Harvest Home Hornpipe

(Fiddle) Brendan Fitzgerald (Olympia, Washington) plays this one at an increasing tempo until every last fiddler in the session falls out, bows a smokin'. Lots of fun.

(Macromedia Flash 7)

The Road to Lisdoonvarna

(Fiddle) I read that farmers in Ireland way back yonder would go to an annual festival at Lisdoonvarna in hopes of finding a wife. Hence the hint of bouncy tragedy. LOL

(Macromedia Flash 7 a must)

The Wedding Reel

(Mandolin) Profound and heart-felt apologies to Lunasa. Just getting a handle on this before tackling it with the fiddle. Tenor banjo would work here, too!

You'll need Macromedia Flash 7 for playback.

Sovereignty Surprise

Iraq is a sovereign nation now, two days early.  If we continue to march, Iraq will break the downward trend of the Middle East, and even that shaky sheikdom in Saudi Arabia will have to stand up and take note.

 

In the mean time, I’m gonna keep posting early morning fiddle and mandolin tunes. J

 

--GT

The Race for Iraqi Sovereignty

Three days to sovereignty!  Congratulations, Iraq.  No more dictator, 18 billion dollars pumping into your economy like a fiduciary transfusion, and Coalition soldiers, contractors, humanitarian organizations rolling all over the place getting the water running, lights working, schools and hospitals operating… No wonder the bad guys don’t want this to succeed.  When Iraq takes off and becomes a viable national entity, it will mean that the spiral of despair in the Middle East will have been halted.  The nattering nabobs of nay saying negativity are croaking pretty loudly, but that’s the natural background noise of gargantuan undertakings.  The invertebrates will sit on the sidelines and croak the most while the vertebrates step forward and get the job done.  Vote Vertebrate this year!  J

 

-- GT

 

 

Blackberry Blossom

(Mandolin) Pretty straight forward. By the time I get a version that I'm happy with, my fretting hand is smoked. I guess it's old age creeping in. Ha!

Be sure you have Macromedia Flash 7 for playback.

Elsek's Farewell

(Fiddle) Elsek heard me play this, and hence his hasty departure. My first crack at Kenny Kosek's "Learn Bluegrass Fiddle" version. Be sure you have Macromedia Flash 7 loaded.

Fisher's Hornpipe (F)

(Mandolin) A rough cut (I'd call it a "mark on the wall" but some of you might call it something else!) at Fisher's Hornpipe in its original key of F. It's more bluegrass-friendly in the key of D, and more enterprising players jump between keys in more advanced versions of the tune. Like Ash said to the flying, biting book in Army of Darkness, "Oooo, I'm coming back to you!"

At Last, They Arrived

The Japanese Government delivered a donation of 10 Toyota ambulances for Ninewah Province. That cost about $600,000. Thanks, Japan!

Mosul Policemen

These Iraqi police bore the brunt of the attacks in Mosul two days ago. Very brave men. The RPK mounted in the back of the Toyota pickup is pretty menacing.

St. Anne's Reel / 8th of January

(Mandolin)Man, my left had was already worn out, so I apologize for the warts. Hey, you never know when you'll play your last tune, so give it your best shot! The 8th of January is also known as The Battle of New Orleans, and was made famous by Johnny Horton way back in the Jurassic period.

Memories of Waikiki

November 2nd, 2003, at the Waikiki Hilton. A long way from Iraq. Guess what? I had the same fiddle and mandolin with me that I have now in Mosul. A well-traveled pair.

Japanese Ambulances

The Japanese Ambulance grant has arrived!  Ten Mitsubishi ambulances from the Embassy of Japan in Baghdad have arrived in Mosul.  The People of Iraq (and especially our friends in the Ninewah Province Ministry of Health) thank you profusely.

 

--GT

Self Reliance in Action

My favorite essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson is Self Reliance.  It captures the American character, and places a crown of gold on the Protestant Work Ethic.  As we assist the Iraqi people to sovereignty on June 30^th, they should probably give this essay a close read.  They should also read this poem:

 

Invictus

 

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

 

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

 

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

 

---William Ernest Henley 1849–1903

 

            Back to the grindstone. --GT

Daily Recording Regimen

You know, the discipline of having to record a fiddle or mandolin tune does wonders for your technique and phrasing.  If you have to hear yourself via an external medium, you catch things that you would otherwise miss just noodling around on the fretboard / fingerboard.  Whatever it takes to improve, you know…

 

Another hot day in Mosul.  The Iraqis will have sovereignty soon.  Does that mean they’ll ditch the AK-47s and dynamite for guitars and fiddles?  One can only hope.

