April update: a celebration of community

With events cancelled and many of us in lockdown, a look ahead to what this means for FluteFling.

The Magic Flute! FluteFling Edinburgh Weekend 2019 (c) Gordon Turnbull

It’s a sunny Wednesday in Edinburgh, the windows are open and birds are busy outside. Spring is upon us and all would seem well if it wasn’t for the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic and most people are in some form of lockdown or restricted movement. It is an uncertain and worrying time for everyone, with various concerns for health, loved ones, neighbours and colleagues, physical and mental well-being, work and finances.

It has been heartening to witness many examples of people supporting each other in the community, both locally and across the world. And there has also been much celebrating and sharing of music and song to help unite people and raise spirits in these strange and difficult times.

Traditional music connects people, places and histories and celebrates what is common to us all and the festival season would be fast approaching, when musicians, dancers and lovers of music reunite, share tunes, stories and good times together.

Traditional flute workshop with Sharon Creasey at FluteFling Edinburgh Weekend 2018 (c) Gordon Turnbull

We would have seen some of that last weekend too, with what was promising to be an amazing FluteFling Edinburgh Weekend, our seventh no less. In previous years, people have travelled far for the events in Edinburgh and Aberdeen to meet, play and learn more about traditional flute playing in Scotland and to be part of a revival. As an organiser and sometimes tutor, it is both humbling and inspiring to be part of this and to witness it take on a life of its own, fuelled by the energy, enthusiasm and support of the community that has grown up around FluteFling.

It is a particularly difficult time for those freelance musicians and performers who rely on performances and audiences for an income. Please do what you can to support them — if you buy their music, follow them on social media, share their work or reach out to them, it all helps. And look out for performances from home via various streaming apps. Facebook seems to be popular for this, but there will be other outlets too, such as Youtube.

For some of us in lockdown and not key workers on the front line, events force us to slow down, restrict our movements and reflect. For me, this slower pace and gifted time has allowed me to get the flute out more, to begin thinking about ideas for future FluteFling activities, to begin tweaking and tidying up the website. The various people who are involved in running FluteFling events will also be exploring ideas together.

On a personal note, I have found it difficult in recent months, maybe years if truth be told, to focus on some parts of my own music-making. It is true I am sure for many of us with busy lives and commitments and so maybe this is an opportunity for us all to reconnect with our own music, be in less of a hurry to learn that tune for this session, to maybe explore existing repertoire. Time to to reexamine tone and tuning, revisit ornaments and articulation, to slow down and rediscover the joys and consider what our music means to us.

I have begun to take inspiration from something Paul McGrattan shared at Cruinniú na bhFliúit -The Flute Meeting in Ballyvourney a couple of years ago. Alongside many other ideas, he suggested recording yourself once a week to monitor progress and focus your practice. So my underused YouTube channel is now going to have a new tune or set of tunes posted every Friday during the lockdown period.

To begin with at least, this will focus on tunes that I have taught or might otherwise already be found in the Resources section or on my Soundcloud account, where they are slowed down for playing. I expect other tunes, recalled, revived, relearned or newly discovered for me, will also feature on that YouTube channel.

A flute session in Sandy Bell's Bar, Edinburgh (c) Gordon Turnbull

A flute session in Sandy Bell’s Bar, Edinburgh (c) Gordon Turnbull

There will be some other posts on this website, certainly more regularly than in recent months. But in the meantime, thank you everyone, for being involved, for playing and sharing your music and for being part of the traditional flute and whistle community in Scotland.

Stay safe and stay well and we will see each other on the other side when this is all over. The next FluteFling Weekend, whenever that may happen, will be quite some celebration, for sure.

Autumn workshops in Edinburgh and Aberdeen Weekend 2019

FluteFling returns to Aberdeen 1-3 November 2019

The 3rd FluteFling Aberdeen Weekend for traditional flutes and whistles will take place Friday 1st – Sunday 3rd November.

The weekend will include:

  • sessions each day, including performance spots
  • a full day of workshops with 3 tutors, including a special guest
  • special guest discussion

Details are are very close to being finalised. Check back for further announcements, including ticket sales.

Edinburgh workshops schedule

Gordon will be resuming monthly workshops in Portobello, Edinburgh in September. Dates and booking details will be announced as soon as the venue details have been confirmed.

Aberdeen weekend report

The farewell session at Ma Cameron’s. (c) John Crawford

Well, what a weekend we had in Aberdeen in November! This was the second annual event in the Granite City and was again based upon a day of flute and whistle workshops. This year we had three tutors — Dougie Pincock, Sharon Creasey and Gordon Turnbull — with a very strong turn-out to the classes and sessions and lots of positive feedback.

