Are there any good Irish accompaniment resources?

azw · Post by **azw** » Tue May 01, 2007 3:27 am

Are there any good books or DVDs on Irish rhythms for accompaniment?

Bretton · Post by **Bretton** » Tue May 01, 2007 8:51 pm

I've heard that this is good:

Celtic Back-Up For All Instrumentalists
by Chris Smith

http://www.melbay.com/product.asp?Produ ... ub1=&mode=

azw · Post by **azw** » Tue May 01, 2007 9:50 pm

Hello, and thanks for your reply.

I should have mentioned that I already have that book. I haven't used it because it's intimidatingly theoretical. I think you'd already have to be a very good musician to benefit from it.

Even the organization of the content is very abstract. For example, there are no sections dealing with jigs, reels, hornpipes, etc. It'd be hard for me find a toe hold in the book.

Since posting my question I've been considering John Doyle's DVD, Irish Rhythm Guitar: Accompanying Celtic Tunes (1998). Of course, that only deals with guitar. I have no idea whether it's worthwhile.

There doesn't seem to be anything like a general intro to the rhythms and chord patterns used in accompanying Irish music.

lalit · Post by **lalit** » Tue May 01, 2007 10:54 pm

I don't know whether this would be helpful to you, but it looks intriguing:

http://www.geraldinecotter.com/publications.html

Looks like it focuses on piano accompaniment, but since it comes with a CD, you might be able to glean something by comparing the played versions to the notated versions with chord symbols, etc.

azw · Post by **azw** » Tue May 01, 2007 10:59 pm

That's interesting. I've not seen that one before. I'll write Geraldine Cotter an email to see what she says about it. Thanks!

SteveK · Post by **SteveK** » Wed May 02, 2007 6:23 am

Doyle's video material is pretty good. He gets a lot of mileage out of not very many chords. He uses dropped D tuning-which means the bass E string is dropped to D.

azw · Post by **azw** » Wed May 02, 2007 7:06 am

Thanks, Steve, I'll pick up a copy of Doyle's DVD!

Leel · Post by **Leel** » Wed May 02, 2007 8:13 am

SteveK wrote:Doyle's video material is pretty good. He gets a lot of mileage out of not very many chords. He uses dropped D tuning-which means the bass E string is dropped to D.

Hello - Who is this 'Doyle'?

Do you have a link or other contact, I'd be interested in seeing this also.

Thanks,

LEE

SteveK · Post by **SteveK** » Wed May 02, 2007 8:28 am

John Doyle is a well-known guitarist who played with Solas and has accompanied various Irish musicians. The one who comes to mind right now is Liz Carroll. You can buy the DVD and see a sample of it at Homespun Tapes.

http://www.homespuntapes.com/staticsite ... age416.asp

Look him up on Google too.

Leel · Post by **Leel** » Wed May 02, 2007 2:31 pm

Thanks Steve

I shall!

azw · Post by **azw** » Wed May 02, 2007 3:15 pm

Lalit mentioned Geraldine Cotter's book and CD combo, "Rogha." She was very helpful in answering my questions. I hope she won't mind if I quote her here.

Geraldine Cotter wrote:"... 'Rogha', is actually just on the market since the end of December so I am amazed you have heard of it already...."

"The book should be useful to you. However. a word of warning, I don't give full transcriptions of what I play but I do give chord voicings for selected bars of each tune and in some instances arrangements of these voicings. It leaves you space to explore yourself, which in the long run is best. Irish music is largely an oral/ aural tradition and so each time a tune is played it varies; although sometimes only subtly. Therefore giving complete transcriptions would be misleading in the long run. However, I do have a play-a-long CD which accompanies the book. This is panned in such a way that you can turn down the whistle and listen to the piano or vice versa depending on your focus.

If this isn't basic enough for your needs I did do another piano book a number of years ago called 'Seinn an Piano' which focuses on learning the piano Irish style- both melody playing and accompaniment. There is also a chapter which gives you a brief history of the piano in the Irish music tradition. I also include quite a substantial discography which may be useful as well- although there are many more recordings featuring good piano accompaniment since i wrote the book. This was published by Ossian publications. It is now distributed by Music Sales. You should be able to get both books through www.custysmusic.com ."

"...the tutor 'Seinn an Piano' gives examples for each dance type. Also 'Rogha' contains examples of Jigs, reels, Hornpipes etc."

SteveK · Post by **SteveK** » Thu May 03, 2007 5:17 am

Here's the thing about all these instruction DVDs, tapes, books, etc. You get a very specific set of chords, bass lines and so on from them but you get no instruction on extrapolating this material to a session or band situation where you will be called on to provide backup for new tunes. I don't know if the authors just expect that you will be able to generalize after having learned their material or what. The great value of Chris Smith's material, both in the book and at his website, is that he is interested in providing the tools for you to be able to fly on your own. It's worth the time and effort to go through the theoretical material to be able to do so.

Chris's online instructional material is here:

http://coyotebanjo.com/music-group-28.html

Doc Jones · Post by **Doc Jones** » Thu May 03, 2007 6:56 am

Michael Eskin's new http://www.tradlessons.com/ site has some good Dropped D video tutorials as well.

I also bought a nice little chord book from Annie (the whistle roll lady) that has a lot of tunes in it (just the chords).

http://www.sassafrassgrove.com/ChordBoo ... dBook.html

Doc

ISU Trout Bum · Post by **ISU Trout Bum** » Thu May 03, 2007 9:43 am

This is a bit off-subject, but if you are looking for accompaniment resources, have you ever heard of the music program Band in a Box? You can check it out a http://www.band-in-a-box.com/

It is, at first blush, a bit cheesy, but I've found the more that I use it the more I like it. The variables and options are just outstanding (for almost all genres of music, including Irish and "Celtic"). It's worth a look I think.

Hope this is helpful!

LeeMarsh · Post by **LeeMarsh** » Sun May 13, 2007 2:26 pm

SteveK wrote:John Doyle is a well-known guitarist who played with Solas and has accompanied various Irish musicians. The one who comes to mind right now is Liz Carroll. You can buy the DVD and see a sample of it at Homespun Tapes.
http://www.homespuntapes.com/staticsite ... age416.asp
Look him up on Google too.

John also teaches at some of the Summer Irish Music Camps/Festivals.
The past two years he taught at Swannanoa Gathering, in Asheville NC. He taught both beginner and Intermediate/Advanced classes. He lives in the Ashville area. Most recently, he's been touring with Liz Carroll.