Welcome to the Ladies' Choice web site.

We are primarily a women's session group that meets every two or three weeks to play music together, but we also enjoy performing every now and then. All women are welcome to come and play with us at any of our practice sessions.

Ladies Choice performing

Below are the reports on our meetings, and in the side bar is a repository of some of the tunes we have been working on along with other useful music resources.

June 19, 2016

We met regularly all winter and spring rehearsing for our performance at Arts Alive in Falmouth on June 19th. The weather was perfect for it, and we think we did pretty well--the small audience in attendance seemed very appreciative. Pictured "in concert" below are: Jen, Marilyn, Laura, Ursula, Sally, Anne and Kathy. Ladies Choice performing at Arts Alive 2016

January 30, 2016

At our session on Jan. 30 we decided to accept Marilyn's invitation to perform at Falmouth Art's Alive in June. Now we have a goal to practice for which always gets us energized and playing better.

2016 Update - January 21, 2016

We have been meeting every two weeks or so except for a brief interruption during December.

Ladies' Choice Cruise Ship Debut - September 17, 2015

On a lovely Thursday evening in September, we provided the entertainment for the St. Vincent de Paul fund-raising cruise on the Island Queen. Participating were: Cynthia Dyer, Anne Oberteuffer, Jen Kano, Diane Maranchie, Ursula Boyce, Laura Higgins, Ann Dowling and Marilyn Rowland. Ladies Choice on the Island Queen

2015 Update - April 9, 2015

We started meeting again every two weeks or so through the Winter even though it was a challenge to find a place to go with parking! Many thanks to Ellen, who got us a place to meet at WHOI when none of us had parking space that wasn't overflowing with snow at our homes.

Early Spring Update - May 5, 2014

With the arrival of Spring and increased demands on all of our time, we reduced out meetings to about once per month. We've had 3 meetings since our last report with 5 to 7 ladies in attendance. We also played a mini-gig (4 tunes) for the Woods Hole Music Stroll at Sphor Gardens on April 19th which was a glorious Spring day.

February 8, 2014

A small group consisting of Anne, Laura, Ursula and Jen met at Laura's. We played: Galway Belles, Sweet Wyoming Home, Aunt Mary's Canadian Jig, our set of 3 polkas, Down the Brae, Spootiskerry, Ashokan Farewell, and The Rose by the Door.

January 25, 2014

Anne, Laura, Cynthia, Marilyn and Jen met at Anne's. We all signed a get-well card for Doreen who is in the hospital. We wish her a speedy recovery and return to our group. We played: Fairies Hornpipe, The Lover's Waltz, Ash Grove, Rose by the Door, Niel Gow's Lament for the Death of His Second Wife, Flowers of Edinburgh, First of May Hornpipe, Country Waltz/Molly's Waltz, Skye Boat Song, Angel Band, Galway Belle. We noted that we are not all working from sheet music with the same version of Gallway Belles. There is a link to a PDF of our preferred version in the Tune Resource box on the right.

January 11, 2014

Urusla, Anne, Laura, Cynthia, Doreen, Ellen and Jen met at Laura's. We played: Country Waltz/Molly's Waltz, Shepherd's Wife, Rose by the Door, Galway Belle, Flowers of Edinburgh, Aunt Mary's Canadian Jig, The Ash Grove, Rights of Man, Willafjord/Spootiskerry, Blue River Waltz, Fiddler Round the Fairy Tree (new), and Mylecharaines's March.

December 28, 2013

Urusla, Anne, Sally, Laura, Cynthia, Doreen and Jen met at Ursula's. We played: Angel Band, Rose by the Door, Galway Belles, Greensleeves, Willafjord/Spootiskerry, First of May Hornpipe, Aunt Mary's Canadian Jig, The Wren, and The Ash Grove.

December 7, 2013

Urusla, Anne, Sally, Ellen and guest Sarah, Laura, Cynthia and Jen met at Jen's. We played: Jamie Allen, Bodine's Waltz, The Wren, Willafjord/Spootiskerry as a set, Aunt Mary's Canadian Jig, Rose by the Door, Flowers of Edinburgh, Mylecharaine's March, Blue River Waltz, Galway Belles, Quissett Belle, Shepherd's Wife.

