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My main goal for the Violin is to play Celtic/Irish/ Folksy type music do you know know what to start looking at or practicing to grow and ear from that genre on music?
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I have the same goals and am keen to see ppls responses here.
At the moment I just trawl through YouTube but with very little structure to my practicing
I am amazed at how old people of my age are.....
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Here's some ideas...
Irish sound --
* Eileen Ivers
* Kevin Burke
* Matt Cranitch
Even within the Irish sound, there is a difference in their styles.
Matt Cranitch has a book and CD that I like a LOT. He breaks things down nice and slow and all the CD tracks are easy to play along with. Easy to follow detail on ornamentation, rhythm and bowing tips and tricks. IMHO, he may not be the "best player in the universe", but he is a good writer and explainer/breakerdowner/demonstrator of style etc. Worth getting it spiral bound - and all the songs seem to come up in jams.
Kevin Burke's DVD is pretty good - but maybe easier to follow if you're already a fiddler - not sure - but I found his bowing style difficult for a beginner to execute (could be I just suck). He has youtube videos of the lessons under the label Homespun, so you can see for yourself.
** And to include a Scottish sound in the list:
Fiona Cuthill of the Glasgow Fiddle Workshop has demonstration the Scottish standard pieces. Youtube "Fiona's fiddle" brings up her teaching playlist.
Scottish versus Irish: as it was explained to me working with a Scottish player, I had to put more "groove" in my jigs and really stick it on the backbeat. I think of it as Matt Cranitch (smoother, flowier) versus Fiona Cuthill (groove, back beat).
Enjoy!!!
Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
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Great response Tamlin, mucho thanko!
I am amazed at how old people of my age are.....
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I've found that many American Colonial era songs, most of which have Celtic and Scottish origins and styles (jigs, reels, strathspeys, etc.), are reasonably easy to play...with a little work. I see them as a stepping stone to more difficult contemporary Irish music.
I've got this book and really like it:
http://www.ballindalloch-press.....songs.html
And I've got this CD. I've been able to find free sheet music on-line for several of the pieces and are working on them now.
Hope that helps!
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
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I too am a strong fan of this fiddling. But I thought irish/Scott was like the difference of a fiddle/violin thanks for clearing that up TheTownPants is one of my favorites I posted the best vid I could find in the irish page called best irish band this side of the pond but now I dunno maybe Scottish 
o
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wanabfidler said
But I thought irish/Scott was like the difference of a fiddle/violin thanks for clearing that up
I always thought the difference between a fiddle and a violin was just two shots of whiskey... 
Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
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tamlin said
wanabfidler said
But I thought irish/Scott was like the difference of a fiddle/violin thanks for clearing that up
o
I always thought the difference between a fiddle and a violin was just two shots of whiskey...
Its not only the 2 shots of whiskey, its the kilt.
(not the best version, but it does have a fiddle in it)
"I find your lack of Fiddle, disturbing" - Darth Vader
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Does anyone know of the scales they use in Irish/Celtic music?
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Killerkhezu said
Does anyone know of the scales they use in Irish/Celtic music?
Seems to be mainly: G, D, A, C and their relative minors.
All my books teach it that way... although...
I would recommend at the outset, its worthwhile to think about F. There are some reels in F (D minor) that have a rich sound - played with rhythmic patterns on the G and D string. I wish somebody had told me early on to try out these reels in this key - because even though I was totally comfy playing in GDAC, when I went to try to learn reels in F/Dm on the low strings, I had to totally change the way I held my hand/fingering etc... and I could have started working on that early with scales and etudes with some time to build up some skill in that key.
Here is an example of a Scottish reel set played with the first ditty in F (Tamlin/Glasgow Reel) followed by Jenny's Chickens in A. I like the smoky sound of the F followed by the lively ending in A. Also, she really makes this piece "her own" with interesting bowing patterns and rhythmic variation.
feature=related
Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
Celtic music use's a 5 note scale per octave, called "pentatonic" scale, as opposed to 7 note's.
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Is that you playing in the above video tamlin? Tam Lin?
