Great teachers(Nugent, Heaton, Crow), great sessions, great craic. Come join us. www.tionol.org
Mike
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Bump again.
Should be a great weekend!!
You’ll also get a chance to hear and try out my “Thornton Whistles”!
Tommy
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I’ll be there!
Me too. I’ve made up a few “I’m a Chiff & Fipple-ite” stickers for anyone who would like one there. 
Hi everyone,
I will be there too, with a ton of whistles in any key you can name.
For anyone who has never been to the St. Louis Tionol, it is a really fun weekend with awesome teachers, great fellowship, sessions and a Ceili Friday night, classes all day Saturday, concert and sessions Saturday night and Sunday afternoon and the concert is always wonderful at one of the best concert halls in America- The Sheldon Auditorium, a place that is intimate and looks like it came out of the 19th century or at least early 20th century and the acoustics are perfect and not a bad seat in the house. There will be a raffle too for a whistle and one of those gorgeous and awesome Sassafras whistle rolls along with a lot of other great stuff. You have a great chance to win something. That whistle roll is a real piece of artwork and is something to see.
http://www.tionol.org/raffle.html
A person could get a real WHOAA attack and never even begin to fill up this baby!!
Hope to see you all there. It is worth the drive or airplane ticke to come, so see you in St. Louis!
All the best
Mike
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Gee, no one’s posted a review yet… Well, this was my first Tionol, although I was at McGurk’s 3 years ago when I happened to be in the St. Louis area on the same weekend as the Tionol.
I really enjoyed both the Friday and Saturday night concerts. Especially at the Sheldon–it’s a neat place. The Friday night ceili was fun too, and even total beginners could participate, so my husband and I tried it out.
I didn’t get as much out of the workshops as I was hoping, but I think it’s because I’m stuck somewhere between intermediate and advanced at the moment. I started out in the intermediate workshop with Shannon Heaton, who is a great teacher, but the pace of the class was way too slow. In the afternoon I went to the advanced class with Laurence Nugent, but we mostly just sat around and played tunes and he didn’t do much in the way of instruction. I think I would have done well with Shannon’s teaching style in an advanced group of students.
I learned one valuable thing though–I think I already have enough knowledge in my head to turn my mediocre playing into something great, if I would just slow down and practice! I need to pick apart those tunes I already know, reworking them with ornaments, appropriate phrasing, etc. rather than continuing to learn new tunes all the time. I think I was under the impression that a workshop was where I would receive the “magic formula” that would instantly transform my playing. Nope, I just need to slow down and practice! Same thing people have been advising newbies on this board all along, huh?
The sessions were pretty good, although there weren’t as many people at McGurk’s on Sunday as when I was there 3 years ago. It was a beautiful day, so maybe some of the locals had decided to do something else rather than sit around in a bar on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Annie, I enjoyed meeting you and your family and getting to play some tunes with you! I hope I can make it back up again sometime.
All in all, I had a good experience.
Hi Jen!
Larry (the one from Cincinnati, that is ) here!
I’d have to agree with your post re: the workshops. I’m not sure I got as much out of it as I’d have liked. I didn’t try the intermediate workshop, but from what I’ve heard from a friend that was in it - Shannon is a fantastic teacher. I think I’d have liked to have sat in on Shannon’s class if only for half the day - even given the slower pace of the class. All in all, I think Shannon + advanced group of students would be a really great class.
Both concerts were fantastic, especially if you’re a flute and pipes nut like I am. The Sheldon is indeed a cool venue.
The sessions were fun enough. I really, really, really need to learn more tunes though - which is going to be my project for the summer while the Riley School is out of session (along with playing more flute).
I reckon I had a pretty good time. It was good to meet new people and listen to some great playing.
St. Louis could invest in some street/highway signs that make better sense though. 
Hi Jen! Yes, I hope you do come back next year. It was nice to meet you and your husband too. We had a lot of fun, and Dale now has The Silver Spear on his mind… I’d better learn it!!
It was wonderful! I’m already planning on next year.
I learned a few things in the Intermediate Class, (besides the fact that I probably annoy the bejaysus out of better sessioners right now) most essentially that I need to really focus work on hearing what the music does, and then play, play, play and play some more… as well as, “use that foot, get the “lift” on the upstroke of the beat, learn several ways to play certain note combinations, and vary your breath locations”.
For me, Shannon was clear about what she likes and does not - on the one hand inspiring, but on the other, greatly disheartening, though mostly because I fit so many of the negatives that she clearly disdains, so no doubt needed to hear it.
She requires good ear learning, which is something I am not quick with at this time, so I did not get the tunes she went through in the class at all. She did not provide any written materials, put little on the board and did not have time to put into individual effort with class members (10-13 of us). She obviously knows what she’s doing, and I will try hard to internalize the improvements, but I don’t think that I would go for another of her classes in a one day only setting. I am not a beginner, but I was not well prepared for what she had to offer. I’m sure anyone who is a fast ear learner would get a great deal out of her classes.
I wish had more regular access to an instructor.
I got to talk with some really great folks, and that was wonderful… From rank amateur to lifetime honors icons, and they were all just as open and accessible as you could ask.
Some general things I will remember for next year:
Bring a recorder. - (this seems such a ‘no-brainer’, but i didn’t own one… adding it to the birthday list now) this would have helped me a lot, given that she had no printed material and the class was very aural. It also would have allowed me to keep some of the session tunes and the like.
Notepad and pencil - though that was of limited use this time.
Find a motel closer to all the action - especially the late night sessions locations.
Don’t stay up so late Friday night when you’ve got class in the morning. (duh!) Even though it is tempting to get right into the fun of sessioning, I end up so tired, it’s hard to be ‘on’ for real absorption the next morning … plus it leaves me too tired to session after the concert. I’d rather be a party pooper Friday night, session Saturday night and then sleep late Sunday, so I can eat that lovely brekkers, session all day, and still be safe for driving home late that afternoon.
Oh! I also saw Tommy Martin and got to try his new whistles. http://www.thorntonwhistles.info/ They are quite nice. The C/D set has one fipple and two bodies. Light and easy to play.
My thanks to all who attended. The weekend only works because people show up and enjoy themselves.
Please don’t feel discouraged. You’ll be amazed at what you did pick up. Some kind of recording device is essential equipment though for those of us who need to hear it a bunch of times before it gets into our fingers. And a pencil and paper help as well. And keep listening to everything you can get your hands on particularly if you can find recordings of some of the older players.
Hope to see everyone next year.
Mike