It looks like this weekend's competitions are going to be a wash - thanks to my automotive troubles, it doesn't look like I'll even be able to get to the games on time to compete in them, never mind the fact that my practice schedule has taken a major hit over the last week or so thanks to the stress and chores of dealing with a wrecked car. But I've got one more contest this year - Richmond - and then a break.

Getting into Gr III on pipes is highly unlikely, and I doubt I'll even submit a regrade request application. I don't want to compete next year like I have this, but I may have to, if I want to go up next year. I will go to Nationals next year on fiddle, and need to work up a new competition set for next year.

On the lesson front, we looked at a modern round syncopated hornpipe in my pipe lesson for band. In Irish fiddle, it's more bowing patterns in jigs, and practicing rolls. On Scottish fiddle, we're continuing to look at accent patterns in Cape Breton and Highland tunes, how to recognize them, and how to play them and not sound like I'm "working" at it. The >--> -->- pattern seems to be implicit in even the oldest Highland tunes we have, such as those from the Patrick McDonald collection, suggesting that the pattern is predates the settlement of Cape Breton island, and secondarily, suggests the antiquity of step dance (for which the pattern is optimized). I'm really enjoying this detailed look at reels, since they're such a huge part of the performance repertoire, and my playing of them's been limited by the tools in my toolbox.