Popular Jam Tunes

[Bob Stolkin]

I'm a bluegrass and old time player who wants to start learning some Celtic tunes and checking out some Celtic jams. Where might I find a list of some of the standard jam tunes? Thanks.

[steve V. johnson]

It's tough to say what folks play in different locations. Each local session develops its own set of tunes, not necessarily conciously, but as folks bring in tunes they become part of the repertoire.

The very best way to learn the tunes is to find a session near you and spend time listening, perhaps recording the tunes that your new friends play. Some areas have "slow sessions" which are gatherings where folks teach and learn tunes, slowly, as the name suggests, in addition to the regular session. Your local players will also have resources (music books, audio collections, CDs, teachers, slow sessions, and more) that they like and use to help folks join in. Irish music has been transmitted aurally all along, and that seems the best way to get the tunes, but nowadays, books of music and any other materials that help are fair game.

There have been some other threads like this, so look on down the list and thru the archives.

In Cincinnati, the Riley School of Irish music teaches (mostly kids, but adults, too) to play Irish
music, and they have a fine archive (from 1993) of tunes in mp3 format that can be downloaded.
Here's that page:

http://www.rileyirishmusic.com/modul...ndex.php?id=14

Look around the Riley site, too, there are buttons for other resources, including players, slow-downers and a slow-session network.

Besides that, I like a book that HomeSpun Tapes sells, by L.E. McCullough. It comes with CDs and has the tunes played twice each, once slowly and once up to speed. The tune selection is a pretty good array of tunes that are pretty common. Here it is on the HomeSpun page:

http://www.homespuntapes.com/shop/product.aspx?ID=12

Mel Bay books has a series that's somewhat similar from the English publisher Walton's. They're a little more... uh... 'serious'. The charts are more detailed and the guitar chords not as basic as in the HomeSpun book (I don't much care for the Walton's choices of guitar chords, but that's neither here nor there...) and the tunes are played by veteran players and at more of 'real world' speeds, so if you use a vari-speed CD player or computer pgm, these might be more interesting.

I hope there's something in here that'll help.

The most important thing, IMO, to pay attention to coming to Irish tunes from OT/BG will be the rhythms (and how you use your picking hand). The rhythmic 'feels' are very different from BG, and generally different from OT, tho around here, a lot of players play both, so we may have blurred that line a little... ;-)

All the best,

stv

[Bertram Henze]

As Steve pointed out, the "standard" is somewhat fuzzy. Therefore, there is no escape from learning what is played locally.

Players coming from BG often find the three main differences surprising:

1 - melody vs. chords: while in BG chords form a fixed framework and melody players tend to create variations around that, in ITM it is just the opposite - the melody is more or less given, and chord players (guitars and zouks mostly) improvize a variable harmonic virtuoso around that.

2 - no breaks: everyone plays all the time. If your instrument is not loud enough to be heard, your only chance is to start a tune nobody else knows and - if you play well - get an applause for it, or - even better - add another tune everybody knows to give them a chance to join in. There is nobody to "lead" the playing, except for the one who starts a set (see below), and even he only decides which tune is next.

3 - sets: tunes are played in sets, i.e. someone starts one tune, all play it 2,3,4 times over, then the original starter switches to another one (look out for subtle hints of communication to prepare the switch) and so on. Sets are made up of 2 up to 5 tunes. You hardly ever hear a single tune.

Bertram

[Steve L]

Don't chop!!!

[DougC]

Another tip. Don't call it Celtic music. It's pronounced with a hard
C like Keltic and not as the basketball team from Boston.

The term is pretty vague and usually is used by promoters of fluffy and sappy videos. Irish people call it Irish music. And then there is Scottish music and Cape Breton and others. Be specific and you will be appreciated.

[tango_grass]

Doug C is wise. 'Celtic' is way to broad, each sub-genre has specific nuances and tastes that make them unique from each other. That being said... www.thesession.org is always good for some tunes.

[Steve L]

I'd steer clear of the word "jam" as well. Session is the term employed.

[steve V. johnson]

Bertram, that's some good stuff there.

Thanks,

stv

[Bob Stolkin]

Thanks, folks. That is very helpful information, both in terms of the music, and etiquette. Just as when one enters the bluegrass realm, if a player wants to be part something larger, it's crucial to show interest in the heritage and practices.

[EdSherry]

Both Steve and Bertram are spot on.

Check out Barry Foy's book on session etiquette:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0981759017

(NFI.) I agree that the tunes common in one area (or one session in an area) are likely to be different than those in other areas (or sessions), so you'd do well to attend your local session, ask people the names of the tunes, tape/record them if possible, and track them down.

If you're just starting out, the Walsh collection is pretty good:

http://www.ceolas.org/pub/tunes/tune...ssionTunes.pdf

I like this one from one of our local (SF Bay Area) sessions (go down the page and click on "Tunebook" for a PDF file):


http://www.geocities.com/mostlyceltic/music.html

[Graham!!]

The Session website previously mentioned is a good source, not only for Irish tunes but also for locations. Irish sessions all over the world are listed there and I have used it to find some great sessions during my travels. Here it is again www.thesession.org
Also, the etiquette while important does not preclude participation. I've found the players to be quite accepting especially if you are a beginners' session and are a beginner.
Another good source for tunes is the Comhaltas Society and there is likely a chapter in your area. Here is a web link http://comhaltas.ie/
Good luck and I'll leave you with a thought to ponder; Irish music is but a fraction of Celtic music.