Ian Gammie
Corda Music Publications: 24 pages
This volume is for players who want to get more practice in using the 6th string tuned to D and the 28 pieces within are graded in difficulty, so that you begin absolutely at the beginning with (believe it or not) Three Blind Mice and also And So Say All Of Us. The book is littered with folk melodies including The Lincolnshire Poacher, Dance to your Daddy, Plaisir D’Amour, Drunken Sailor, Amazing Grace, The Ash Grove I am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger, and The Irish Washerwoman, but also include famous melodies from the classics, such as the Musette by Bach, the Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffman by Offenbach, and even Nimrod by Elgar. There are also a number of original works by Gammie too, which are equally as good as the music you will know.
The main factor about this book is that by the end of the book you will be so used to the 6th string as a D that you will never have trouble reading it, or the other notes on the 6th string ever again, and therefore it is a fun volume that also has a real didactic purpose. So as a worthwhile volume I can heartily recommend it, but beware! You might be really fed up with the key of D if you decide to play them all the way through, without a break! No, but seriously this is a very clever volume that I am surprised no one has thought of doing before, because if they have I certainly haven’t come across it!
Chris Dumigan