BOOKS:
EASY PEASY TUNES
ISBN 1-899512-63-2 (accompanying CD - DMPCD0201)
ENGLISH COUNTRY DANCE TUNES
ISBN 1-899512-64-0 (Accompanying CD - DMPCD0603)
ENGLISH PUB SESSION TUNES
ISBN 1-899512-65-9 (Accompanying CD - DMPCD0604)
POPULAR ENGLISH SESSION TUNES
ISBN 1-899512-66-7 (Accompanying CD - DMPCD0605)
Compiler: Dave Mallinson Publisher: Mally.com
When a bundle of stuff like this lands on your doormat you might as well retire to a quiet room and get the family to feed you pizzas under the door for a week or two. This little lot requires some serious attention and I am going to attempt to review all four books and their associated CDs as one item because it seems to me that this mammoth collection (maybe library or resource might be better words) is best viewed in that way. If you read LT issue 70 you will know something of 'Mally' and his story so, for now, let's just concentrate on the books and CDs. Easy Peasy Tunes was published in 2002 and was the first appearance I can find of 'Mally's fourteen note rule' which lies at the heart of this book and the subsequent three titles published this year.
Simply put, the traditional tunes in this collection require notes from a fourteen note range (D,E,F#,G,A,B,C,C#,D,E,F#,G,A,B) which means that they can all be easily played on the top three strings of a fiddle, within the range of a wooden flute or tin whistle, and on a D/G Melodeon without modifications. That's it, really. Simple, huh? Easy Peasy Tunes was extremely popular with its format of lead line musical notation and chord symbols with an accompanying audio CD for the benefit of the lazy toads among us (like myself) who never really learned to read music properly and learn everything by ear 'like proper traditional musicians'. All the books are divided into sections with headings like..'absolute doddle'..'bit of a challenge'..'tricky stuff'..to give you a clear idea of what you are getting yourself into..and that is it and all about it. No lectures or instructions. No bias towards any particular instrument. No superior guff about musical theory to humiliate or belittle the reader.
The three books that follow on from Easy Peasy Tunes are clones, so to speak. Each volume gently leads the aspiring musician a little further on the journey that begins with that innocent thought at your first pub session that 'it would be nice to join in'. To simply call this a collection of tune books would be to miss the point completely. This collection seems to work on a variety of levels, and I'm not just talking about novice musicians, either. The audio recordings are first class in all respects. Mally plays the tunes on melodeon and is accompanied variously by Paul Flannery (piano), Sarah Mallinson (piano) and Alistair Russell (guitar), whose disciplined and professional approach to the often overlooked role of accompanist cannot be praised highly enough.
There is much to be gained here by even the most experienced of musicians. If I were asked to suggest an improvement I might say that it would be helpful to have an indication of tunes that are commonly combined, but to do so would probably cause no end of regional complications, so perhaps Mally is right to 'Keep It Simple Stupid'. There are 397 (no, that is not a misprint!) tunes accounted for in this series. The discipline, professionalism and attention to detail are extraordinary. Quite simply, if you are, or intend to be, a serious traditional musician you probably need all four volumes.
Phil Thomas
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Buy this CD online from The Listening Post The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 71 of The Living Tradition magazine. |