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strathspey@strathspey.org:27436

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David South

David South

Re: The 6:20 Two-Step

Sept. 19, 2001, 1:26 a.m. (Message 27436)

(I'm coming out of self-imposed lurking mode here ...)

The 6:20 Two-Step (note how six-twenty is written) was written by Jimmy Shand as
the theme of "The White Heather Club".  It got it's title from the time that the
programme started - when it started on TV, it ran on the BBC for 40min before
the 7pm news.  Of course the format changed as the seasons went on.

The dance "The White Heather Jig" was written a while later - and yes, you're
right Sylvia - the music has been adapted to fit the dance.

Jimmy Blair made a recording of the dance and arranged the music exactly as JBC
noted on the top of the instructions in his book.  Jimmy Shand made a recording
of it (twice - 1963 and 1971) and played it totally differently - A (16 bars), B
(16 bars), last half of A (8 bars), C (32 bars), last half of A (8 bars), then
repeat all that again (if you do the maths, this adds up to 2x80 bars).

Maybe it's because it's the recording I remember hearing first, but I prefer
Shand's approach to the dance and that's the way I play it myself, but that's
just a personal preference.

A couple of recording to listen to if you can get hold of them are ...

"Scottish Mixture" - Jimmy Shand - The White Heather Jig
"Scottish Country Dances" - Jimmy Blair (& his Jigtime Band) - The White Heather
Jig
"The White Heather Club Party - Jimmy Shand playing The 6:20 Two-Step as a
Two-Step.

Hope this helps,
David.

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