Customer Reviews

Mel Bay Presents - Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1050 Reels and Jigs (Hornpipes, Clogs, Walk-arounds, Essences, Strathspeys, Highland Flings and Contra Dances, with Figures)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yes, finally "1000 Fiddle Tunes" is available again, this time with some history.

I rate only 4 stars so as to bring attention to the binding - I will have it replaced by spiral binding so that the book lies flat - cheap enough. Otherwise it is an unrelenting joy.

I use it to add to my many books of scale / arpeggio exercises for french horn - they are a breath of life in what can otherwise be dull exercises that musicians endure. The tunes are good for enhancing dexterity and also for learning transposition, especially to the key of C (french horns are pitched in F), so as to jam with mainstream instruments.

Makes a great gift for that musician in your life who has everything.

This is a collection worth owning for any traditional Irish musician. Some of the best versions of tunes I've found and tunes that just arn't available anywhere else are in this collection.

Boy, am I relieved. My old paperback of "1,000 Fiddle Tunes" had been losing pages for years. An indispensable book.

OK, I am familiar with Ryan's Collection. Many years ago I purchased 1000 Fiddle Tunes by Cole - (for $1.00)the same book. I saw the ad in Amazon; there were three options: buy the sewn copy, the musicians spiral copy, or the collector's copy. I selected the 'collectors copy' and received the 'musician's copy'. The three option offering disappeared from Amazon & the seller never heard of it. Oh, well.

The book is like many large collections: full of garbage with a few pearls here and there. This book has a very valuable hornpipe/clog section. Most of the rest is of questionable value. I did note that 'Miller's Reel' was in this collection. This is the reel that James Morrison reworked the second part and called 'The Dawn'. It is certainly worth what I paid.

My title pretty much says it all. If you enjoy playing Irish or American style fiddle, you really need this book. Too bad you can't get it spiral bound anymore, but you can get the (im)perfect binding and then take it to Kinkos and have them rebind it. One of my students did this with her copy and it turned out really nice.