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Rain and Pies
by Jenny M. Thomas I wrote this one a long time ago. It was raining outside and Collingwood- the Magpies – were playing a game of footy on the television. In my mind there’s very little gap between folk music and classical music, I can swim easily between the two of them. So to me, Continue reading
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Procrastination Station
by Tanya Bradley I was supposed to be practising for a gig but I was struggling o come up with a much-needed solo. This tune popped out instead. Composed in 2017. Continue reading
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The Pretty Waltz
by Jane Harding I had the first half of the tune, and I played it for my friend Kath and she said ‘ah, that’s pretty’ and that’s how it got its name. I was listening to a lot of tunes from Asturias at the time that I wrote it and that’s why it’s got that Continue reading
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Phascogale in the Freezer
by Allan Evans The Brush-tailed Phascogale is a beautiful, rat-sized marsupial, threatened by habitat destruction and predation by foxes and feral cats. Males of the species die before reaching one year of age, usually due to stress-related diseases brought on by the frantic mating season. The species can be found in Taradale in Central Victoria Continue reading
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Peppermint Tea
by Jean McConnachie I had been listening to Natalie McMaster’s CD My Roots are Showing and really loved the tunes ‘Miss Wharton Duff’ and ‘The Recluse’. They were the inspiration for this tune and I like to play them following on, but they are quite tricky. The music here shows the transition chords to go Continue reading
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Patsy’s Jig
by Sean Kenan Composed in 2022. Continue reading
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Pascal’s Gecko
by Ewen Baker My friend Pascal gifted me a beautiful painting of a gecko, so I wrote this tune as a thank-you. Continue reading
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Paddy Mop the Floor
by Felix Meagher There was one late night session down at Lake School in Koroit that led to some spilt whiskey on the floor. Apparently, Paddy Fitzgerald was a bit worried about the smell and was sighted in the early hours with a mop furiously cleaning it up. Continue reading
About Melbourne Tune collection
Melbourne Tune Collection records and publishes original folk tunes and songs from around Australia.
I started this project after realising that I barely knew any Australian folk tunes, even though I’ve been playing the fiddle for almost two decades. It wasn’t that Australians weren’t writing tunes, it’s just that there was limited publishing opportunities for them.
I thought maybe if I collect these tunes and put them together, they would have a better chance of getting played. So in early 2019 I set off with my camera and recorder, first around Melbourne, then across Australia.
This site is the result of these travels. Its purpose is to make Australian folk music as accessible as possible and promote the incredible music that’s being written today. I genuinely believe that there’s something special happening in the Melbourne and Australian folk music scenes right now.
I hope you enjoy playing through these tunes as much as I have!
Katherine Oleinikov
Melbourne Tune Collection 