Love Lunasa? Get the tunebook

It came in yesterday. It has all the tunes from their CD’s except Redwood. The printing is a tad small, but you can photocopy and enlarge if you wish. Two things to note:
A: They don’t print all the grace notes…a good thing IMHO.
B: Some tunes that are in odd keys on a CD (Eg: Inion Ni Scannlain) are written out in more normal keys (G or D) in the book.

True, a lot of the tunes are on JC’s ABC Tune Finder, but we have 2 guitars and a harp in our band. It’s nice to have chords that work.

Is the notation in the book both provided in both standard and ABC?

Loren

I got this book about a year ago - I found it most interesting for the little blurbs that tell where they got the tune, etc. No ABCs - just standard notation.

Susan

Thanks Susan :slight_smile:

Loren

The primary notation for the tunes is mostly in F or Bb or their minor counterparts. The reason being that Lunasa play mostly F whistles.

I played a tune out of that book with Stephen at the Low Whistle fest in SF - can’t remember which tune it was, though. Stephen said he got the book at a Lunasa concert.

Soooo, how do I get my mitts on my very own copy?

I want one!

Thanks in advance,
Aldon :smiley:

My wife ordered it from their web site.

I should clarify: The tunes that are in “odd” keys on the CD’s are written out both ways, odd and “regular”. I’ve noticed occassional proofing errors, such as forgetting to put the sharp symbols on the clothes line.

This wee book will keep F-Troupe busy for a while.

F whistles? Lunasa? Says who? The tunes on the two CD’s that I own (Redwood and Merry Sisters) are in all kinds of keys, D, G, Bb, Eb…but no F that I can remember.

Anyone who’s seen them and paid attention to what they were playing.

Give me a couple of minutes to go through the albums and I’ll make a list.

Redwood: “Spoil the Dance” and “Lady Ellen”
Merry Sisters of Fate: “Inion ni Scannlain” (harmonies behind Bb flute)
Otherworld: The “Goodbye Miss Goodvich” set, “The Miller of Drohan”, and the “Taylor Bar 4AM” set
Lunasa: “Aibreann”

(That was a quick survey, and I might have missed one or two.)

I’ve never stopped to count, but my general impression from listening, watching, and playing along (with albums!) is that they definitely use F whistle more than any other kind, possilby more than all the other kinds combined.

What else is there? There’s a (double) low A whistle on “Autumn Child”, a C whistle on “Morning Nightcap”, a D whistle (I think) on “McGlinchey’s”… anything I’m forgetting? (They used to use a C whistle on “Raffin Island”/“Sporting Paddy”, but they never recorded that one.)

(Update: Just watching the 2003 Kennedy Center show, and Cillian plays a high whistle as backing for “Inion ni Scannlain” – Eb whistle maybe? But I’m pretty sure Sean is playing a low F.)

(Now on the other hand – Lunasa play “mostly” fiddle, D flute, and pipes (as melody instruments). Probably 75% of their material is in one of the standard D flute keys.)

Thanks! I went to their site and found the book and ordered it!

Btw, I took a look at their message board and saw they have a poster named lemonhead. Just for the record: that isn’t me! (Weekenders calls me LemonHead, you know…) :laughing:

Aldon (the real LemonHead :smiley: )