Scottish music for G/D ocarina sets

Suits ocarina type: G/D, single and double

Instead of just fitting music to one ocarina type, you can work out how to fit a whole category of music to a minimal set of ocarinas.

I usually take a small set of Pure ocarinas to Scottish tune sessions - 10-holes in D and G, V-system double in G, P-system double in D. And don't often need any others to fit in.

This is an example, with tunes compiled for a workshop in the west of Scotland. I had no input in this, I'm just giving it as I found it. And it all fits my usual set of ocarinas.

https://www.nigelgatherer.com/teaching/ws/mm/mm-33.html

You will never need subholes or an ocarina in C to play Scottish traditional music. This is a consistent pattern - that selection of ocarinas works reliably for Scottish trad and it's very little effort to pick the right one out for a specific tune. (My 10-holes are in two different octaves for greater variety, but they play the same).

My G double has a European-style first chamber ranging up to B - with that, you don't need a G 10-hole as well, since these tunes never need the high C.

The keys and ranges for this selection are standard for Scottish trad - Nigel's workshops usually have fiddles, mandolins, flutes, whistles, smallpipes, accordions and bouzoukis, and these versions suit all of them. Ocarinas in G and D fit in without adapting the music at all.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/wf0x069rvoy706bvesuoo/MM-SB.pdf

Edited 19-Jul-2026 12:58 PM by Robert.

This is a collection of (mostly) Scottish tunes arranged for harps.

Harpists often play solo or with singers so the keys are not always those a fiddler might pick. I'll add an index by appropriate ocarina type.

SESSION-The-Edinburgh-International-Harp-Festival-Session-Tune-and-Song-Book.pdf

The information about who wrote the tunes and where they come from is often wrong - check.

1, 2 - D or C 10-hole

3 - C 10-hole

4, 5 - DAD

6 - G or D 10-hole

7 - F, C or G 10-hole

8 - C 10-hole

9 - G 10-hole (take low E up)

10 - D or C 10-hole

11, 12 - G 10-hole

13 - C or D 10-hole

14, 15 - DAD

16 - G 10-hole

17 - D 10-hole

18, 19, 20 & 21 - DAD

22, 23, 24, 25, 26 & 27 - G 10-hole

28 - D 10-hole

29 - DAD

30, 31 - G 10-hole

32, 33 - D 10-hole

34, 35 & 36 - DAD

37, 38 & 39 - G 10-hole

40 - DAD, octave up

41, 42, 43, 44 & 45 - G 10-hole, octave up

46 - singers only

Edited 19-Jul-2026 04:42 PM by Jack Campin.