So where is it going to be on sale, through Amazon or direct from Mary?
And yes, I do want to learn to play ITM to the best of my ability so if the books offer a far better more indepth experience than most book/CD tutors then I’m very interested.
I think (re-)learning the basics - most of which you already may “know” - from such a great player (or just her tutor) is worth more than months, probably even years of aimless noodling around.
At least, this was what I experienced when I eventually got Conal Ó Gráda’s flute tutor after quite a few months with the flute (and a couple of years with the whistle of course). From reading the contents, I didn’t think I could learn much really new. I had no idea.
Of course, I don’t know where and what you learned so far, and I haven’t seen Mary’s books yet. But I can’t imagine you’ll waste your money even “only” on the first volume.
For what it’s worth. 
Edit for typo
My finances are tight but its a good thought . . . one I was wondering about myself!
Yeah, as you said, definitively not that inexpensive. Especially as you’ll eventually want all three of them anyway…
lol, of course not, but you did come by it in exceptional circumstances.
Us mere plebs may have a harder time getting one.
Even the page on Mary’s site doesn’t give you a chance to purchase. In addition, only 2 out of three are evident.
but you did come by it in exceptional circumstances.
I don’t know, it’s Willie week, it’s in the shop in town.
Seriously though, I imagine she rushed it through to get it printed and ready for the summer. The launch wasn’t announced or at least not listed on the invitation for the event (unlike a bunch of other stuff that was being launched) which is perhaps an indication of a hot of the press/last minute situation.
Summer is busy, she’s teaching at the Willie week at the moment and I imagine by Saturday the whole circus will get on a plane to fly to the Catskills and whatever is next. But with printed copies on the shelves, I imagine the whole distribution issue will be sorted soon enough.
I’ll be interested to see how the tunes are notated.
It’s a strange thing in the ITM world- perhaps not strange to those within that world but strange to those with musical experience outside of it- that, practically without exception, books about ITM written by actual ITM players never notate anything the way it’s actually played.
Rather, in the style of Ceol Rince na hEireann, they give a generic bare-bones version regardless of the stated purpose of the book.
For example I have sitting here Timber: The Flute Tutor by Fintan Vallely. Yes the tutor talks about breathing, when to take breaths, ornamentation, and so forth, but none of the tunes are written with any of these flute-specific things indicated, and in fact are barebones versions much like a piano accordionist might play. Ditto for fiddle books, uilleann pipe books, and so on, at least the ones I have. ITM players have an ingrained notion that one must not even attempt to capture how the music is played, in staff notation. However it is quite possible, and simple, for a musically literate person to write out an ITM piece in such a way as to capture many of the performance practices and style. For example, many years ago I attended a whistle workshop taught by a guy who had written out several Mary Bergin tunes, notated off the Feadoga Stain album, with ALL the ornaments and articulations notated. (It’s not Black Magic… musically literate people are quite used to reading articulation and breathing indicators.) So, a musically literate person could sightread these tunes, and even if they had never heard or played ITM they would produce something that had all of Mary Bergin’s tonguing, breathing, and ornaments. Would it sound like ITM? Of course not! But the point is that when ITM players write out their own music they nearly always leave out many things which could easily be included, which would be expected to be included in the musically literate world.
I couldn’t agree more and this bugs me. Since how a piece is ornamented by a particular player will shape that piece, it stands to reason that, if we want to learn how he/she plays it, we need to be able to read the ornamentation within the music. ITM players are much divided on this. I’ve experienced that divide when posting fully ornamented tunes to Session.org. Some love the ornamentation shown, others don’t.
Until fairly recently a comprehensive, clean and tidy way of showing ornaments hasn’t really been available so you end up with tunes covered in grace notes but Grey Larsen’s notation system is great, producing uncluttered sheet music that is fully ornamented. Happily in his books/tutors, he fully notate the tunes. And Blayne Chastain, in his on-line lessons, uses Grey’s system too. But, as you say, these are exceptions. Last year Grey approached the man behind ABC Notation to see if his system of symbols could be incorporated in the next version and there was some suggestion that might be possible . . . which would be great.
But I’m getting off the subject here. What I note from Mary’s web-site is that “the music is written both in staff notation and in a form of ABC notation devised by me to illustrate the ‘internal’ rhythm and the ornamentation.” What this looks like, only Mr Gumby can tell us right now. Perhaps we’ll have to wait and see.
I, for one, would rather have the bare-bones notation and have the freedom to place ornamentation where it feels right right for me.
Having said that, it seems simple enough to place symbols above the notation to indicate an ornament should go there. For example, a ~ above where a roll could go would be fairly easy to do with the right software. Maybe / and \ to indicate cuts and taps…
Agreed. You’re free to do what you want. But having uncluttering symbols above the music also gives you the option of following the ornamentation of the transcriber. That’s what’s so good about it. You’ve given a couple of examples but check out the full list of Grey’s symbols http://www.blaynechastain.com/legend.pdf.
