English, Welsh, Scottish & Irish Fiddle Tunes Book/Online Audio

This book has a wonderful collection of tunes. In addition, there is an anecdote or some background information offered for each tune, which helps with interpreting them. The author has added helpful suggestions for ornamentation, and the songs are organized in an easy-to-difficult order for each country which is helpful for an advancing student. It's just a fantastic fiddle book.

I'm an amateur fiddler who plays in solitude and learns only from printed music and recordings. Hence I collect a lot of fiddle music. This is one of my favorite books. Not only does it have some great tunes that I either haven't seen elsewhere or which are written differently (and more to my liking) than elsewhere, but the author has done a brilliant job of providing a little story to go with each tune, and the stories are quite feelingful and humorous. (I also like the author's comments, about how to play the tune called "Bung your Eye" -- "Play this one antagonistically." If that doesn't inspire a feelingful interpretation what does!) The stories take after the author's comment, in the introductory pages, that Indian ragas "each have a picture and a poem peculiarly their own." The author goes a step toward intiating a like tradition for his collection of fiddle tunes. The recording of certain of the tunes I found more moving and inspiring than many other recordings of Celtic/Irish/Scottish fiddle tunes. Most recorded fiddle music sounds too "dancey" and repetitious/monotonous to me. This recording presents tunes with a more songlike sound and that is far more beautiful to me, and is inspiring my own interpretations.

This is one of the best books I've come across for classic English/Welsh/Scottish tunes. It's especially nice for flute and recorder playing. It also includes chords for guitar and a disc of the tunes. I initally checked this book out of the library but quickly realized I had to have it in my own personal library. It's a keeper!

I'ma guitarist and use these fiddle tunes to work on my plectrum technique. The arrangements seem good to me, but I'm no expert in this area.

This is the book that got me into Celtic music in the 1970's, following Robin Williamson from his "Incredible String Band" days into a type of music I've loved ever since. The included little floppy record (hope you have a turntable!)shows that his personal playing style is a bit eccentric compared to more traditional players I've heard since, but this book is a wonderful, accessible, concise, broad and sweeping introduction to traditional instrumentals of the British Isles. Short backgrounds are given for each tune, and the settings are keyed for real instruments. I can honestly recommend this book as an excellent value for any newcomer to the subject. Experienced players could only wish for MORE tunes!