Why is it, I wonder, that some tunes take my fancy and others don’t? For pipe music, especially, there are only nine notes, and it’s generally a march, a reel, a strathspey or an air, perhaps. The marches can be faster or slower, and a tune can have more or less accompaniment, but some leap off a CD, often on the strength of a single phrase, whereas others just don’t.
Some tunes, having thus leapt out at me, I struggle and tussle with, until what looked like being the start of a beautiful relationship ends with ill grace and bad temper. Some tunes I work on, and after a while, we find we rub along together just fine. Some tunes you take little notice of the first time you meet – the King was like this. It was one of Mr Kinnear’s tunes of the month, but I wasn’t that taken with it. Somehow it took hearing the Sea Stallions playing it to make me know it was a tune I wanted.
Musical blind dates don’t seem to work out at all for me: I’ve tried with a number of tunes that the fan has suggested, but somehow never quite hit it off with them. The exception is perhaps the Battle. When the fan has recommended it in the past, I’ve not been keen (those triple A’s!), but then hearing the band play it I find it has grown on me, so I’ve picked it up now of my own accord.
Sometimes I think familiarity helps. I've been listening to Seudan in the car and really enjoying the piece at the end of track 10. I keep forgetting to check to see what it is. Today I finally had a look, ad it turns out to be The Portree Men, also played by Mr MacInnes.
No pipes tonight as it is, of course, band night.
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