November 16, 2013

Urusla, Anne, Diane, Sally, Doreen and Jen met at Ursula's. We played: Galway Belles, Rose by the Door, Neil Gow's Lament for His Second Wife, Quissett Belle, Mylecharaine's March, Willafjord/Spootiskerry as a set, the Lover's Waltz (parts), Bodine's Waltz, Blue River Waltz, Aunt Mary's Canadian Jig, and the Sweeps.

November 2, 2013

Laura, Urusla, Anne, Diane, Sally, Marilyn, Cynthia and Jen met at Laura's. We seem to have been bitten by the 'new tune' bug. Several of us brought in new tunes to try: Galway Belles, Quissett Belle, Neil Gow's Lament for His Second Wife, and Mylecharaine's March. We also played: Rose by the Door, Rights of Man, Kinrara, Willafjord/Spootiskerry as a set, the Lover's Waltz (parts), Blue River Waltz, Jamie Allen, and Down the Brae.

October 19, 2013

Jen, Urusla, Anne, Doreen, Diane, Sally, Marilyn and Laura met at Jen's. It was great to have a nice relaxed session after weeks of rehearsing the same list of tunes in preparation for a performance, and to have a few people back that we had no seen for a while. We played: Rose by the Door, Ash Grove (parts), Bodine's Waltz (D), 100 Pipers, Kinrara, Aunt Mary's Canadian Jig, The Wren (D), Willafjord/Spootiskerry as a set, Remember Me, Pig Ankle Rag, and the Lover's Waltz (parts).

October 5, 2013

Our performance at the Mass. Nursing Association conference reception went quite well. Five of us played (Jen, Urusla, Doreen, Diane and Cynthia) for two hours in the Sheraton Hyannis Lobby Lounge. Leading up to this event we rehearsed every week.

August 13, 2013

Due to a stormy weather forecast, the Falmouth Art Market was canceled for the day, which means we did not play nor will there be a make-up day. We worked hard to get ready for this aborted performance, rehearsing twice a week for the last three weeks. While it was disappointing that we did not get to perform, getting ready for it was fun and good for us!

July 7, 2013

Anne, Ursula, Jen, Laura, Marilyn and Cynthia met at Ursula's. We are working our way through our Art Market playlist and worked on The Sweeps through the Spotted Pony. The Sweeps was really rough and we decided we needed a recording to practice at home. That recording is now available from the Tune Resource box on the right.

June 30, 2013

Anne, Ursula, Jen, Laura, Sally, Doreen and Cynthia met at Anne's. We are working our way through our Art Market playlist and got down to the Curly Headed Plowboy. We are going to try to meet weekly leading up to our performance on August 13th.

June 15, 2013

Anne, Ursula, Jen, Laura, Sally, Doreen and Marilyn met at Anne's. We worked on a potential playlist for or Falmouth Art Market performance. We felt we need to have a longer list than we had last year so we call fill our two hours without having to repeat anything. We also tried to keep the number of waltzes down so that our set will have more variety. We worked on the following tunes as potentials to add to the playlist: Curly Headed Plowboy, Spootiskerry, Down the Brae, Merry Blacksmith, Ashokan Farewell, Spotted Pony, Tennesse Waltz (D), and Kinrara.

May 11, 2013

Anne, Gerry, Ursula, Jen, Gail and Laura met at Laura's. We played: Country Waltz/Molly's Waltz, Inis Oirr, our set of 3 polkas, First of May Hornpipe, Pig Ankle Rag, Planxty Irwin (D) with Planxty Fanny Power (G), and Ashokan Farewell. We discussed playing at the Falmouth Art Market again this summer. Ursula will check in with them.

April 27, 2013

The following met at Sally's new home in Marion: Anne, Ursula, Sally, Jen, and Laura. We played: The Skye Boat Song (2 parts), The Wren (parts), Si Bheag Si Mohr, First of May Hornpipe, Inisoirr, and the Mario Waltz.

