Irish Fiddle Music HELP!

[peluna]

I've been asked to jam with some Irish fiddlers and I don't know any of their songs (I mostly play bluegrass). I really need some help finding a book/CD combo so that I can learn some of the basic pieces. You know that core group of songs that "everybody" seems to know.

Any help or suggestions would be incredibly appreciated!!!

[CharlieKnuth]

I bought a copy of this at Elderly and it seems to have a number of Irish standards in it. It has notated music and CDs that go along with it.

121 FAVORITE IRISH SESSION TUNES - HOLD YOUR OWN WITH OTHER PLAYERS taught by L.E. McCullough
This collection of reels, jigs, hornpipes, and set dances are favorite tunes played at pubs. list $44.95 ours $42.70

[mad dawg]

If your fiddling friends have a documented play list, there are several resources on the internet where you can search for and download tunes in ABC files, sometimes accompanied by Midi sound files of the same tune. ABC files are basically a way of writing notation in digital form, and an ABC reader can put them back into notation and/or tab (and some readers I think also can play back the tune audibly).

Here (http://staffweb.cms.gre.ac.uk/~c.walshaw/abc/) is a link about ABC by Chris Walshaw, the guy who invented the format, where you can learn more about the format and readers.

Here (http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/FindTune.html) is a link to "JC's tune finder", a great resource for finding tunes in ABC.

Here (http://www.thesession.org) is a link to "The Session", a great Irish Trad site that hosts a large library of Irish tunes in ABC notation and Midi sound file formats.

[steve V. johnson]

I'll second the "121" book & CD combination. I've had a copy for years and it has helped a bunch of beginning friends to get familiar with the forms and tunes.

There's another one also, just a bit more sophisticated, by Walton's publishing. I think it can be found in Elderly, but a search on "Walton's Irish Session" would probably get you to it.

In the Walton's book & CD combination, they only go thru the tunes once (McCullough goes thru them twice, one 'slow' and once at regular pace, tho sometimes there is little difference. Not to worry, they aren't real fast!) and the chord diagrams and staff notation is more exacting and a bit more complicated, where the McCullough doesn't include possible chord substitutions and passing chords nor some ornamentation in the melodies (both in the playing and the notations).

I have them both, and still use them (especially if I'm away and can't get to sessions to play) both. Good investments.

Go for it!!

stv

[pushinforty]

I played Irish fiddle for many years before taking up mandolin. Actually, I have many collections of published Irish traditional tunes that I've been thinking about selling - many of them are out of print. But that's not why I'm posting! Of all the possible tunes, here are a few that are staples of any traditional player's repertoire. I'd look for transcriptions of these:

Reels:

Merry Blacksmith, Sally Gardens, Star of Munster, The Banshee. The Silver Spear, The Congress, Gravel Walks, Mason's Apron, Cup of Tea, Wise Maid, Trip to Durrow(and 200 others).

Jigs:

the Kesh, Out on the Ocean, Mist on the Mountain, Connaught man's rambles, Cliffs of Moher, Swallowtail, Lark in the Morning, Langstrom's Pony (and 300 others).

good luck! Michael

[mad dawg]

One more great online resource for Irish tunes: O'Neil's Music of Ireland (http://www.oldmusicproject.com/oneils1.html), complete with ABC files, Midi files, and GIF images of notation for each tune from this book.

(They also host a large collection of files of O'Carolan tunes (http://www.oldmusicproject.com/OCC.html).)

[pushinforty]

O'neil's is often recommended as a source for tunes but it has significant problems. Many of the tunes are transcribed in versions that are not typically played in sessions - they tend to be a bit "off". The Bulmer and Sharpley collection, Ceol Rince Na hEireann, or the other two mentioned are probably better resources. No knock on O'Neil's. It's just that many a player have labored to learn tunes as transcribed there only to find that they are in varying degrees of conflict with session players. Michael

[Jim M.]

Reels:

Merry Blacksmith, Sally Gardens, Star of Munster, The Banshee. The Silver Spear, The Congress, Gravel Walks, Mason's Apron, Cup of Tea, Wise Maid, Trip to Durrow(and 200 others).

Jigs:

the Kesh, Out on the Ocean, Mist on the Mountain, Connaught man's rambles, Cliffs of Moher, Swallowtail, Lark in the Morning, Langstrom's Pony (and 300 others). #
The problem I've seen with popular lists of Irish tunes is that they vary a lot in different parts of the country. I've played several tunes from Michael's list but some I've never heard of in sessions around me.

Another source to look at is www.slowplayers.org
They have several lists of tunes for their different cities (they may even have a list for your city).

[Paul Kotapish]

There's a great collection of notation for 626 common session tunes called Smoke in Your Eyes. The settings are very basic, but they do well as a starting point. It was put together by by Kevin Gow in Seattle, and the tunes are all in fairly common rotation in many parts of the globe.

You can check it out here. (http://kinetic.seattle.wa.us/~fish.html)

Karen Tweed has a very nice collection of common session tunes called Karen Tweed's Irish Choice. There are companion CDs with the melodies and accompaniment available, too. Check it out here (http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_Book_Tweed_Karen_Tunebook.html).

[pushinforty]

Jim is right about regional variations. Coincidentally, my list comes almost exclusively from Seattle and I remember when Kevin Gow (Paul's suggestion) was just starting to compile Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. He had a tape recorder at every session!

[POB]

It's just that many a player have labored to learn tunes as transcribed there only to find that they are in varying degrees of conflict with session players

I was that soldier 20 or so years ago when I got my copy of O'Neill's. It's a great resource once you get the more common/basic versions of tunes under your belt, but I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point for rookie session-goers.

[Jeff Baldwin]

Michael Eskin of San Diego has a nice site for irish music with a couple good session books that can be downloaded and printed. The format is acrobat.


http://members.cox.net/eskin/index.html