BRIMS Classes: Session Workshop Spring 2012

Hi Sessioneers,

Welcome to the Spring 2012 link for our Session Workshop tunes! We’ll be meeting every other week for 7 weeks starting January 17. I’ve asked everyone to provide 3 tunes they’d like to learn and we’ll try to choose the new tunes from that list as our new tunes and then put those in a set with tunes we’ve covered previously. No worries if you only have time to learn one of the two new tunes. I’m just putting two out there for those who either already know one of them, or who just want to learn two tunes.

New Tunes for January 31st Class:

(Jig) Mist on the Mountain   Watch   View Notation   Key of Am
(Hornpipe) Home Ruler   Watch   View Notation   Key of D

[Note: Found these tunes on a YouTube channel where both the melody and guitar accompaniment are nice and clear. Their channel has quite a few good session tunes (including some on our list). Thanks to Holly and Sue for the tune suggestions! Keep 'em coming! Also Mist on the Mountain is also known as Mist Covered Mountain and on the Home Ruler link, Kitty's Wedding, another hornpipe, is also played. This is one of the most popular hornpipe sets and the two tunes are almost always played together.]

Jig Set (3x each)
Timmy Cliffords’s   Listen   View Notation   Key of G
Garrett Barry’s   Watch   View Notation   Key of Dm
Jimmy Ward’s   Listen   View Notation   Key of G

Also, for reference, here are some helpful links to past tunes and lists:
Fall 2011 Session Class Tune Sets
Spring 2011 Session Class Tune Sets
pdf of Fall 2011 Session Class Tune List

BRIMS Classes: Alex Fiddle II Spring 2012

This term, all the tunes for particular classes will be organized under one heading and will be updated when instructors send new tunes. Hopefully this will make more sense for all involved! As always, feedback most appreciated.

New Year’s Eve (reel)  Listen  View Notation  (key of G)
Tarbolton (reel)  Listen  View Notation  (key of Em)

BRIMS Classes: Alex’s Fiddle I Spring 2012

This term, all the tunes for particular classes will be organized under one heading and will be updated when instructors send new tunes. Hopefully this will make more sense for all involved! As always, feedback most appreciated.

My Darling Asleep (jig)  Listen  View Notation  (key of D)

Stack of Wheat / Stack of Barley Hornpipe Set

Here is the updated Hornpipe set including both little stacks of grain. Hope you enjoy!

(Little) Stack of Wheat (hornpipe)  Listen  View Notation  (key of G)
(Little) Stack of Barley (hornpipe)  Listen  View Notation  (key of G)

Also, we decided to do Brian O’Lynn’s and Pipe on the Hob for the recital. I’ve got some work to do!

Humours of Ballyconnell

Here’s this week’s fiddle tune from Alex’s class. Enjoy!

Humours of Ballyconnell (reel)  Listen
Humours of Ballyconnell (slow)  Listen  View Notation  (key of D)

Also, here is a nice YouTube video of the reel in a set starting with Hunter’s House  Watch

Polka Johnny & Polka Nellie

Decided we might as well keep Johnny and Nellie together. They seemed like a good couple

Polka Johnny   Listen   (key of D)
Polka Nellie   Listen  

A couple of other quick notes. Had a delightful time at the Andy Irvine show at C’ville Coffee last night. What a great ambassador of the folk / Irish tradition. Also have to say it was nice to have great music in a local, intimate setting again. Couldn’t help but think of the Prism last night and how I’ve missed it.

Second quick note. Aaron Olwell is offering a new class on Tuesday nights for the remainder of the BRIMS Fall term alternating with our session class (and is a really nice complement to it for the session melody students). It’s called, “Learning to Play by Ear”. Here’s the description from Aaron:

What aspiring musician wouldn’t want to be able to pick up melodies on the spot after only hearing them a few times? I believe this is one of the most useful and pertinent skills in any kind of music, and it’s practically the foundation that Irish and many other folk musics are based on. Musicians with little or no theoretical understanding of music (often not even knowing a single note by name) have for centuries relied only on their ears to learn hundreds of tunes!

In this class, which will be open to all instruments and ages, we will surprise ourselves with latent talent and accomplish feats of “learning on the fly” that we previously thought were beyond us. Skill level is not important, although the class will be geared towards students who are already somewhat familiar with their instrument. So, if you have been playing for years but still feel like you struggle with this aspect of music, this class is for you. If you are comfortable as long as you have a page in front of you, but get anxious as soon as it’s taken away, this class is for you. If you are musically illiterate and maybe never even touched an instrument until some time within the last year, then you guessed it; this class is for you.

Bobby Casey’s

Here’s this week’s tune. I believe this is tune is also on Kevin Burke’s CD, “If the Cap Fits”, another great tune source CD. Actually, just a great CD, period. If you’re an Irish fiddler, it should be in your collection.

But in going with a recent theme, Bobby Casey’s is also apparently known as the Humours of Tellycrine, and perhaps Caisleán An Óir (Golden Castle?) as well. But, around these parts, I guess it will be known as Bobby Casey’s!

Bobby Casey’s (hornpipe)  Listen   View Notation  (key of Am)

Trad Tunes Fall 2011

Alex and Lori requested that the tunes (and songs) for trad be available here as well. I’m most happy to oblige! Happy playing!

Morrison’s (Jig)  Listen   View Notation
Noisy Curlew (Reel) aka Jack Macguire’s   Listen   View Notation
Trip to Sligo (Jig)   Listen   View Notation
Johnny, Lovely Johnny (Song)   Listen

Pipe on the Hob

This week, Alex taught Patrick Ourseau’s version of Pipe on the Hob which is a completely different tune than the one I know. You might know this version from the Live at Mona’s CD which, not surprisingly, features Patrick on Fiddle and is a also great “source for tunes” CD!

Pipe on the Hob (reel)  Listen   View Notation

Now, since this is going on the internet, it seems only right to put up the other version that I was familiar with so that folks are aware of both versions. The 3 part version below has notation on thesession.org and in the Fiddler’s Fakebook. Here’s that version, as the first tune in a sweet set.

Pipe on the Hob (Alternate version) Watch  View Notation

So, who knows how we ended up with different versions out there? The question came up in session class as well with regard to different notation, or that the same tune is known by different names. The answer, of course, has to do with how the tunes have been passed down over the years. Maybe we shouldn’t worry so much about the names and just play the tunes! All part of my new mantra – “Delicious Ambiguity” – embrace it!

The Earl’s Chair

Thanks to Alex for sending me the mp3 again. I really hope to be back in class next week!

The Earl’s Chair (reel)  Listen   View Notation