Past Irish journeys
Everyone is on a journey. What makes our journeys more interesting are the things that broaden our knowledge, enrich our experience, and help build connections. Over the past years we have enjoyed the journeys below.
Kevin Crawford’s talk on the benefits of going back to basics delves into the importance of mastering the foundational elements of Irish traditional music. How returning to core techniques and principles can enhance musicality, improve technical proficiency, and deepen one’s understanding of the tradition. We will discuss essential aspects such as rhythm, ornamentation, phrasing, and breath control, illustrating how these fundamentals serve as the building blocks for more advanced playing. This practice benefits musicians at all levels, advocating for a strong grasp of basics to unlock greater creativity and expression in Irish music.
Nuala and Eamon recently made an album of traditional songs on the Greek Island of Hydra. This is a journey within a journey…
We’re always getting told to listen, listen, listen if we want to learn Irish traditional music. It’s true, but sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what to listen for. We’ll discuss exactly that—the vastly complex data stream that is a tune, how to decode it, and how to get the most useful information out of it. The goal is to open up different, exciting, and new possibilities and dimensions of the listening experience.
Come learn about this unique collection of Irish traditional song put together by Sam Henry in the 1920s and 30s. We’ll talk about, but more importantly, sing together as many of these great songs as time allows. All are welcome to listen in, but lyrics will be provided for those who wish to participate.
Liz has spent her early life learning the practice fundamentals of classical music and then had to modify and expand this experience for learning Irish traditional music. In this workshop, she will outline some of the core elements of her practice today and suggest some functional practices that will ensure your progress both technically and musically on your chosen instrument. This class is open to all instruments and voices. Bring your questions. comments and experiences!
Let’s take a look at the music of one of the best known but least listened to musicians of the 20th century. Deeply rooted in place and time, Micho was an absolute genius of rhythm, phrasing, and articulation. We’ll see some aspects of how Micho approached playing the tin whistle and the flute, and, equipped with that knowledge, let’s see what we can learn to bring to life in our own music today. For, but certainly not limited to, flute and whistle players!
How to make an Album and TV show around it
Máirtín will give insight into what inspired him to curate an album that is a love letter to home from an immigrant. He will go into how he created the album and the subsiquent TV show around it.
He will use snippets from the audio album and short sections from the video to demonstrate how things worked out. The figures on what things cost, the timeline each section took and how sales went after will be discussed. His thoughts on crowdfunding will be offered along with reaching your audience and how to distribute the product afterwards.
Irish music doesn’t have to be fast, but it often is. And getting all those eighth notes up to speed on your own is just half the battle – session playing requires everyone to be playing up to speed and together, which is much easier said than done. This mini workshop will delve into the three pillars of playing faster and better with others: efficiency of technique, accurate personal and group rhythm skills, and the most simple and difficult skill of all: listening.
Learning tunes by ear is a skill which develops over time, but there are some things we can do to help the process along. In this class, we’ll try out some ear training exercises, use those to help identify common patterns and shapes in tunes, and practice transferring them to our instruments. We’ll also discuss methods for approaching new tunes and ways we can use technology to our advantage. You’ll leave with a toolbox you can continue to build and some tune-learning methods to experiment with to find what works best for you!
Music and dance are made for each other, and in no case is that more true than in the Irish tradition. Session and gig expertise is what many players work toward, leaving a whole area of collaboration and play that is left unexplored!
Playing for a dancer is a rewarding and creative experience that will inevitably come up in a musician’s path and this workshop is here to prepare you. Whether it’s for a ceili or for a fellow session-goer that may want to pull out a step, this class will walk you through what to expect with tunes, tempo, rhythm, and good practice. There will be a mix of demonstration, presentation, and prompted practice that will prepare you to use your new skills at that night’s session!
These songs range from the comical to the supernatural. Learn about, listen to (and sing?) examples from this unique repertoire of Irish song.
In this journey we’ll take a look at how beloved melodies can make their way into different meters in Irish music, resulting in new tunes or songs which have a life of their own. We’ll look at some examples, such these, and more… Anach Cuain (Song) —> Slow Air —> The Sheep in the Boat (Jig) The Hunours of Drinagh (Jig) —> The Banks of the Ilen (Reel). We’ll experiment a bit with doing it ourselves and see what might come of it!
Accompanists often learn technique quickly at the start of their playing and then plateau when they reach a certain point, unsure of how to craft fundamental techniques into meaningful accompaniment. This workshop will focus on how to listen (and what to listen for) to help accompanists move beyond playing basic patterns to being able to engage with and tastefully accompany tunes. Differences in accompanying tunes with solo melody vs accompanying tunes with melody and another backing instrument will be discussed. Additionally, pacing over a tune/set of tunes will be considered. While this workshop will be discussed from a bodhrán perspective, these are broad concepts that can be applied to any backing instrument.
Though it’s possible to play Irish music without knowing much about music theory, a little knowledge can go a long way. Don’t worry, we won’t go down any academic rabbit holes, and you don’t need to have any prior theory training in order to attend. We’ll learn how to use very basic tips and tricks to quickly figure out what key you’re playing in, what that means for you and whomever you’re playing with, including how to use this info to build more auditorily awesome sets, make smoother transitions, add some chordal pizzazz, and wow your friends and family.
The Bad Neighbors Rhythm Project brings the rhythm aspect of traditional music to the fore, exploring the interplay between dance, percussion, and melody. In this hour-long presentation and discussion, dancer Danielle Enblom and bodhrán player Anna Colliton discuss the rhythmic foundations of traditional music, inviting the audience to view rhythm, accompaniment, musicality, and dance through a fresh lens. They discuss the interplay between tradition and innovation, explore their creative process, and share some of their recent work.
An exploration of one tune heard in the recordings of nine stylistically distinct players (including one of the staff, John Doyle!), different eras, different instruments. This talk will be a window into what Liz herself hears in these recordings, how and what she has taken from the learning of these versions, and some methods and ideas for how to apply this in your own playing.
As you probably know, the harp is the emblem of Ireland, and in fact it was inscribed on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage in 2019. This presentation tells the story of our national instrument, taking us on a journey from the earliest days of the magical harp featured in Irish mythology, through the history of the bards, the story of Carolan, to the decline, preservation and eventual revival of the Irish harp. It is illustrated with PowerPoint slides and musical examples, with plenty of opportunity for informal Q&A.
Which of these two seminal bands rocked your world?
Or perhaps you were you a Planxty or Chieftains head
Insight into life on the road and keeping a band together
Not all Irish music originated in Ireland. This talk will connect the dots to other cultures and times.
A cell phone or standard PC allows you to record your music but what if you wish more control or more hardware? This presentation will introduce you to the key concepts and components in upgrading your recording capabilities. Tim Kennedy is a recording professional with Erin Shores Productions. He is producing the concerts for the Gulf Coast Cruinniú.
This Irish Journey will begin with a discussion on producing and arranging traditional music but then take a path set by John and his audience.