hay all,
since kathy brought up her guitar adventures, i was wondering if we could take it one step further. i have been playing acoustic guitar for years and am very comfortable with fingerpicking and cord progressions. however, i have little idea how to accompany irish traditional music.
is there any specific source for this that you are aware of?
thanks
meir
Heh, I’m in the same boat. I think the same rules apply as for whistle. Listen to stuff that has accompaniment. I know that’s not a whole lot of help, and I wish I could offer up more, but that’s about all I’ve figured out so far.
Fingerpicking is nice for some slower Irish tunes, but strumming with a pick is very popular, working back and forth between the on-beat and the off-beat. A good guitar player can make all the difference, providing the right drive to inspire the lead instrumentalists.
About 15 years ago I really got into the DADGAD tuning of guitars for Irish. It really lends itself to the qualities in chordal relationships you are looking for in Celtic music.
Aidan Brennan is but one of the younger players who has his own web site and workshop. He comes through town every year and is really quite amazing.
http://www.torchlake.com/blackbird/AidanBrennanworkshopguitar.htm
But there are many others.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=dadgad
It helps to be familiar with modal theory for accompanying Irish music. Most Irish music comes four modes for each of two key signatures-one sharp and two sharps. I am deliberately not calling them G and D. Look at Chris Smith’s page of instructional theory under modes. There are some other valuable articles there too. http://www.geocities.com/coyotebanjo/instruction/
Another summary of modes may be found at this site. Look under accompaniment. http://www.tiompanalley.com/
Han’s DADGAD page may be of use if you want DADGAD information. I don’t like the chord charts though because he doesn’t distinguish between useful chords and not useful chords and there are too many chords presented. http://home.hccnet.nl/h.speek/dadgad/
There are some good books too. Especially Chris Smith’s Celtic Accompaniment for All Instruments. It’s a Mel Bay book. I reccomend you avoid the DADGAD Book by Sarah McQuaid.
Steve
I’m curious. Why avoid the Sarah McQuaid book? It was recommended to me . . . I haven’t bought it yet, but I’d like to know the pros and cons before I do.
Most DADGAD players are accompanists. In fact, most guitar players are accompanists. The McQuaid book is not useful for learning DADGAD accompaniment. There is only one example of accompaniment in the book and I don’t think it’s very good. There are a lot of chords if you want them. What I would prefer is a chart of really useful chords. For instance, John Doyle’s video and booklet presents a mere handful of really useful chords and gives examples of their use (DADGBE tuning). You can also get a lot of DADGAD chords from Han Speek’s web site without buying a book. His material on chord scales is fairly good and is better than anything in the McQuaid book as far as accompaniment is concerned. However, if you want a selection of tunes arranged for finger picking DADGAD guitar, then the book may be worth it. However, I think a book which is called The DADGAD Guitar Book should adequately cover accompaniment. I have heard some good things about a book on Irish guitar by Frank Kilkelly but don’t have it myself.
The only book on guitar which is really aimed at producing autonomy is Chris Smith’s book and it’s not really specifically about guitar. For instance, a piano player could possibly use it. It adequately covers the necessary theory for Irish accompaniment and gives a lot of concrete examples of putting the theory to work. The books I have looked at are not too bad with the exception of the McQuaid book but always leaving you wondering “OK, what do I do now?” They give you specific chords for a few tunes but don’t cover any general principles. There have been requests here at C&F for chords to tunes. Sometimes, the tunes have been ones that are very easy to accompany, at least using the minimal number of chords. If the material that is available (mainly Smith’s book) were used, this would not be a problem.
I guess I’m telling you more than you asked for here but I hope I covered the DADGAD book.
Steve
[ This Message was edited by: SteveK on 2003-01-12 17:00 ]