25) The Strubben Waltz

The Strubben Waltz (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)

When you're walking in the Netherlands you'll discover that the oak is a very common tree in most woods. The ancient woodland "Kniphorstbos" is filled with strange looking oaks. Those trees got multiple trunks because in the early days there were shepherds with their flock of sheep in this area. The sheep ate the saplings that withheld the trees from growing above the ground. When the shepherds left, the trees started to grow and they became the so called coppice oaks. In the Netherlands we call those oaks "Strubben".  

It was a beautiful day yesterday when we were walking in this fairytale like landscape. In this most beautiful part of our country I decided to name my new mandolintune after those strange looking trees.

Luurtieful Mandolin Music and Backing Tracks Archive

In order not to go through my entire blog to search for tunes, I have archived all my  music files in alphabetical order. As an extra I added a backing track for all of my tunes. These backing tracks were created courtesy of Luke Abbott and his recommended Strummachine website.

• Anti Flu  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Chain of Daisies  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Circus Luurtieful  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Crossing Trains  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• De Biks Reel  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• December sun  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Drents Diep  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Drifting Clouds  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Fish on a Rod  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Fresh Start, A  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Koetze Tibbe  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Lockdown Breakdown  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Lost Goose, A  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Northsea Shuffle (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Please Take a Seat  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Rainy Day, A  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Sinner Demon Breakdown  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Snowbird  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Sparrow on the Fence  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Strubben Waltz, The (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Sunny Day, A  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Valley of Malgum, The (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Whirling Snowflakes  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Windless Sailing  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)
• Wistful Wish, A  (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)

24) Lockdown Breakdown

Lockdown Breakdown (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backingtrack)

There seems to be a complete new world around us which most people like me don't like at all. A lot of us miss the social interaction with other people in some sort of way. In the Netherlands they may call it an Intelligent Lockdown but I feel we have the same limitations and the same mission as people in another country. We must protect the vulnerable people in our society. In this process I found a couple ways to forget our longing for freedom. Beside the fact that we can take a walk alone, cycle alone or jog alone we can still play and write music.
The first example of my writing is this bluegrasstune with the appropriate name "Lockdown Breakdown". As a bonus I wil add a strummachine backingtrack too! Have fun with it.

23) A Sunny Day

A Sunny Day (mp3) (pdf) (tab) (backing track)

It was in May a year ago when I came up with the tune “A Rainy Day”, it was a mournful tune in G minor. I posted the tune in the “Song of the Week socialclub” on mandolincafe. I was surprised and a little proud that the became song of the week in february this year. I don’t consider myself a superstitious person, but from the day my tune was chosen it started raining in the Netherlands. It was a combination of heavy rainfall and strong winds from the west which didn’t seem to stop. When my country was completely soaked I knew I had to write a tune called “A Sunny Day”, so here it is. The sunny day on the picture shows me with my band on the 7th of april this year.

22) Drifting Clouds

Drifting Clouds (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

With the beautiful weather this April I rediscovered something I did a lot when I was a child. I watched the sky and studied the drifting clouds for hours. This can be so relaxing! I think they call it Mindfullness nowadays. Anyway, it's must be very good for our health and so much more inspiring than watching TV.

21) Anti Flu

Anti Flu (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

Whether I caught a cold or got some flu I don't know exactly. As an employee of a school you know you can't always avoid getting infected with some kind of virus. I tried several things to ease the headache and being snotty... sleeping, steaming, green thee, you name it... none of it did work very well. Then I tried to play the mandoline with my eyes closed while my fingers invented a new tune. It's strange, I made a rough recording of it and suddenly I felt better while playing the melody a couple of times. I called the tune "Anti-Flu".

20) A Wistful Wish

A Wistful Wish (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

This tune may sound very mournful and that's not a surprise. I can be very sentimenal in the month of december. Although the tune is very suitable for the mandolin you can hear my sister Grethe play the violin in the second part. Angie Devlin from the mandolingroup on facebook listened to the tune and came up with this very suitable name. Thanks Angie!

19) A Rainy Day

A Rainy Day (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

After a couple of days with very warm weather it seems the nice weather has ended. It's raining for a couple of hours now. Rain can make people a bit sad, but I must say I'm glad to smell the recognisable odor of rain on our lawn. I started writing this tune also on a very wet day a couple of weeks ago.  My friends Johanna and Wopke (Duo Banwo) helped me to complete this beautiful arrangement. Wopke played percussion and Johanna did the banjo part.

18) Whirling Snowflakes

Whirling Snowflakes (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

We've hardly seen any snow this winter. Should there be snow in the Netherlands every winter? I don't think so, but what I remembered from childhood winters were always white and we could skate everywhere. As most kids do I loved playing in the snow. Now I'm an adult I still love tho watch those whirling snowflakes and experience the strange atmosphere with al the sounds dampened due to the thick layer of snow. When I searched in the my photoalbums I realised I should take more pictures on snowy days. One of the last snowy pictures was taken in 2005 with our old Ford Escort on the driveway. It's nice to watch those photo's again, but I'm glad spring is in the air.

17) Sparrow on the Fence

Sparrow on the Fence (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

The most common bird on our planet is the sparrow. I think everyone likes them and we love to see those birds in our gardens. Where are those lovely animals nowadays? In Holland we don't see much of them lately. Some say sparrows are in danger of extinction, but I don't know if that's true. Are our dutch gardens too neat and tidy? Should we put privet hedges in our gardens like we did in the 70's? I don't know, but I would like to see them more often.

