SLOW AIR TUNE BOOK WITH CHORDS? & SITE OF POSSIBLE INTER

Trad Strings
1

I play a bit of pennywhsitle and have recently gotten together with a couple of guys who play banjo, guitar or both They want to enter the world of traditional Irish music–with the added burden of me, evidently the only pennywhsitle player they can get their hands on. Could anyone recommend a good tune book of slow airs and other basic traditional Irish Music THAT HAS THE CHORDS, preferably with a CD. I have shared with them a handful of tunes from the whistle instruction books that I have that also have guitar accompaniment on the CD & the chords in the sheet music, but they (and I) are looking for more, especially slow airs. My (meager) understanding is that the old standby’s, such as the Mel Bay book of slow airs, do not have the chords.

On an unrelated note, if you want to see a neat hand built guitar, visit this website, which is my older brother’s:

eddowling.com

It has not been updated in some time, but what the heck. He’s busy playing and building instruments. The sound clips are going to be updated soon. In the alternative, if anyone would like to hear a more recent clip from a more recently completed instrument, let me know, and I will e-mail it to you.

Thanks,

Tom D.

2

I would think that slow airs are generally played without accompaniment,
because the rhythm is so malleable, and that’s why you haven’t found
chords for them… You could try finding some jigs and reels that sound
good played very slowly, as those will have chords and a definite rhythmic
pattern. (e.g., After Battle of Aughrim)

Disclaimer: I am probably wrong.

3

Thank you Fearfaoin.

You are coming to my aid all over the place today. I need to ponder this and figure out what it was those guys wanted from me. Maybe it was to send me on a wild goose chase so that we don’t have to play together. Sounds like a plan…

Be well,

Tom D.

4

Fearfaoin is correct about slow airs but it sounds like you could use tunes to songs. Try 130 Great Irish Ballads by Robert Gogan. Has music, cords, and a CD.

5

you don’t have to not do something just because its not traditional. your little group is not a traditional group- you have no fiddle flute or pipes. i agree that slow airs are not for strumming accompaniment, but you could try slow arpegios with a fingerpicking style and that could sound good, adding color to the slow air.
in terms of what cords- its far better to figure it out for yourself. if you do not yet do this automatically, here is an approach:

  1. figure out what key the tune is in - pretty easy if you play it on whistle- it will usually be D or G major, sometimes E or B minor.
  2. identify the chords for your key- the root, 4th, 5th, relative minor, and sometimes 7th.
  3. if you play the tune on whistle (hopefully you play by ear) than you have the tune memorizized already.
  4. sing the tune.
  5. starting with the root chord, try out your 5 choices until it sounds good.
    you rarely have to change chords more than once a measure, and often you can hold the same chord for a full measure or several measures.
  6. i have a great book on celtic backup at thome- when i get there i will post the name
  7. you will then be free of the need to be given the chords.
    hope this helps. if you already knew this i apologize, did not mean to offend.

meir