My name is Charmion Chaplin-Thomas, and I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
I began playing the guitar around 1970, with everybody else of my generation, but concentrated on singing until 2000, when I quit my last choir. At that time, I began working harder on the guitar and learning how to accompany others, then took up the mandolin. That was when I wandered into the heart of the world of diddley music.
Why the mandolin? I wanted a small instrument that I could take aboard an airplane. Oh, and I wanted to play diddley music ... it looked like so much fun, and there is always at least one guitar already at the session when I get there, and he/she is always better than me!
The mandolin led to the octave mandolin, which led to the tenor banjo ... and now I have two tenors that I play all the time (a 17-fret open-back and a 19-fret resonator), and a five-string open-back that is waiting for me to find someone to teach me clawhammer. As well as the tenor banjos, I play the mandolin most days. The house is filling up with things with strings n frets.
I'm told there's people who find middle age boring. They need to take up the mandolin.
Tunes in Charmion's tunebook: 13
| Discussions | Re: finger injury? | August 1st 2007 |
| Discussions | Re: Paramount or Slingerland? | June 18th 2006 |
| Discussions | Re: Newbie at the irish folk guitar suggestions welcome... | April 2nd 2006 |
| Discussions | Re: Ever considered giving it all up? | April 2nd 2006 |
| Discussions | Re: Thimple Question | March 11th 2006 |
| Name | Type | Key |
|---|---|---|
| Campbell's | barndance | Gmajor |
| The Belfast | hornpipe | Dmajor |
| The Harvest Home | hornpipe | Dmajor |
| The Blaeberry Blossom | hornpipe | Dmajor |
| The Frieze Breeches | jig | Dmajor |
| The Bucks Of Oranmore | reel | Dmajor |
| The Maid Behind The Bar | reel | Dmajor |
| The Mason's Apron | reel | Amajor |
| The Twelve Pins | reel | Gmajor |
| The Sailor's Jacket | reel | Dmixolydian |
| Ril An Spideal | reel | Dmajor |
| Metsäkukkia | waltz | Gminor |
| She Moved Through The Fair | waltz | Dmixolydian |