LINKS & RESOURCES

OTHER SLOW SESSIONS AND TUNE RECORDINGS

Bloomington, IL slow session — Unfortunately defunct for now, but lots of tune recordings on this page.

Dallas Slow Sessions — Site owned by some folks who run a slow, a medium, and a fast session in Dallas, TX. Tunes for playing and downloading–scroll to the bottom of the MUSIC page and you’ll find them.

Irish Flute Tunes — tunes played on flute!!!

McDonnell’s Traditional Irish Music Slow Session — In Melbourne, Australia! Sadly defunct. But there are still some recordings of their session on the site you could play along to!

The Groton Session — A group that holds sessions and workshops. Recordings of workshop tunes are available at the link.

Irish Arts Academy of Indianapolis — extensive catalogue of tune recordings, many played slow, medium, and fast.

Riley School of Irish Music — Music school in Cincinnati, OH, with a huge selection of recordings.

INSTRUCTION AND LEARNING (both online and on-the-ground)

Connecticut Academy of Irish Music — Group instruction in traditional Irish music to children and adults on a variety of instruments (fiddle, tin whistle, flute, mandolin, banjo, guitar, concertina, button accordion, and bodhran), as well as singing. Located in Wethersfield, CT.

Brattleboro Music Center — Lessons and classes in vocal, orchestral and traditional disciplines in southern Vermont.

Boston Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann — Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann music school founded in 1997 to give Boston area students a traditional Iriah music school that represents the highest standards of professional musical instruction in the traditional instruments.

Online Academy of Irish Music — For a low monthly fee, have access to hundreds of lessons in all manner of Irish traditional instruments, taught by Ireland’s best musicians. Many free lessons are available to get you started.

Dan Foster–Irish Fiddle Tutor — Dan is an experienced tutor for violin and fiddle music and he tailors his lessons to suit the individual needs for students of all ages. Based in South Windsor, CT, USA.

INSTRUMENT RELATED SITES:

Na Píobairí Uilleann — all things Uillean Pipes

Chiff and Fipple forums — massive forum with sub-forums for whistlers, fluters, pipers, squeezers, and more.

Concertina.net — all things concertina, with forums.

Melodeon.net — Mainly about D/G melodeons buta fair amount of discussion of Irish-style boxes too.

Fiddle Hangout — all things fiddle, not just Irish either

Fiddle Forum — even more things fiddle.

Brother Steve’s Irish Squeezebox page — lots o’ links!

Han’s Irish Squeezebox Page — not a forum thing, but informational.

WEBSITES OF INTEREST:

Ceol Álainn — Rare Recordings of Traditional Irish Music. Lots of Irish music and info about Irish music. I’m not making it sound awesome, but just go there, it is AWESOME.

The Music of Sliabh Luachra — An interactive map of the people, places, and tunes that define the music of Sliabh Luachra. Go hiontach ar fad!

Irish Tune Composers Pages — this is a fascinating collection of information about the composers of Irish dance tunes. A great time killer, and fodder for your own session banter!

thesession.org — tune info, abc and staff notation formats, midi previews of tunes, and a message forum.

slowplayers.org — tons of info about slow sessions and tune learning

The Shamrock Traditional Irish Music Society of Fairfield, CT — A Connecticut non-profit dedicated to fostering and preserving Irish Music and Culture through performances, concerts, support of artists recording and publishing projects and support of like minded organizations such as Comhaltas and The Catskill’s Irish Arts Week.

Irish Cultural Center of New England — Recognizing and promoting Irish history and culture in Boston.

Ceol Agus Rince — Based in CT, Ceol Agus Rince Promotions specializes in planning, organizing, and hosting events for Irish traditional music, dance, songs, stories. Check out their calendar of events!

Glastonbury Irish American Home society — “The general mission of the Irish American Home was and continues to be a society that welcomes and brings together Irish and Irish American families and practices and preserves Irish traditions, cultures, music and friendship.”

Worcester Hibernian Cultural Foundation — Irish cultural events in worcester, MA. They Run the Fiddler’s Green event facility, and organize events elsewhere. Sign up for their email list for the easiest way to get WHCF updates. Or check out their CALENDAR page for events.

Irish Cultural Center of Western New England — The Irish Cultural Center in West Springfield, MA is devoted to keeping the Irish arts and culture alive. They work to preserve, share, and promote Ireland’s cultural heritage, so that all people will have the opportunity to appreciate its rich legacy. Their Irish House Restaurant and Trinity Pub offer food and regular music events, including a weekly session!

The John Boyle O’Reilly Club — “Western Massachusetts’ Home for Irish Culture, Tradition and Family” in Springfield, MA. The members of the John Boyle O’Reilly Club are dedicated Irish and Irish-Americans whose goal is to preserve and promote their Irish Heritage.

The Burren Music Schedule — Irish pub in Somerville, MA. So much going on here, it’s worth it having its own link!

Comhaltas — Showcasing kids playing Irish music who are much younger and much better than us at their instruments (assuming yr a beginner!) :D

Pint of Irish Celtic Music Community   —  A group of musicians and others interested in the music, dance, and culture of Ireland and other Celtic Nations. Based in southern California. Great site, great community!

The Press Gang–Box player Christian “Junior” Stevens, fiddler Alden Robinson, and guitarist Owen Marshall combine their musical superpowers to create amazing music in Maine.

musictheory.net –all things music theory.

americeltic — AmeriCeltic is a non-profit organization that celebrates and preserves the culture and history of Americans of Celtic descent.

FESTIVALS AND WORKSHOPS:

Fiddle Hell — Fiddle Hell Massachusetts is a yearly gathering of fiddlers to meet, jam, learn, and have fun. ‘Nuf said.

Northern Roots Summer Camp Weekend — Brattleboro, VT. The Northern Roots Weekend features a series of intensive teaching workshops in traditional music for all instruments, with a focus on fiddle, flute, whistle, guitar and song.

NESI (The Northeast Squeeze-In) — The Squeeze-In is a non-profit laid-back weekend gathering of free-reed instrument players and their partners.  Beginners and advanced players are all welcome.

Catskills Irish Arts Week — A week of workshops, Céilí, concerts and sessions in East Durham NY. Not to be missed!

Northeast Tionól — Held every year since 1986, the Northeast Tionól is a weekend of classes, workshops, and concerts focusing on the Irish uilleann pipes and fiddle. East Durham, NY.

Greater Hartford Irish Music Festival — A variety show of All-Things-Irish spanning three days annually in Glastonbury CT.

Boston’s Celtic Music Fest — BCMFest showcases Greater Boston’s best musicians, singers, and dancers from Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, and other Celtic traditions. If the above link doesn’t work, try the BCMFest blog for info and links.

The Swannanoa Gathering’s Celtic Week — A week of Celtic music programming and workshops annually near Asheville, NC.

Baltimore Irish Trad Fest — A weekend of workshops, performances and sessions in Irish traditional music, dance and song. Located in Baltimore, MD.

more to come…