NOTES FROM THE MUSICAL DIRECTOR

Music Director's Notes
October 2005

Greetings.  This month we have a traditional jig, a contemporary jig that is a
session favorite, a country dance hornpipe, and two strathspeys. Let's start
with the traditional jig: Woo'd and Married and a'. It is a country dance from
Wilson's Companion in the Ballroom, 1816. The music that goes with the dance
has never felt quite right to me. And that's because the tune really is a 9/8
jig that has been massaged into 6/8. Here are both versions. The contemporary
jig is Andy DeJarlis from Jerry Holland's book. We do not have many tunes in
the key of E; this is a popular session tune. Both strathspeys are from The
Newcastle Collection of Country Dance Tunes, published in 1971. This little
book is jam packed with good tunes, all contemporary. Miss Irene Fidler's
Strathspey has long been a favorite but I'd forgotten about it until I recently
danced to it. It lifted me off the floor. Mrs. Jessie Blair's Strathspey is by
Jimmy Shand. The 2 tunes go well together and moving from G into A always
provides a lift. Back Shore Hornpipe is by Drummond Cook. Mr Cook is a
contemporary accordionist and Country Dance band leader as well as a tune
writer. He learned to play fiddle from his father, became an avid dancer, and
formed a country dance band. In order to give his band a strong lead he
switched from fiddle to accordion and has played that instrument for 30+
years. Back Shore Hornpipe is the lead tune for The Fisherman's Reel. It's is
one of the many tunes I learned this summer at St Andrews.

CALL FOR ORIGINAL TUNES

This is the year for original tunes! March 2006 will again be the session for
playing those original tunes you send me. The deadline is January 15,
2006. Does that seem early? Well, I have to get them formatted and paginated
and to the mailing folks by March 1. One tune per member. The tune does not
need to be 'camera ready' but I do appreciate those that are. I will format
them if necessary. Please send a line or two about the tune, why you wrote it,
or when, or what you are trying to say with the tune.  Remember, Jan 15th.

New Hampshire Games Report

While the air was chilly the music was hot. Over 40 SRS members played on
Saturday at the NH Games at the Hopkinton Fair Grounds in Contoocook, NH on
Sept 24th. Considering that we played at 10 AM we had a good sized appreciative
audience. At the close of the day many musicians repaired to the Fiddle Village
for supper and more music and dance. Sunday morning it was even chillier,
especially on the concrete floor of the Ceilidh Hall. Again we had an
appreciative audience. The high point of the day was the session back in the
big concert tent after lunch. The program announced Massed Fiddles with
Alasdair Fraser and the Strathspey & Reel Society of New Hampshire. We crammed
ourselves on the stage without chairs and played two of our sets. Then Alasdair
and numerous other musicians joined us and Alasdair, with Natalie Haas,led us
on a rousing series of jigs and hot reels ending when Alasdair led us all off
the stage, gathered those musicians who had not fit on the stage, trooped
through the audience and outside the tent. A big thank you to all the musicians
who practiced the sets, arrived promptly and in tune, got on and off the stage
in record time and played wonderfully.


Sign up for the Gala. We have already had a lot of you signing up, we need
more. The music sets are done, they will be available at the October
session. Also, at the October session we will spend the first half of the
afternoon playingthe new music and the second half playing the Gala
program. Kip Fergusonwill againMC, we will have a trio of teen aged pipers,
country dancing to Muriel's playing, and a special set for the under 20's. And
more.  Send me an email, smiskoe at aol.com, or call me 603-225-6546, or just
sign up at the session.

GALA PUBLICITY

Every member can (and should) help get the word out about our upcoming Gala
Concert! Susan Woodward is coordinating membership efforts by giving flyers to
members and giving them ideas of where to post them. Think about where YOU see
flyers that catch your attention - at the Library, local bank, grocery store,
book store, work?

Four great reasons whyEVERYONE should pitch in with publicity:

1) We want as many people of all ages to enjoy a great afternoon of Scottish
music, dance, and song, right?

2) For those unacquainted with the SRSNH, this is awonderful introduction as to
who we are and what we do. Traditionally we have had new members join the SRS
as a direct result ofattending our Gala. (One of those is writing to you now!)

3) Besides needing to cover the expense of putting on the Gala, we want to
raise a significant amount of money to fund our Scholarship Program.

And lastly!!! It is so much more fun to play to a "packed house" - the energy
is simply awesome and that makes the Gala even MORE fun to be part of!

SO! SPREAD THE WORD!!!!

CALL FOR GALA ADVERTISERS!

The Gala Program is a great place to advertise your business, or even to post a
personal message to one of the performers! Dads, Moms, want to show how proud
you are of your young musicians? Place an ad in this year's Gala
Program. Business card sized ads are just $18.00 for members. Quarter page ads
(3" x 4") are $40.00. Half page ads (6" x 4") are $68. Buy a whole page for
just $110!

