Upper Iowa River can be found at the decorahnews site and some of the best shots are to be found at the Inspire(d) Media blog.

I've been assured that my One Hundred Year Flood tune had nothing to do with this 500 year flood but I don't think I'll be using that kind of title anytime soon.

This month's first tune is titled for the road that leads up to the local quarry if you cross the bridge in the distance in the photo above. For a couple of days it was the only way for regular folks (non-emergency personnel) to get from the east side of Decorah to the west side. It's not a very good road, made of gravel and steep, but it was the only way to head North from our side of town.

The second tune is a simple waltz that I finally got around to recording and the third is a relative (pale imitation, etc.) of the venerable "Off to California." I think of it as a hornpipe but Erik and I have used it successfully as a schottische more than once.

Hope you enjoy them.

May 2008

Friday Night Tailgate (mp3) (pdf)
Goslings Afloat (mp3) (pdf)
Fifty-Three (mp3) (pdf)



Sometimes after the Glen Echo Friday night contra dance a small tailgate party can be found at the edge of the park. Snacks, beverages and good conversation are shared and this tune came into being shortly after Contratopia enjoyed the party on a cool November night in 2006.

Just this afternoon, while walking along the mighty Upper Iowa River, I spied two geese and a gaggle of goslings floating by. The tune itself is from last summer but waited until today for a title.

I celebrated a birthday a few days ago which reminded me of this four part tune that I wrote on my 53rd birthday a while back. I think of this one as another in a long line of attempts to emulate the great mandolin tunes of Norman and Nancy Blake. "Attempt" is the key word in that sentence.

As usual these were all recorded using my now trusty Zoom H4 recorder.

April 2008

(Photo by Pat O'Loughlin, Shepherdstown, WV, with one of my favorite authors.)

All Fall Down (mp3) (pdf)
Bob's Angels (mp3) (pdf)
Sand Island (mp3) (pdf)

This posting has more of a Contratopia theme than most. Partly because we've had a pretty active month of playing and touring.

Bob's Angels is a waltz titled for our friend and Tapestry
board member Bob Anholt and all of his "angels" who helped make it possible for us to play a Mostly Waltz afternoon at Tapestry back in March. The band played the tune that day but this recording is the home demo that I recorded and sent to Erik, Pat and Patrice a few days before the gig. It probably should go a little faster.

The other two tunes were recorded by Erik, Pat and myself at Patrice's house on a Saturday afternoon while she was off earning a living.

Sand Island is possibly the first fiddle tune I ever wrote. I remember my old friend and excellent guitarist Henry Austin complimenting me on the tune back in Louisville sometime in the 80s. That bit of encouragement really meant a lot to me at the time. I see, thanks to Google, that he's currently playing with an Irish band called My Darling Asleep.

Contratopia has been playing this tune for a number of years and I almost never play guitar on it, but the guitar was in my hands that afternoon. If we ever officially record Sand Island it will certainly be more polished than this version (especially with Patrice adding her talents) but this is a good example of how the basic tune might go.

This version of All Fall Down is really Erik and I playing through the tune so Pat can work out an approach on the banjo. Pat would say he didn't really know the piece at this point but I think he sounds just fine. The band has just recently added this tune into a new medley and we played it a couple of times on the tour out east.

I wrote the music the day after travelling a fair distance to hear the brilliant Liz Carroll and John Doyle play at Wisconsin's Folklore Village. If only I could write a tune half as good as anything they played that night....

Up River Road on YouTube

My old friend Joe Burch in Louisville has recently uploaded this video to YouTube. It's taken from a concert titled "Mando Magnificat" that we were involved in as members of the Louisville Mandolin Orchestra back in the summer of 1989. The concert was part of the Lonesome Pine Special series and was a sequel to a similar concert that we had been a part of in 1988.

That earlier concert had been the public debut of the LMO and led to us being invited to perform, along with many of the finest mandolinists in the country, in a second "Magnificat", this time to be filmed for public television.

Shortly after the LMO began rehearsing in 1988 I brought in a short piece that I had attempted to arrange for mandolin orchestra instruments. Conductor Jim Bates looked it over and offered a couple of suggestions. I returned with an improved version that I called "Up River Road". The members of the LMO enthusiastically made the piece something special for all of us.

I have a videotape of the original TV broadcast which I haven't seen in a long time. This YouTube clip reveals that the group really had the piece ready to perform. Everybody in the group, especially Mike Schroeder in the first chair, is playing like a pro.

With the encouragement of the LMO and, especially, Jim Bates and Keith Harris "Up River Road" became the first part of my "Louisville Suite". The suite was published by Trekel Musik Verlag in Hamburg and has been performed by many mandolin orchestras around the world.

Since moving to Iowa in 1994 I've greatly missed playing in the LMO but they are still going strong. Along with their original website, linked above, you can also find them on MySpace and, now, on YouTube as well.

I've made a couple of small changes to this blog this week. One that might be of use to you is the addition of the Feedblitz email subscription widget in the Links sidebar. If you don't use a feed reader but you'd like to know when I add new entries, you can sign up to receive an email notification this way. It seems to work well but let me know if you have any problems.

