from Danny MacDonald, April 2009
Twice through - slow then up to tempo
Danny is likely the only fiddler who learned the tune one-on-one from the composer

Note: Although syncopation was not commonly used in older Celtic fiddle tunes it is incorporated frequently in modern Scottish music. In the 1920s (the era of early jazz) Scottish pipe composers such as G.S. MacLellan started using it in their compositions. In reels, it can be notated in a couple of different ways - either by using ties between two groups of beamed eighth notes or by using a quarter note played through the beat (as in 'variation bar' above)

Composed in early 2009 MacNeil's Reel was one of the last tunes Dougie composed. The following December he was killed in a car crash.

For more about Dougie MacDonald... more tunes etc.

This tune was first published in Fiddler Magazine (spring 2010)

Sound clip by Danny MacDonald

 

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