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Thread: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

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    Default O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    Well I took some vacation I had coming to me and decided to meet Marla Fibish in person by attending her Mandolin workshop in Dallas at the O'Flaherty retreat (http://www.oflahertyretreat.org/).

    I got to thinking today, since the class is rather full, are there any other cafe members that'll be there? I know of at least one other, but if you are going let me know, I'd love to meet more mando-nuts!

    -M

  2. #2
    Registered User mikeyes's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    i'll be there. Looking forward to seeing all of you.

    Mike Keyes

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    Registered User liestman's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    Count me in. Would not miss it for the world. I will be taking the uilleann pipes class but will come over for her Advanced session. The whole thing is the best Irish music gathering I have ever been to.
    John Liestman -
    Eye new ewe wood lye kit!

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    Registered User harper's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    I'll be there, too, taking piano accordion classes. However, I plan to take Marla Fibish's advanced mandolin techniques class. Last year I took Irish tenor banjo classes with Angelina Carberry. I recommend that you get lodging and a meal plan on site so you won't miss anything. The music is nonstop. Also, take a recorder.

    Evelyn Tiffany-Castiglioni
    Harper (My other mandolin is a harp)

  5. #5

    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    Thanks for the advice, I had some points to use up so I'm up the road at a Holiday Inn Express, but I'll be there for the rest of the time. I've been taking some private lessons from her via Skype. So while I have an idea of what to expect I'm hoping I'm not too overwhelmed!

    I'm also very hopeful I can get some great ideas, suggestions, recommendations for other students, I can clearly use all the help I can get.

    -M

  6. #6

    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    This is going on my calendar for 2014...

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    Registered User harper's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    Is anybody going to bring anything to sell or trade? John Liestman had a mandolin tasting session last year, which was great. There were 4 National RM-1 mandolins in one room at one time. There was also a Vega cylinder back, which I promptly fell in love with. But I don't think there were opportunities to buy, sell, or trade. It seems like a terrific opportunity.
    Harper (My other mandolin is a harp)

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    Registered User liestman's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    I plan to have two mandolins for sale but there is no booth or anything, just word of mouth. These were (I think) both in the mandolin tasting I did, but not the Vega or the National.
    John Liestman -
    Eye new ewe wood lye kit!

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    Registered User mikeyes's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    Only three more days. I understand that there are still places available but that there are 17 students already.

    John, will you be organizing a mandolin tasting this time around?

    Mike Keyes

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    Registered User liestman's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    Mike: No, I will be focusing on my piping this year. I will have a couple nice mandolins for sale (Silverangel A model with F holes, 1921 Gibson A Jr) but no tasting other than that. Maybe Marla could be talked into organizing one. And invite me please!
    John Liestman -
    Eye new ewe wood lye kit!

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    Registered User harper's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    If anyone does organize a mandolin tasting, I can bring a Vega cylinder back and a Given ODE.
    Harper (My other mandolin is a harp)

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    Registered User liestman's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    I'll bring forks and napkins.
    John Liestman -
    Eye new ewe wood lye kit!

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    Registered User mikeyes's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    Bring your extra mandolins, I'll try and organize a mandolin tasting - maybe at dinner

    Mike Keyes

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    Registered User liestman's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    Keep me posted on the place and time. Looking forward to it!
    John Liestman -
    Eye new ewe wood lye kit!

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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    Really wish I could go to one of these camps, I love the idea of them. Maybe one year

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    Registered User mikeyes's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    Ther are several out west in TX, AZ, CA, and WA that you can find. I'll try and get as many as possible up on the workshop area of the Cafe.

    Marla Fibish was a terrific teacher and a genuinely nice person as advertised. I'll hae a review posted this week sometime.

    Mike Keyes

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    Registered User liestman's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    Yep it was a great retreat! I already can't wait till next year. The pipes class was amazing. I went also to one session of tenor banjo and one of mandolin (Marla) and they were really good. See you in 51 weeks, Mike!
    John Liestman -
    Eye new ewe wood lye kit!

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    Registered User BBarton's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    Indeed it was!! I took Kieran Hanrahan's tenor banjo course this year -- it was excellent! -- and sat in on Marla's advanced techniques enrichment class. This was my third straight year at O'Flahertys and it's been certainly worth the trip to come down from the "Great White North". It'll be interesting to see who will be on tap for 2014...
    Too many instruments...too little time

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    Registered User mikeyes's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    This is the Antrim Rose setting that Marla taught.



