William Marshall's Scottish Melodies

While playing through thousands of tunes an a folk dance music website it soon became apparent that almost every time I saved a Scottish tune from the site it was credited to William Marshall's collection. At this point I realised it was pointless copying and saving all these tunes, I simply had to have the book; and joy oh joy! I now have it. It is not only a treasure trove of wonderful music but also a beautifully produced book. The cover shape and design has nicely preserved the feel of many older fiddle tune books and the accommodating girth of the spiral binding makes it wonderfully practical for use on a music stand. The editorial notes are informative and well researched and there are five well organised and well thought out indices. The original bass lines have been preserved and although these are a bit dull by modern standards it is always nice to know what was done at the time. If I have one complaint it would be that I would have welcomed some editorial chord suggestions. The original harmony is dull as I have observed and something more adventurous would make a nice alternative for modern performance.

This collection is one of the best editions of Scottish music I own. First, the arrangements are extremely readable -- one tune to a page, in a good typeface, with spiral binding. The tunes are organized by dance figure/meter, then by key, and the arrangements include just enough bowing and ornamentation to make the tunes flow. A good selection of supplementary content is included, including a memoir published in an1845 edition, a 21st-century preface, a map of places mentioned in tunes, and copious illustrations. There's even an appendix documenting how Marshall's manuscript versions differ between his editions -- the change of a bass chord here, a sharpened G note there.

Wonderful book of Scottish melodies--some familiar and some not. Perfect for playing with your music mates.