There have been some very positive reviews on the "woodenflute" email list of John Skelton's "A Few Tunes, A Collection of 45 Jigs and Reels Played on Flute and Tin Whistle". John says that it was designed for students at his summer-school classes, and that he is mystified and pleased that it has become so popular. My copy has not arrived yet, but I'll post a review when I have listened to it.
John is selling the cd with a booklet of transcriptions for $20 plus $1 for postage. You can reach him by email (skelton@prodigy.net or by phone (859 879 8020).
Note: I am posting the same message on the flute and whistle boards since the tunes are about evenly split between flute and whistle.
Dave Copley
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dcopley on 2001-12-13 15:49 ]</font>
John Skelton CD and booklet
It took a while for the cd to arrive, and even longer for me to get around to writing a review. I am extremely impressed with the John Skelton cd, and recommend it highly. As John writes in the booklet which comes with the cd, he recorded it as a learning resource for his students, and it fits the bill admirably. There are 24 tunes recorded on flute, and 21 on whistle, played at a reasonable tempo (a little below typical "performance" speed). The playing has enough ornamentation to give one plenty of ideas, but not enough to obscure the tune or get in the way of learning it.
Anyone looking for tunes to add to their repertoire would find this collection very useful. There are a few old favorites (Out on the Ocean, The Mountain Top), but a lot of the tunes will be new to players who have not attended John's workshops, and all of the versions are obviously flute- or whistle-friendly. So, a great collection of tunes, in a good format for learning.
Dave Copley
Loveland, Ohio
Anyone looking for tunes to add to their repertoire would find this collection very useful. There are a few old favorites (Out on the Ocean, The Mountain Top), but a lot of the tunes will be new to players who have not attended John's workshops, and all of the versions are obviously flute- or whistle-friendly. So, a great collection of tunes, in a good format for learning.
Dave Copley
Loveland, Ohio
This album is awesome not only to learn from but to just listen too.
It was a while after I picked this up from CelticGrooves.com. that I found out that John Skelton was the guy I saw play along with Skip Healy and Grey Larsen at the West Coast flute Symposium. He's very talented. Here is a link to the pictures of him playing on Healy's site.
I told John that he ought to put together a book and Cd on how to play the flute and demonstrate ornamentation, breathing etc.... I hope he does it someday.
http://www.skiphealy.com/wc_flute_image.htm
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: CraigMc on 2002-01-20 21:50 ]</font>
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: CraigMc on 2002-01-20 21:51 ]</font>
It was a while after I picked this up from CelticGrooves.com. that I found out that John Skelton was the guy I saw play along with Skip Healy and Grey Larsen at the West Coast flute Symposium. He's very talented. Here is a link to the pictures of him playing on Healy's site.
I told John that he ought to put together a book and Cd on how to play the flute and demonstrate ornamentation, breathing etc.... I hope he does it someday.
http://www.skiphealy.com/wc_flute_image.htm
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: CraigMc on 2002-01-20 21:50 ]</font>
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: CraigMc on 2002-01-20 21:51 ]</font>