peter somerville - Posted - 11/18/2010:  18:25:18

I've just put a couple more celtic tabs on my site. I'd be interested in some feedback -are they easy to play? do they sound ok? I've tried to make them as bullet proof as possible so i can play them in public without falling apart.

Andy McC - Posted - 11/19/2010:  00:54:22

Sure thing, but where do I locate your site?

peter somerville - Posted - 11/19/2010:  01:29:50

Hi Andy, just click on my name and it'll get you to my hangout site i think. i'm a bit of a dummy on the computer but i think it should be easy to find me. tell me if i can make it easier please

Andy McC - Posted - 11/19/2010:  01:46:30

HI Peter, that was easier than I expected. I thought you meant it was on your own site.
Many thanks,

peter somerville - Posted - 11/19/2010:  01:55:20

that's good Andy, let me know what you think of them when you have a moment please. i've been working away on these celtic tunes for years but most of the pickers here in australia just want to play bluegrass or old timey so i dont know whether these arrangements work well for others or not

AllanJ - Posted - 11/24/2010:  10:43:53

Just a small point but the key sig. in the tabedit files seems to be set to 'C' so I got a whole load of accidentals. I'm not familiar with 3 of the tunes but I'll try to have a go at them over the next couple of weeks.

peter somerville - Posted - 11/24/2010:  13:09:25

hi Allan, that's interesting. when i open them on my computer they're set to G and play ok, so perhaps you've accidentally set your tabledit to C by mistake. i find tabledit a challenge

Mirek Patek - Posted - 04/11/2011:  00:13:35

Peter, when I open your TablEdit tabs, I have the same "issue" as AllanJ - no key signature (e.g two #) at the beginning of the score, i.e. all the #s are in the score before each concerned note.

Are you sure you did the sequence (e.g. from the upper menu) Score, Key signature, setting the appropriate amount of #s by the arrows next to the stave [cave Dorian mode has one more # than Aeolian] FOR ALL MEASURES (using From Measure... To Measure...arrows) of your tab?

E.g. in your Morning Dew tab you have to do this:

[Press Apply.]

Do not care about the scale names in the Mode rectangle, TablEdit apparently understands only major/Ionian and minor/Aeolian mode.

Mirek

peter somerville - Posted - 04/11/2011:  01:03:35

Thanks Mirek, i had no idea the key signature was wrong. i don't seem to have a problem on my computer. i've fixed all my tabs on my site now so hopefully they'll be more readable, many thanks, i love banjo hangout!

peter somerville - Posted - 04/11/2011:  01:55:19

i think what fooled me is i don't display the notation for myself, just the tab. so i don't think the tab has anything wrong with it.

Tom Hanway - Posted - 04/11/2011:  04:22:11

Mr. Patek is steadfast and helpful in that regard: punctilious is not the word. 

Great musical outpouring Peter. 

peter somerville - Posted - 04/11/2011:  04:41:11

thanks for the laughs Tom!

Tom Hanway - Posted - 04/11/2011:  17:19:54

Backatcha! 

Banjo Hangout does keep one on his *toes* ... a thumb is a toe, right?  It even looks like one, har, har, har!

Imagine:  we have only eight fingers and two toes on our hands!  What's up with that? 

Kids love this, and get it immediately! 

Edited by - Tom Hanway on 04/11/2011 17:21:33

Tom Hanway - Posted - 04/20/2011:  04:44:33

quote:

---

Originally posted by peter somerville



I've just put a couple more celtic tabs on my site. I'd be interested in some feedback -are they easy to play? do they sound ok? I've tried to make them as bullet proof as possible so i can play them in public without falling apart.

---

Peter, this is lovely stuff.  Your tab is contemporary and as relevant as can be for Celtic 5-string banjo, and it clearly indicates that you are a studied player who has put in the time on a real 5-string, playing honest tunes and honing your considerable craft. 

You have mapped out some tuneful melodies, and it's clear that you are devoted to the 5-string banjo – not hacking into it – and that you love to play strains of genuine Celtic melody in a highly personal style.  

You’ve got me adding more double-stops to my own jigs and slip jigs, though I’m using them more as drones (thirds, fifths and octaves) in key spots where I would tend to accent anyway, letting them ring, so thanks for that! 

Every Celtic tune can be tabbed and fingered in lots of different ways, depending on the sounds and embellishments one wants to hear, insinuate, or make room for later.  One setting sets up another, and another, and so on. 

I just got in a good two-hour practice, in the sun, after being inspired by your style of playing.  Time for lunch, then back at it some more.  You de man!

Tom 

Edited by - Tom Hanway on 04/20/2011 04:45:33

Ragaisis - Posted - 04/20/2011:  06:23:09

I'm feeling like a total idiot.  I can't seem to find Peter's tabs.  I've been to both his myspace site as well as his BHO page and am coming up empty.  Can someone here give me a virtual kick in the pants in the right direction?

Thanks,

Chris

Mirek Patek - Posted - 04/20/2011:  07:31:17

Here they are:

banjohangout.org/tab/browse.as...p;v=40473

Access from Peter's BHO homepage: just click to the word Tabs under his left elbow.

Ragaisis - Posted - 04/20/2011:  07:34:40

Thanks, Mirek!

Chris

Tom Hanway - Posted - 04/20/2011:  10:35:33

Pete, I was checking up on one of the tunes you tabbed (under your elbow, lol), because the title seemed odd, yet somehow familiar.  ‘Tae Aberdeen’ is also known as ‘The 72nd Highlanders' Farewell to Aberdeen’ (N. Mathieson) aka ‘The Boy’s Lament for his Dragon’ (William MacKay), which is an even earlier arrangement.  It could be even older and have a non-English title, being an old Scottish pipe march (2/4).

The fact that you are arranging and playing a piping tune on the 5-string banjo is significant, because it shows that traditional Scottish tunes are still being played, in your case, Australia.  So, you are one of the tune players who are keeping it a living tradition in the Celtic Diaspora.  You are resurrecting and revamping the old tunes, keeping them alive and well.

Your settings, don’t worry, are beyond “bullet-proof”; even more than that they seem to be cut from whole cloth, because you’re probably feeling the music first.  I can tell by the consistency of the tab, and I’ve also heard you play.  You got it:  It’s not an exercise for you, not a game, not drawing others out, or a clever sport in horrible one-upmanship – not that that happens in these threads.  Yours is Celtic music from the heart.

I am a big fan.  Your tune settings are a testament to contemporary Celtic music. It's not cutting and pasting of generic “parts” together to create that monstrosity known as frankenmusic (Richard Dress), or frankentablature (me).  These are useful terms for surgically constructed standard notation and tab (not necessarily together) that comes across as artificial or surreal.

I get the strong feeling that your music is something you are experiencing and learning from inside the tradition.  At the best of times, the living tradition is experiential and experimental.  My stockman’s hat is off to you Pete! 

Tom

Ancient - Posted - 05/07/2011:  10:10:46

I just found these tabs and I like them. Thanks for sharing these with us.

Julian44_4 - Posted - 06/02/2011:  01:33:45

clawhammerbanjotab.co.uk/

Celtic Tabs

Under

Paul Slater 

Robin Beech