April 13, 2013

Anne, Ursula, Sally, Jen, and Laura met at Jen's. We played: Slow boat to China, Skye Boat Song (2 parts), Marino Waltz, The Wren (parts), our set of three polkas, The First of May Hornpipe, and our set of three hornpipes.

March 30, 2013

Ursula, Sally, Jen, and Diane met at Urusla's. We mostly worked on the tunes with more than one part: Skye Boat Song (2 parts), The Wren (parts), Askokan Farewell (2 parts), Ash Grove (parts), Shepherds Wife (2 parts), our set of three hornpipes, and the Lover's waltz (parts).

March 16, 2013

Ursula, Anne, Doreen, Jen, Marilyn, and new member Natalie Chambers on the cello, met at Anne's. Welcome Natalie, it was a pleasure having you play with us! We played: My Cape Breton Home, Askokan Farewell, Jamie Allen, Angel Band, Pig Ankle Rag, Shepherds Wife (in parts), Lovely Stornoway, Down by the Sally Gardens, and The Ash Grove (in parts). We discussed trying out the Skye Boat Song in parts and The Wren next time, so print these out and give them a look. You can get the Skye Boat Song from Lyco, and The Wren is available on our site.

February 23, 2013

Ursula, Anne, Doreen, Ellen, and Laura met at Laura's and played: Spootiskary, the Polka set twice through, Laura's Waltz, My Cape Breton Home, Jamie Allen, Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter, Angel Band (sing first verse and chorus, play instrumental verse and chorus, then sing second verse and chorus, then instrumental verse and chorus, with an a cappella repeat on the last line).

January 26, 2013

Anne, Sally, Ursula, Doreen, Laura, Diane, Cynthia and Jen met at Urusla's and played: Jamie Allen, Bodine's Waltz, Chinese Breakdown, Marino Waltz, In my Life, Ash Grove (in parts), the Polka Set, Stone Rag, My Cape Breton Home, the Owl and the Pussycat.

January 12, 2013

Anne, Sally, Ursula, Doreen, Laura, Marilyn and Jen met at Jen's and played: Jamie Allen, Far Away, the Polka Set, In my Life, Laura's Waltz, Pig Ankle Rag, and the Marino Waltz.

November 24, 2012

We met at the Hatch Street Studios in New Bedford. Attending were: Ursula, Teri, Sally, Laura, and Sally's husband, Charlie on dobro. We had fun and did fine, although we missed everyone who wasn't there. We played: Marino Waltz, Pig Ankle Rag, Ash Grove, My Cape Breton Home, Curly Headed Plowboy, Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter, Down by the Sally Gardens, Bodine's Waltz, Laura's Waltz, and Shepherd's Wife. There were two young girls there who had art for sale in Sally and Charlie's space. One of them played guitar and she and her friend sang "Soul Sister" and a song that the guitar player had written.

November 10, 2012

Sally, Anne, Urusla, Laura, Gail, Coreen, Jen, and new comer Shirley Culleriane (welcome Shirley) met at Ursula's. We worked on: Westphalia Waltz, Pig Ankle Rag, My Cape Breton Home, Down by the Sally Garden (during vocals, guitar, whistle and mandolin only), Laura's Waltz, The Ash Grove (in parts), the polka set, Angel Band, Lover's Waltz (in parts), nad the Curly Headed Plow Boy (end with one A). We discussed getting business cards for the group so we have something to hand out when people inquire about us. We agreed to pay for the cards out of the cash we have in our 'treasury.'

October 27, 2012

We met at Anne's on a beautiful Fall afternoon. Attending were: Ellen, Sally, Anne, Urusla, Laura and Jen. We played: Country/Molly's Waltzes, Pig Ankle Rag, Marino Waltz, Down by the Sally Garden, The Ash Grove in parts (we worked on this for quite a while), Write Myself a Letter, Bodine's Waltz (D), and the Shepherd's Wife in parts. Sheet music for Laura's Waltz is now available in the Tune Resource box on the right. We discussed and agreed to making this one of our standard tunes since it was written by Laura's husband Bob--not to mention it's a lovey tune!

