Does anyone know of any good books that take an in-depth look at Irish music theory? Our academy needs something more and I’m trying to decide whether to come up with information from myself and a pool of musicians or to use a published text. Up until now the academy has only taught instruments but they now want to impart musical knowledge beyond just the instrument they are teaching, to teach the students to “speak the language” of Irish music and understand what makes it up. It would also be nice to have material to give the students for reference so that they can study at home.
I’m thinking in terms of something that would go over maybe the basics of reading music (not really a priority though because we can easily do this on our own) and discuss the Major scales and which modal scales are common in ITM. It would be nice for the students to have a listing of common tempos for jigs, reels, hornpipes, etc. as well as what makes those tunes “jigs”, “reels” and “hornpipes” “etc.” An example would be something that says perhaps “Jigs are in 6/8 time, the emphasis is on the first and fourth beat of the measure and 118 to 126 bpm is a good tempo.” Even more in-depth information would be great. I’m not looking for something specific to whistle as that is only one of the many classes offered. Any suggestions?
Between
Breandan Breathnach’s ‘Folk Muisc and Dances of Ireland’
Tomas O Canain’s Traditional Music in Ireland
Fintan Vallely (ed) Companion to Irish Traditional Music
possibly Dora hast and Stan Scott’s Music in Ireland
you should get some of the basics
James R Cowdery’s ‘The Melodic Tradition of Ireland’ if you want to get into the structure of music a bit deeper
Thank you very much for the resources, Peter.
I second Peter’s recommendation for Thomas O’Canainn’s “Traditional music in Ireland”. I have that one and I think it’s quite good. Not too long either, so you could get through it in a short course.
-Mike Brennan
Dr, Chris Smith’s book on Celtic Backup for all instruments provides a solid grounding in the modes and scales of Irish music.
I highly recommend The Grey Larsen book “The complete guide to irish flute and tin whistle” He covers in depth the theory you are looking for.
Available from www.greylarsen.com/
Gearóid Ó hAllumhráin has done a lot of writing on ITM.
I second the Breandan Breathnach’s ‘Folk Music and Dances of Ireland’ recommendation. I also recommend a substantial amount of required listening with the majority of it being pre-Bothy Band.
About a year ago I saw an online course claiming to be an in depth study of irish music. The required listening was about 5 CDs, including Solas, Altan, Dervish and Chieftains. Hmm.