# Merlin Acadamy, Melrose, August 2017



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Merlin Traditional Music School held at Abbotsford 

John & I enjoyed this summer school and both got a lot out of it, although it was very different from what we expected. We are already thinking of going next year. 

Iain Fraser, the course director, didn't want just to teach us new tunes - which is what many fiddle schools do - but instead was more interested in how they sound. He had all the players together in a band - if newbies needed help, there were short spaces where they could go into another room with Iain's deputy, Lindsay, and run over the notes. He also would suggest harmonic riffs or sets of chords for people to play if they were finding the tunes too hard. 

For the whizz kids - and there *were* three of them, classical music college students from Colorado, two girls and a boy, all tall & golden-haired and gorgeous - Iain asked them to devise solos and harmonies for the tunes. One young American boy had only been playing a few months but was very keen, and Iain asked him to do one of the solos too, because, as he explained, he'd found cultural differences in fiddle camps run in America and the UK - the Americans have a 'can-do' attitude, while we Brits are more reticent. (The American newbie's solo was 'good in parts' - half of it whiney and jazzy, and another half rather dischordant.)

Andy, the guitarist tutor, helped John with chords and was very friendly and encouraging. Half the summer school were singers under the tuition of a vibrant American lady, Cathy, who now lives on the borders, and a feisty Scot, Ed Miller, who now lives in Austin, Texas. Part of the band's remit was to accompany the songs, or play instrumentals, for the final concert.
Most of the material was modern but in a traditional or 'country' style, and our approach was also a bit jazzy and non-traditional, but it certainly helped us both musically far more than just picking up new tunes. 

In the traditional jig 'Lasses of Hawick', Iain gave one portion to a couple of whistle players while we played chords. '250 to Vigo' had a guitar-riff intro and the opening bars played by a banjo player and one of the Coloradan fiddlers - it finished with a loop of the last bar. 'Blue Reel' had the fiddle solos aforementioned. Kathryn's Castle had a riff which was played as a 'bridge' between repetitions of the melody. You get the idea!

The course ran Tuesday till Friday and there were evening events on every night but Friday. Tuesday saw a short tutors' concert, followed by a session held on the grass near the tent hall. Wednesday was a barbecue, followed by another session held outside to which local musicians were invited. We didn't go to this, but heard the next day that it had broken up early because of the midges. 

Thursday was a 'talent-competition', where we were each invited to provide a 'turn' if we wished. There were 23 items, so it lasted an hour each way with the interval and was held in the larger room. Most turns were songs but there were some instrumentals and even an Irish dance solo from the charming red-haired Dutch girl Lise, who played three instruments (piano, whistle and guitar) and all of them well. 

John and I played two tunes as a duet - The Wild Hills of Wannies and Brochan Lom - mostly okay, and pleasantest of all to report, we didn't feel all that nervous. The audience was very supportive of everyone and it was a good atmosphere. 

On Thursday morning Iain took a class for ear-learning a tune, for advanced players. The alternatives given were that the newbies could work on mastering the tunes, with Lindsay; others could go over chords with Andy if they wished; and otherwise, people could just 'go out and find a tree' to practise on their own. I asked Iain if I could come and watch the 'learning by ear' class and two others came on that basis too. Iain began with some quick string-crossing exercises which would help speed and dexterity but the tune to be learnt by ear turned out to be The Peerie Weerie, which is in his 60 Traditional Tunes book, so hey, I could join in! Jill, one of us three 'hangers-on', was a bit bothered by the pace at which Iain moved, however, and had a discussion with him afterwards because she'd wanted to come on the course to get better at learning by ear. 

I must say, I did feel that asking the 'competent middle' of the group to go out and practise on their own was not a good idea - something should have been put in place for us too, such as asking us to share and rehearse tunes together to play back to the larger group; or giving us a 'learn by ear' class too. 

We did learn two of the song tunes by ear - Broom, the Bonny Bonny Broom, and The Shearin's no for you, my bonny lassie-O - but then I already knew those tunes too. 
The concert was held outside, with the band performing in the shelter of the tent with the front flaps turned back and the audience sitting on chairs near the building for shelter. It was a completely different sound and neither John nor I played as well as during the rehearsals as we couldn't hear properly, particularly when the singers were performing outside the tent. 

However, it was a very good summer school, with charismatic leadership from Iain, a learning curve musically, and very friendly fellow-scholars - plus a beautiful setting and reasonably good weather, though the midges were a bit of a downer. 

Thank you, magical Merlin.


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