A new venue this time, due to the old one being closed for the next two years. It is likely that this had an effect on turn out, with only four members in attendance. The venue was the arts apartment belonging to Chris Elmes, who is a medieval lute specialist. Rob MacKillop started with some 19th-century gut-strung banjo music by Frank Converse. Rob gave a spoken introduction to set the scene, then played three delightful pieces, two of which would not have been out of place in a program of 19th-century guitar music: The Dell Schottische, and The Blue Bells of Scotland. Bill Samson played his own-made 4c guitar: Les Buffons (Morlaye, 1552) and Bransle Simple (Le Roy, 1551). I am always pleased to note that Bill just gets better and better in his SLEGS performances. Very-well played, maestro! Philip Lord had not prepared anything, but sight-read three pieces from Lute Society publications, and did a pretty good job,...

There is a new venue for our next meeting: 1F1, 25 Haddington Place, EH7 4AF (the left side of Leith Walk between Annandale St and MacDonald Rd). Parking is unrestricted off Leith Walk on weekends; MacDonald Rd or Hopetoun Cres is the best area. There is a charge of £1 a head for the use of the venue. The date of the next meeting is 25th October 2014 at a time to be arranged, but probably the same as usual.  We’ll let you know details nearer the time.

The best meeting yet? Some are claiming that, and it’s hard to disagree. We were graced by a visit from the American lute maestro, Ed Martin. Ed is very self-effacing, but is definitely a high-quality player with a lot of experience and knowledge. More about Ed later… Dorothee O’Sullivan Burchard kicked off proceedings by playing a beginner piece from Diane Poulton’s tutor. Dorothee has been playing but a short time, but makes a beautiful tone, which some seasoned players fail to match. Well done, Dorothee, and keep at it! Eric Thomas is another player with exquisite tone, and is our Resident Thumb Inside player. He played three pieces from the Rowallan manuscript, including “I never knew I loved thee”, eliciting a strong round of applause. Bill Samson played two pieces by Attaignent on his self-made 6c lute: ‘Tant que vivray’ and the base danse, ‘La Roque’. Bill’s last few performances have been growing in strength and confidence, this one...

We now have a SoundCloud Group Playlist which you can contribute to. It is on our MP3 Page. How it works: Record an mp3 of your playing. Join SoundCloud – it is free (until you require extra space) Upload your file Join the SLEGS Group: https://soundcloud.com/groups/scottish-lute-and-early-guitar-society Each file will have an icon which you can click to contribute your file to the SLEGS Group. The group is moderated by me, mainly to stop people uploading irrelevant files, and remove spam, if we get any. Any questions, ask me: robmackillop AT gmail Dot Com

Our 11th meeting will take place at the usual venue, The Laigh Room of St Cecilia’s Hall, Cowgate, on Saturday, 12th July. We will gather from 1pm, for a start at 1.30pm. It is hope that as many members as possible will be tuned to A=440 (modern pitch) so that we can attempt ensemble playing. Please go to the Ensemble page, and download the music for the Dowland ensemble piece (choose a part) and the Grounds and Spices pdf – try to memorise The Buffins. Any questions: robmackillop AT gmail DOT com.

Some of you might be interested in Rob’s Scottish Lute Recording Project – already about 4 CDs-worth of sound files available for free. Check it out at: http://scottishlute.com It’s an ongoing project to record most of the tunes from the Scottish lute manuscripts.  

A lower turnout than usual due to the Easter holiday weekend, but certainly enough people to create a lively and interesting meeting. Importantly, the decision was made to have an agreed pitch of A=440 , with Renaissance lutes tuned to g on the first string, where possible. The reason being: we are going to attempt some ensemble playing. Rob MacKillop will be arranging some four-part music for members to play at the next meeting. Keep looking at this website, as the parts will appear in tab soon. The music will be in four parts. Choose the part which suits your playing, and let Rob know – robmackillop AT gmail dot com. Any parts not selected will be covered by Rob. To today’s meeting… Stuart Mcluckie (on the left, above) started proceedings with two items from the Lute Society’s curiously named, 58 Very Easy Pieces  – very easy they are not! Stuart gave a good account of numbers 34, the Spanish pavin,...

The next meeting of the Scottish Lute and Early Guitar Society will be Saturday, 19th April, St Cecilia’s Hall, Cowgate, Edinburgh. Assemble from 1pm for a 1.30pm start. All welcome. If you wish to make a presentation, please get in touch: robmackillop AT gmail dot com.

A fine meeting indeed! Good to see more new faces and a few guests. Thanks go, as ever, to the staff at St Cecilia’s Hall. Rob MacKillop started proceedings again, and acted as MC throughout. First he presented a Turkish tanbur, which was a new (one day-old!) eBay acquisition for him. He gave a short talk about Ottoman music, with its many microtones, then proceeded to give a searching doodle on the C Major scale – you have to start somewhere! Hopefully Rob will perform a complete piece at the next meeting. Next, Rob got out a ukulele, and gave a short presentation about the 19th-century machete from Madeira, itself a very small 4-string guitar. More about this instrument and its music on Rob’s website HERE. He gave a performance of the delightful Clara Polka from the manuscript of Drummond de Vasconcelos, Madeira, 1846. Chris Jupp bravely used a borrowed lute (as one of his strings was at bursting point),...

The next meeting will be in the usual place, St Cecilia’s Hall, Cowgate, Edinburgh, on Saturday 1st February, gathering from 1pm for a 1.30 start. It usually lasts two hours or so. All welcome!