 

The Arabic word for today is “feel” – which means “elephant.”  As the sage said, how do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.  We’ll get the job done, not miraculously, but incrementally.

 

Cheers,

GT

The Butterfly

(Fiddle) A slip jig by legendary Dublin fiddler, Tommy Peoples. I don't think mine has quite emerged from the cocoon yet...

Tobin's Jig

(Fiddle) At Folklife in Seattle, Anthea Lawrence said if you buy her "How to Play Irish Fiddle" CD and book set, you could learn to play like her in 10 easy lessons! Where's my lawyer? :)

Paddy on the Railroad

(Mandolin) Played like a hornpipe. This and "Off to California" sound perky on a tenor banjo.

Steve Kaufman's Workouts

If you have a hankerin' for a Celtic and Bluegrass pickin' partner, visit Steve Kaufman and order his Four-Hour Celtic and Four-Hour Bluegrass Workouts, (CD/Book combos). This cat is meticulous, has a sense of humor, and his products are premium grade.
The Official Steve Kaufman Home Page

Julia Delaney / The Wise Maid

(Mandolin) These two reels go together like bread and butter. I first heard Julia Delaney played by a fiddle teacher in Carey, North Carolina in the winter of '99. It sounded so good that I sez to ma fingers, "fingers, you gotta learn that!" They're still learnin'. :) Make sure you have Macromedia Flash or you won't see the playback controls.

Mist on the Mountain / Gravel Walk

Audra Poor on the flute, JAN 04.

Josh Pinkham--Teen Mandolin Prodigy

Compared to this lad, I'm a Late Blooming Child Prodigal! Check out Josh Pinkham's Website

Dave Sheiber wrote a well-balanced article about Josh in the St. Petersburg Times.

I believe Josh doesn't like the title "prodigy." It implies not having to work so hard to achieve a high level of performance. Apparently, Josh has worked like a bricklayer since October 2001 (when he was 13 years old) to master these tunes. That's admirable, however--having a "knack" for this sort of thing is a big plus. As for persistence--here's some encouragement for my fellow not-so-young students: "A plodding enthusiast is more admirable than the sporadic genius." Not sure who said that, but it sounds good to me. --GT

Martin Kirwan's / Temperance Reel

(Fiddle) My first crack at tying these two tunes together. I just learned MK's, so cut me some slack, man. :) Temperance Reel is also known as the Teetotaler's Reel, which is appropriate, as there is not a whole lot of whiskey on this side of the world! (if you don't see the playback controls below, take a second and install Macromedia Flash)

Ashokan Farewell

First Fiddle Post. My gallant attempt at the theme tune from Ken Burn's PBS Documentary, "The Civil War." Profound apologies to Jay Ungar... (No playback controls below? Take a second and install Macromedia Flash)

Oud Boy Plays a Tune

Like I said, Bilaal needs to learn some cheerful tunes! He played his "Allahu Akbar" tune for us at the St. Patrick's Day party at the Civil Military Operations Center in Mosul. MAJ Stephanie Gerber organized it, complete with paper shamrocks and green tea. (ensure you have Macromedia Flash installed. Takes 20 seconds.)

Kurds Advancing

Nice folks, but the Kurd's "Victim Card" may have been overplayed.
The New York Times: Kurds Advancing to Reclaim Land in Northern Iraq

Distributing Instruments from Olympia, WA

Gave these two Iraqi boys whistles this morning. They were waiting with their parents to visit the Civil Military Operations Center. Again, happy kids, angry parents!

The Maid Behind the Bar

(Mandolin) -- (no playback controls visible? Install Macromedia Flash!)

Oh there was a maid behind the bar
and that was where she stayed
Though her friends all cried "come out! come out!"
they never never could persuade
the maid behind the bar to move,
she never would come out
Her sole purpose on this earthly plane
was serving mugs of stout!

