Dear Friends,
I'm home feeling kind of miserable with a couple of ear aches -- and my plan for the trip to and from work was to listen to Mary MacNamara and Yvonne Casey. That's scrapped for today, but probably tomorrow. Mary is an outstanding concertina player from Tulla, East Clare, and Yvonne is from West Clare. They both grew up surrounded by the music, steeped in it, taught by the best of family and friends from their home areas. Unbelievable. So when you get to feeling like you really have to work at it to get new tunes or find the right teacher, don't be too discouraged. None of us had the advantages they had. Keep up the good work!
Mary MacNamara ends her eponymous album with a set of tunes called The Humours of Castlefin/The Glen of Aherlow/The Killarney Boys of Pleasure. I've been working on resurrecting those lately. Also, I've been listening to Trusty have a lash at Tommy Coen's Reel. Ever since Ged Foley said that Vincent Griffin plays at the Catholic Church for Mass on Sundays in Feakle, I've been poking around The Session looking at the tunes he has on his recording. He's a wonderful player and an awfully nice man. I'm going to buy one of his CDs when I meet him again in Feakle in January. If anyone else is interested, let me know and I'll grab you one.
Guys, help me out here! What are you listening to? Please share so I can get an idea of tunes you might be hearing! Here's to Jeff and those other friends of ours who've been feeling under the weather as well. Get well soon...
Oh, and don't forget. November is Sligo night! I've got some great music to play for you, and I'm building up our tune list! If you want to practice a set ahead, go ahead and work on The Killavil Jig and Have a Drink with Me. I believe they're both in O'Neill's 1001 Tunes.
More later...
The Trad
10.16.2008
10.09.2008
Kerry Night was Fun!
Dear Friends,
I've already got some e-mails from you saying you had a good time last night listening to the tunes and playing the polkas and slides! I'm so pleased. I'm really enjoying getting a chance to sit and listen to some of the music that we wouldn't normally put on the CD player. If you're like me, you're probably so focused on learning that kickin' new tune that you don't want to be bothered with putting someone else's CD in to give it a listen. I have tunes going in my head all day so, as I tell Trusty all the time, the last thing I want to do is hear more tunes!
Really, though, this stuff is all about listening. That's why we're doing this new little piece. I can't take credit for it. It wasn't my idea. I learned it a long, long time ago when I took my very first arts week fiddle class from Willie Kelly, a mad brilliant fiddle player from the Jersey 'burbs (he learned from one esteemed Martin Mulvihill, and has this grand old sweetly ornamented style of playing). I think it must have been a beginner/intermediate class. It was a small group, anyway. Toward the end of the week, Willie took each one of us outside the class to have us play for him. I played my little tune for him, we talked about where it came from, who else liked to play that tune, etc., and then he said something I'll never forget. He just kind of cocked his head at me and said, "You just have to listen to the music. That's what it's all about."
So, I know you come to session to play. That's why we have those lists of sets to practice! But you also come to learn, so we have the music and the group experience. And now, I'd like you to come to the session to listen. I have some ideas about how that will grow, but for right now, I think we'll keep the structure as it is: a bit of listening and learning about a county or a style, a bit of learning tunes from that area or those people, a bit of our regular session tunes, and maybe finish up with some spontaneous sets of tunes.
Remember, next month is Sligo month! Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 7:30 PM! Some folks have approached me about moving the time earlier (maybe even as early as 6 or 6:30 PM). I'd have to have some discussions with Old Songs about the time, but I'd like more feedback on whether earlier is better for you guys so we can see what direction to go in with it!
Enjoy the sunshine!
The Trad
p.s. which polka and/or slide from last night are we going to pick to play next month?
I've already got some e-mails from you saying you had a good time last night listening to the tunes and playing the polkas and slides! I'm so pleased. I'm really enjoying getting a chance to sit and listen to some of the music that we wouldn't normally put on the CD player. If you're like me, you're probably so focused on learning that kickin' new tune that you don't want to be bothered with putting someone else's CD in to give it a listen. I have tunes going in my head all day so, as I tell Trusty all the time, the last thing I want to do is hear more tunes!
Really, though, this stuff is all about listening. That's why we're doing this new little piece. I can't take credit for it. It wasn't my idea. I learned it a long, long time ago when I took my very first arts week fiddle class from Willie Kelly, a mad brilliant fiddle player from the Jersey 'burbs (he learned from one esteemed Martin Mulvihill, and has this grand old sweetly ornamented style of playing). I think it must have been a beginner/intermediate class. It was a small group, anyway. Toward the end of the week, Willie took each one of us outside the class to have us play for him. I played my little tune for him, we talked about where it came from, who else liked to play that tune, etc., and then he said something I'll never forget. He just kind of cocked his head at me and said, "You just have to listen to the music. That's what it's all about."
So, I know you come to session to play. That's why we have those lists of sets to practice! But you also come to learn, so we have the music and the group experience. And now, I'd like you to come to the session to listen. I have some ideas about how that will grow, but for right now, I think we'll keep the structure as it is: a bit of listening and learning about a county or a style, a bit of learning tunes from that area or those people, a bit of our regular session tunes, and maybe finish up with some spontaneous sets of tunes.
Remember, next month is Sligo month! Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 7:30 PM! Some folks have approached me about moving the time earlier (maybe even as early as 6 or 6:30 PM). I'd have to have some discussions with Old Songs about the time, but I'd like more feedback on whether earlier is better for you guys so we can see what direction to go in with it!
Enjoy the sunshine!
The Trad
p.s. which polka and/or slide from last night are we going to pick to play next month?
10.07.2008
It's Kerry Night...and the feelin's right...oh what a night!
Dear Friends,
We're going to have our Kerry night tomorrow night, featuring a little bit of palavar about popular music from the area, a few tunes on the boom box, as well as playing some polkas and slides. If you've picked some out to share, please bring them and we'll give them a lash. We'll also play some of our standard session tunes, so get bonin' up!
I've been corresponding with Kyle Carey and Maura MacNamara, both of whom are out-country, and loving it! They send their regards and shared with me their experiences with "styles", Kerry, and Irish music in general. I've condensed some of their comments to share with you tomorrow, and if anyone has been to Kerry and wants to share their own perspective, we'd love it! I don't intend to spend very long on this part, as we all desperately want to get to the tunes -- so no rambling, I promise...
See tomorrow night, Wednesday, October 8 from 7:30-9 PM! Don't worry if you don't know the music -- I don't really know many polkas or slides either, so we're going to wing it together and have some fun!
Remember, $4 covers photocopies and heat! Bring treats to share...
Stay Warm!
The Trad
We're going to have our Kerry night tomorrow night, featuring a little bit of palavar about popular music from the area, a few tunes on the boom box, as well as playing some polkas and slides. If you've picked some out to share, please bring them and we'll give them a lash. We'll also play some of our standard session tunes, so get bonin' up!
I've been corresponding with Kyle Carey and Maura MacNamara, both of whom are out-country, and loving it! They send their regards and shared with me their experiences with "styles", Kerry, and Irish music in general. I've condensed some of their comments to share with you tomorrow, and if anyone has been to Kerry and wants to share their own perspective, we'd love it! I don't intend to spend very long on this part, as we all desperately want to get to the tunes -- so no rambling, I promise...
See tomorrow night, Wednesday, October 8 from 7:30-9 PM! Don't worry if you don't know the music -- I don't really know many polkas or slides either, so we're going to wing it together and have some fun!
Remember, $4 covers photocopies and heat! Bring treats to share...
Stay Warm!
The Trad
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
