Just woke up from a nap after a full weekend of lessons, sessions, and concerts. My teacher was Mr. John Skelton. If you get the chance, meet him and pay lots of attention, because it will be time well spent!
It was a great weekend of learning some new tunes, hearing tons I’d never heard of (even having a 70+ CD collection) and meeting some great musicians and having a chat with them (John Skelton, Cillian Vallely, Kieran O’Hare, Liz Knowles, Larre Reeves and countless other local musicians too) at the Florida Tionol in Gainesville. Great thanks go out to John Maze, host and organizer extrordinaire!
Anyhow, John Skelton is great fun and is a great teacher. See him when the opportunity is made,
John Skelton has been a guest teacher/lecturer at Skip Healy’s Wind On The Bay for the last two years and will be returning next year. I spent an afternoon session with him two years ago and agree he is outstanding. He teaches flute with ease - and whistle too - and has a great sense of humor. He and Skip did a few tunes together which were absolutely breath taking.
Ditto the above - John is a good teacher, a fantastic player, and a really funny guy. Hear him play and/or take lessons when the opportunity arises. He’s got some nice CD’s available as well, performance as well as for students.
Ditto on all of the above. I took a coupe classes from him at Skip Healy’s this fall and I’m hoping to go to Augusta this summer and take his flute class.
John is a great guy. I had the good fortune to play bodhran with him and The House Band on several occassions back in the early 90s when they played a lot in Athens, OH (where Ged Foley “settled”). He is most gracious and funny as Hell.
I’ll be attending the Irish Arts Week in the Catskills for the first time this year. I’d love to take John’s Intermediate/Advanced flute and whistle class, but I’ve heard that “Intermediate” roughly means having at least 200 tunes solidly under one’s belt.
I recently purchased John Skelton’s 2003 CD, Double Barrelled with Kieran O’Hare. It’s a great CD. He and Kieran play both flutes and whistles, and are accompanied by guitar and bodhran. In most of the tracks they play together, but each have a couple of solo tracks too. The liner notes said the CD tries to capture the spontaneity and “rhythmic back and forth” of a particular session they played together. It’s a great listen! (I got mine through www.celticgroove.com).
Gee, tommyk, I’ve never heard that definition … I’ve never been to the Catskills, but the Intermediate/Advanced classes I’ve taken seem to define the level as 1) you can play jigs and reels at typical session speed, 2) you grok ornamention basics, 3) have a reasonable style, and 4) (naturally) can play in tune. In other words, that you can keep up enough to get your money’s worth out of the class! So if you can do all those things, I say go for what you want. And it’s not like John’s going to yell at you or anything.
Actually, I read the “200 tunes = intermediate” definition here on C&F (I don’t recall whether whistle, flute, or u.p. message board).
Well, that’s a relief. I figured John must have an exceptionally ascerbic way with words; afterall, he apparently greaty upset Andy M. Stewart at one point.
Oh man, I’m sooooo dying to take the bait on that one; but okay, I won’t.
Anyway … I think the world of Mr. S., and one of the best things I’ve learned from him is that it’s not how many tunes you know; it’s how well you play the ones you do know … and to accomplish this, you have to get those tunes inside and out (sometimes difficult in this world of recordings, sessions, books, etc. – there’s always a cool new tune out there!).
But I’m also pretty sure I’ve heard him say as long as you’re enthusiastic and willing to learn (being in-tune helps, too) you’ll be OK.
… And besides, I certainly hope you’re not going to play 200 tunes in a one-week class! (plus, would everyone know the same 200? )
Oh, I forgot the important part: I’ve never seen him be anything but unfailingly polite. Wry sometimes, but always polite. And kind about honest mistakes. To listen to me play week after week, he HAS to be, the poor soul. :roll:
(plus, would everyone know the same 200? 
)