Iron Broo Ceilidh Band

Tag: accordion

  • French Accordion Music for a Lockdown fantasy

    French Accordion Music for a Lockdown fantasy

    #Lockdownfantasy

    Aye, we are still in lockdown, and the summer holidays are likely to be cancelled for all of us. But that doesn’t mean we canna dream.

    Sit yourself down and get comfortable. Pour yer favourite tipple, close your eyes and pretend that you’re in Paris, or in the sunny south of France vineyard under a parasol, soaking in a golden evening. Enjoying your holidays. Not a care in the world.

    Music for the afternoon drinks reception at a wedding

    This is not strictly ceilidh music. But it’s great music on an accordion. Would be nice at an afternoon wedding reception. Gives things a bit of class does French accordion music. Goes well with fine food, coffee and vintage wines. It’s sophisticated and classy. It’s sexy but not in your face. It’s refined elegance from a humble country background. Organic and pure like the best Bordeaux wine. It’s red velvet on white lace. Ideal for your wedding drinks reception.

    The tune is called Réveil Musette and was written by André Lavignac and André Cior. I have it in a book published in 1952 but it may be much older.

    I think the translation of the tune title means Awakening Musette, or if you see Google translate it might be Alarm Clock Musette.

    Musette or Bal-Musette is thought of as sub-genre of Gyspsy Jazz music. It was common in different forms in France from the 1880’s. Originally it was played on a type of bagpipe ( a Cabrette) known locally as a Musette. Italians began to travel to France and brought with them the newly invented accordions Italy was so famous for. The music was almost always instrumentals for dancing and typically waltzes, tango and jazz. In the 1930’s Swing music or Gypsy Jazz came from the mixture of the Musette background with musicians like Django Rhineheart, Gus Viseur and Emile Vacher and many more.

    This music was famous throughout France until the 1950s. It was usually played by downtrodden musicians and was celebrated by the upper-classes. Bohemian things were very trendy among the elites when they were looking for excitement. The whore houses of Paris, like the ones of Buenos Aires did a lot for tango, musette, jazz music, and accordions. The best music sometimes comes out of the darkest places. A bit like ceilidh.

    You can find the music for this tune on page 182 of this book. You can find the book online or in some specialist music stores. Great to have if you like to play the accordion.

    3 Musette Recueil de 110 succés Book
    3 Musette Recueil de 110 succés Book
  • Margaret’s Waltz

    Margaret’s Waltz

    Margaret’s Waltz

    First Dance idea or a waltz at Wedding

    I had a special request to play this tune on my YouTube Channel by Kevin Dempsey. He is a regular at the Edinburgh Ceilidh Club and they have been dancing Rosa’s Waltz to this tune. He also suggests it is a great tune for the first dance at a wedding. I would have to say I agree with him. It’s a melody that suits a wedding as it’s neither happy nor sad, it’s just beautiful and deeply familiar. A lovely tune.

    Margaret’s waltz, a wee history.

    Margaret’s Waltz is a popular tune in Scotland among traditional musicians made famous here by Aly Bain. For a time it was known to be the most requested tune on Radio Scotland. I often get asked to play it at ceilidhs. The tune was composed in 1959 by Pat Shuldham Shaw (1917-1977). I believe Pat was at a party at Aly Bain’s house in Edinburgh, and Aly wanted to let him hear a new tune he had picked up because Pat came from New England and Aly thought the tune sounded like a “New England” tune. When Aly asked if Pat liked the tune he was taken aback by the reply from Pat, “Of course I do…I wrote it!” More history here

    Iron Broo also recorded this tune back in 2007 during a live ceilidh at the Moray ceilidh club. The CD Album is available here along with other live audio clips and live video clips

    Iron Broo play Margaret’s waltz live. It’s the third tune in this set. Skip to 4.08 to hear it .

  • Free Sheet Music Library

    Free Sheet Music Library

    I have been told a few times recently that I’m not good at selling myself. The truth is it’s because generally, I don’t like people who are good at selling themselves. It’s something ingrained in the northeast of Scotland psyche. Naebody likes a big heid. I’ve always been conscious of this.

    I really enjoy creating music. Here I am giving away free sheet music.

    I have started a small free sheet music library on IronBroo.scot and as I create new tunes I will build it up. You can download the PDFs for sheet music for free if you want to learn any of my tunes. I would love to hear them being played or recorded by other people.

    I really enjoy doing what I do with music. Here’s one I made earlier…

    The free sheet music library is on the Iron Broo website https://ironbroo.scot/sheet-music-library/

    It’s a pretty modest library at the moment ( more of a shelf ) but it takes a long time for me to write out and record the tunes and make the videos. If you want updates you can follow this blog or find us on Facebook, subscribe on YouTube and visiting ironbroo.scot. Leaving positive comments is encouraging. 🙂

    Scottish Music Videos

    The tune in the video above is one of my own compositions and the pictures and video are all my own, taken on Lochnagar in Aberdeenshire. I used an iPhone and a Canon Camera. Scotland is such a stunningly beautiful place with such a variety of scenery, it is a source of endless inspiration.

    Buy me a coffeeBuy me a coffee

    You can also buy me a coffee, that would help inspire more activity and improve my inventory for music creation!

