The Autocrat of the Breakfast-table
iolins, too, – the sweet old Amati! – the divine Stradivarius! Played on by ancient MAESTROS until the bow-hand lost its power and the flying fingers stiffened. Bequeathed to the passionate, young enthusiast, who made it whisper his hidden love, and cry his inarticulate longings, and scream his untold agonies, and wail his monotonous despair. Passed from his dying hand to the cold VIRTUOSO, who let it slumber in its case for a generation, till, when his hoard was broken up, it came forth once more and rode the stormy symphonies of royal orchestras, beneath the rushing bow of their lord and leader. Into lonely prisons with improvident artists; into convents from which arose, day and night, the holy hymns with which its tones were blended; and back again to orgies in which it learned to howl and laugh as if a legion of devils were shut up in it; then again to the gentle DILETTANTE who calmed it down with easy melodies until it answered him softly as in the days of the old MAESTROS. And so given into our hands, its pores all full of music; stained, like the meerschaum, through and through, with the concentrated hue and sweetness of all the harmonies which have kindled and faded on its strings.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Documents
- 01 – Sandpoint – Set Chords
- 02 – Sandpoint – Tune Chords
- 03 – Sandpoint – Set Dots
- Blarney Stone Pub Tunebook – A collection of tunes played at the Blarney Stone Pub, San Diego, California
- Circle of Fifths – A guide to understanding keys and transposing
- Dr. Coop's Compiation of Songs Songs and words, traditional and of the Sea
- Green's Tunebook – Green’s Collection of tunes
- Green's Tunebook ABC ABC Notation for Green’s Tunebook
- Jamrock Tunes – Some of the Basic tunes played by Jamrocks
- John Walsh's Sesson Tunes – Learn these tunes if you want to play most tunes at sessions!
- Paul Hardy's Tunebook Folk music sessions tunes around Cambridge, England and Redlands, California
- The Music Lover's Treasury Poetry about Music. Lovely.
- Tips Form – Create a custom tips form for fundraising
- Tunes Often Heard – A good working list of tunes often heard in the Detroit area. Especially good for beginners who want to learn tunes that will likely be played at local sessions.
- Tunes Often Heard ABC ABC Notation for Tunes Often Heard