It’s the second Sunday in #Squarch, and it’s also Pi Day. I don’t think I know any tunes about pies, but I do like waltzes, which are in 3, and 3 is close to pi. So it’s time for another waltz.
Today’s tune is Isambard’s Waltz, by Bruce Molsky. I sat down and learned this in cross-G (GDGD) the other day, then I listened more closely and realized that he’s playing it in calico tuning (GDGB, although he’s got it in the more common AEAC#) and it sounds better there. I don’t know why, but it was a real effort for me to unlearn the fingering for cross in the high part and relearn it in calico. And I just remembered that the Canote Brothers’ album of all calico tunes is named Calico Pie, so there’s another pi connection.
I also took down the U-Bass for the first time in years (mine’s old enough that it doesn’t have the active EQ it looks like all the current models have) and played it on this. It took me a while to remember how to play an instrument tuned in 4ths rather than 5ths, but I think I’ll try to play bass on more of these daily recordings; it was fun to pick it back up. There’s also Strum Machine on guitar backup in the mix.