A short summary of where I come from, and how I found about Irish music and dance.
“Top 40” Traditional Irish Tunes
These are the top 40 tunes of all time. The first 20 are totally killer. Except for the waltzes, these tunes are all played with strong rhythmic emphasis.
Introducing Irish Music
An introduction to the wide variety of Irish music and dance forms.
Resources for Learning Irish Music and Dance
Links and pointers to useful information on the subject of Irish music, dance, and playing a musical instrument.
Musical Acknowledgements
Many people spent a lifetime on their own musical journey — people who were kind enough to share their passion with me. This page lists the people to whom I am most indebted.
Greek Tunes and Rhythms
These Greek-island tunes were taught by
Georgios Leftheriotis, at the Lark in the Morning music and dance camp, in 2001. It is instructive to note that time signatures can be broken down many different ways, so the 9/8 tune in the list below is not broken down as 3-3-3, but rather as 2-2-2-3.
Play Button Accordion
Tips on learning to play the Irish button accordion.
Sufi Music
The music of love. Truly wonderful, inspiring and uplifting music. (At it’s best, it is accurately described as “enlightening”.)
Greek Scales
An introduction to the many lovely scales are heard in traditional Greek music. The most important are highlighted in bold.
Greek Scales and Accompaniment
These tables are a companion to the handout
Georgios Leftheriotis gave us at the Lark in the Morning music and dance camp.They should be useful on their own, as well. They show the names of the scales and the relative importance of each with respect to traditional Greek music (shown as value), in the tables).