March Tunes - from a Member and a Visitor
The Tune-Writing Process
Member Tune:
Debby DelOrfano wrote, “When I begin a practice session I try to relax and experiment with improvising or making up something on the spot. I'll do some scales and then choose a key and fool around for a few minutes. I never record myself, so once I stop my brilliant ideas for the next world famous "composition" is lost forever. I was reminded that it was member tune month in March, so I made an effort to sit at the piano and jot something down quickly before I forgot it. This is such a simple tune that I lucked out. My memory stood by me for a bit and the result is School's Out. Next one might turn out to be a slow air so watch out!”
Karen Steven’s Tunes:
Karen wrote, “Regarding my composing. I've been writing a few tunes recently for charity. They are either raffled to raise funds or go into other types of lottery. The winner gets to name the tune. I also enjoy writing tunes for friends and family, dedicating them for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes I just feel inspired and a tune will come to me. This can be a whole 2 part tune, or half of a tune. If I am away from my fiddle/computer, I repeat the tune in my head until I am home at the fiddle. Sometimes, the tune will come to me when I am at the gym, and it can be quite hard to keep that tune in my head until I've finished my workout. I have to try to avoid any conversations with other gym users and staff. Any distraction from the tune and it can easily be lost.
“We had such a positive experience at the New Hampshire Scottish Music Club, I felt it would be nice to send my recent waltz to the group, naming it for NHSMC.I spent 45 minutes at the gym, after that waltz, I avoided chatting to anyone, drove home, spent 20 minutes clearing snow from the driveway, came in, had a coffee and breakfast, and still with the tune in my head, set about typing it into the computer. A tune takes about a minute to play, so between the gym, driving home, clearing snow and having breakfast, I played the tune about 90 times in my head, before writing it down.
Karen Steven paid a surprise visit to SMC during our February 12 gathering. Click to read Karen’s Style Tips & Techniques
“Sometimes a tune will be lost, if I wake during the night and get an idea but don't immediately write it down. I am just comfortable that the idea will be replaced by another one before long. Haha!”
The Tunes
(click on the underlined links for the recordings)
School’s Out is a D major reel by Debby DellOrfano. Played on violins without using the E string at all, with a rhythmic theme of 3 repeated 1/8th notes, it might become an ear worm! Debby wrote, “Alan (Wilson) named it School’s Out for me because he thought it sounded happy, and I agree it's a happy coincidence that I made an effort just for fun.” Click here to listen the whole gathering playing the tune.
Karen Steven and Alastair MacDonald gave us a wonderful hour of learning by ear an E minor strathspey Matty’s Appeal, that can also be played as a reel. Karen has also generously given us a 2/4 pipe march Hills of Reay, and has named her newest waltz New Hampshire Scottish Music Club to mark the occasion of her February visit.
Karen and Alastair are from Caithness, where one of my friends at University (Sandy MacDonald) had worked at the Dounreay Nuclear Power establishment. In Gaelic “Dun” means fort, so this was the fort on the Hills of Reay. Opened in the late 1950’s, Dounreay produced electricity, and jobs, until 1977.
The Dounreay Fast Reactor was housed in a 139’ steel sphere. You can see it here with the hills in the background. The last of the plutonium was removed in 2019, but the site still remains active and provides local employment.
Karen wrote this about the tunes:
“I composed (the waltz) on 31st January 2023 and was inspired to dedicate it to the New Hampshire Scottish Music Club. I hope you enjoy it. Techniques to incorporate from our workshop on 12th Feb include; Hammer-On and Open String Drone.”
The Hills of Reay takes the form of a classic 4-part 2/4 pipe march in D major, with the C and D parts being developments of the A and B parts, respectively. Try to hold the dotted 1/8th notes almost as long as you (humanly) can, before releasing the ‘1/16th’ as a pickup to the four notes that begin on the second beat in the bar. Pipers call this concept "pointing", the shading of a dotted eighth note at the expense of the following sixteenth, to create the illusion of stress (pipers have trouble with pp and ff !)
“I wrote Mattie’s Appeal strathspey as a fundraiser for the brother of a friend. Matty was teaching in Bali, Indonesia, and travel insurance came with the job. After the end of the contract, and before beginning a new teaching contract, Matty was out on a motorcycle, when a young local motorcycle rider ran into him. With no travel insurance, Matty's friends and family had to raise the necessary funds for treatment and repatriation to the UK.
“I felt that the tune also worked well in 'Reel' time, so it was like getting 2 tunes for the work of creating one. It certainly helps, when time is of the essence, when teaching. The reel can be fairly quickly taught after the strathspey. My tip is, in order to make the reel sound like a 'dance' tune, suitable for step dancing, too, begin playing at the strathspey tempo and gradually increase the tempo, trying to maintain the feel of the strathspey - snaps included. This will help to give the lift that is needed for the dance. If you play the tune too quickly, or if you lose the distinct rhythm, just slow down again to strathspey tempo and repeat the process. All the time, you will be consolidating the tune, which should hopefully help you to achieve the dance sound.” Click here to see Karen and Alastair playing the two Mattie’s along with another of her tunes.