October 13, 2012

The following met at Laura's: Anne, Doreen, Ann, Laura, Urusla, Sally and Jen. We played: Down the Brae, Bodine's Waltz (D), The Ash Grove (in parts), Devil's Dream, Curly-headed Plough Boy, Jamie Allen, Down by the Sally Garden, Pig Ankle Rag, and Angel Band.

September 15, 2012

We met at Ursula's. Attending were Ann Dowling, Doreen Kelly, Gail Graham, Sally Lacey, Ursula Boyce, Teri Stanley, Ann Oberteuffer and me (Laura Gross Higgins). We discussed the art market session. Some suggestions were made. Teri suggested it would be better if we counted off and all started at the same time. She said she would be willing to do that for us. Some commented to Laura that the tempo seemed too much the same. Too many waltzes? Here is what we played: Country/Molly, Jamie Allen...tempo at 160 seemed best, Innisheer. Then we talked about playing without music and played tunes we did not have sheet music for, mostly vocals: Letter, Thinking Tonight About Blue Eyes in G, Angel Band in G, Pig Ankle Rag, Bodine's Waltz, Curly Headed Plowboy, Devil's Dream (a suggested add).

August 21, 2012 - Falmouth Art Market Performance

Ladies' Choice playing at the Falmouth Art Market Ten of us (Ursula, Laura, Marilyn, Diane, Sally, Anne, Terri, Doreen, Anne and Jen) played from 2:15 to 4:50 pm with a 25 minute break in the middle. We went through our entire play list before the break and then started again at the beginning after the break. We had a little more of a direct audience than last year, so Laura announced each song or tune before we played them. Over-all, it went very well and we have had a lot of positive feedback from listeners. Below are links to some YouTube videos of the tunes/songs we played after the break that Marylin took.

July and August Meetings

We met every week on leading up to our performanace at the Falmouth Art Market on August 21st. Laura kept the meeting notes and emailed reports and the date and time of the up-coming meetings to everyone. Members attended these rehearsals as they were able to--summer being a busy time for all of us. We had a final rehearsal the evening of the 20th with everyone that was to play present.

July 8, 2012

We met at Laura Higgins on Sunday. Attending were Ann Dowling and Ann Oberteuffer, Sally Lacey, Ursula Boyce and myself. We played Amelia's Waltz, Over the Waterfall--Sally played the intro, Angel Band--sang according to Jen's recap sheet, Colored Aristocracy, Shepherd's Wife, Mari's Wedding in G first...played 2 A's, 2 B's, then Laura sang all of the verses together, then played 2 A's, 2 B's in G, then again in D.

June 21, 2012

Ursula, Marilyn, Teri, Jen, Doreen, Gail and Laura met at Urusla's. We played tunes/songs on our playlist for our Art market perfomance on Aug. 21st, starting at the top of the list down to the Pig Ankle Rag. Then we skipped to The Lover's Waltz (2 parts). Clearly, lots of rehearsal is needed before the Aug. 21st. We decided it would be best to schedule meetings every week until then to get ready.

June 9, 2012

Sally, Ursula, Anne, Marilyn, Teri, Jen, Ann, and Laura met at Jen's and worked on The Ash Grove (3 parts), The Shepherd's Wife (2 parts), Far Away (4 parts), Si Bheag, Si Mhor (3 parts), The Lover's Waltz (2 parts). We also talked about our upcoming performance at the Falmouth Art Market which will be on August 21st, 2:30 pm. We decided to use the playlist we used last year with a few additions. If you are planning to play with us, please print out the Play List and practice.

May 12, 2012

Gail, Sally, Ursula, Anne, Marilyn and Laura met at Laura's and played Blue River Waltz, The polka medley, Fairies Hornpipe, The Shepherd's Wife, Remember Me (vocal) in G, Ash Grove in C, and the Catskill Mountain Air.

