Virtual Greenshoots

Traditional folk tunes, played slowly to learn, then faster.

Greenshoots Music Group

Greenshoots is an amateur music practice group, near Cambridge, UK. It has origins and focus in folk music, particularly British Isles traditional dance music, but sometimes playing a wider range of music. You might also think of us as a 'slow session', or a 'Beginners and Improvers Tune Session' (BITS). Find out More about Greenshoots. Greenshoots uses tunes from Paul Hardy's Session Tunebook. This is free to download in PDF or ABC formats, or you can order a print on demand spiral bound copy.

While the regular Greenshoots meetings are suspended due to Coronavirus/COVID-19 (since 16th March 2020), I have recorded versions of the tunes we might have chosen to play, and made them available below. They are played as we would in Greenshoots - starting slowly for a couple of times, then speeding up, and then speeding up again. Play along! If any current Greenshoots members want to record and contribute other tunes from the tunebook in the same style, then have a go and let me know.

Go to Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, VE Day, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 15, Week 16, Week 17, Week 18, Week 19, Week 20, Week 21.

Virtual Live Sessions?

As well as the recorded tunes below, we are running Virtual Greenshoots limited sessions on Monday evenings during lockdown, using Zoom. This allows video chat, and one person at a time playing or leading a tune. Email me if you want to know more.

I don't think it is currently technically feasible to run a live virtual music session between a dozen simultaneous amateur players online, without specialist hardware and software that is hard to set up. Let me know if you know otherwise - I've tried JamKazam, and although it may work for some, It hasn't worked for my trials, and setup would stretch most amateur players. For the technical background and some possible workarounds, see my article on Virtual Music Sessions.

Coronavirus Week 1

Three Around Three. An English country dance tune
Blackberry Blossom. An American bluegrass fiddle tune.
Nathaniel Gow's Lament on the Death of his Brother. A Scottish lament, also known as Gallowglass.
Cliffs of Moher. An Irish jig.
High Reel. An Irish reel.
Tombigbee Waltz. An American Waltz.
Top of Cork Road. An Irish Jig, also known as Father O'Flynn.
Willafjord. A Shetland fiddle tune.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 1 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 2

Anne Fraser MacKenzie. A Scottish Jig.
Angeline the Baker. An American bluegrass fiddle tune.
Hunsdon House. An English dance tune, from Playford.
Morpeth Rant. A Northeastern Rant - modern tune
Old Morpeth Rant. A Northeastern Rant - old tune
Shepherd and Shepherdess. An English March
Lark in the Morning. An Irish Jig.
Sweet Jenny Jones. A Welsh air. When you have got Sweet Jenny Jones up to speed (not very fast), it makes a good alternative to "Happy Birthday" to mentally play twice while washing your hands as virus killer!

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 2 PDF.

Contribution from Greenshoots member John McKenzie, of the Lockdown Waltz by Bert de Cock:

Lockdown Waltz by Bert de Cock, Played by John McKenzie, with PDF score. Bert was asking for contributions for a virtual orchestra - see Bert's muzikids website, but we seem to have missed the deadline. It's still a nice tune, and John plays it solo slowly and then faster and adds the accompaniments. He also provides a version of the sheet music with chords added for the rhythm section.

Coronavirus Week 3 (April)

Christ Church Cathedral. An Irish air by John Sheahan 1988.
Nantwich Fair. An English jig. Apologies for variations on the last three notes of penultimate bar - my fingers knew a different version and it took a while to get them under control!
Cobbler's Hornpipe. An English Triple Hornpipe (from Playford 1701).
Corn Riggs are Bonny. A Scottish air (words by Robert Burns), evolved to be an Irish/English polka.
Les Poules Huppées (The Crested Hens). A French Bourrée by Gilles Chabenat 1983.
Wind that Shakes the Barley. An Irish reel.
Young Collins. An English morris reel
Manchester Hornpipe. An English swung hornpipe.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 3 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 4

You get nine for the price of eight this week, as I've included a pair of polkas.

