Medieval Living

At the pennywhistle class in Los Lunas this week, I had printed out some music for the students with pennywhistle fingering notation, as most of the students have no knowledge of how to read musical score. One of the parents asked if I could give them a couple more songs with the fingering, to which I eagerly agreed. So . . . here’s a couple of songs for everyone to use who is learning the pennywhistle – please enjoy. If your friends ask you where you got the music from, please tell them “Medieval Living”!!! I will be posting more during the coming weeks, but wanted to get a couple of songs on the site as promised. I will add a “Music” page to the blog site as a common file location.

The Ashgrove This is the tune that I gave to the students at the class . . . a well known song, the fingering is simple and the tune easy to learn.

A Fig For A Kiss One of my favorite tunes I first heard played by Eileen Ivers from her Crossing the Bridge album.

Si Beag Si More A standard among Irish music enthusiasts!

I hope you enjoy these.

We will be offering three classes on the pennywhistle – one on May 5 and one on May 26 meeting at the Cherry Hills Library, and one on June 2 (tentative), meeting at the Los Lunas Library. Students may attend one or all of these classes – the more practice we have, the better! These classes are in preparation for attending the Albuquerque Folk Festival on Saturday, June 19th. Mr. Andy Moss, a local musician and experienced pennywhistle instructor, will be presenting a beginner’s pennywhistle/ tin whistle workshop at 11:00 am, and I would really enjoy having a large representation from Medieval Living!!! But even if you can’t make it to the festival, I hope you can make it to the classes.

The only thing different with these classes is the requirement for students to have their own key-of-D pennywhistle. Students may purchase their own whistle from their own source, or I will order them in advance of the class (which will either require a pre-payment or a very sincere promise to pay for it at the time of the class). Locally, I know that Apple Mountain Music usually has a nice selection of pennywhistles at a reasonable price. They are also available online starting at around $6 or $7 plus the cost of shipping – the shipping cost for an individual pennywhistle is almost as much as the instrument itself, which is why I am offering to purchase several at once, thereby lowering the cost per item.

The whistle I would prefer to buy for the students is the Clark Sweetone Pennywhistle available in D only – this is the first conical bore pennywhistle to have been made with a plastic mouthpiece – the combination of traditional workmanship with modern technology. Cost per whistle would be $10.00 including shipping, and I can have them within a few days. However, if students want to purchase something different, that is fine with me – just as long as they are in the key of D.

Students interested in ordering a whistle in advance, please contact me at scott@medieval-living.com to make payment arrangements. I want to have the order placed no later then April 25th.

I will post this information on the local homeschool forums as well.

I also encourage parents to checkout the other activities available at the Albuquerque Folk Festival . . . lots of fun and educational activities.

Added to the list of upcoming classes will be an introduction to the penny whistle. I can play some rudimentary pieces on the little six-hole hollow stick – I learned to play the modern concert flute some years back, so changing over to the penny whistle is rather natural I think. Anyway . . . I thought it appropriate to include some historical information on the penny whistle. Summarizing information from several websites, it appears that the penny whistle (which is also know as tin whistle, fipple flute, flageolet, and feadog stain, to name a few) came to us via China some 5,000 years ago. There is evidence that it was used by the Vikings around the 12th century and is among the artifacts found in archaeological digs around Dublin from that same era.

There are numerous websites and blogs which teach a little about playing the whistle. One that I found quite interesting is tinwhistlelessons.com . . . where not only can you hear songs being played, but you can record yourself playing those songs and then listen to the play back to guage your performance.

For those in the Albuquerque area (or if you’re going to be in town this summer), you might want to check out the Albuquerque Folk Festival, June 18 – 19, 2010. There are numerous musical activities going on, including free lessons and jam sessions, where you can get tips on playing the penny whistle and other folk instruments. It’s a fun event, even if you don’t play an instrument – I would encourage you to check it out!!! I hope to have a few classes taught by then so that our homeschoolers can go to the festival and join in the fun!!!

One of the many things I enjoy about my participation in the Society of Creative Anachronism is attending “bardics” – gatherings where storytellers (bards) share wonderful tales and songs of days gone by. In fact, for the past two years, my humble tent (ok, its a 25′ diameter yurt) has been the site of several bardic events at a gathering referred to as Grand Outlandish. Not only do I get to enjoy the performances, but I also have the privilege of entertaining a variety of people as they gather under the protection of my roof. A nice warm fire glows softly in the center, providing a delightful ambiance as backdrop to the storytellers and singers.

So how do these Bards get to know all of these stories and songs? Well I think I’ve found one source . . . Cariadoc’s Miscellany. I ‘m sure there are more. contains a wealth of Medieval folk stories, from The Breton Lais to the Songs of Roland, Canterbury Tales to The Golden Asse. A very handy collection for the Bard in all of us.

Apparently there was a problem with my link to Cariadoc’s Miscellany – the problem has been fixed.

I happen to love R&B (rhythm and blues) – Sade being one of my favorite artists. But Medieval R&B you say? Well, actually R&B referres to a musical group performing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, call Renaissance and Baroque. Not only does this group perform a variety of Renaissance and Baroque period music, but they also conduct educational outreach programs to local schools in the Pittsburgh area. They also have a very nice little glossary of Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music terms . While I’ve heard of lutes and psaltries and the hurdy-gurdy, some new ones for me included the sackbut, chittarone, and the kithara. The latter, quoting from the R&B site, was “The most important plucked string instrument of Greco-Roman antiquity, larger and heavier than the lyre, which it resembles. The player held the instrument vertically resting upon the left side of the body. The classic kithara had seven strings and was used as a solo instrument and as accompaniment to song.” Lots of other good information there too for those interested in Medieval and Renaissance instruments.