April 28, 2012

Laura, Jen, Ursula, Doreen, Sally, Gerry, Cynthia, Ann and newcomer Stephanie (fiddle) met at Gerry's. We played the following: The Blue River Waltz, First of May Hornpipe, Jamie Allen, Shepherd's wife, Country/Molly's Waltzes, Angel Band, My Cape Breton Home, Set of 3 Polkas, Owl and the Pussy Cat, Lover's Waltz (in parts), and the Pride of Erin Waltz Set.

April 14, 2012

Laura, Teri, Jen, Ursula, Doreen, Sally, Gerry, and Marilyn met at Ursula's. We worked on our tunes that are arranged in parts: The Mari's Wedding Polka set, Sibeag Si Mohr, Far Away, and the Pride of Erin Waltz Set. We also played Bodines Waltz.

March 31, 2012

Laura, Jen, Ursula, Doreen, Ann, Sally, Gerry, Ellen and Marilyn met at Jen's. We spent the entire time working on our tunes that are arranged in parts: South Wind, The Mari's Wedding Polka set, Sibeag Si Mohr, The Ash Grove, The Shepherd's Wife, and the Catskill Mountain Air. We talked about giving the Pride of Erin Waltz set a try next time. The sheet music for all of these are available at the LYCO Sheet Music Archive.

March 17, 2012

Laura, Jen, Ursula, Teri, Sally and Anne met at Laura's. We played: Country/Molly's Waltzes, Bodines Waltz, Jamie Allen, our set of 3 hornpipes, The Shepherd's Wife (3 parts), Innis Sheer, Irish Washerwoman, the Catskill Mountain Air, and South Wind (parts). We also started work on the Mari's Wedding set of 4 polkas in multiple parts. This one should be fun once we get it down.

March 3, 2012

We met at Ursula's. Attending were Sally, Cynthia, Gail, Ursula, Teri and Laura. We played: Bodine's Waltz (in D, easier to finger)...thought maybe it would be good to do at least once in A; Catskill Mountain Air (Ursula did an intro with two G's); Southwind, Shepherd's Wife, and our hornpipe set, twice for Fairies Hornpipe, Rights of Man and the Sweeps.

February 11, 2012

Cynthia, Laura, Jen, Ursula, Doreen, and two newcomers--Teri and Beth met at Ursula's. The light snow that was falling seemed to keep a few people away. We played: The Shepherd's Wife, Country/Molly's Waltzes, Da Auld Resting Chair, Angel Band, Bodines Waltz, Old Joe Clark, Lover's waltz, our set of 3 polkas, The Owl and the Pussy Cat, Ladies' Choice (our namesake tune which we are giving another chance), and the Catskill Mountain Air.

January 7, 2012

Anne, Laura, Jen, Ursula, Ann, Doreen, Sally and Marilyn met at Jen's. We played: Willafjord (2 parts), The Shepherd's Wife (3 parts), Catskill Mountain Air (a new one brought to us by Marilyn), South Wind, Westphalia Waltz (2 parts), our set of 3 polkas, The Lovers Waltz (2 parts), and our set of 3 hornpipes. For next time we decided to try 3 new pieces in parts from the LYCO Sheet Music Archive: Harvet Home (duet), Mari's Wedding (polka set score), Southwind (trio).

December 3, 2011

Anne, Laura, Jen, Ursula, and Sally met at Ursula's. We played: Country/Molly's Waltzes, The Shepherd's Wife (3 parts), our Hornpipe set, Bodine's Waltz, Willafjord (in parts), and several Christmas carols. Marilyn found a nice source for tunes, and songs in parts here: LYCO Sheet Music Archive. You can get Willafjord, and many more that we know there.

October 22, 2011

Anne, Laura, Jen, Ursula, and Marilyn met at Anne's. We played: Jamie Allen, Country/Molly's Waltzes, Bodine's Waltz, Just Before the Battle Mother, Marino Waltz, My Cape Breton Home, Margaret's Waltz, God and Silver Waltz, The Shepherd's Wife (3 parts).

