Pempbes

by Martha Woods

‘Pempbes’ is Cornish for ‘starfish’. I wrote it to accompany a kabm pemp (‘five step’) dance which is often done at a Nos Lowen, a contemporary Cornish folk dance night, similar to a ceilidh but with simple dances and no caller. Have fun adding as many key changes as you like to this tune, I find it sounds particularly effective if taken up a step each time! This tune can be found on my EP, ‘Spring at Last’.

Martha Woods is a composer and multi-instrumentalist from Cornwall. Having grown up playing and dancing with traditional Cornish dance team, Tan Ha Dowr, and writing songs for her band, The Woodcarts, she went on to study on the Folk and Traditional Music degree at Newcastle University (including a year at the University of Limerick). She enjoys writing tunes and songs for a range of different settings and combining elements of folk and traditional music with more contemporary genres.