The Next 300 Rafferty Tunes - JOY!

Irish Flute
1

So I opened the mailbox this past windy, rainy Saturday and lo, sunshine poured forth. :slight_smile: OK, OK. Anyway, there was my copy of Lesl Harker’s new Mike Rafferty Tunebook (“Second Wind: 300 More Tunes from Mike Rafferty”), and all I can say is WHOO-HOO!!! Once again I’ve been spending every spare minute reading through it, devouring it like a beach paperback novel – only this stuff is GOOD!

As with the first book (wildly titled “300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty”), the settings are all totally “flute-friendly.” Even familiar tunes are fascinating because you can see the genius of Rafferty (and those who came before him) in working around octave jumps, “spiky” or awkward intervals/accidentals/fingering combinations, etc. In fact, over the last couple of years I’ve found Rafferty’s settings invaluable for learning how to move a tune from the more common fiddle transcription to something that not only works on the flute, but shows the flute to its best advantage.

And then there are the tunes. Every one’s a gem, and I swear I’m finding one of my “mystery tunes” (i.e., the ones you hear and go “That’s great!” but have no name for and then never really pursue because there are a hundred others in the same mental pile) on about every other page.

Rafferty has great taste; he picks the good ones for sure – it’s fun to read them and think about what’s caught his ear as a flute player over the years. And his settings are, of course great for playing alone, especially since they’re not the bog-standard/stripped-down versions you find on the session dot argh. This said, I should mention that the conscientious flute player will also have the stripped-down versions of some of these tunes (or work backward from Rafferty’s settings) for session play, because some of Rafferty’s settings are too singular for group play. Of course, the alternative is to get your session to learn that setting. :smiley:

Once upon a time, someone said “If you want to write like Hemingway, first type Hemingway.” In other words, if you really want to get inside how he wrote, slow down and type a passage or two or three from one of his books. You’ll be amazed at how much you see. I’ve applied this to my flute playing with the first Rafferty book and although I’ll never play like Mike, I’ve learned so much from my hours with the book. It’s a master class in itself.

Oh, one note – the tunes in this book are actually printed as Ms. Harker got them from Mike – so a jig might be followed by a reel, a barn dance by a hornpipe, etc. But it’s kind of fun to imagine the conversation – "oh, that fling reminds me of a reel I got from So and So, who used to … "

So intentional or not, it’s like another little look inside the mind of one of the greats. And the transcriptions couldn’t be more faithful. Follow them carefully enough and hey, you might actually discover you’re playing with some semblance of internal rhythm! There are even eighth rests where – hey! You can breathe!

OK, I’m sorry I’m gushing. I’ve gone and gotten nostalgic about how much I’ve gotten out Rafferty I and am transferring it to this new book. But it really is great.

Between my two Rafferty books and Ronnie MacNamara’s Morrison transcriptions book I’m having some serious nerdy dot-reading fun lately :slight_smile:

We are so lucky to have a great flute player like Mike Rafferty who has such interest in, and good taste in, tunes. And we’re blessed that Mike has a student like Lesl Harker to capture these tunes in her lessons with him and transcribe the. This is truly a labor of love and without it a lot of brilliant music and settings would fall by the wayside, I fear.

Yippeeee! Can’t wait to go play some more. I feel like a kid at Christmas.

2

Where do you get these books?

Pat

3

makes ya wonder :laughing:

http://www.firescribble.net/rafferty/index.html

4

:blush:

Sorry! Guess I could have included that, huh.

5

wot would I do then?

I’d be purposeless… :frowning:

6

my goodness - Cat’s out o the Bag now :stuck_out_tongue: and thanks, you guys! I would like to add that I was asked to send a CP on this, but hadn’t finished pondering how to deal with that.. so the commercial is that Cat’s not been paid for that, and uh.. for that matter, neither have I.. I’m just hoping to break even as in the past. Those of you who have the first book made this book possible so thanks again to all of you.

Am happy to also report that Master Raff and myself have been on the master-apprentice programme from the NJ Arts Council for the past 2 years so I guess I got promoted from student to apprentice :laughing:

Is Paul Wells (composer of The Bower reel) on the Chiff? There’s a new section on the website with original settings from a few of the composers whose tunes Mike plays, including Paul’s - it was his idea to show some comparisons. It’s interesting to try the similarities and differences in the settings, and there are contributions there from Tim Tully, Anne Conroy-Burke, Josephine Keegan and Martin Mulhaire.

And by the way, the other day I noticed a couple of threads which mused about how Mike handles the fingering of the second octave d - the top hand pointer is up. :thumbsup:
Lesl

7

Adding to wish list now. :slight_smile:

8

I’m a dot reader, too, but within the past couple of years and largely due to the influence C&F has had on me in that time, I’ve learned the basics of abc, not that I could claim to be good at it, but good enough to work my way through it.

For me, however, abc does have some severe limits, yet your description of the new Rafferty book tells me that all is well, dots and all, thank you!

Now, some savor their lollipops, while others crunch them, and I’ve been taking my time to savor my way through the first Rafferty book. Thanks, lesl! Of course I will get a copy of the new Rafferty book, but it could be quite some while before I’m done with the first book.

BTW, and to anybody who might not be aware, there are at least four Rafferty CD recordings available, including Mike and Mary Rafferty. Not all of the tracks are of flute, as there is a variety to the music, but they are wonderful recordings, like being invited to a concert in the Rafferty’s own home, recommended!

9

http://www.raffertymusic.com/recordings.html

10

There’s a new recording coming out soon as well: Mike Rafferty and Willie Kelly recorded a CD together; they announced it on Clare FM a couple of months ago when the radio station did a live broadcast from Willie and Siobhan’s house. I believe it will be released pretty soon, in the next month or two.

11

Good to hear of it, but could the new Rafferty recording then be available from the same source as Denny mentioned?

12

Yes, I’m sure they’ll add it to their website when it’s ready.

13

Mike is a great man. I remember asking him once if he perferred Rudall, Pratten, or other. He looked at me and said, " I don’t know, I just play the flute." :laughing: That was the best answer I have ever heard.

14

Lesl:

Congratulations! I got a copy of your new book the other day. What a great job - no sophomore slump here.

For those who may not be familiar with Lesl’s work, let me just say:

  1. Her transcriptions on Mike’s approach to playing are very faithful, and show great insight on Lesl’s part - she really understands what is worth notating and what is not.
  2. Her research into tune names is painstaking and greatly appreciated. She may well surpass most recent collectors in the rigor and accuracy of her research.
  3. Her “first couple of notes” index of the tunes by their, umm, first couple of notes is very handy indeed when you are looking for a tune but don’t have the name.
  4. Her documentation of Mike’s memories and anecdotes associated with the tunes is priceless.
  5. The quality of the typography, printing, paper and binding are all top notch.

There is a lot more to this than just 300 tunes jotted down and published. I’d encourage anyone with an interest in East Galway music to shell out for a copy; you won’t regret it.

All the best,

Tom