Earl Grey. A reel from Northwest England.
Farewell to Whisky. A Scottish air, by Neil Gow 1799. Because of the poor barley crop that year, Highlanders were prohibited from 'wasting' barley by making whisky.
Fête du Village. A French Bourrée.
Excuse Me. An English jig in Playford 1868.
Foul Weather Call. An English Hornpipe
The Railway. A Scottish Jig
Archibald MacDonald of Keppoch. Another Scottish lament. Archibald MacDonald lived 1678 to 1745.
Ballydesmond Polka 1. The first of two Irish polkas
Ballydesmond Polka 2. The second of two Irish polkas
Ballydesmond Polkas 1 and 2. Now you can play them separately, why not put them together as a set?

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 4 PDF.

Contribution from Greenshoots member Jim Dalgleish:

Battle of the Somme. Last 2 bars as intro, then slow*2, medium*2 and faster*2. This was generated using Sonic Pi software on his Raspberry Pi credit-card-sized throw-away computer! As this computer version keeps a strict beat, it's a good test of your timekeeping through the Scottish snaps, to play along with it!

Coronavirus Week 5

Jamaica. A reel from Playford 1665.
Britannia Two Step. An English jig.
Abbots Bromley Horn Dance. A march in jig time. This is the haunting tune used in Thaxted, for a dance from Abbot's Bromley in Staffordshire using reindeer antlers at least a thousand years old.
Lord Zouch's Masque. Lord Zouch’s Masque is one of the oldest written English tunes apparently. Written by Giles Farnaby 1560 to 1640, and first published in 1599. The local Cambridge connection is that it is in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book of 1618.
Flowers of Edinburgh. A Scottish reel.
Albert Farmers Bonfire Tune. An English polka from Surrey.
Nancy Clough. A Northumberland tribute by Tom Clough to his wife Nancy.
Sadlers Balloon. James Sadler was the first Englishman to ascend by balloon, in 1784.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 5 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 6

More performance variety this week - just four from me on concertina as usual, but three from the Brind family with both rhythm and melody, three from Clive Quick on fiddle, and one from James Dalgleish on low whistle plus backing from a Raspberry Pi!

Sir Roger de Coverley. An English slipjig from Playford 1685.
Salmon Tails up the Water. A Northumberland reel (or rant)
Morgan Rattler. An English jig - possibly named after a smuggling ship, a stagecoach, a naval prison, or a cosh!
Sally Sloane's Jig. A jig, originally English but developed by Sally Sloane who was an Australian accordionist

Brind family contributions:

Ar Eirinn. An Irish air.
Breeches Full of Stitches. An Irish polka.
Foxhunter's Jig. Another English slipjig.

Clive Quick contributions:

Arran Boat. A Scottish air
Davy Davy Knick Knack. An English Polka
Ashokan Farewell. An American lament, by Jay Ungar, 1983.

James Dalgleish contribution:

Bonny At Morn. A Northumberland lullaby.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 6 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 7 (May)

Eight tunes from me this week, plus one from John McKenzie, all on concertina in Greenshoots slow then fast style.

Pretty Maggie Morrisey. An English hornpipe.
Sweets Of May. An Irish jig, appropriate for the time of year.
Polly Put the Kettle On. An English reel, based on a children's song.
Staines Morris. An old tune (in Playford 1651)m, with later words about "Then to the Maypole haste away, for 'tis now our holiday".
Linnen Hall. An English jig.
Coilsfield House. A Scottish air by Nathaniel Gow, around 1800. Coilsfield House is the site of the grave of King Coilus (Coel Hen ap Tegfan, King of the Britons, died 420 AD), who gave us the nursery rhyme about "Old King Cole".
Weavers March. A Scottish 18th C march.
Captain Lanoe's Quick March. An English jig march.

John McKenzie contribution:

Si Bheag, Si Mhor. An Irish air in 3/4 time (apparently about big and small fairy hills!), by the blind Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan, 1691.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 7 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 7 VE Day Extra

As an extra for VE Day, here are a set of wartime marching tunes: It's a Long Way to Tipperary; Pack up Your Troubles in Your Old Kitbag; Goodby Dolly Gray; My Old Man, Said Follow the Van; Keep the Home Fires Burning.

See page 18 of my Sets Tunebook for these tunes on one page.

Coronavirus Week 8

Eight tunes from me this week, plus one from John McKenzie, all on concertina in Greenshoots slow then fast style. I seem to be stuck on tunes starting with "S".

