Lots of tunes just bubbling out of my head–I guess I’m getting mildly saturated. Here’s a nice one–easy on the whistle and fun to boot!
Month: April 2013
Ear Training
Remember how I was curious about whether there was an online call-and-response interval trainer, similar to our exercise from last session? Well I found this–it’s a little complex. but here’s what you do (there are also instructions below the applet):
click on the melodies tab, and check the box next to the word “melodies”.
on the left, under “note/scale options” choose only the notes you want to practice.
on the right, under “Each box is a…” choose “single note”
choose your preferred melody length
choose whether you want it to restrict the pattern to a single octave
under the controls coumn, far left, choose your tempo, then hit play and see what happens!l
Sliabh Luachra
This evening we learned a couple of tunes courtesy of Corey. One of them was a polka called “Ballydesmond No. 2.” Baile Deasumhain (Ballydesmond) is a village in the Sliabh Luachra region of County Cork. According to Wikipedia:
The name Sliabh Luachra means “a mountain of rushes”. However it is not a singular mountain, but a rolling plateau interspersed with what is generally accepted as its seven glens, or ‘seacht ngleann Shliabh Luachra’, over which various mountain peaks reach heights from approximately 450 to 500 metres.
And wouldn’t you know–Sliabh Luachra has its own website: www.sliabhluachra.com/
The Ballydesmond polka isn’t played in this video, but it’s a great sample of the Sliabh Luachra style:
We also learned a hornpipe called The Boys of Bluehill. A very common hornpipe learned by most beginners, like us!
Slight Schedule Change
HEADS UP everyone–The session schedule is changing! It’ll still be wednesdays, but here’s the deal:
session on the 17th
session on the 24th (the very next week!)
every two weeks thereafter.
a fancy listy way to say we’re switching the session to every OTHER other wednesday, and having two in a row as a bonus. We wouldn’t want to wait THREE weeks, now would we?
Please refer to the calendar if you’re confused: https://lvirishslowsession.wordpress.com/calendar/
Donncha Ó Briain
I am absolutely inspired by this man. I ran across a video of his playing the other day and have not been able to stop thinking about it since. Listen, read and watch:
http://www.livingtradition.co.uk/webrevs/cefcd199.htm
What? There’s more than just music?
If you’re interested in Irish music, there’s a good chance you’re interested in other aspects of Irish culture as well. There are a number of organizations in the area devoted to keeping Irish culture alive. Notable among them is the Irish Cultural Center at Our Lady of the Elms College.
Among lots of other great events, The Elms ICC has for some years now been hosting an annual Lá Gaeilge, or Irish language day. There’s one coming up on May 4th. According to the website, the Lá Gaeilge will be a day long immersion in the Irish Language, with two sessions of classes on 3 levels: beginners, intermediate, advanced, plus comhrá (conversation). Workshops will include Irish films, Irish set dancing & Irish sports. there’s more info available HERE.
Tá súil agam go mbeidh seans agaibh dull ann. B’fhéidir go mbuailfaidh mé libh ansiud!
Go dtí an céad seisiún eile–slán agaibh!
Lower Valley Irish Slow Session 