After Midnite Tunebook

After Midnite is a book of 55 original reels, jigs and waltzes published in 2005.

This book contains 55 tunes dating back to 1992. I had no idea when the first tune (Gordon’s Fiddletunes Jig) came that year there would be more.

Where did this music come from? It’s hard to say. A much easier question to answer is ‘what was the inspiration for this music?’ Many of the tunes in this book were inspired by travels to new places. Some are named for people who were/are personally significant. A great many were written while attending music camps, primarily the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, which is held annually in Port Townsend, Washington. Most of all the inspiration has come from hearing the music played by others, music I have danced to, played along with in jam sessions, or just listened to. Some tunes flowed completely written; others started out as ‘A’ part, or perhaps just four or even two measures, and completed at a later date. The notes on the tunes at the end of the book provide a brief glimpse into each tune.

I play two Portland contradance bands (Full Moon and Tunestruck) that play a number of these tunes. The Portland Megaband has played some of them, and a few have made it onto the playlists of other bands. Three of the tunes are in the Portland Collection, Volume I, two are in Volume II, and four more will be in Volume III. My hope in putting out this book is that you will find something in here that you like. If so, I’d certainly like to know about it—my e-mail address is euleromi@pacifier.com.

A couple of things about the notations:

*I have included chords that make sense to my ear but may not to yours. Feel free to substitute chords as you see fit.

*In a number of tunes I have included bow triplets (written as an eighth note and two sixteenth notes). This is how I ‘heard’ the tune, and notated it as such.

*There are some tunes that have extra measures in the last line. They are there because the limitations of the software program would not allow them to be removed.

Enjoy!

A sample tune from After Midnite