October 8, 2011

Anne, Gerry, Laura, Jen, Sally, Ursula, Gail, and new member Ann (whistle), met at Gerry's. We worked on the following: The Shepherd's Wife (3 parts), Country/Molly's Waltzes, Bodine's Waltz (a rythmically tricky piece in 9/8 time), Blind Mary, Lover's Walta (2 parts), Carolan's Welcome, Owl and the Pussycat, Bach Minuet, Fairies Hornpipe.

September 24, 2011

We had our first session of the Fall at Jen's with Anne, Gerry, Laura, Jen, Sally and Ursula attending. We talked about our August performance a bit and agreed that we need to work on how we start up each tune. Some of our start-ups were pretty weak. We worked on a brand new tune (to us) that Gerry brought us first--O'Carolan's Blind Mary which is a slow air. The sheet music for it has been added to the Tune Resource box on the right. The we played: Pig Ankle Rag, Westphalia Waltz (2 part), our hornpipe set, The Shepherd's Wife (3 parts), Angel Band, and Remember Me in E (yes, the key of E).

August 23, 2011

We performed at the Falmouth Art Market from 2 to 4:30 pm with a 15 minute break in the middle. We played all of the tunes on our play list once, and then repeated about a quarter of the list to fill the remaining time. Over all it went well. We warmed up at Anne's for about 45 minutes before going over to the venue which turned out to be a very good idea. We learned where our performing strengths and weaknesses are, and we will discuss this at our next meeting. The following played: Anne, Sally, Laura, Ursula, Marilyn, and Jen. Since we have no need for money, we donated the $100 hororarium back to the Art Market, which was gratefully accepted.

August 13, 2011

The following met a Sally's in Marion (yes, over the bridge on a Saturday, there was a 8 mile back-up): Ursula, Jen, Anne, Laura, and Sally. We worked on polishing up the tunes and songs on our August 23rd gig playlist. Due to scheduling difficulties, this was our last rehearsal before the 23rd.

August 6, 2011

The attendees were Ursula, Gail, Jennifer (back at last), Anne, Cynthia, Marilyn, Doris Nieves (a friend of Marilyn's and a fiddler) and Laura. We worked on the following from our August 23 gig playlist: Innisheer--one person intro (Jennifer on whistle), then the rest join in at the end of the last quarter note of first line); Country and Molly waltzes; Polka medley--ending is pause at second B of Dennis...with Laura's drumbeat; Boda Valse ---3 times, with Jen, Cynthia and Marilyn on harmony part; Lovers' Waltz; Hornpipe medley---2 times each; Jamie Allen; Shepherd's Wife; Pig Ankle Rag. Updated playlist with arrangement notes.

July 30, 2011

We met at Laura's...not too many of us. Just Ursula and me, Laura, and then Sally came...She got caught in the bridge traffic. So our choices were dictated by that. We played: The Owl and the Pussycat in D, Mairie's Wedding in G, In My Life, I just Called To Say I Love You, Remember Me in E (for Laura, try A or D for the fiddles), Slow Boat to China, Sunny Side of the Street in C, Someone to Watch Over Me in C, Bye-Bye Blackbird in F, Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen. After Sally came we played the Polka medley and Remember Me.

July 16, 2011

We met at Ursula's. Laura, Ursula, Liz and Marilyn were there. We played: Lovers Waltz; Angel Band--new arrangement...Ursula played guitar when Laura sang. Four times through...first vocal & chorus sung, then verse and chorus instrumental, then second verse and chorus sung, then instrumental verse and sung chorus (by all); My Cape Breton Home; Hornpipe medley (without Sweeps); Pig Ankle Rag.

July 2, 2011

Ursula, Anne, Jen, Laura, Anna and Marilyn met at Jen's. We worked on: The Owl and the Pussycat, Lovely Stornoway (2 parts), and the 3 hornpipes: Fairies Hornpipe/Rights of Man/The Sweeps. We spend quite a bit of time trying out 3 tunes suggested by Marilyn. Each is in 3 or 4 parts: Si Bheag, Si Mhor, The Ash Grove, and Far Away. They are all lovely, but will take some work to be performace ready.

