Links and pointers to useful information on the subject of Irish music, dance, and playing a musical instrument.
Contents
Music Instruction
- “121 Favorite Irish Session Tunes” by L.E.McCullough
- Has sheet music and a CD with the tunes played relatively slowly, with no ornamentation, then faster with ornaments.
Dance Instruction
- Steps for Sets, by Mick Mulkerrin.
- Shows the fancy footwork you can use in different set dances. A must for anyone who likes the rhythmic, percussive side of dance. Doesn’t teach the set dances themselves. (For that, it’s best to find a teacher or get a multi-volume video series.) Available from Ossian, below.
Music and Dance Camps
- https://www.bc.edu/gaeilicroots/
- For information on the Gaelic Roots music and dance camp. (Here is a review.)
- https://www.larkinam.com
- For information on the Lark in the Morning music and dance camp.
Bay Area Slow Sessions
- https://www.best.com/~otter
- Session run by JoAnn Rees in the Sunnyvale/San Jose area.
- https://www.slowplayers.org/MPSP/
- Session run by Michael Duffy and Greg Douglas in the San Mateo area.
- https://www.slowplayers.org/
- A cool site that lists a number of slow-play sessions in the Bay Area.
Reference
- https://www.gre.ac.uk/~c.walshaw/abc/
- The abc music format and software
- Celtic Mouth Music, Elipsis Press, NY.
- A small booklet that describes the traditional Irish art of diddling. Includes a CD with a wide range of examples. Available from Ossian, below.
- Field Guide to the Irish Music Session
- A short, funny book that takes you inside an Irish music session, shows you what’s there, and gives you some idea of the etiquette involved.
- Chris Smith, Celtic Back-Up for All Instrumentalists, published by Mel Bay (https://www.melbay.com/)
- A great book that explains pretty much what there is to know about the musical structure of Irish music, and seventeen different ways to go about accompanying it tastefully.
- Chris Smith’s booklet on running a slow session
- A nice little gem with thoughts about how to start and run a slow session. Available at cost by contacting Chris at
christopher.smith@ttu.edu.
Stores
- https://www.ossianus.com
- The Ossian store of Irish music and dance. They have an astonishingly deep collection of books, CDs, and music that they keep focused on traditional material.
- https://www.gryphonstrings.com/
- The Gryphon music store. A fantastic guitar shop that also stocks fiddles and tin whistles. The place where Carol McComb (among others) gives her singing and instrument workshops.
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