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@elcbk I made this and played it along with the recording. Im having to do this on a phone speaker and let the mp3 loop as i liaten to the original recording and The C min scale does seem fit better like you say! Yeah im with you. Id like to do this again with presonus tomorrow or sunday and double check. from what i could hear the 'A' key sig scale B dorian was yuck... Bm wasnt much better... Cmin worked best. now keep in mind im playing your youtube and also playing my scale video audio expoeted from notion and playing in amazing slow downer because i can use that to play audio in the background on my phone. its an app/phone limitation thing. just explaining because i cant match volume levels well so i may hear something yuck later in presonus...boy that happens alot these days 🤣 anyway..heres the scale in video gormat
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@ABitRusty -
Thanks! Appreciate the effort!
I can't always tell - there's been plenty of times I played what I 'thought' was supposed to be there & wasn't (😳). Sometimes I learn a tune down a 3rd or a 5th while listening to it, because of my strings - but I'm trying not to get completely screwed up.
I've had to really pay attention to these tunes - they are back & forth all over the place! Only made it up to .35 speed with "The Smokey Lum", tonight!
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My brain must've been fried... had to edit my previous post. 😔
"Maggie's Pancakes" IS played in 'C'min (starting 1:00) in the 'Tannahill video' - NOT 'B'min!!!
NO WONDER I WAS HAVING TROUBLE PLAYING ALONG! 
The 'easier-to-follow' play-along I was originally using by Benoit Volant for, Maggie's Pancakes Reel, is in 'B'min (and refer's to The Session - also 'B'min). I still may need to use it a little until I get the feel of it better, but I'm pretty close.
At least I know it well enough I could understand why I was having such a problem, tonight. The Tannahill video starts off on G, down to C & bowed triplet C - that would be on the 'E' & 'A' strings (I'm playing an octave lower), then back to G, up a half step to 'Ab', etc... I soon also use the 'Bb' & 'Eb' - ALL of the 'C' MINOR SCALE & resolving on 'C'.
I hadn't planned on learning the last 2 tunes in the set ("Dancing Feet" & "The Mason's Apron"), but I'd take a closer look if I did. (lol)
So the gang at The Session swears this is also in 'B'min - and offered up THIS video of Stuart Morison playing HIS tune, but NO ONE SEEMS TO NOTICE HE PLAYS IT IN 'C' MINOR! (starts at 4:48)*
(*edit) Stuart Morison DOES play in Bmin in THIS 'Ceolbeg Reels' video! I finally sat down at the kids' keyboard to go over it. 🥴
I had to slow it down to .5 speed to play along & check, but at least it's nice to see he doesn't play it as fast LIVE as is the recording of the Set I'm using.
I'm only kinda upset it took me a few days to figure this all out, because it lead me to believe these tunes were more difficult than they actually are... now I can get on with it.*
(*edit) Guess it took me longer than I thought! (lol)
- Emily
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This is absolutely KILLIN' ME!!!
I had to edit my previous post. I am SO glad I didn't mention anything at The Session yet. 
I've got a few days practice on "The Smokey Lum" & probably got it as fast as I'll ever play it (.6), but half speed is the most enjoyable for me to set the Tannahill video at - so I redirected my attention to "Maggie's Pancakes".
I finally had to pull out the 'big guns' & settle this... the grandkids' 2 octave piano!
To the best of my ability, this is the bottom line: Stuart Morison DOES play Maggie's Pancakes in Bmin in the "Ceol Reels" video, BUT it's played in Cmin for "The Best Ever Celtic Collection" & Tannahill's "Dancing Feet" album recordings!
NOW, it might be because Maggie's Pancakes follows after a different tune (in the "Ceol Reels" video)... possibly a decision made for THAT particular live performance. Only talking about a half step difference here & there IS the possibility they could have tuned lower for that live performance.
"Maggie's Pancakes" (Cmin) - sharing where it starts, right before 1:00 in this "Dancing Feet", Tannahill Weavers album.
VS...
Benoit Volant playing a Bmin version from thesession.org notation.
It's easier for me to hear the difference using "The Best Ever Celtic Collection" video, only because I can get more volume. NOT all Tannahill Weaver tunes on this album, btw.
AND, I still feel "The Smokey Lum" is most definitely in Cmin in both "The Best Ever Celtic Collection" & the "Dancing Feet" albums! It's what I have been playing, anyway.
...okay, so I'm back to learning "Maggie's Pancakes" - really well in Bmin FIRST, then it will be easy to learn it a half step higher (Cmin) to play along with "The Smokey Lum"!
Of Course, I would LOVE corroboration on all this! 😁
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nothing wrong with using a keyboard to help. have to ask...why didnt you from start if you had it available? is it difficult to setup and such? thinking it would be handy to ha e close.
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It's not flat like an electronic keyboard, just awkward/heavy enough I can't use a walker and try to haul it around at the same time & can't leave it sitting on me - love the sound of it, though. 🥴
Be nice if one of the free virtual keyboards I can quickly/easily pull up would just respond better/faster - frustrated with them. 🙄
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@ELCBK said
It's not flat like an electronic keyboard, just awkward/heavy enough I can't use a walker and try to haul it around at the same time & can't leave it sitting on me - love the sound of it, though. 🥴Be nice if one of the free virtual keyboards I can quickly/easily pull up would just respond better/faster - frustrated with them. 🙄
yeah i can understand that
as much as you like studying music theory and different stuff though... I could see you getting use of something like this... and being foldable and portable maybe it would help with that.
wonder if it would bluetooth to the spark?
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@ABitRusty -
Oh NO! 😲 I want one!