June 28, 2011 Update

We are scheduled to play at the Falmouth Art Market on Tuesday, July 23 from 2 - 4:15 pm. We have compiled at tentative playlist of tunes to work on for that event. If you will be away or unable to attend our summer practice sessions, work on the tunes/songs on this list. August 23rd Playlist. This list is somewhat subject to change.

June 11, 2011

Ursula, Sally, Anne, Jen, Laura, Cynthia and Ellen met at Laura's. We played: Country Waltz/Molly's Waltz, Fairies Hornpipe/Rights of Man/The Sweeps, The Shepherd's Wife (3 parts), The Lover's Waltz (2 parts). We stopped at 4:30 as several people wanted to attend Sean Boyce's reception and exhibition at Gallery 333.

May 15, 2011

Ursula, Sally, Anne, Jen, Laura and Gerry met at Gerry's. We played and/or worked on improving: Remember Me, Fairies Hornpipe, Rights of Man, The Sweeps, Lover's Waltz (2 parts), Cape Breton Home, Angel Band, Amazing Grace.

May 1, 2011

Ursula, Sally, Anne, Jen, Laura and Gerry met at Anne's. We played: Valse de los Panos, Shepherd's Wife (3-part), Valse de Jeunes Filles (2-part), Pig Ankle Rag, Fairies Hornpipe, Rights of Man, The Sweeps, Remember Me, Angel Band. Sheet music and a sound files for Angel Band--the way we play and sing it-- and the Sweeps are in the resource box on the right. We tried the three hornpipes (Fairies, Rights, Sweeps) together as a set and think they work together pretty well.

April 10, 2011

Ursula, Sally, Anne, Gail, Jen, Laura and Gerry met at Ursula's. We played: Westphalia Waltz (2-part), Shepherd's Wife (3 part), Inisheer, Pig Ankle Rag, Can't Help Falling In Love, Foggy Dew, Fairies Hornpipe, Sailors' Hornpipe. We discussed developing some more tune sets like our set of three polkas. Perhaps a hornpipe set, a reel set and a jig set.

April 3, 2011

Sally, Laura, Ursula, Anne, Jen and Gail met at Laura's. Ursula reported that she has been notified that we are on the list of groups to be contacted about performing at the open-air art market in Falmouth this summer. No date has yet been set, but we are hoping to get a date in August since some of us will be away during July. We played the following: Shepherd's Wife (waltz in 3 parts), the Owl and the Pussy-cat, Inisheer, Pig Ankle Rag, Angel Band, Westphalia Waltz (2-part version, see tune resources for sheet music), Lover's Waltz (in 2 parts), The Foggy Dew, Fairies Hornpipe.

March 20, 2011

Ursula, Gail, Jen, Laura, Sally, Gerry and Anne met at Jen's and had nice relaxed session. We played: The Gold and Silver Walts, The Piper's Waltz, Pig Ankle Rag, Inisheer, The Shepherd's Wife, Angel Band, Let Me Call You Sweetheart (key D)/Band Played On (key G), and fihished up with our 3 polkas: John Ryan's, Kerry, and Denis Murphy's. We have had the sheet music for The Shepherd's Wife for a while but never really played it. It is a pretty easy but lovely waltz in 3 parts. We worked on it in 3 parts and think it is going to be a nice addition to our play list. See the tune resource box on the right for sheet music. We talked about playing for one of the Falmouth open market afternoons this summer. All present thought it was a good idea.

March 5, 2011

The 'Ladies' played at the wedding reception of Jen Kano and Marc Daniels. THANK YOU Ursula, Anne, Gerry, Gail, Sally, Cynthia, Diane, Marilyn, Laura, and Alecia. You ladies did a terrific job, and I will be forever grateful for all the work you put in getting ready for it. I hope all the rehearsals weren't too grueling for anyone. I really enjoyed the process and feel particularly proud of the way the Lover's Waltz came together. Bravo Ladies--it was a lot of work but the results were spectacular! The complete play-list was: The Owl and the Pussy-cat into the Lover's Waltz, Country Waltz/Molly's Waltz, My Cape Breton Home, John Ryan's/Kerry/Denis Murphy's Polkas. - Jen