Sharon Creasey and Kenny Hadden on whistles. (c) John Crawford

Thanks to everyone who attended and to Kenny Hadden and the supporters for helping it run so well on the ground. A big thank you too to Inchgarth Community Centre for looking after us and to the Blue Lamp and Ma Cameron’s for their hospitality with the sessions.

Dougie’s workshop (c) John Crawford

One pleasing comment that stood out referred to the unified thread of musicality running through the workshops, of going beyond the notes and into phrasing and rhythm. While this wasn’t consciously planned, all of the tutors and those involved in organising FluteFling events do have a clear idea of what good traditional flute and whistle playing sounds like and there are many ways to achieve this.

Gordon’s workshop (c) John Crawford

By having different tutors with different approaches and experiences, we do hope that this opens up possibilities for others. And let’s face it, we are all learning and continue to learn from each other — tutors included — which is why these events are always a joy and an inspiration to everyone involved.

Tunes taught on the day included repertoire from Aberdeen, highland pipe tunes and others with technical challenges, and port-a-beul.

Sharon Creasey and Kenny Hadden listen to Dougie Pincock talk about his experiences and thoughts on playing the flute and whistle. (c) John Crawford

The Saturday afternoon ended with Dougie Pincock in conversation with Kenny Hadden. Dougie is full of entertaining anecdotes about his early experiences learning the pipes, entering the Glasgow folk and session scene and learning to play the flute. It was an hour but it flew by and we could have all listened to many more.

The weekend sessions featured strathspeys, marches, slow airs, jigs, reels, Border hornpipes and tunes old and new. One particularly memorable moment was Sharon and Dougie duetting on piccolos, which is not something you see every day!

Upcoming in 2019

Participants and tutors continue to have ideas to develop our weekends together and we will try an implement them as and when we can. The Aberdeen weekend will return in November 2019.

The next weekend will be in Edinburgh April 26-28th. Dates and details for other events will appear on the website very shortly, so look out for those.

Autumn workshop dates confirmed

FluteFling flutes and whistles in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen

Traditional flute workshop with Sharon Creasey at FluteFling Edinburgh Weekend 2018 (c) Gordon Turnbull

If you’ve signed up to the newsletter, you will probably know that the dates and tickets for workshops in Glasgow with Sharon Creasey and in Edinburgh with Gordon Turnbull are up and running.

Be sure to book in advance as spaces are limited and the September events are just a week and two weeks away respectively.

If you’re coming to the Edinburgh events, remember you can get a discount by booking all three in advance.

The 2nd FluteFling Aberdeen Weekend will now take place 16-18 November, with three tutors, including a special guest now confirmed, plus an expanded format that includes whistles. The event last year was very well attended and those on the mailing list will get the details and ticketing opportunity first. There is now a dedicated page for the event, so be sure to check back there for updates.

Whichever events you are interested in, we hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you.

Flutes and whistles in the Autumn

Autumn dates and plans for FluteFling to be announced

The rain may have returned, but it’s still the Summer and the Edinburgh Festival is about to kick off. However, it is a timely nudge for organising Autumn events and I am pleased to say that there will be a few FluteFling things happening. Dates and tickets are still being finalised, but here’s a quick look at what is coming up.

New monthly workshops in Partick

Sharon Creasey begins FluteFling West, a monthly trad flute and whistle workshops in Partick Burgh Hall Lesser Hall on Saturday afternoons 2-4pm. Sharon is still putting together ticketing details but her dates are:

  • 15 September
  • 20 October
  • 10 November

This looks to be is the first workshop of its kind in the Glasgow area and is a great opportunity for anyone in the west looking to work on their music. Sharon’s dates won’t clash with the Edinburgh ones either, so it would be possible to maximise your flute and whistle time and attend both or pick and choose. As soon tickets etc are set up, we will let you know.

Monthly FluteFling workshops in Edinburgh from September

Gordon Turnbull’s monthly Saturday afternoon workshops resume in Portobello, Edinburgh on 22 September, remaining dates tbc at this stage but they will not be the same dates as Sharon’s. These will take place once more on Saturday afternoons 1-4pm at Tribe Porty. Dates so far:

  • 22 September
  • October date tbc
  • November date tbc
  • December date tbc

Tickets to be arranged very soon, once the Aberdeen weekend is finalised. Talking of which…

FluteFling Aberdeen weekend 2018

Aberdeen FluteFling weekend will return for second year, with added whistles. Details to be confirmed at this stage but hopefully early November. Again, an announcement will be made as soon as we have things in place.

Watch out for updates on these events and also more going into 2019. If you haven’t already, sign up for the newsletter to hear the announcements directly. There’s a lot to look forward to. Until then, enjoy your music and the rest of the Summer.