Jeez, I can't keep the kids out of stuff - how am I ever going to convince them to try to play an instrument if one of them finds out they can play the violin just by touching a key?!! 😱
🤔... I still want one, think it would help me straighten out some stuff in my head... trying to figure out where I can hide it. (lol)
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Gotten away from my pedals for some time now. 😔 ...but I'm always thinking of what I'll try next.
Twin's Birthdays done, I need to focus on Fiddle Hell replays now - availability ends the 17th, plus preparing for eldest Granddaughter's Birthday next week. After that, we're still organizing & working out what's to be donated or sold of Kevin's & my stuff, but hope I can find some new energy to get back experimenting without sacrificing practice time. Squeezing in about an hour & a half (total) of playing/practicing per day, doesn't go very far working on many different things.
With all the work I've been doing to make left hand movement more natural for better use of my pinky - figured it's time I start doing more than a few random doublestops... like getting comfortable with the awkward fingering ones & move toward extended fingerings.
Only had time to refresh my memory with a few videos for tips including: Fiddlerman's suggestion to use Ševčík etudes (Double Stops on the Violin by Fiddlerman), Simon Streuff's basics of the different types (Double Stops on the Violin), Prof. Wm Fitzpatrick's judging distance & fingering for major & minor thirds (How to Play Thirds on the Violin - Understanding Thirds) & Giora Schmidt's tips on finger pressure for octaves (How To Practice Octaves).
...trying not to stay up all hours of the night, but going to try to squeeze a little more doublestops in along with everything else. 😊
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I'm back to playing with my amp - caught up in a Halloween mood!
...and it feels GOOD!
Still playing recent & older stuff - haven't been doing enough double stops but I felt it was time to stop playing acoustic, get back to how it feels to play electric & just have some fun!
So, I've been working on "The Count" by Audiomachine (There's a Wicked Fiddler here - am I in the right Genre? Thread)
https://search.audiomachine.co.....ks=am75-31
NO, I don't sound like this, yet. 😊 I have to say though, I'm not daunted - not after learning "The Smokey Lum" & getting it fast!
Been having a riot tuning my low F string down even LOWER! Makes me laugh trying to play a low C2 then bow or pluck notes 2 to 3 octaves higher (going to take me time to get smooth transitions). Just getting acquainted with this tune, working on each section, experimenting along the way (I really don't want to do a whole bunch of pizzicato).
I don't have any notation for this track, so I decided to jump over to look at this on a virtual keyboard to see the octaves, chord/arpeggio movement I'm hearing, laid out in front of me. I know I can play 3 octaves in 1st position - having 5 strings, but I want to consider how other positions can make playing easier, and...
I started thinking about how I want to COLOR the notes!
Then it was dinnertime, the perfect time to think - Warning: Rabbit Hole!
Just so happens, speaking of COLOR, I've also recently been thinking about fiberart for Xmas gifts & projects for the Grandkids (yarns, decorative threads, fabrics)... yeah, may be late to get a whole lot done for this Xmas, but going to start. Aside from synesthesia, it's nothing new to assign musical notes a color value.
I was thinking about simply making something in a patchwork style that the kids could interpret as a tune to play. A pleasant design that also makes them think!
- must decide what it will be & if it needs to be washable - a wall hanging, a toy, a throw blanket, or something wearable
- need to decide if I'd just lay out a sequence of notes as individual color blocks, or maybe subdivide larger 'blocks' that represent each beat or measure (kids like puzzles, but can't make it too difficult to understand)
- must decide the layout of the 'note blocks' ('blocks' could be any shape) - in rows, a spiral or a free-form path - or combination
- need an easily identifiable beginning point
- need a color 'key' somewhere on the projects, or else indiscreetly identify the note name in each 'block'
- need to assign colors & materials to notes (maybe last), natural color order vs random - decide how to distinguish accidentals and octaves - octave range
- use physical spacing to indicate phrasing - maybe use color intensity or shape size for dynamics - more complex shapes could portray ornaments (but too advanced for kids now)
- must choose how I want to portray note length - pick a standard eighth & use multiples, or use a different size for each note value
- must pick some great tunes - maybe do this 1st (will influence block shapes & layout)! Xmas tunes, children's songs, or just tunes I like
Just wanted to share the start of my design process - I start with little lists like this before I define details, no matter what I design. I recently found some children's tunes in old books (embellished with vintage illustrations), while we were going through stuff - I never heard them growing up, will see if I can't print/scan one or 2 well enough to share, but this is all I have time for tonight.
Glad to be back playing with my mini spark, but I'm going to finally dig out my new strings to put on.
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Another crazy busy day, but I still got in practice time. I've practiced some ricochet bowing this year, but for "The Count" I need to be able to do some 'Saltando'. Took me more effort to relax than anything else - felt like I got a workout when I probably wasn't supposed to. 🙄 Got help from Dr Lynn's "Arpeggiated Ricochet/4 String Saltando" video tutorial... will be practicing this a little every day now - along with a little of EVERYTHING ELSE! 😳
It's working out pretty well playing with two C strings next to each other - an octave apart. I had tried lowering my C3 string last year, didn't work out so well, but it wasn't the Thomastik Vision C (or low F string) I'm using now. Can't remember what brand strings I had on before, without looking it up - not surprising, woke up this morning & thought it was Sunday! 🥴 ...think I was using a short Viola C string.
I'm at a bit of a disadvantage with this tune. Pitch is low enough I can't really slow any of it down to help me learn it by ear - harder for me to determine exactly what notes are being played where the tempo speeds up.
...as long as I make a little progress, I'm happy. 🤗
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