The Companion to Irish Traditional Music


Book Description

"The Companion to Irish Traditional Music is not just the ideal reference for the interested enthusiast and session player, it also provides a unique resource for every library, school and home with an interest in the distinctive rituals, qualities and history of Irish traditional music and song."--BOOK JACKET.




The Companion to Irish Traditional Music


Book Description

Fintan Vallely''s survey of Irish traditional music examines a wide range of topics relating to the histo ry of the genre, the characters, past and present who engage with the music and an analysis of the way the media represe nts it. '




Blooming Meadows


Book Description

This is a book of outstandingly warm, quirky and personality-laden pictures by the photographer Nutan. The moods and themes of these images are developed in the texts by Fintan Vallely and Charlie Piggott into personalities, lives, community and nation through biography, interview, comment, poetry and song. The voices are those of musicians and singers who have helped shape the revival of traditional music since the 1950s, along with today's generation of talented, articulate and highly educated players. Nostalgia, nationalism, romanticism, virtuosity and communitas here meet art and quiet confidence in cultural meaning.




The Globalization of Irish Traditional Song Performance


Book Description

In The Globalization of Irish Traditional Song Performance Susan Motherway examines the ways in which performers mediate the divide between local and global markets by negotiating this dichotomy in performance practice. In so doing, she discusses the globalizing processes that exert transformative influences upon traditional musics and examines the response to these influences by Irish traditional song performers. In developing this thesis the book provides an overview of the genre and its subgenres, illustrates patterns of musical change extant within the tradition as a result of globalization, and acknowledges music as a medium for re-negotiating an Irish cultural identity within the global. Given Ireland’s long history of emigration and colonisation, globalization is recognised as both a synchronic and a diachronic phenomenon. Motherway thus examines Anglo-Irish song and songs of the Irish Diaspora. Her analysis reaches beyond essentialist definitions of the tradition to examine evolving sub-genres such as Country & Irish, Celtic and World Music. She also recognizes the singing traditions of other ethnic groups on the island of Ireland including Orange-Order, Ulster-Scots and Traveller song. In so doing, she shows the disparity between native conceptions and native realities in respect to Irish cultural Identity.




Music in Ireland


Book Description

Music in Ireland is one of several case-study volumes that can be used along with Thinking Musically, the core book in the Global Music Series. Thinking Musically incorporates music from many diverse cultures and establishes the framework for exploring the practice of music around the world.It sets the stage for an array of case-study volumes, each of which focuses on a single area of the world. Each case study uses the contemporary musical situation as a point of departure, covering historical information and traditions as they relate to the present. Visit www.oup.com/us/globalmusicfor a list of case studies in the Global Music Series. The website also includes instructional materials to accompany each study. Music in Ireland provides an engaging and focused introduction to Irish traditional music--types of singing, instrumental music, and dance that reflect the social values and political messages central to Irish identity. This music thrives today not only in Ireland but also in areas throughoutNorth America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Vividly evoking Irish sounds, instruments, and dance steps, Music in Ireland provides a springboard for the discussion of cultural and historical issues of identity, community, nationalism, emigration, transmission, and gender. Using the informal instrumental and singing session as a focalpoint, Dorothea E. Hast and Stanley Scott take readers into contemporary performance environments and explore many facets of the tradition, from the "craic" (good-natured fun) to performance style, repertoire, and instrumentation. Incorporating first-person accounts of performances and interviewswith performers and folklorists, the authors emphasize the significant roles that people play in music-making and illuminate national and international musical trends. They also address commercialism, globalization, and cross-cultural collaboration, issues that have become increasingly important asmore Irish artists enter the global marketplace through recordings, tours, and large-scale productions like Riverdance. Packaged with a 70-minute CD containing examples of the music discussed in the book, Music in Ireland features guided listening and hands-on activities that allow readers to gain experience in Irish culture by becoming active participants in the music.




