All these topics about buying and selling. Does anybody play their flutes? If so, what tunes are you working on?
I was working on Kid on the Mountain today, and Balleydesmond Polka. Among a lot of other tunes I was playing, of course.
I’ve been trying to learn a few tunes a day, usually a set of three. It’s been going well, but the Skylark reel’s got me stumped- and I’m too afraid to look at the sheet music 
Dever the Dancer/Kid on the Mountain/Dever the Dancer
Tomgranes Castle/The Honeysuckle/The Rights of Man
Molly Put the Kettle On/The Turnpike Gate/The Green Mountain
Fisher’s Hornpipe
Road to Lisdoonvarna
From www.whistlethis.com “The New Copperplate”
…and…
Getting a good tone out of my new flute. 
…john
P.S. Thanks to C&F for the Dever suggestion. I like it a lot.
Ooh. Fisher’s Hornpipe. I have a version with a Bb in it. It’s a lot of fun to do on my keyless flute.
Which Ballydesmond? I have 2 down pat and I was messing around learning 3 today. Of course I spent most of the weekend on finger exercises more than anything else…sometimes it’s good to woodshed.
I don’t really have a tune I’m working steadily on right now.
I play through several tunes and then will try to sightread some new tunes every day.
This helps me a lot with picking up new tunes in session.
I’ve also been working on learning the Bach sonatas on all three kinds of flutes that I play (Baroque, keyed simple-system, and Boehm-system). This is really helpng with technical proficiency–plus, it’s a lot of fun.
–James
finally put some time to learn Trip to Pakistan, the violin players played it last session and i liked it…even recorded it (of coarse it’s on this “new to me” flute by R.Cameron, which i know has great potential, but so far, and can’t find the right embouchure for it, i feel that i need to further work on a tighter focused one to make this flute buzz, anyway, recording came out pretty crappy, but if i know how to post it i would, just to easy my conscience for cocus and all the rest of you that post clips 
.
besides that, i went on a killer hike
When I am not buying and selling flutes, and repairing poor broken flutes, I am working on “McGivney’s Fancy Hornpipe”. It is track 50 in
June McCormack’s book.
I’ve been working on Peeler’s Jacket and Glenn Allen.
Eric
And which 2 and 3? What I know as 2, a friend of mien two states away knows as 1, what I know as 3 he knows as 2 , and what I know as 1 he’s never heard of, and vice versa…
Which Ballydesmond?
I’m not sure. Eliam gave me a tune book and it was page one and seems to have about 5 parts to it. Reminds me of The Top of Maol at first.
i usually play concertina. when i play any instrument, i usually work on technique and musicality. when i have a lot of time to play music, i work on trying to figure out tunes stuck in my head that i dont play and often dont know where i heard it.
Three tunes a day! That’s some target Hammy Hamilton does a great version of the Skylark on his Moneymusk CD.
Me? My older lad who plays box was learning John Doherty’s Mazurka over the weekend so I annoyed him by noodling and joining in as well - very catchy tunes those mazurkas but not many in the tradition. So I learnt Vincent Campbell’s as well, as the two of them are in the Foinn Sessiun book, though in D rather than G as it goes a wee bit low for a D flute in G!!
Working on? Nothing really new currently. I seem to pick up most of my tunes at sessions these days, don’t know I know them and can only play them if someone else starts 'em, but then I’m away…! Last ITM tunes I learnt properly are Master Crowley’s and Paddy Fahey’s (the one that starts D2 AD F#EF#G | Adc#e d2de | …) which I know well enough by heart now but am not confident at “playing them out” - last time I tried I “fell off” well and truly!
Oh, and I recently picked up a bit more consistently on a tune I have busked at in sessions for quite a while, to whit, Captain O’Kane/The Wounded Hussar. A piper at our local session has always played it occasionally and I had it in my mind’s ear - in A minor. But now a pupil I teach has acquired it for himself and learnt it (from an online source) in G minor: he wanted advice on playing and ornamenting and varying it, so I’ve now got it in G minor too. Lovely tune, BTW.
Mostly I only tend to deliberately learn new stuff in “need to” situations - upcoming gig, material set by others type scenarios. I’m rather the same with proper practice - only do it when I have a specific requirement/target to meet. Otherwise, I just tootle for my own casual amusement at home, when I’ve got a chance, playing through stuff I know. There is almost always a flute out about the house to pick up. This morning I had a bash at part of the CPE Bach A minor solo sonata on a boxwood 1-key early C19th flute I acquired (for myself, not to sell) a few months back and which I am still exploring. I do put flutes I’m working on through their paces as they come near ready and after I’m satisfied with them, so I can describe them and do sound sample clips on them.
I really respect and kind-of envy people who have the commitment/self-discipline to systematically learn new material just for the sake of it!
When I first started out, I learned a very large batch of tunes in one specific style from a teacher, and afterwards began picking up other tunes from sessions and off albums in other styles. Recently, I’ve been backtracking a bit and re-examining all the old tunes with what I hope is my own take on them, stylistically speaking. As for the tunes themselves, I have a few that are tricky enough to always run through (Lads of Laois comes to mind), but I generally try to keep moving forward and not play the same tunes over and over (I bore easily), unless I can’t get it out of my head – then, playing it a lot usually exorcises it.
I’m still just a beginner so I’m focusing on some “standards” to get my chops in order. I’m tinkering around with “The Silver Spear” at the moment.
Since I’m having a hard time getting to the upper octaves on this bamboo flute o’ mine I recently purchased a whistle from Doc’s site so I can get the hang of the sound and fingerings for the tune.
Soon enough I’ll be butchering that lovely song on a brand new M&E flute! Can’t wait!
Heathery Breeze, The Union Reel and The Knockabout Polka are my latest “finetuning” projects. Especially trying to clean up the double tonguing in the Knockabout. In a related area, working to solidify the
third octave on the quena.
I’m working on Lord Gordon the old way (hi Gordon ha!), Lady Gordon, Tommy Mulhaire’s jig with Castletown Conners as the 2nd, 3 of the Joanie Madden “Invasion” quartet, and also trying to not use my pinky. :o And the Ballinakill’s Pound Hill hornpipe.
Here’s the Lord Gordon I mean, since its unusual. Only 2 parts.
X:1
T:Lord Gordon
N:this is the old way the Ballinakill band played the tune
D:Ballinakill Traditional players, Michael Coleman, Johnny Doherty, Séamus
D:Ennis (tr10 #2 on Forty Years); Kevin Burke and other modern players.
Z:Lesl
M:C|
L:1/8
K:D
dB|AD ED ADFB|AD ED FAd2|BE~E2 BE~e2|defd BAFA|
dz df efdB|AF~F2 A2 df|afef dBAF|EFGA B2:|
|:{b}ag|fAd {b}afAd f|{b}afdf a2 gf|gBef geba|g~g2a bafz|
afea fedB|AF~F2 A2df | afez dBAF|1 EFGA B2:|2 EFGA B4|]
Hi Lesl - used to go by the name Lord Gordon, but never learned the tune.. Thanks for the ABC!
Current tunes I’m knocking about:
Martin Wynne’s #2
Christmas Eve
Emily’s reel
Abbey reel
Trim the Velvet
The Old Bush