I learn by ear, and fortunately I am expanding my repertoire, but I am looking to learn more reels, hornpipes, and even slow airs, because I would like to busk at our local farmers market, and maybe play at a small session.
Most of the tunes I know are double and single jigs. I only know a few reels, The Flags of Dublin is the only one that I can play decently.
The problem is that I when I listen to reels or slow airs regardless of who is playing it, I get distracted and doze off in “The Zone”. I think it’s because they are so fast,flashy and magical.
I do try listening with stretching software, but it is still quite “fast”. I tried playing along (I just got Amazing Slow Downer!), it helped me learn The Fox Chase! Could I try playing along with the software to see if that would help?
Eoin O’Raibhaigh has the old Scoil Trad site up for free on his web site.
For reels Liam O’Flynn teaches The Humours of Carrigaholt, Gay McKeon has The First House in Connaught,
and Eoin himself teaches The Chattering Magpie, The Shaskeen, Tim Moloney’s, The Morning Star, Miss Mcleods and Reavey’s.
They play them through slowly and go into the ornamentation and variations.
If you want to pay some money, http://www.oaim.ie has Mikey Smyth teaching the Braes of Busby.
He really goes though the tune in depth and there are some great ideas on technique.
OAIM has some excellent stuff for other instruments and is a great resource for people far away from a teacher,
but you have to pay 19.99 euros per month for the service.
Gosh! I know loads of reels, but I don’t know the Flags of Dublin. I know probably 700 or 800 reels I should think, and you know one. And it’s one I don’t know!
I’d be very careful about the settings on thesession.org. It’s a great resource, and I use it lots, but you have to treat it with care, and preferably find some live sources as additional reference for the tunes. Don’t automatically assume that the dots will translate into how the tune actually goes.
I am aware of that, Ben, but very good that brought it up. I have never learned a tune from TheSession.org or another source of ABC notation without first hearing it played by a human being in a session, on a cd or at a concert and I have always been careful with what version I have accepted as “close enough” to how I heard it and like it. There is indeed also a lot of crap on TheSession.org, but it is a great place to search for those tunes you have heard, liked and memorised the names of.
Right. Had a go at The Flags of Dublin this evening. Lovely reel.
Out of interest, ennischanter, what is your source for the tune? Mine was this. I like that, but it seems to be a bit different from one or two other settings out there. I’m sticking with it, though.
I learned it from Seamus Ennis’ The Wandering Minstrel. I also picked up The Wandering Minstrel, Jackson’s Morning Brush, and The Frieze Britches from it too. But I first heard The Flags of Dublin from Dicky Deegan playing the 5 reels on Youtube.
I can’t really listen to Seamus or Dicky on Amazing Slow Downer to help me with my repertoire though, because they playing is so Wicked and Extemporaneous, and I wouldn’t be able to catch up to them, even if I slow their playing down!