Oh unambitious serving maid
you're overworked and underpaid
Have you no longing to be free,
no existential agony?
While serving beers and stouts
to ungrateful drunken louts
Oh is it too late to change her fate,
the maid behind the bar?

Peter Cooper, "The Complete Irish Fiddle Player"

TIME.com: Can Petraeus Salvage Iraq?

TIME.com: Can Petraeus Salvage Iraq?

There is good happening all over Iraq, but what gets advertised are the explosions. Civil Affairs soldiers, along with every one else in country, spend an awful lot of time fixing schools and hospitals, paving the roads, contracting electrical upgrades, digging wells in remote villages, fixing water treatment plants along the Tigris River, distributing humanitarian aid, and the list goes on. LTG Petraeus did a bang-up job up here in Northern Iraq, so this Time Magazine article isn't just blowing smoke. Our job up here has been made a lot easier, thanks to the efforts of the "Band of Brothers" -- 101st Airborne Division.

"Oud Boy"

Bilaal is 10 years old, and plays a mean Iraqi Oud. The trouble is, all the songs he knows are sad! I tried to show him some happy tunes with my cheapie mandolin.
Zen Fiddler

Swinging on a Gate (G)

(First Mandolin Post) Dedicated to Audra Poor! Really raspy, but it was recorded in Iraq just now on a laptop microphone--what can I say? This is the traditional first tune played at the Fishbowl Brewpub in Olympia, Washington. Cheers, Burt!

Life in the Palace

Remember when Uday and Qusay Hussein bought the farm last July? They had a reeeeeaaally nice pad on a hilltop overlooking Mosul. That pad is now my Carnegie Hall. On most evenings, when the work is winding down, I haul my fiddle or mandolin into the massive foyer and let it echo. Ah, acoustic catharsis. I'll have to subscribe to Audioblog to give you a dose of expat pickin' and fiddlin'.

A book I've been working through is T.Z. Lavine's "From Socrates to Sartre: The Philosophic Quest." Heady stuff, but well-written. I always wondered what Descartes dualism was all about...

Tin Whistles for Iraqi Kids

An intrepid Civil Affairs trooper handing out tin whistles in Mosul, Iraq. Boy, did we make a few parents angry that day! :P
Zen Fiddler

Music for Iraq!

Thanks to some very generous musician friends in Olympia, Washington, I've had the opportunity to hand out dozens of tin whistles, harmonicas, ocarinas, and stuffed animals to Kurdish and Iraqi children in northern Iraq. There are lots of AK-47s on the streets, but not a guitar or fiddle for miles. That's what I call deprivation. Maybe after a year of being a "musical Johnny Appleseed," we can make a dent in this problem.

Clinton's "Badge of Honor?"

CNN.com - Clinton:Impeachment fight a 'badge of honor' - Jun 16, 2004
Pardon my spleen, but--Whoah, you have got to be kidding. "The corruption of language is followed closely by the corruption of mankind." Some wise person said that, not sure who. "Honor" is not the word I would have chosen, neither would Hillary, but the presidential perks outweighed the presidential perversions now, didn't they?

Funny that he said Hillary made him sleep on the couch for a couple of months during this debacle. Yup, honorable all the way.

Remember, "Its the Integrity, Stupid."

The Academy of Fine Arts, Dohuk

The Arts Academy in Dohuk, Northern Iraq. A German philanthropist started this Kurdish academy in 1992. They have about a dozen violinists. A breath of fresh air in Iraq! 

Acoustic Catharsis

In spite of the obvious "Nero fiddling while Rome burned" joke--I'm sure glad my mandolin, fiddle, and boudhran survived the duffle bags. Early morning and late at night, these cheap old things are a welcome reminder that civilization is worth fighting for.

The tune of choice this morning was "Beeswing," in Bb. I have a Peter Cooper recording of it, that is helping my intonation. My $200 Knilling fiddle and fiberglass bow are more than adequate for Iraq fiddling.

I've heard some of the local Iraqi fiddlers, and they tend to stick to the C minorish Arabesque stuff, for some odd reason. :)

Fisher's Hornpipe in the keys of F (the original) and D (the more popular key) has been a challenge on my Martin Backpacker mando. When the temperature reaches the upper triple digits, I hope the wood doesn't combust!