The Smithsonian Folklife festival has come and gone, with their focus on Scotland (and Mali and Appalachia). In all, this was an incredible exhibition. The musical talent was fantastic, and I especially liked the fact that they (deliberately, it seems), downplayed the Highland Pipes.

Hamish Moore was there, and I got to see his smallpipes, reel pipes, and 1780s Highland Pipe set up close. Very attractive. I think I'm going with a set of smallpipes first.

The most amazing bit for me was the Mitchellson brothers. Aside from being great Highland dancers, they also did a demonstration of Scottish step-dancing. Everything I'd read indicated that it had gone extinct in Scotland, with only the Cape Breton derivative surviving. Apparently not. They come from a family of dancers, and Scottish step seems to have been experiencing a revival in the last couple of years.

I'm beginning to "get" music in a new way. Part of it came when I arranged Pachelbel's Canon in D for flute, viola and cittern for Jay's and Elizabeth's wedding. I won't end up using the arrangement, but in the process of writing it, I had to compose 30 measures of counter-melody, and it was surprisingly easy. Then twice in the last weekend, while singing along, I spontaneously began to harmonize, and fairly well at that. Small advances to an old-timer at music, one imagines, but they seemed like huge events for me, at this stage.

I have a new favorite 2/4 march on the pipes: The 24th Guards Brigade at Anzio. It's sweet and bouncy, with a hint of contemplation. I'm playing it on fiddle for Jay's and Elizabeth's wedding as the recessional (Castle of Dromore on flute as the processional), and am learning it on pipes as well.

Speaking of marches, I've started learning Grade IV competition tunes on the pipes - 3 2/4s and 2 6/8s. It's going well, and as soon as I have those under my belt, my instructor will be teaching me the urlar of my first Pibroch. I'm very excited about that - you're not a real piper, IMO, until you have some skill at the ceol mor.

I've got 3 weeks to perfect my fiddle competition set, and learn the tunes for the Potomac Valley Scottish Fiddle Club performance at the Virginia Scottish Games. I'll probably compete again on fiddle at the Lingonier games, both times in Adult Novice. Next year, I'll compete in Open grade, and will probably be competing on the pipes for the first time.