Liverpool Hornpipe. An English 4/4 hornpipe, so swung.
Step and Fetch Her. A Morris march from Bampton.
Streets of Laredo. A song starting in Scotland (Banks of the Devon), and travelling via Ireland (Bard of Armagh) to the USA!
Steamboat, or the Good Natured Man. An Irish Hornpipe.
Strike the Bell. Written by Henry Clay Work in 1865 - he also wrote My Grandfather's Clock.
Stool of Repentance. A Scottish jig. Robbie Burns twice was banished to the Stool of Repentence for adultery, and wrote a poem with this title.
Da Slockit Light. A Shetland air by Tom Anderson, 1969, lamenting the fading lights of his childhood island, as the drift to the mainland cities emptied the crofts.
Stop The Cavalry. An English Polka

John McKenzie contribution:

Lord Inchiquin. An Irish air in 3/4 time, by the blind Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 8 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 9

Eight tunes from me this week on concertina in Greenshoots slow then fast style. Lots of tunes starting with "F" this week

Waltz for the Valeta. As played in Suffolk by Percy Brown, for this well-known country dance.
The Wren. A French An Dro that travelled to the USA and back to England.
Fourpence Halfpenny Farthing. An English Jig.
Father Kelly's Reel. An Irish reel.
Floral Dance. A traditional processional tune from Helston in Cornwall, made known by Katie Moss in 1911 and Terry Wogan in 1978!
Flower of the Quern. A Scottish air by James Scott Skinner 1884.
Les Filles de Mon Pays. A slow march/song from the Morvan area of France, lamenting the girls left behind as the men march away to war.
The Flight. An English Jig, where the music goes up and down like the flight of some bird, or maybe a hot air balloon?

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 9 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 10

Eight more tunes from me this week on concertina in Greenshoots slow then fast style. There were no hornpipes last week, so you get two this week! Plus we have an extra tune from Liz Revell, also on English concertina

Harvest Home, or the Cork Hornpipe. An Irish hornpipe, very common in English sessions.
Hector the Hero. A Scottish lament for Major General Sir Hector Archibald MacDonald, KCB, DSO (1853-1903), who was persecuted for being son of a crofter.
Tobin's Favourite. An Irish jig.
Fisher's Hornpipe. An Irish hornpipe.
Spootiskerry. A Shetland reel by Ian Burns.
Roslin Castle. A Scottish air.
Jack's Maggot. An English dance tune in Playford 1701
Jack the Horse Courser. An English march (or hornpipe).

Liz Revell contribution:

Goddesses. A Playford dance from 1651.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 10 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 11

Eight more tunes from me this week on concertina in Greenshoots slow then fast style. I seemed to get stuck on tunes starting with the letter 'O'! Plus we have an extra tune from Liz Revell, also on English concertina

Off to California. An Irish hornpipe, very common in English sessions.
Oh Joe, the Boat is Going Over. An English polka from East Anglia.
Oscar Woods Jig. An English jig, also from East Anglia.
Orange in Bloom, also known as the Sherbourne Waltz. An English waltz.
Trade Wind Hornpipe. An English hornpipe, used as theme music to the radio series "The Navy Lark".
Orlando's Return. An English march.
Over the Hills and Far Away. An English march or reel, used as the tune to various songs.
Oh Susanna. An American well-known song, used as old-time dance tune.

Liz Revell contribution:

Galopede, or the Yarmouth Reel, or Persian Dance. Collected by Cecil Sharpe in East Anglia, and common in English sessions.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 11 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 12 (June)

Eight more tunes from me this week on concertina in Greenshoots slow then fast style. A bit of a bias to Scottish and Irish tunes this week.

Great North Run. Robert Whitehead 1986. A reel from Northumberland, with driving rhythm.
Carolan's Welcome. An air by Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738), the blind Irish harper.
Major Mackie's Jig. A jig from Scotland.
Planxty Irwin. An Carolan ode.
Planxty Fanny Power. A second Carolan ode. As these are often played together, here is a run through the pair
Miss McLeod's Reel. An Irish reel.
Madame Bonaparte. An English horpipe.
Dark Island. A Scottish air usually attributed to Iain MacLachlan 1958, but with alternative attribution earlier to Allan MacCormack 1930.
Dark Island 2nd part, and Dark Island two-part mix Seconds by Chris H, and a mix of the two with less than perfect track synchronisation!