Ladies Choice playing at 3-5-11 wedding reception

February 13, 2011

Ursula, Gail, Gerry, Anne, Sally, Jen, Laura, Cynthia, Diane, Alecia and Marilyn met at the Cataumet Arts Center and worked on the March 5th playlist. County/Molly's is in good shape; and the polkas, the Owl and Pussycat, and Cape Breton Home are almost perfect. We added a bit of a surprise ending to the very end of the polka set which sounds great. We also worked a bit on the transition between the Owl and the the Lover's Waltz. We spent our last 45 minutes on the Lover's Waltz which is really starting to come together. Thanks to Diane and Alecia, we now have 3 fiddles on each part which will give us a fuller, more 'string orchestra' sound. I finally got the recording of the Owl and the Pussy-Cat we made last week off to Anna. Listen to it. I think we need to play it a little faster than the recording, but not much.

February 5, 2011

Ursula, Gail, Gerry, Anne, Sally, Jen, Laura, and Marilyn met at the Cataumet Arts Center and worked on the March 5th playlist. We spent a long time working on the section of the Lover's Waltz that is in the key of D and went from not being able to get throught it at all to being able to play the whole thing with a minimum of errors. We practiced all the other tunes from the list a few times through, and also made a recording of the Owl and the Pussy-Cat to send to the vocalist.

January 29, 2011

Ursula, Gail, Gerry, Anne, Sally, Jen, Laura, Cynthia and Marilyn met at the Cataumet Arts Center and worked on the March 5th playlist. Most of the tunes are coming along well. Jen's niece, Anna, will be the vocalist for The Owl and the Pussy-Cat. We will be making a recording of it for her to work with at our next meeting. We did some very intense work on the Lovers Waltz in two parts. The section in the key of G is starting to sound good. We have a long way to go on the section in the key of D. Listening to the piece played in two parts should be helpful. There are some good recordings on YouTube. The Ithica Summer Camp Preludo Concert performance is particularly good and true to the two part version as written by Jay and Molly. This is a good one to play along with for practice. I listened to the Casey Willis video again while looking at the sheet music and he is not playing it exactly as written. All of the elements of the violin I part are there, but not always in the same places as on the sheet music, and he adds a few little touches of his own, so I would be carefull about using it for learning to play the violin I part by ear.

January 22, 2011

Sally, Anne, Ursula, Jen, Gail, Gerry, Laura and Cynthia met at the Cataumet Arts Center. We worked on all the tunes on the March 5th event playlist and then played some session tunes for the last 20 minutes or so. We are woking on the Lover's Waltz in two parts from Jay and Molly's sheet music. Gerry and Cynthia are going to play the violin 2 part.

January 15, 2011

Sally, Anne, Ursula, and Jen met at the Cataumet Arts Center which was a last minute change of location due to an icy driveway at the original venue. The Arts Center has wonderful acoustics and easy parking. Thanks go to Andrea York for offering to have us there. We worked on tunes and arrangements we will be playing for the reception. The playlist is still somewhat in flux, so stay tuned for updates. Here is the current plan. Please note that will be playing "the Owl and the Pussy-cat" in D and G, not A.

January 8, 2011

Laura, Ursula, Sally, Marilyn, Anne, Jen, Gerry, Gail, and a new member AJ who plays fiddle. We played Country Waltz/Molly's Waltz, Lovely Stornoway, and Boda Valsen. Jen then announced that she would like the group to play some waltzes at her wedding reception in March, and requested that the group play the Lover's Waltz, My Cape Breton Home in additon to our three standards. She also handed out sheet music for a waltz/song, The Owl and the Pussy-Cat. The lyrics are Edward Lear's poem, the tune was written by Jen. This is to be the music for "first dance" at the reception. We played it through a few times. The key we will play it in will be determined by the preferance of the singer, who has not yet been selected (probably Jen's niece). Sheet music and midi sound files and available from the tune resource box (see right). We then played: Carolan's Welcome, Fairies Hornpipe, Pig Ankle Rag, and Valse de Los Panos. We are going to meet more frequently to get ready for the gig.

Archive of old session reports.