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Spitfire over Dunkirk
Apologies if this appears twice as it just disappeared when I hit post. Anyway during the week I do the daily challenges then at weekends try to write something of my own using the skills Tony teaches us. Flat-picking is something I really need to practice (I’m no Molly Tuttle although who is?) so you will hear that I’m pushing right to the edge of my speed on some of these runs. Most just about come off, a couple are a bit dicey but that is the point of the exercise.
If you’re interested in the background read on but feel free to skip it and listen to the music!
The image of a lone Spitfire over Dunkirk came to me after a conversation with fellow TAC member @Tom000-18 whose Dad flew B-24s out of an airfield near my home in Eastern England during WW2. For Brits the Spitfire is an aircraft that has taken on an almost mythical status of hope against the odds, cemented in our collective memory by the Battle of Britain and a squadron was based very close to where I was born near Upminster in Essex. However at Dunkirk in 1940, the British infantry, awaiting evacuation under heavy aerial and artillery attack, believed the Royal Air Force had utterly abandoned them. RAF pilots on the beach were roughly treated by their angry and frightened comrades. But in fact the RAF were waging desperate battles in the skies above Northern France and the Channel trying to prevent the Luftwaffe from getting to their trapped forces below. Of course none of this could be seen from Dunkirk.
I have tried to capture the difference between the frantic fighting and the tense anticipation of those times when the young pilots, possibly separated from their squadrons, were scanning the skies or emerging from the clouds, never knowing when an enemy fighter might suddenly open fire on them. I dedicate this to all the pilots who were downed fighting to protect their loved ones – what ever side they were on. War is a failure for humanity but the people who did their duty are certainly not.
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36 Replies
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What is your tuning? It doesn’t appear standard to me. The piece is inspiration from the perspective of your intro. Loved it.
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Hi @albert_d . Yes you are quite correct and apologies that I forgot to say the tuning is DADGAD, which is really popular among folk guitarists in the UK. I find whenever I try out different tunings it gives me inspiration to play something new.
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@Moonhare I love the backstory, and I’m amazed at your playing in such a short time, but you do have the musical background. Fantastic composition!
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Thanks @Loraine . To be honest I wouldn’t have got anywhere close to enjoying guitar without the TAC family. 41 years of absolutely no progress completely transformed by the last 9 months. Thank you for your support and comments right from the start. 🤟😎🎸
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Your playing and creativity is great! That was an awesome sound!
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I’m just hooked on picking up that guitar every day now and although my accuracy is still pretty janky, I’m actually starting to ‘feel’ the playing now in a way I haven’t for 41 years! Wish we’d had the internet when I was 20.
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Hey @moonhare! that was great!
well, i wanted to let you know that i come from Dunkirk 😀 but i wasn’t born at the time that Spitfire flew over! (my mum was, however!)
Since you enjoy playing that genre, let me know if you are interested in the Gwenifer Raymond online concert next month 😉
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Wow, great to hear that connection with Dunkirk. As for the gig next month I am definitely interested in that. I checked out her Brighton Toyshop performance on YouTube after seeing your pist on Guitar Geeks and she sounds just amazing. I’m just checking it doesn’t clash with anything else we have on that weekend then I’ll sign up.🤟😎🎸
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That’s awesome! would be great to see you there! 😎😉🎸
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I love that sound and the back story gave it meaning
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Thanks so much. It was great fun working it out.
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That was an awesome song Moonhare! Great story of your inspiration. I really enjoyed watching the video.
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Thanks. Strange how images and music combine in your head. Never conjures up the same thing to two different people but that’s the joy of it.
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Nicely done!
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Thanks. I really enjoy playing around with those open tunings.
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Another great original @Moonhare ! I see that new arsenal acquisition beauty behind you.
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Spot on! Not sure if it’s sad to have matching acoustic and electric guitars but I love both of them. 🤘😎🎸
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Darren/Moonhare, Oh my gosh this was phenomenal as I could feel the anticipation and see the parting clouds. Really appreciated the great driving sound of your progression… congratulations! Loved our back story, tribute and dedication to the pilots trying to protect their loved ones. Agree on the failure of war, especially its trauma for humanity. Can’t wait to hear more from you!
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Hey there. Thanks for those comments. It’s amazing how an idea can get away from you once it’s lodged in there so thanks for setting my ‘mind hares’ running! This is an exercise in spirit over accuracy. I know my flat-picking still has a way to go but this pushed to a new place for me and I just had a blast writing and playing it.
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@Moonhare that was fantastic! I love the backstory to your tune!
My Dad was a bombardier on B-17’s flying out of Bassingbourn so I have a keen interest in all things aviation related to WWII. I was not familiar with DADGAD tuning until about 6 months ago and since then have been playing around with it, but need to do more. I came across a really cool blues progression in DADGAD I’ve been working at. If you’re interested in it let me know and I can message it to you. You’ve inspired me to get back to DADGAD!
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Hi there and thanks @Ted_D – lots of links with the airfields here in Eastern England it seems! But yes as for DADGAD I’m really interested in any more progressions you could let me know about. This really is a very popular tuning among my folk musician friends here and so I thought I’d give it a whirl. I really enjoy the open nature of this tuning. There’s no third in the the tuning like with Drop D so you can take it major or minor really easily. I also like the way you can get lots of ringing strings from the open tuning. In particular with this tune I was battering the low D string to give a bass drone. 🤘😎🎸
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Great composition Monnhare and excellent playing. I loved it!
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Thanks so much. I love watching your videos too!
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Dear @Moonhare, thank you for sharing your music! I enjoyed and appreciated your sound!
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Thanks. Once I really nail it I’ll take it to a Virtual Open Mic.
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That was really creative and beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
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Broke a string as I was tuning back up to standard afterwards 😮but it was worth it!
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Very creative @Moonhare I see you went down that D tuning rabbit hole. It can be addicting. Well played! 😊😊😊😊🧙♂️😎
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DADGAD is just really great fun to play around with although I snapped another string yesterday tuning back up to standard. (They needed changing anyway)
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@Moonhare here’s a link from Acoustic Guitar magazine. It’s a very cool blues progression in DADGAD with Al Petteway. If you’re not familiar with Al, check him out. He’s a very accomplished finger style guitarist in the US.
https://acousticguitar.com/open-tuning-lesson-how-to-play-the-blues-in-dadgad/
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This is an awesome link – thanks a lot. More to work on now! 🤘😎🎸
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