The prime requirement of any dance band is that the music should be very danceable. Different kinds of dances require different kinds of rhythms, but all must have the effect of helping the dancers to dance. Ceilidh dancing is no exception.
Tumbling Tom play mainly English traditional tunes, with some self penned and continental tunes to add diversity. These tunes have their natural rhythms underpinned by a driving rhythm section.
Videos - To see and hear us playing, check out the following YouTube clips -
At the annual Christmas ceilidh with a brass frontline -
2013 - our version of William Irwins Lancashire Hornpipe here
2012 - the polka Brilliant Pebbles here
2011 - our version of Little Town of Bethlehem that we play for a schottische dance here.
To see and hear us in our usual lineup without brass -
2013 - our version of Astleys Ride and the Lichfield Tattoo here
2012 - two local tunes Hero of Salamanca and Moll in the Wood here
Recordings - Examples of our playing without the brass frontline can be heard below. These clips were taken from our CD
'Beats Working'.
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Two hopsteps, the first from the south of England, and the second a local tune by Hamilton who was a pupil of William Irwin the Langdale fiddler - Dorsetshire Hornpipe/Stybarrow Crag |
| Two Polkas, an English one and a French-canadian one - Double Lead Through/La Bastrangue |
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| Two jigs, one from Dartmoor, and the second from the Matthew Betham collection from near Morland in Westmorland - Woodland Flowers/Seven Stars |
The sources of our tunes are many and varied, but there is a strong focus on local manuscript collections, including the Browne manuscripts from Troutbeck currently held in the Armitt library in Ambleside, the tunes of William Irwin who lived in Elterwater in Langdale, and the Matthew Betham tune book from Towcett near Morland.
