Category Archives: Community

Summer flutes and whistles at Hailes Castle

Last Sunday saw the summer excursion of the Edinburgh-based FluteFling and Scots Music Group traditional flutes and whistles. We boldly returned to Hailes Castle in East Lothian, having endured a very wet trip last year and couldn’t have had better … Continue reading

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The Cork connection: an Irish polka and fling

By coincidence, the two classes this week both learned tunes with Cork connections. The SMG Whistlers class learned the first of two polkas that I learned from County Cork flute player Conal Ó Gráda many years ago at a workshop … Continue reading

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New flute and whistle tunes for May: a jig and a fling

Last night the SMG whistlers made good progress with what seemed to be a daunting task a couple of weeks ago, learning the Scottish jig A Fisherman’s Song for Attracting Seals. A very unusual tune in its use of repetitive … Continue reading

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New beginner jig: Ciamar a nì mi an Dannsa Dìreach?

This week the SMG Beginners whistle class consolidated The Iona Boat Song and began looking at a jig. This one is a piece of Gaelic mouth music called Ciamar a nì mi an Dannsa Dìreach? (How Can I do the … Continue reading

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New term, new tunes: The Iona Boat Song and The New Claret

The summer term began this week with a look at some Scottish tunes with a little bit of history behind them. The SMG whistlers looked at Caol Muile (The Straits of Mull) or The Iona Boat Song. Another Scottish Boat … Continue reading

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FluteFling end of term, SMG students concert

We finished off this term with reels for both FluteFling classes. The Improvers group learned one of my favourite Irish reels, The Otter’s Holt, composed by County Clare fiddler Junior Crehan. This completed a set of three tunes: The Maids … Continue reading

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FluteFling Improvers: The Sailor on the Rock

The Sailor on the Rock is a solid single reel from Ireland. Punchy and in D major, it fits a number of different instruments well enough to have been recorded many times and have some variations in setting. The Fiddler’s … Continue reading

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Story and Music-making from Nature and Place

Story and Music-making from Nature and Place is a skills workshop run jointly by storyteller Malcolm Green and musician Gordon Turnbull, taking place at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh. The workshop will be a creative collaboration between the workshop leaders … Continue reading

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New SMG whistles and FluteFling tunes: yowes, maids and more

After last week’s hard workout, some consolidation of repertoire was the focus of the SMG whistle class this week. However, by request we looked at the air of a song from the Scottish Borders that is associated with Robert Burns, … Continue reading

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Winter Flutes and Whistles at Dalmeny Kirk

At last I have been able to edit the music from FluteFling Ensemble’s trip to Dalmeny Kirk. This was a coming together of some of the Scots Music Group whistlers and FluteFling whistlers and fluters to play some tunes together … Continue reading

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