Now we're looking at a simple reel and how, once we've learned it thoroughly, you can change the way you play it slightly to give a more exciting sound.
The tune I know as Highland Skip is more widely known in
Ireland as The Boyne Hunt (other names it goes under include
Molly McGuire, Neil Gow's Reel, Tom the Blacksmith, etc), but in fact it's originally a Scottish tune called The Perthshire Hunt, commissioned for the Perthshire Hunt Ball.
Highland Skip
Now we'll add some decoration to it. I have re-notated
the tune below with some suggestions for simple enhancements.
Exercise 1
The first thing we can do is add a couple of gracenotes after the first note, the open A string. Once you've struck the open A, hammer on up to the second fret, and immediately pull off back to the open A.
All this uses one strike of the plectrum and takes the same time as the original notes, so the first note of the original bar - a quarter note - lasts as long as the first note of the new bar plus the
hammer-on/pull-off decoration. These first three notes are repeated
through the tune, so every time you come to them, add the decoration.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 2
Another thing we'll try is on the first bar on the repeat, and we'll create a descending pattern, alternating with the open A. This is a trick often heard from Irish fiddlers, and it will suit the ringing strings of the mandolin.
Exercise 3
On the final flourish, the second last bar, the first note is the high F sharp, second fret on the E string. We can emphasise that note by playing the open D and A strings, forming a D major chord.
Finally, you could repeat the descending pattern to end the tune.
See the notated version below.
