I’m a huge Seamus fan. How could you not be!? I’m well aware of his position in ITM. Won the All Ireland on every trad instrument he plays, Solas etc…but just when I thought that I couldn’t be more impressed with, I am !!
Here’s why. I just realised today, while clicking on some YouTube links posted here ( Emily’s Reel and Eammon Coyne’s ), that when he plays the whistle, he plays with his RIGHT hand as the top hand but when he plays the flute, he plays with his LEFT hand in the top position! That amazes me! I’ve fooled around with switching hands around like this but could never play as well playing both positions.
Guess that’s what makes him Seamus Egan! I can’t imagine the thing that go on in his musical thought process! Guess that’s what makes him world class on both flute and banjo!
Does anyone here do that? Play equally as well ( in Seamus’ case, amazingly well) using both hand positions?
I can’t emphasise enough how thoroughly impressed I am by that!
Exclamation marks have proliferated on the Internet, mostly due to the growing popularity of strings of exclamation marks, as in…
What a cute dog!!!
Predictably, as a result, we’re now facing an international shortage of exclamation points, at least according to the latest issue of Punctuation Economics.
" How amazing is Seamus Egan!? " Very,very amazing and I’m a huge fan.
His version of The Fermoy Lasses is MIGHTY !
He has ,I believe Tendonitis in his right hand…what a bummer for such a great player..he seems like a nice bloke too.
I had this laying around in a box in a closet. I’ve been watching a television series on hoarding and it’s scaring the crap outta me so I figured I should start giving some stuff away. So anyone who needs these exclamation points, feel free to grab some.
Yes, Seamus is famous as a switch-hitter. I’m sure he started whistle early, and just learned RH-top, as many whistlers do. But you’ll note from that YT vid that he started flute quite a bit later, and was probably made or encouraged to play LH-top, as I believe he’s naturally right-handed (cf. his banjo position).
I can, but not equally well. My reversed whistle playing is pretty sloppy. But I forced myself to learn reversed for two reasons: 1. For the sheer challenge; and 2. To help me better understand what beginners go through when first coming to grips (pun intended) with fingering. I no longer remember what it felt like for me at age 8.
I asked him about it after a Solas concert a couple of years ago, when he played flute only once. And he said that, yes, his hand was bothering him.
I do agree. Every time I hear his flute or whistle playing, I am always blown away. Then I am blown away at his banjo and guitar skills. He is just an all around superb musician. That Emily’s reel video is just jaw dropping. It is truly perfection of the Irish flute.