I totally agree on Grey Larsen’s notation system for ornamentations, I find it clear, unambiguous and non-intrusive. A simple sample of one page of M. Bergin’s tutor on her website to show which system she’s chosen would be helpful. These tutors don’t seem unexpensive at 50 - 60 euros/$ each volume, but let’s face it, how many times did we spent more than 50 $ on a supposed high end whistle we’ve been disappointed with and that sleeps in a drawer …
Good idea. In fact I wrote to Mary to make that same suggestion . . . and also to provide more information about what each book covers. My finances are limited and I don’t know whether to go for Book1 or Book2.
My personal wishes are somewhat different based on what I see as a great difference between a tune book and a tutorial, both in content and intent.
It’s easy enough to find a bare-bones notation for hundreds, if not thousands, of tunes. When I purchase a tutorial I’m looking more for “here’s how I play that tune” with all the various techniques included (breathing, ornamentation, phrasing, whatever). Once I get a sense of how Mr./Ms. Expert plays the tune, I’m free to adopt or reject whatever elements I choose and create my own arrangement.
Grey Larsen, in his books, provides this level of detail in his transcriptions as do Conal O’Grada and June McCormack in their flute tutorials. On the other hand, “The Joanie Madden Tunebook” is mostly tunes with a limited amount of ornamentation included.
What I personally find particularly frustrating are “tutorials” that provide only bare bones and are accompanied by a CD with the tune played at speed with full ornamentation. Given my limited skills, I have to listen/re-listen/re-listen to the CD (and generally slow it down) and then go back and annotate the bare bones tune book with what I thought I heard to figure out how the author/player is shaping the tune. (I know, if only I could learn by ear from someone playing at speed… ) I accept that most good players never play the tune the same way twice, but still, in a tutorial I’m hoping to get a better sense of their approach to and techniques used in playing the tune.
Enough of my ranting…
Best wishes.
Steve
If you really want to have a tune notated exactly the way someone (such as Mary Bergin) plays it, you won’t be able to use Grey Larson’s symbols, since many great players do not play cuts and taps the same way in every situation. So even here you’re still getting an approximation and a compromise… which is what the barebones versions are about anyway.
Get yourselves a copy of the Seamus Ennis tome and you’ll realize having all the details written out is not something you’d want in a tutorial.
That said, I agree that suggestions are a good thing, so I’d want to see some suggested cuts, taps, and breathing places. Eventually the tutorial should show you how to build those cuts and taps into rolls, crans, and whatever else you want to call them, sir.
I, for one, would rather have the bare-bones notation and have the freedom to place ornamentation where it feels right right for me.
You don’t want to buy a tutorial then do you? It’s the function of a tutorial to teach you what the ornamentation is doing in a tune and why it’s there at all. How to deal with (internal) rhythms, variation and all that. If you want a bare bone version, buy a tune book or download any old ABC collection from the web. They’re different ends to different means.
Book tutorials, on-line tutorials, etc. can only do so much. An in-person workshop is another matter. Take the workshop. I thought that was the purpose of the workshop.
Mary Bergin is scheduled for the Catskills Irish Arts Week 7/15-7/20/2013 with a book launch.
http://catskillsirishartsweek.com/
BTW, even if you had the notation with everything included and in whatever format… do you really think you can play it like MB or any of the others? Style and personality have to enter into the technique/execution game here. Just saying.
Wow! Catskills looks great . . . but its certainly put me in my place!!! Looking at the workshops and the grading, I come under basic level: “You have been playing traditional Irish music for two years or less, have little experience playing in sessions, are largely self-taught, and know a handful of tunes.” And here was me thinking I was at an intermediate level! Maybe I should start with Mary’s Book 2 even if I’m going over some familiar ground. I can get my wife to get me Book 2 for Christmas! I wish there were sessions where I live . . . but there aren’t.
The Catskills is great, it’s a really great week and a lot of fun. That said, I’d say the levels are a little ambitious, if anything. The description for intermediate always struck me as a better description for a beginner (especially when it described me!), but the one that really makes me scratch my head is the idea that you could be a competent session leader, while only being comfortable with 100 tunes.
Better check Scoil Samradh Willie Clancy. it’s the daddy of them all and a bit nearer for you. (not the website willieclancyfestival, which is not the school’s official website)
I took Mary’s advanced class in the Catskills many years ago, and I’d say that with two or three exceptions, everybody in the class met the basic description you have just given - except that some of them could have been at it for many years.
So I’m sure you’d be quite safe in an intermediate class there!