New tunes for Clayville Pioneer Academy and Prairieland Strings in August -- "Down By the Salley Gardens" and "Red River Valley"

FINAL DRAFT
(... in case you've been checking the blog and wondering when I'd finish what I'd started, I've *finally* written the rest of the post as of Tuesday night, July 30).

Upcoming sessions of the Clayville Pioneer Academy of Music and the Prairieland Strings during the next week or so:

• Clayville Pioneer Academy of Music, from 10 a.m. to noon (9:30 for beginners if you want to come early), Saturday, Aug. 3, in the barn at Clayville Historic Site, Ill. Route 125, Pleasant Plains.
• "First Tuesday" session of Prairieland Strings, from 7 to 9 p.m., Tuweday, Aug. 6, at Atonement Lutheran Church, 2800 West Jefferson, Springfield.

Links below for tablature of a couple of songs we decided at the last session of the Prairieland Strings that we'd like to add to our repertory ...

And I'm making the tab available for Saturday's session of the Clayville Pioneer Academy of Music, too. We have several of the same people coming to both sessions now, and it just makes sense for us to have the same music at each. (Makes it easier for me, too, to not have to keep up with deciding "well, let's see now, which tunes do we play in Springfield and which ones at Clayville?")

At our last session of the Prairieland Strings, we tackled a new tune, "Down By the Salley Gardens," and liked it so much I promised I'd find lyrics. They're by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats, and they're very nice. Link here:

http://www.ireland-information.com/irishmusic/downbythesallygardens.shtml

The tune is one of those gentle, lyrical Irish airs, too. Ron Zuckerman of the Huntsville (Ala.) Mountain Dulcimer Association has a straightforward arrangement at:

http://www.hsvmda.com/sites/default/files/tabs/DownByTheSallyGarden.pdf

Another tune we decided we want to learn:

"Red River Valley" -- there are several versions of DAD mountain dulcimer tab. One that has everything, i.e. melody, chords and lyrics, is by Wendy Grethern on the Dulcimers in Duluth website at:

http://www.dulcimersinduluth.com/tab/redDAD.pdf

Upcoming sessions during the next week or so:

• Clayville Pioneer Academy of Music, from 10 a.m. to noon (9:30 for beginners if you want to come early), Saturday, Aug. 3, in the barn at Clayville Historic Site, Ill. Route 125, Pleasant Plains.
• "First Tuesday" session of Prairieland Strings, from 7 to 9 p.m., Tuweday, Aug. 6, at Atonement Lutheran Church, 2800 West Jefferson, Springfield.