English, Welsh, Scottish & Irish Fiddle Tunes Book/Online Audio

These are short pieces organized by region of varying complexity. Several are really nice, the other are okay. I bought the book to supplement my formal clarinet works. The range is fine for the clarinet and the pieces feel natural. Nice for sight reading. Most pieces have 1-2 sharps or one flat. Some are modal. I wish it were spiral bound for ease of use since it is a thick book.

I have owned this book for many years. It has well-chosen tunes and does seem to me to represent the gamut of fiddle tunes from the countries indicated. It has many good suggestions for, e.g., playing the ornamentation on the fiddle. Although the book is for the fiddle, I play the tunes on my flute. But somehow this year my copy just disappeared when I was hauling out all my music books. I was so distressed! But hooray, I found it on the Internet. I never want to be without it again.

I'm an amateur fiddler who plays in solitude and learns only from printed music and recordings. Hence I collect a lot of fiddle music. This is one of my favorite books. Not only does it have some great tunes that I either haven't seen elsewhere or which are written differently (and more to my liking) than elsewhere, but the author has done a brilliant job of providing a little story to go with each tune, and the stories are quite feelingful and humorous. (I also like the author's comments, about how to play the tune called "Bung your Eye" -- "Play this one antagonistically." If that doesn't inspire a feelingful interpretation what does!)The stories take after the author's comment, in the introductory pages, that Indian ragas "each have a picture and a poem peculiarly their own." The author goes a step toward intiating a like tradition for his collection of fiddle tunes. The recording of certain of the tunes I found more moving and inspiring than many other recordings of Celtic/Irish/Scottish fiddle tunes. Most recorded fiddle music sounds too "dancey" and repetitious/monotonous to me. This recording presents tunes with a more songlike sound and that is far more beautiful to me, and is inspiring my own interpretations.

The songs in this book are so fun to play through! My friend and I were laughing after each one. My favorite fiddle tunes book that I own out of 4 or 5 of them. I'm a casual player. I do wish it were a spiral bound but if you have a couple of clips on your stand the book will stay open.

This is a wonderful compilation of fiddle tunes. Most or all I had never heard before, which makes it much more fun instead of the same songs every book includes. I love the little notes by the author before each song; educational and entertaining! Also, the layout is very clean and logical. Songs are grouped first according to where they originate from, then from difficulty level, easy - advanced, plus songs that go well together are often on the same page! Love it.

My daughter requested this book. It has a wonderful variety of music.I'm hearing a lot of happy fiddling!

What a find!!! My fiddler friend has this book from her 'glory days' and we've jammed playing many of the tunes in Robin's collection. His information and playing guidelines are brilliant as well as so helpful for those wanting to develop this playing style. When I found it, I had to have my own copy. Slainte'.

Fun pieces to play

I like this book a lot and am very glad it is still available. I am not a very good fiddler but the notes say which tunes are easy and which more difficult. Good illustrations (historically interesting) - altogether a great collection! For anyone interested in British and Irish folk music, it can't fail to please.

It has a good amount of tunes in the book. More than the 15, they advertise by a lot. However, there is no CD, only a digital download which is hard to download. Also, there are only 13 tracks for download. for reference. And the songs don't match the notation that well at all. For instance, there are lots of little ornamentation on the recordings but there are hardly any written in the book. It makes things confusing. If you are an amazing already you'll do just fine with this book. But if you aren't great at site reading or fiddle then don't bother with this book.

The book is just what I wanted but it arrived with one corner bent all the way through. Rather than queue at the post office to return it, I’ve spent half an hour ironing each page - not ideal. It was either bent in the process of being put in the cardboard envelope or it was an already damaged copy.

A very useful book of tunes from all over the British Isles, and suitable for any C instrument, not just fiddle. The notes and presentation are excellent, and chord symbols included.

Brilliant