Music Retreat 2025

 

Earlier this month, we took a short break to the Otways. We stayed in Forrest, at a lovely old cottage with a log fire. It's open plan, and has a great rehearsal space (photo of the kitchen/diner above; Craig, his…

Read more

Arranging For Guitar Duet

 

After the Portarlington Festival, I started to arrange O'Carolan's Blind Mary (which we'd played in a workshop session) for two guitars. It hadn't occurred to me until this point that I've never spoken to other arrangers of traditional music about…

Read more

Music Notation Programmes

 

I first started arranging for students in 1993, when there were no music notation programmes widely available. Technology wasn't as advanced or cheap as it is today; many of us didn't even have our own computers or printers. We wrote…

Read more

Some of My Favourite Source Books for Traditional Melodies

 

Here's a random selection of some of my favourite source material for traditional melodies from the British Isles:

 

A Northern Lass - Traditional Dance Music of North-West England - compiled by Jamie Knowles, published by Dave Mallinson Music (1995). Suitable…

Read more

Portarlington Celtic Festival 2025

Last year I volunteered, but this year I went as a visitor. I was lucky to attend four terrific workshops:   Tasman Crossing gave a tune-writing masterclass; Allan Evans and Ruth Boylan organised a workshop on O'Carolan's harp music (which turned… Read more

Arranging for Piano Versus Arranging for Lever Harp

 

Turlough O' Carolan, courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

 

Today, I’ve finalised my harp and piano arrangements of the Welsh folksong ‘The Queen’s Marsh’ (also known as ‘Conset y Peipar Coch’ - an internet translation site suggested this means…

Read more