The Black and White Binoculars by Erika Shearer

October 2021

Erika Shearer is well-known in Orkney musical circles and is a fine fiddler with a distinctive Orcadian style. She is a proud advocate of Orcadian music and is the Musical Director of the Orkney Traditional Music Project, which provides fiddle and accordion tuition to learners of all ages across Orkney.

She has written a number of tunes and this one was inspired by a pair of new binoculars her Dad gave her to try out. Apparently, peedie Erika was convinced that when she looked through the binoculars she could only see things in black and white and was not impressed!

This lively melody is a traditional 2-part tune in the key of G. Each part of the tune is repeated and the whole tune is often played through at least twice. The second part of the tune features some fun accidentals - watch out for an unexpected C# or two. The last few bars of the second part are a direct repeat of the last few bars of the first part and lead perfectly back to the start of the tune.

The tune is included in The Slow Session Tunebook (available in our online shop) and an audio file is included below as an example of how it can be played.

Simon Ireson has recorded a version of this tune for you to play along with.