  • The Dark Island

    Nostalgic Scottish Music

    Leaving Loch Maddy, North Uist. Looking back towards the Dark Island

    It’s a tune every Scottish accordion player learns and probably the most widely requested Scottish music tune I ever get. In my experience, it’s also the highest earning tune in my repertoire back when we were busking or playing in bars. Many a time I would get asked at the end of a gig in a bar to play the Dark Island. Usually by an older person, quite emotional after a few drinks and they would often hand us a tenner or a twenty afterwards with a tear in their eye. “That’s braw son…just braw”.

    It’s a tune soaked in nostalgia for lots of people.

    I recall playing on the St.Clair ferry from Aberdeen to Shetland one night, many years ago. Myself and my fiddler pal Bill Edwards were asked to play it for a guy after our show. He handed us £120. (£60 each.) For a few minutes playing, that was a lot of money for us back then and still would be today.

    I visited Benbecula last year on a camping trip and used the photos I took during the week to make a video using the track from my album. (A Celtic voice)

    The dark island is one of the first tunes I practised when I picked up the accordion.

    I remember my dad trying to play it, it was one of the 3 tunes he could still remember from playing when he was a teenager.

    The Dark island Video

    Here’s my latest YouTube video of the Dark Island with photos from Benbecula, Eriskay, Berneray, North and South Uist and below is one of my previous videos of the same tune done live, one with Sandy Mathers on fiddle, recorded in front of my pizza oven.

    It’s funny how a tune can creep up on you. I didn’t realise I played it so much.

    The Dark Island – A Celtic Voice
    Sandy Mathers & Charlie Abel

    The forecasting stone outside a shop near Berneray is indicative of the type of weather you can expect around the Dark Island. You won’t see many trees either

    The Forecasting stone
  • The Left-Handed Fiddler

    The Left-Handed Fiddler

    The Left-Handed Fiddler is a well-known traditional Scottish tune written by James Scott Skinner, who is an iconic Scottish fiddle player from Banchory. (1843-1927) Skinner rose to fame during his time and left a vast legacy of music with his own compositions and collections that are still played widely to this day. Skinner gave himself the nickname “The Strathspey King”. He was quite a character and there’s a good article on him here for further reading. https://www.folkworld.de/25/e/skinner.html

    Skinner’s Tune – for George Taylor.

    My neighbour David Cumming had heard that Skinner wrote a tune for a relative of his. It was called “The Left-handed Fiddler”. Because he was not familiar with the tune I learnt it for him and recorded another YouTube video. I was pleased Dave liked it and he sent it to his relatives around the world.

    The Left-Handed Fiddler

    The next day, a relative of his asked if his name was ever mentioned in music scores, “George Taylor”. So I had a quick Google and discovered quite a few things.

    George Taylor was a left-handed fiddler who also had a son called George who was also a left-handed fiddler. The author of the tune, Skinner had a father who was also a left-handed fiddler due to an accident that meant he had to relearn and play left handed. There are some who thought that Skinner wrote this tune for his father, but that has been dismissed by reliable sources on the internet who agree it was for George Taylor.

    J. Murdoch Henderson’s tune – George I. Taylor.

    The next morning I then also discovered that there is another tune written for George Taylor, though I’m not clear if it is for the same person, It may be that the father is George Taylor of the tune “Left-Handed Fiddler” and George I. Taylor is the son. In either case, it’s quite exciting in my mind to find this extra gem of musical history.

    George I. Taylor – Strathspey

    The tune “George I. Taylor” was written by J. Murdoch Henderson, from New Deer (1902-1970) and moved into Aberdeen to teach Maths. He loved to play fiddle but had some difficulties in playing as he injured both wrists in a childhood accident. He collected and wrote many tunes and published them. One of Henderson’s books I am aware of is called “The Flowers of Scottish Melodies”. It’s out of print now and I don’t seem to be able to source a copy. It’s the sort of book that will be lying someone’s house, hidden in a piano stool or in a second-hand shop. George I. Taylor is in this book.

    The same time I discovered this tune I become aware that there is an online trend I was not aware of, it was #playastrathspeyday. Well, George I. Taylor is a strathspey. David, of course, wants to hear the tune so I drop what I am doing and learn the tune and upload it to the net. The morning after the official play a strathspey day, but, better late than never. 🙂

    If you like the videos remember to visit the rest of my website and the clips pages.

    You can also subscribe to my YouTube Channel and Facebook Pages. Look for Charlie Abel or Iron Broo.

  • Baltic Weather, Photos & Accordion Lessons.

    This cold weather has really been starting to bother me lately. It seems never ending. I can’t wait until our trips abroad over the summer. If the Sun won’t come to Iron Broo then Iron Broo willl come to the Sun! I’m looking forward to Germany, Sicily and Italy later in the year. I was hoping for a chance to go to Canada too but that might have to wait until next year…we’ll see.
    Here’s hoping Scotland gets a summer this year.
    Fred and I are doing a photo shoot tomorrow morning for a publicity spot for a gig Iron Broo are playing at in May. I’ll tell you more about that one shortly. Just so I tell you the correct info.

    Accordion Lessons

    SCAT in Aberdeen will be running an accordion class starting next month. Subject to a to class size of at least 7 pupils attending. I am happy to tell you that I will once again be taking the class after an absence of over 11 years from teaching for SCAT and I am very much looking forward to it.  I think it will be held on a Wednesday night for 6 weeks starting 24th April. 7pm till 9pm with a break for refreshmentssshh…

    The SCAT website, will have the info up there shortly or you can contact them for the details if you want to learn the piano accordion.