March 2008

One Hundred Year Flood (mp3) (pdf)
Alice's Garden (mp3) (pdf)
Last Call at Hawley-Cooke (mp3) (pdf)
Spring Forward (mp3) (pdf)

Three waltzes and a reel.

The snow is finally melting around here and thoughts turn to flooding. Above is a photo from Louisville, Kentucky during the 1937 flood. My folks both remembered that flood well.

Alice's Garden was a roadside produce stand that was located up Highway 52 near the Minnesota state line when we first moved to northeast Iowa. The stand is still there but hasn't been open for many years.

The Hawley-Cooke bookstores were the best bookstores in the Louisville area for over 25 years. I was frequently there at closing time still trying to decide which bargain to buy.

Spring Forward refers to last week's time change. It's a really simple tune but it works for me.

All three waltzes are fairly recent and "Flood" only dates back to last May. Contratopia tried out "Alice's" and "Last Call" at Tapestry a couple of weeks ago. I imagine we'll play them again at our mostly waltz afternoon this weekend along with a couple more new ones. Try them yourself and see what you think.

February 2008

March 12, 2005 (slow reel) (mp3)(pdf)
January 22, 2005 (duo in 3/4) (mp3) (pdf) (retitled "Halfway Home" in Midwestern Mandolin Duos)
May 30, 2007 (slow duo) (mp3)(pdf)

Well a few weeks turned into a couple of months. Busy, cold, snowy months. Walking with the dog up on the trails that overlook Decorah I have thought of this painting many times.

Three pieces of music with dates for titles. Titles are often the hardest part for me. If you have suggestions let me know.

Contratopia has played the first tune once or twice as part of our half-speed set that is built around Pat O'Loughlin's great tune "Cement Donkey". It was even slower in that context but we've since dropped it from the set.

"January 22" is a waltz of sorts but I thought it would be fun to add a moving second part. Inspired partly, I guess, by long hours that I've spent recently transcribing some minuets by Telemann.

"May 30, 2007" was actually performed by myself and Luther College's extraordinary flautist Carol Hester in June of 2007 at a kind of faculty variety show for students attending one of the Dorian Music Camps sponsored by the College. It sounds especially nice when the top line is played by someone as good as Carol.

These three pieces were all recorded this morning with cold winds blowing outside. The sun was shining but the wind chills were in the -30 Farenheit range. The temperature should rise above zero tomorrow but there's some more snow on the way.

My thinking at this point is to aim for posting at least one entry per month in 2008. We'll see how that goes. Hope you enjoy the music.

G for Gordy

G for Gordy (mp3) (pdf)

The annual Burning Bright holiday concert occurred last Saturday at the Decorah United Methodist Church. Two performances of lovely and unusual seasonal music were presented by a wonderfully talented cast of local musicians under the direction of Kathy Reed-Maxfield and Otter Dreaming. Erik Sessions and I are usually invited to perform a set of tunes and this year we played a medley of two tunes that have appeared in this blog, Harvest Stomp and Raccoon in the Bird Feeder.

During the 2006 Burning Bright concert Erik and I, along with our friend Beth Rotto on piano, played a new waltz of mine that I titled "G for Gordy." The recording here is from that concert. Both the tune and the performance are dedicated to the memory of our friend Gordy MacMasters who passed away in 2006. I won't pretend to give Gordy his due here but there wasn't a nicer guy in the world and I suspect that no one has ever played the saw with more emotion than he did. The tune's title comes from Gordy's habit of calling out the key of a tune. "C for Charlie" he'd say with that big smile.

This entry will be the last one for 2007 and I plan on taking a few weeks off before starting to post in 2008. More tunes to come...

Jigs, pt. 1

Donaldson's Woods (mp3)
The Least Resistance (mp3)
Donaldson/Least (pdf)
Knee High in December (mp3) (pdf)


I've had some trouble trying to decide how to present jigs in this blog. I have a bunch that I like but I never seem to choose them for recording. This week, however, I purchased a copy of Paul Kelly's excellent collection 110 Irish Mandolin Tunes, vol. 1 and found a solution. Mr. Kelly presents recordings of all 110 tunes on two CDs that come with the book and each tune is played once through. Duh, what a concept! This simple idea got me over the hump with jigs and I recorded several today. Here are the first three.

Donaldson Woods Nature Preserve in Indiana's Spring Mill State Park contains a beautiful stand of virgin timber. This particular jig was written while staying at the park lodge in the summer of 2005.

"The Least Resistance" title is a mystery to me now. I probably had something in mind when I named the tune but no longer. "Knee High in December" is presented in pdf form along with its friend "Puddle Jumper" from the Contratopia Tunebook. The latter tune appears on our Smitten CD but "Knee High" has yet to be recorded, even though we've played it now for a number of years. We usually play it first as a jig and then as a reel and, if we have time, we'll sometimes go back and forth playing the A section in 4/4 and the B section in 6/8. The title, of course, refers to snowfall in northeast Iowa.