Focus: Irish Traditional Music


Book Description

Focus: Irish Traditional Music is an introduction to the instrumental and vocal traditions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as Irish music in the context of the Irish diaspora. Ireland's size relative to Britain or to the mainland of Europe is small, yet its impact on musical traditions beyond its shores has been significant, from the performance of jigs and reels in pub sessions as far-flung as Japan and Cape Town, to the worldwide phenomenon of Riverdance. Focus: Irish Traditional Music interweaves dance, film, language, history, and other interdisciplinary features of Ireland and its diaspora. The accompanying CD presents both traditional and contemporary sounds of Irish music at home and abroad.




Celtic Backup for All Instrumentalists


Book Description

This book teaches the most crucial function of a chord instrument in the Celtic seisún (session)- that of playing tasteful, interesting, imaginative, and supportive improvised accompaniment. Celtic Back-Up presents accurate and directly applicable information on the theory, conception, stylistic considerations, procedures, and resources for accompaniment. Every facet of seisún accompaniment is thoroughly explored. with this book you will come to understand why many of our Celtic authors are reluctant to suggest chord accompaniment with their melodies in the first place; the idea is to be open to fresh ideas and improvise the accompaniment as you go.




The Making of Irish Traditional Music


Book Description

The book challenges the notion that Irish Traditional music expresses an essential Irish identity, arguing that it was an ideological construction of cultural nationalists in the nineteenth century, later commodified by the music and tourism industries. As a social process, musical performance is complicated by the varying experiences of musicians and listeners. The question of an Irish identity expressed musically is further explored through the experiences of both 'local' and 'foreign' musicians, including the author. The conclusion that a radicalised ideal of national culture and an assimilative model of cultural contact are compatible has important implications for Irish society today. Irish traditional music is now performed and consumed world-wide. The Making of Irish Traditional Music considers the implications of this for the way we understand music's relationship to individual and collective identities such as ethnicity and nationality. The core of this book is its analysis of the experiences of 'foreigners' playing Irish music, both in Australia and in the heart of Ireland's traditional music empire, County Clare, as 'pilgrims' to summer schools.




Complete Book of Irish & Celtic 5-String Banjo


Book Description

An important anthology of Irish and Celtic solos for the 5-string banjo featuring a comprehensive, scholarly treatise on the history, techniques, and etiquette of playing the banjo in the Celtic tradition. Includes segments on tuning, pick preferences, and tablature reading followed by 101 jigs, slides, polkas, slip jigs, reels, hornpipes, strathspeys, O'Carolan tunes, plus a special section of North American Celtic tunes. A generous collection of photos of Irish folk musicians, street scenes, and archaeological sites further enhances this fabulous book. All of the solos included here are written in 5-string banjo tablature only with a few tunes set in unusual banjo tunings. the appendices provide a sizable glossary and a wealth of information regarding soloists and groups playing Celtic music, Irish festivals, music publications, on-line computer resources, cultural organizations, and more. If you are serious about playing Celtic music on the 5-string banjo, or if you don't play the banjo but simply want to expand your knowledge of the Celtic music tradition-you owe yourself this book. the first-ever CD collection of Irish and Celtic music for 5-string banjo provides 68 lovely melodies and demonstrates revolutionary techniques for playing highly ornamented tunes and rolling back-up. Recorded in stereo with virtuosos Gabriel Donohue (steel- and nylon-string guitar and piano) and Robbie Walsh (bodhran- frame drum played with a stick), the five-string banjo is out front and plays through each melody in real-life tempo with authentic Celtic chordal and rhythmic backing. the recording features the music of all Six Celtic Nations and includes jigs, reels, hornpipes, slides, polkas, marches, country dances, larides, andros, slipjigs, strathspeys, airs and O'Carolan tunes. 35 songs in the book are not on the CD.




Complete Irish Flute


Book Description

While the wooden simple-system flute is traditionally used in playing Irish music, a growing number of folk players have adopted the silver flute as a viable alternative. Here for the first time, The Complete Irish Flute Book presents the silver or Boehm flutist with a method for learning authentic Irish ornamentation! This thorough guide provides detailed fingering charts, exercises, and technical essays for learning to execute ornaments in the in the Irish style. Through a wealth of hornpipes, reels, jigs, set dances, and slow airs and songs. This book focuses not only on musical accuracy, but stylistic authenticity as well. The companion CD contains 26 of the 101 tunes from the book.