A new tune each Wednesday (more or less), chosen arbitrarily by your Webmaster, a mixture of traditional and new but traditional in style tunes. Site visitors are encouraged to nominate tunes for this page.
This week’s tune:
Jimmy o’ the Bu’s Polka, from Orkney. According to site visitor Len Wilson, “In the 1920s and 30s barndances were held at the farm called The Bu’ on the island of Hoy. This was one of the tunes that Jimmy played, sitting on the end of the mill.” See the photo of Jimmy in the Notes section, and hear Jennifer Wrigley play it beautifully in the YouTube video.
Last week’s tune:
Tippin’ Back the Corn. We like to pair this one with Temperance Reel, aka The Teetotaler’s, for balance. 😁
Recent Tunes of the Week:
- Springfield, an old-timey style reel by Erynn Marshall. Check out the video of herself playing it, surely the “correct” rendition even if not exactly as we are used to playing it around here.
- Munster Cloak, This waltz or Mazurka depending on how it’s played is very old in Ireland but perhaps even older — said to have been brought to Ireland from Spain in the 16th century, possibly by shipwrecked sailors from the Spanish Armand?
- Mistwold. Word is circulating that Dudley Laufman passed away on July 13, 2026. Composer of this beautiful tune who often played for English Country Dances, Dudley was a prime mover behind the resurgence of traditional dance and music, especially in his home area, New Hampshire’s Monadnock Region. My colleague Kenric Kite writes, “In my view Dudley Laufman, during the great folk revival, brought contra dance music back from the brink of extinction, and in doing so has enriched the lives of millions.”
- A Week in January by Seamus Egan. Despite it being July as I post this, here is a lovely slow air in G, including a YouTube video of Seamus playing it which must surely be the authentic version.
- Brilliancy This old-time and sometime Bluegrass reel is melodically wonderful. Don’t miss the video of the incomparable Sam Bush playing it on the mandolin (riding in a gondola!).
- Lydia Levins Slängpolska in F. This is a beautiful slangpolska about which I have not been able to find much background information. Update: Andrew Alexis has very kindly sent me sheet music and ABC for this tune.
- Calgary Reel. Despite its Prairie Provinces title, this Canadian tune is Québecios in origin, composed by David Boulanger.
- Lake Champlain A beautiful waltz composed by Vermont fiddler Viveka Fox. For an only intermediate guitarist like myself, the chords are a bit challenging — the tune is in B minor, aeolian mode, definitely not your standard 1-4-5 major chords. But it’s incredibly sweet, conveying the beauty of that lovely lake.
- Schottishe á Virmoux, a charming and quite simple French schottische in D taught to us and played here by Doug LaPoint on both mandolin and fiddle.
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- Background: I started this site about twelve years ago largely for my own convenience, but it quickly grew to be useful for a number of other musicians in my area. Since then it has grown far beyond my original vision, with over 1,100 tunes posted and around 6,000 user sessions per month from more than 30 countries. Until now I have built and maintained the site out of my own pocket but its increasing size and complexity is requiring more outside resources and costs; hence this appeal. So if this site is helpful to you, please consider a small contribution.