16) Northsea Shuffle

Northsea Shuffle (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

Sailing on the Northsea can be very relaxing, but when a storm is coming up things can change quickly. The photo is taken from the Ferry to Vlieland on a nice spot between the Dutch Isles Vlieland and Terschelling.
The Estuary between these Isles is called "The Stortemelk". In stormy weather it can be very dangerous to sail here because of the groundswells. The grounds of stortemelk are notorious because of the many shipwrecks. The most striking case was the downfall of the English Ship de Lutine, in October 1799.What particularly appealed to the imagination was the enormous load of gold and silver, but no-one ever found a trace of it ...

15) Fish on a Rod

Fish on a Rod (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

Most people love beaches and the sea in the summer. I certainly do and I love to swim an walk the sandy beaches of the Island Vlieland. Fishing is another story, I did some fishing when I was a kid. I probably caught a fish or maybe two in my whole childhood but I never forget the day I caught a Seagull. The poor animal was completely strangled in the wires of my fishing rod. Luckily a couple of adults helped me rescue the bird but fishing would never be the same to me.
I still envy people who spend the whole day looking at a bobber en listen to the rippling water. It must be so relaxing for them.

14) The Valley of Malgum

The Valley of Malgum (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

Vlieland is a small but very beautiful Dutch island. When you cycle to the most western part of the dunes on the Island you pass the "Vallei van Malgum". It's a place with a very sad story from the 18th century. One day a ship was stranded at the Northsea coast. The crew didn't get permission to enter the small village on the Island. They suffered from an infectious disease and had to stay in quarantine in the dunes. Whether it was a ship from Malmö or more likely a ship with sweet wine from Malaga, no one knows the exact story. The place where those poor people lived is nowadays remembered as the"Vallei van Malgum". In a wood at the South side of the Island (Bomenland) is a small cemetery for the deceased crew members. It's called "Dodemans Bol".
While I was on the Island last summer and with this story in my mind I wrote a sad waltz for violin and mandolin. My sister played the violin part.

13) Crossing Trains

Crossing Trains (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

Trains were crossing in the Westerbroeksemadepolder. Those Swiss made "GTW-Spurt" trains are passing by a couple of time's every hour. You can't miss those diesel trains when you cross the cyclepath at the right side of it. When I was a child I always wondered why passing trains sounded so strange. The "Dopplereffect" make the pitch of the train sound higher when they're coming towards you while the pitch lowers when they're moving away from you. The idea to make an intrumental tune with that effect resulted in my new bluegrass tune "Crossing Trains". But Bluegrass isn't Bluegrass without a banjo and I was lucky that my friend "Banjohanna" helped me out with the banjopart. As you can hear she is a great banjoplayer and after I mixed the tune together I'm not sure whether it became a mandolin or a banjotune. It's up to you.

12) Circus Luurtieful

Circus Luurtieful (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

Every holiday I experience the same thing. While camping in the Netherlands you have to be limber, you have to show a lot of tricks to get al simple domestic work done and there is always a lot of public. The need of a big tent makes the whole picture complete. It's definitely a circus. But I like this circus and I like my holiday in the dunes close to the Northsea.

11) Chain of Daisies

Chain of Daisies (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

I made those chains when I was a little kid. When I was noodlin' around with this tune I suddenly remembered my aversion towards soccer. Being a goalkeeper was the only thing I could keep up doing. There were always a lot of daisies in the field so I could do something creative while the other kids ran after the ball.

10) A Lost Goose

A Lost Goose (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

Geese go everywhere. They travel a lot between the cold North and the warm South. Mostly they are in a big group but sometimes you see a small group. Sometimes one goose doesn't want to travel any further. Maybe he was born there or he likes the place too much, I don't know. He becomes destituted from the group just the way I did last March. I left my bluegrassband and wrote this tune. In the mp3 I'm playing the tune with my sister on the violin.

9) Windless Sailing

Windless Sailing (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

Why worry when you're in the middle of a lake with your sailing ship. You'll never find a more relaxing place than in the middle of a lake with no wind.

8) Please Take a Seat

Please Take a Seat (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

Last winter I was walking at the surfspot by the Zuidlaardermeer. Walking helps me to get my head empty sometimes, and to get inspiration for a new tune. I had listened to John Reischmann and the Jaybirds and noticed the gentle way that band plays somewhat easy tunes in such a lovely way. I tried to create a tune with the same feeling. I don't know if it worked, but I think the tune has some potential. Finding a name for the tune was not that easy, until I saw the name on the surfboard in front of the lake. Take it easy and sit down and watch the lake. Really a name that is suitable for this relaxing kind of tune. I took a new picture with a flying kitesurfer on a windy day in september 2017.

7) Sinner Demon Breakdown

Sinner Demon Breakdown (mp3) (pdf) (tab)

This is a strange tune. I decided to make a tune especially for my "Sinner Demon" recumbent bike. Every year I spend a lot of time cycling while commuting to my Job. I would say something like 4000 km a year at least. It had to be a sort of roadtune like I remembered from the Sega Outrun videogame in the 80's. Not that I was cycling that fast, but I loved the atmosphere in that game when I was a kid. Someone on the mandolincafe said, I call this genre "Spacegrass" and I think it suits this tune very well.