Upper Potomac Music Weekends 

 Weekend Schedule

Friday, August 23, 2019

3:00-4:30 Private tutorials

5:00-7:30 pm: Meet and Greet Dinner at the Blanton's (extra fee of $20) RSVP

8:00-9:00 pm: Pipers’ Round Robin (at the Blanton's)
Followed by a session at the Rumsey Tavern at the Clarion Hotel.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

8:00-9:30 am:Registration at St Peter's Lutheran Church

10:00-12:00 am: Class 1

Music for Listening and Music for Dancing : Slow Strathspeys, Strathspey Minuets,  Strathspey Reels For many immigrant Gaelic communities in North America. Strathspeys and Reels represented the largest  class of dance music and in the Canadian maritimes the performance of this dance music evolved much differently  than in Scotland. This class will examine several examples of these tune types and delve into the internal rhythms which make these tunes so distinctive.

12:00-2:00 pm:Lunch Break
Tables reserved at the Blue Moon Cafe for participants.

2:00-4:00 pm:Class 2

Reels: A good friend of mine once described  “the strathspey as the apetizer, and the reel as the main course” .  Reels can be played fast or slow, pointed or round and this session will examine reels and  various methods of interpretation of this class of pipe music and the relationship between dance stathspeys and reels.

5:00-6:00 pm:Mini Classes & Tutorials

6:00-8:00 pm:Dinner Break

8:00-10:30 pm:Showcase Concert at St. Peter's Lutheran Church

  Opening set by the Shepherstown Piping Collective, followed by our guest artist: Cape Breton piper, Barry Shears.
Followed by Jam Sessions in the student center until midnight

Sunday, August 25, 2019

10:00am-1:00 pm:Class 3 At the Blantons.

 Jigs and Quicksteps and Social Dancing:  Jigs and Quicksteps were also used for social dancing. Jigs came to prominence  with the introduction of the Square dances or square sets (Lancers and Quadrilles) to Maritime Canada in the late 19th century although there is evidence of a strong jig playing tradition before this time.   A few 2/4 Marches were also part of the immigrant piper’s repertory, but for the most part they too were used as music for dancing.

1:00-2:30 pm:Lunch at the Blue Moon Cafe

Tables reserved at the Blue Moon Cafe for participants.

3:00-5:00 pm: Jam Session at the Rumsey Monument Park... bring a chair! Rain Location: The Blantons.

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Note about Classes: Most of the tunes to be covered can be found in Barry's recent collection “Play it Like You Sing It: The Shears Collction of  Bagpipe Culture and Dance Music  from Nova Scotia." This collection comes in two volumes. Volume 2 is devoted to the music and contains 249 tunes , 19 of which are arranged for the violin (several of these fiddle tunes can be played quite comfortably on the bagpipe as well) . Volume 2 also includes the Gaelic lyrics  (Puirt a Beul)  to 86 of the melodies. He will have copies for sale at this workshop , but he will also supply photocopies of the tunes to be covered for attendees.