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 12 PDF. The two-part arrangement of Dark Island is in this one-page PDF.

Coronavirus Week 13

Eight more tunes from me this week on concertina in Greenshoots slow then fast style, plus a run through a pair of the tunes. An Australian and American presence this week, plus the usual English and Irish. No Scottish or Welsh this week.

Blackthorn Stick. An Irish Jig
Farewell to the Dene. By Willie Taylor, copyright Coquetdale Music Publishing courtesy of Kathryn Tickell.
King of the Cannibal Islands, or Vulcan's Cave. An English Jig, apparently based on a quadrille by John Charles White of 1815.
Mudgee Waltz. An Australian Waltz
Orataba Waltz. Another Australian Waltz
Mudgee and Orataba Waltes as a pair Given these two are often played together, here is a run once through them both.
Liberty. A US march, two-step or reel. Also known as "The Tipsy Parson"
Liberty Bell. A US march by John Philip Sousa, made famous as the theme to Monty Python.
King of the Fairies. A well-known Irish hornpipe.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 13 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 14

Eight more tunes from me this week on concertina in Greenshoots slow then fast style, including some familiar session favourites.

Soldier's Joy. An English reel, popular in sessions.
Blind Mary. An Irish air in 3/4, attributed to Turlough O’Carolan , but disputed.
Butterfly. An Irish slipjig.
Delia by Samuel Howard (1710-1782), from his opera The Amorous Goddess.
Brighton Camp. An English march.
Ned Of The Hill, or Eamonn an Chnoic. An Irish 3/4 air about Edmund O'Ryan who apparently was a Robin Hood character during the Jacobite/Crowell era.
American Patrol, by F W Meacham 1885. Made popular by Glen Miller.
George Green's College Hornpipe. An East Anglian hornpipe.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 14 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 15

Eight more tunes from me this week on concertina in Greenshoots slow then fast style. Reels and Jigs mainly - no waltzes, but a couple of airs and an American interloper.

George Brabazon. Another planxty air from Turlough O’Carolan (1730).
George Tremain's Quickstep. An English dance from North Yorkshire. George was melodeon player for a sword dance team in the 1920s.
Devil Among the Tailors. A Scottish reel
Spancil Hill. An Irish 6/8 air. Spancil Hill Fair is supposedly the oldest horse fair in Ireland, held annually on 23 June.
Rights of Man. An Irish Hornpipe (or reel) - a common session favourite.
Cooley's Reel. An Irish reel.
Sandy Boys. An American Appalachian fiddle tune.
Mount Hills. A Playford 4/4 dance from 1701.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 15 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 16 (July)

Eight more tunes from me this week on concertina in Greenshoots slow then fast style. More reels and jigs, but also a couple of 17th Century tunes.

Three Sea Captains. An English jig.
Mr Beveridge's Maggot. A3/2 tune from Playford 1695.
Redhaired Boy. A Scottish/Irish reel.
March of the Men of Devon. A Welsh tune, despite the name - the Devon men were miners.
Dribbles of Brandy. An English Jig (Aird 1788)
My Lord Cutt's Delight. An English tune from Northumberland, before 1694.
Coleraine. An Irish jig.
Cumberland Square Eight. A Scottish reel.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 16 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 17

Eight more. Not many reels this time, but a well-known set of polkas, jigs and waltzes, recorded in Devon while away on our first outing since March!

Seven Stars, or "The Moon and Seven Stars". An English morris jig
Egan's Polka. An Irish polka
Westering Home. A Scottish 3/4 air.
Trumpet Hornpipe. An English hornpipe used as the theme for Captain Pugwash on TV.
Constant Billy. Another English morris jig.
Navvie on the Line. An English hornpipe.
South Winds. An Irish 3/4 air.
Staten Island. A Scottish reel. Apparently not named after the New York borough, but rather the island off the tip of South America near Tierra del Fuego.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 17 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 18

Another eight from me, taking us to 150 tunes! Plus three contributions from other Greenshoots members.

