Reply To: Breton Gavotte/Swallowtail Jig Medley

[Marg Sherringham]

Thanks Kate, I was very nervous relying on my memory and hoping I could move through the variations smoothly. I can’t take credit for the ideas, they were from Jason’s Practice Journey replay, but I did enjoy the challenge! That’s great that you have Strum Machine now, it’s saved a lot of time for me, as I used to make all my own backings with Garageband, still do when I want the sound of my other instruments, but for practice Strum Machine is so easy and quick. I had a look at my settings, pulled back the mandolin and then guitar, and I think you’re right, they do sound the same.
The way I joined Breton Gavotte and Swallowtail Jig was by using the medley feature in the right hand side bar. When I made the backing for Breton Gavotte, I had to use 6/8 and double every chord because Strum Machine only goes up to 9/8 and Breton Gavotte is in 12/8. Swallowtail Jig was already in strum machine in E Minor, so I just transposed that to B Minor (same key as B.G.). Then set them both to 85bpm and yay, it worked!
Good luck, have fun with Strum Machine and I look forward to your next video. 🙂