Get your message out to a large audience AND support the Gala at the same
time. What could be better?

Send your camera-ready paper copy and check made out to S.R.S.N.H.to: Sandy
Lafleur, P.O. Box 1053, Amherst, NH 03031. Contact me at (603)673-8497 or
strumma at aol.com with any questions. Deadline for submission is November 7,
2005.

Web Site of the Month

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/scottskinner/index.shtml "The Music of J Scott Skinner."
From the University of Aberdeen, this site and has some handwritten transcripts
and music clips by the great one.

Notes from the editor

Hello, I'm the new editor.  You'll be seeing some evolving changes as I get my
feet underneath me.  I've tried to clean up the calendar so if I've blown away
anything, please let me know.  I'm one of those guitar players who sits in the
back and been interested in Celtic Music for about 5 years now.  I enjoy the
melodies and the history.  I sometimes play with the Rakes of Milford and Piper
Kevin Meyers.  I'm partial to J. Scott Skinner tunes and enjoy Cape Breton
music very much.  I enjoyed playing last year's Gala and have met lots of nice
people.

If you have something to include in this news letter, you can email or phone.
Deadline for submissions is the 1st of the month.  If the submission is still
relevant it will be considered for the next issue.

Jack Langley
26 Buttonwood Drive
Hollis NH 03049
603.465.4022
jackieaxe at earthlink.net

From Hanneke Cassel

I just got back from Austria, and although you (like I) may THINK that the
Sound of Music is really big over there...it's not; not even "Edelweiss"...NOT
even "You Are 16 Going on 17". AND they don't eat noodles with their
schnitzel. Or have ANY brown paper packages tied up with strings for that
matter. Crazy. (and schnitzel BY THE WAY is just a fancy word for fish and
chips....except pork instead of fish...and no chips.)

BUT in honor of Austria (ich lieben osterreich!!) I've been working on my
mountain yodeling, which I'm going to share with you at one of the FUN
locations listed below. (mountain yodeling may or may not be a code word for
fiddling.)

I am very excited to be doing these shows with ROCKIN' guitarist KEITH MURPHY
and equally ROCKIN' cellist ARI FRIEDMAN. Keith Murphy is in one of my favorite
trad. bands, Nightingale...and I have had the great HONOR of playing with him
in Childsplay the past two years. He's an AMAZING guitarist, pianist, singer,
French-Canadian foot-tapper, and MUCH MUCH more. (yodeler...) Ari Friedman is
currently studying cello performance at Northwestern in Chicago and is part of
the HIP new duo "Lady and the Pants" with her sister Mia. She puts me to shame
in the "I'm cool and young" department (although... I'm making her wear
lederhosen for the shows, and I still look like I'm 19....so maybe we'll be
even.)

~Thursday, October 20, 8:00pm Cambridge, MA
CLUB PASSSSSSSSIMMM!!
www.clubpassim.org 617.492.7679

~Friday, Oct. 21, 8:00pm
Westford, MA PARISH CENTER for the ARTS
978.629.5550

~Saturday, Oct. 22, 7:00pm
Newmarket, NH The STONE CHURCH www.thestonechurch.com 603.659.6321

~Sunday, Oct. 23, 6:00pm
Lewiston, ME BATES COLLEGE -- OLIN CONCERT HALL
207.777.7614

VISIT www.hannekecassel.com for more info AND, ORDER your tickets NOW for the
HALALI, JAKE ARMERDING & CROOKED STILL! TRIPLE BILL! November 5th at the
SOMERVILLE THEATER. www.songstreetproductions.net . More info to follow.

HUMOR CORNER

C, an E-flat and a G go into a bar.  The bartender says: "Sorry, but we don't
serve minors.  "So the E-flat leaves, and the C and the G have an open fifth
between them.

After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished and the G is out flat.  F comes in
and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough.

D comes into the bar and heads straight for the bathroom saying, "Excuse me.
I'll just be a second."  Then an A comes into the bar, but the bartender is not
convinced that this relative of C is not a minor.

Then the bartender notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and exclaims,
"Get out now. You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight."

The E-flat, not easily deflated, comes back to the bar the next night in a
3-piece suit with nicely shined shoes.  The bartender (who used to have a nice
corporate job until his company downsized) says, "You're looking sharp tonight,
come on in!  This could be a major development."

This proves to be the case, as the E-flat takes off the suit, and everything
else, and stands there au natural.

Eventually, the C sobers up, and realizes in horror that he's under a rest. The
C is brought to trial, is found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a
minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an upscale
correctional facility.  On appeal, however, the C is found innocent of any
wrongdoing, even accidental, and that all accusations to the contrary are
bassless.

The bartender decides, however, that since he's only had tenor so patrons, and
the sopranout in the bathroom, everything has become altoo much treble; he
needs a rest, and closes the bar.

Q:  How many drummers does it take to change a light bulb? 
A:  None.  They have machines that do that now.