Just a thanks to everyone for the Bunker Hill responses. Wonderful.
Carol
Doctor Gilbert is actually a great tune for the flute. Once you pop the notes below D up an octave, it lays really nicely. I prefer to play it at a fairly mellow, stately, East Galway/East Clare tempo, where it really shines. Unfortunately many fiddlers, perhaps realizing that an alternate name for the tune is The Dispute at the Crossroads, prefer to turn it into a real road rage event and play it way too fast. It’s not a real problem keeping up with them on the flute, but IMHO it just sucks all the music out of the tune when they do that.
Re Bunker Hill, the usual B part of that tune is just rhythmically bopping around the C and D arpeggios. It’s a pretty simple matter to find other ways to bop that don’t involve rolling the C. I usually play the B part thusly:
GcBc ecBc|GcBd cAGc|Adcd fdcd|Add^c d_cAG etc.
But since the movement there is more harmonic than melodic, you can substitute any number of melodic variations in C for the hard parts. Nothing wrong with copping out if you’re creative about it. E.g.:
Gcec gcec|BcGc cBAG|
~G3c ecdB|cCEG cBAG|
~e3d ce~e2|decA GAcB
Etc.
Wow
I thought this would be a good thread, but I’m thrilled at the use of it. So much great dialogue!
Regarding Bunker Hill…great tune…try to hear Chris Norman’s setting on it. Sweet.
Deirdre’s style is terrific, once you master the roll/cran of the E. That’s the key to her playing in a nutshell, i think. Same with Frankie Gavin.
For the 8-key players (or 6, if you will) I find the most challenging tune for the F-nat keys (you must use them both) is Julia Delaney in D-minor. That first part is a pretty nifty workout. Triplets on the Fs make them easier than just 3-note turns.
Any of the Charlie Lennon tunes in minor mode are cool, too.
I used to think it was the Bucks of Oranmore as the “got it” tune…you’re right…one goes and another takes the place.
Sigh…we’re all sick, sick people to continue this, eh?
Eyes On Me - with the flute. The song is from Final Fantasy 8.