    I'll have a complete report this weekend.

    Mike Keyes

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    Registered User mikeyes's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    I had heard a lot about Marla Fibish (Fie-Bish) on the cafe, I have her DVD, and i even took a Skype lesson from her but I never got a chance to see her in person or take a series of lessons.
    I asked Ken Fleming, director of the O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat in Dallas to consider getting Marla to come and teach. i think he was surprised that 17 students signed up and even more surprised at the glowing comments she got during the Retreat. She also was involved in the concert as is traditional at the O'Flaherty.
    From my Skype lesson I knew that Marla would teach basic strokes - DUDU for reels and DUD DUD for jigs - and she didn't disappoint. But she also wants her students to play with good tone and with style. While this was not a master class (she did that separately), she did expect the class to work hard and show some improvement. She also wanted us to learn more about the mandolin and Irish music.
    The mandolin is not a fiddle, it is not a guitar and it certainly is not a little banjo. Marla, like many North Americans, came from the mandolin to Irish music instead of the banjo to the mandolin as is more common in Ireland. Many of us have moved to the tenor banjo for sessions (see my blog that also has an article on Marla) but remain mandolin players first. As a result Marla developed her style of playing the mandolin over thirty years of listening and playing in the rich traditional music environment of San Francisco without having to cross over from the banjo. She continuously talked about the limitations and advantages of playing Irish music on the mandolin and how we should take advantage of the instrument when we play.

    Here is an example of how she adds pulse to jigs (in this case "Up in the Air") by adding space and changing the timing while letting the mandolin ring out with sustained fingering and octaves.



    She feels that it is very important for players of all levels to continue with exercises but that they don't have to be dull. The idea of exercises is to get the player to automate the strokes mentioned above so that the player can concentrate on the tune without having to decide what to do with the pick. She showed us a number of variations using a "phantom stroke" when we want to leave space or prolong a note or octave by sustain. She also showed us a variety of places to use the triplet ornament and, a surprise to me, started triplets on an upstroke if that was what was next in the pattern.
    The latter made me think more about my basic tools and I started to learn to make an upstroke triplet. Most of the time she used this in jigs when the triplet was on the upstroke note. It is a work in progress for me.
    Other ornaments were delayed notes, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and the occasional slide; all stuff we are familiar with but didn't quite use the way she did.
    In the advanced class I asked her about a tune I was having problems with. Mostly I couldn't find interesting variations or ornaments, especially at the speed it was played at in our session. Marla pointed out that some tunes are simply not suited for the mandolin and that at speed, many of the advantages of the mandolin were lost. She enjoyed sessions with no more than 6 people because without the extra noise a large session has a mandolin can be an asset.
    She feels that tunes that flute player gravitate towards are not as suited for the mandolin. In addition she felt that a lot of tunes associated with the fiddle have ornaments traditionally associated with them that should be played differently on the mandolin. I mention in my blog article that Joe Carr made the same observation about Bill Monroe's playing - he would not play the tunes note for note, rather he would often double up on a note instead of playing the passing note because the mandolin sounded better that way. Like Monroe, Marla figured this out on her own and it makes the mandolin sound better than a note for note fiddle tune.
    One of the techniques she showed us was to play a stuttered triplet on a single note instead of a descending triplet that a fiddler might automatically put in a tune. Not only was this much easier, but the resulting ornament worked very well due to the sustain of the mandolin.
    Marla also plays the mandola and she brought her 20s Gibson A model with her. She tunes it DGDA (raising the C to a D) in order to have the low D note resonate. Marla uses the mandola primarily as an accompaniment instrument for her singing or as a backup bouzouki like instrument with other melody instruments. Surprisingly, three of us had mandolas so we had a nice little talk and demonstration about this instrument too. Her techniques on the mandola are much more bouzouki like in contrast to how she uses a mandolin.

    Here is a sample of the exercises we learned. This one for DUDU reel style picking:



    As you can see, no one noodled around during her exercise (meaning they were all paying attention) and you can also see how warm and open she is as a teacher.

    If you ever get a chance to study with her, do it. She does Skype lessons too.

    Mike Keyes

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  23. #21
    Registered User BBarton's Avatar
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    Default Re: O'Flaherty Irish Music retreat anyone?

    Thanks for posting, Mike.
    Too many instruments...too little time

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