Out on the Ocean. An English jig.
Hobart's Transformation. An American reel - Hobart (B. 1775) was an early American bishop.
New Rigged Ship. A Shetland Reel. Often played as a set with Hobart.
Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen. A Scottish 3/4 song.
Tip Top Polka. An English polka.
Mist Covered Mountains. A Scottish 3/4 air.
Lemmie Brazil's No. 1. First of a pair of English hornpipes, from the playing of Lemmie or Lemmy (Lementina) Brazil (b. circa 1890). Her surname is apparently pronounced 'Brazzle', and was a large traveller family.
Lemmie Brazil's No. 2. Second of the pair.

Liz Revell contributions:

Quarter Brawle. By Tielman Susato (Danserye 1551).
Princess Royal (Morris). Original tune by Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738) was minor key, but it was shifted to this major key version for use in Morris dancing.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 18 PDF.

Contribution from Greenshoots member Bruce Kent,

Michael's Mazurka by Shetland fiddler Michael Ferrie, who died in 1996 at the age of 21. Also a slower computer synthesized version, and a PDF score.

Coronavirus Week 19

A special edition this week - a bumper eleven tunes from me, and all new to the Session Tunebook. They are all in the current Annex Tunebook 2019, and will be in Paul Hardy's Session Tunebook 2020, which will be released soon.

Astley's Ride. An English reel - Philip Astley is credited with founding the modern circus.
Bagpipers. A march from the Mittel ms in Kent (1799).
Barbara Allen. A Scottish air.
Brestle Hornpipe. A straight (not swung) hornpipe from the Winder ms 1835. I wonder if Brestle = Bristol?
Coming Through the Rye. An Scottish trad air set to words by Robbie Burns.
Elsie Marley. A northeastern jig. Elsie was a famous inkeeper near Durham.
From Night Till Morn. An English reel.
Goddesses. A Playford dance tune - here with the original version from 1651, and a later, more decorated version from 1721.
Go 'List for a Sailor. An English song tune used for Morris.
Peacock Followed the Hen. Another Playford tune - a slipjig from 1698.
Shrewsbury Waltz. A waltz from Shropshire.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 19 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 20

To compensate for the extra tunes last week, there are only six tunes from me this week. They include two (Parnell's March and The Ton) additions to the Session Tunebook (see Week 19 above).

The Ton. A Scottish polka, also known as Jessie's Hornpipe. The recording for this was originally in the Week 19 list, but the music wasn't in that week's PDF, so it is moved to this week.
Hunt the Squirrel. An English jig
Parnell's March. An Irish march. A new addition to the 2019 Annex.
Jenny Lind. An American polka from 1845, presumably inspired by "The Swedish Nightingale".
Cuckoo's Nest. An English Morris dance march. This accidently got into the Session Tunebook twice in two different modal keys (A Dorian and E Dorian) for several years, so they are consolidated here. Note that the E version doesn't repeat the B part.
Grogan's Favourite. An Irish reel, also known as Eileen O’Callaghan’s Reel.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 20 PDF.

Coronavirus Week 21

Back to eight tunes from me this week, half with possessive apostrophes! There are a couple of more complex tunes this time, so listen carefully to the instructions at the start of Old Tom of Oxford.

Mrs Jamieson's Favourite. A Scottish jig/air by Charles Grant (1810-1892).
Monk's March. An English march. General Monck marched in 1660 in the English Civil War, and was supposedly famous for arriving at battles too late to fight. Hence the rather halting rhythm of this tune!
Proudlock's Hornpipe. An English hornpipe, closely related to the previous tune. Lewis Proudlock (1838-1914) was a Northumbrian miner and fiddle player, who collated many old tunes.
Old Tom of Oxford. An English Morris dance, complete with the 'slows' for the dancers to leap to. Old Tom (Great Tom) is the bell at Christ Church college.
Carolan's Draught. An air in march time by the blind Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738).
John of Paris, or Jean de Paris. A jig from the English version of a French comic opera; music by Henry Bishop in 1814.
Linhope Loup (aka Linehope Lope). A Northumberland horpipe. The Linhope Loup (pronounced to rhyme with cow)or Linhope Spout is a famous waterfall.
Red Lark or Little Red Lark. An Irish waltz/air.

Just those tunes are in a PDF. See Virtual Greenshoots Week 21 PDF.

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