Another Jig Will Do

1 review for Another Jig Will Do

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   [email protected] – February 21, 2015

   REVIEW OF “ANOTHER JIG WILL DO” By Steve Eulberg
   I have just spent a lovely morning transported to the British Isles by Steve Eulbergʼs new book, “Another Jig will Do: Songs and Tunes of the Angles and the Celts.” Between the music, the Celtic-looking typeface, the numerous color photos of fog over lochs, ocean, and moors in places with names which are familiar because they appear in songs we all love, the book transports me to this day-dream British Isles adventure. I relish this spirit of artistic integration where every element of a project contributes to the message and this whole book project assures that I am now well set up for a cup of Irish tea, some gentle rain, endless green pastures, and beautiful British Isles Music.
   To begin with, what is there to learn in Steveʼs book? Plenty. Seven ballads with lyrics, an air, four jigs, a couple of hornpipes, strathspeys, slip jigs, waltzes, slides, and four reels. The repertoire comes from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Britain, and includes many favorites of the American Celtic repertoire. There are notes about the origin of each piece, and one can learn the pieces on any instrument since they are written in standard music notation with chord symbols for accompaniment instruments such as guitar, piano, bazoukis, etc.
   But letʼs get down to dulcimers. For mountain dulcimers we have tablature with all the frills: hammer-ons, slides, numbers in bold typeface for the melody and a lighter face for the chord notes, and these tab numbers are plenty big enough for those over thirty to be able to see them. Many of the pieces are further arranged in several tunings so one can learn about the relationships between tunings and why one might choose one over another. If you have a mountain dulcimer friend to play with, there are mountain dulcimer chords so one player can play the complete arrangement, and the other can play chords, and then you can swap
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   Tuesday, November 10, 2009
   parts. In short, each piece includes all the information and arranging imaginable for mountain dulcimer players.
   For hammered dulcimers we have the melodies in standard notation, and above the notation, we have chord symbols as well as a picture of the pattern of each chord. This combination of notation makes arranging for a hammered dulcimer easy, and again, you and a friend could make arrangements for duets or groups where one part is the melody and the other is accompaniment.
   Steve amply demonstrates his skill and training (Master of Music Education) as a teacher in the last section of the book where he discusses how to strum mountain dulcimers, and gives a tour through the rhythms found in the various dance forms: jigs, reels, slip jigs, etc. There is a very complete discussion of various ways to consider chords on hammered dulcimer.
   On the very last page is a reward for getting through your study of the book – a CD of the tunes in the book! People who learn by ear will have an easy way to do so using the enclosed CD.
   “Another Jig Will Do” is a fine place to begin on your British Isles repertoire, or to augment an already developed one. Bonnie Carol