Normal service

I feel as though I've not been interested in music for weeks, but actually, it was just a few days. Driving home on Friday I heard Last Word. They were noting the death of Charles Craig, distiller, and they chose some music to go with it - Neil Gow's Farewell to Whisky. I was impressed, although I suppose it might have been a lucky Google find rather than anyone with a knowledge of Scottish music.

Anyway, I noted the tune, and that was it. I felt like an ex smoker looking at a cigarette and feeling...nothing. Not a glimmer of desire. But this morning that same tune bubbled up and I've been humming it all day. By the time I got into the car I was picturing my pipes, thinking how nice it would be to hold them. By the time I got home I was desperate to get my hands on those pipes. The Monkey came out and we rolled through a heap of tunes, old and new, and I felt a great relief. It was only a temporary blip, this being able to live without music.

The new tunes are the Farewell to Whisky (nice, lilting tune, going well). The Highland Brigade at Waterloo bits of it going well - sounding like the tune I know. Oddly the march version sounds more familiar than the quickstep. It's long though: seven parts. I love the C part = ABE, ABE - something very satisfying about the finger movements to make those changes.

MacDonald of the Isles' March to Harlaw intermittently sounds familiar.Needs a lot of work - I need to listen to it carefully - but doable,  I think. Struy Lodge I printed because I know the name, but the tune doesn't seem familiar and doesn't grab me at all. One for the reject pile. Oh, and the Sound of Sleat, which is good, especially the last part. I love those AEAEAE bars, and because that bit of the tune feels very familiar I can play at a good speed.

Old tunes played: Flett, Captn and the Trail, Angus wotsit's lament, Bonnie Galloway, the Whaling Song, My Home Town, Magersfontein, Troy.  I think I must have played for quite a while! No ill effects, other than a tired left arm, which is good because it means I was using the bag and not relying on bellows. Back on track, I think.