I'm guessing not since you speak of her in the third party tense but want to check just the same.
Nice style. I would love to know what is intended in the fast bow rhythm. Is it supposed to be like a tremolo or some kind of 32nd triplets that are not really up to speed. It makes for an interesting effect in any case.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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tamlin said
Killerkhezu said
Does anyone know of the scales they use in Irish/Celtic music?
Seems to be mainly: G, D, A, C and their relative minors.
All my books teach it that way... although...
I would recommend at the outset, its worthwhile to think about F. There are some reels in F (D minor) that have a rich sound - played with rhythmic patterns on the G and D string. I wish somebody had told me early on to try out these reels in this key - because even though I was totally comfy playing in GDAC, when I went to try to learn reels in F/Dm on the low strings, I had to totally change the way I held my hand/fingering etc... and I could have started working on that early with scales and etudes with some time to build up some skill in that key.
Here is an example of a Scottish reel set played with the first ditty in F (Tamlin/Glasgow Reel) followed by Jenny's Chickens in A. I like the smoky sound of the F followed by the lively ending in A. Also, she really makes this piece "her own" with interesting bowing patterns and rhythmic variation.
feature=related
so what are saying is that it's not just one particular scale that they use but they jump from a couple of diffent scales while playing a jig or reel, ect.
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Yes! Like "parts" or "sections". One part in one key and the adjacent part in another key.
Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
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That just made learning the style a bit harder for a complete beginner. Do you know of any video tutorials that explain the theory behind the Irish Celtic style? I'm a kenetic learner so I learn better by sight then reading.
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Fiddlerman said
Is that you playing in the above video tamlin? Tam Lin?
I'm guessing not since you speak of her in the third party tense but want to check just the same.Nice style. I would love to know what is intended in the fast bow rhythm. Is it supposed to be like a tremolo or some kind of 32nd triplets that are not really up to speed. It makes for an interesting effect in any case.
Tam Lin is an old fairy tale that has inspired music, books etc. Here is some info about it:
http://www.tam-lin.org/intro.html
I am assuming the song in the vid was "Tam Lin"
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Fiddlerman said
Is that you playing in the above video tamlin? Tam Lin?
Not quite me... I think of it as me in a couple years.
Fiddlerman said
Is it supposed to be like a tremolo or some kind of 32nd triplets that are not really up to speed. It makes for an interesting effect in any case.
Shared this with a performing Scottish fiddler here, and her first comment was "Wow, she got in a "barrel", referring to the those 32nd triplets. Its a fun and funky trick to learn. I LOVE it when Eileen Ivers styles perfect barrels in her more traditional works. (Yes, if Eileen plays it, I want to play it too, ha ha)
Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
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Killerkhezu said
That just made learning the style a bit harder for a complete beginner. Do you know of any video tutorials that explain the theory behind the Irish Celtic style? I'm a kenetic learner so I learn better by sight then reading.
Oh dear! Sorry about that. Meant to make it easier!
Here are two super visual educational channels on youtube: 1) Rex McGee 2) DuncanFig (search under the name, look for "Channel"). Even if its too fast - you can watch and listen and get "an ear" for what's going on. There are a bunch where they have "lesson" in the title and then go through a visual on all the fingerings. Sorry I don't have any of those handy to share - but they are out there. You could take the song titles from the playlists on either of these channels and probably find visual/tutorial style presentations of the same songs by searching on the song title with "lesson" in it. Hope this helps!!!!!!
Here's a tasty sample from Rex McGee:
list=PL991DA573E19ABF75&index=87&feature=plpp_video
Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
Honorary tenured advisor
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Thank you, tamlin, for sharing these.
It's one of my favorite music genre, and some of the songs are amazing.
I only have one question that I was hesitated to ask, came up a number of years ago when I first heard this music playing.
As mentioned in earlier posts, it's using pentatonic scale but it sounded like non-tempered scale. In another word, there seems like maybe 2 notes in the scale being tuned about 15-20 cents different, intentionally, comparing to our tempered pitches.
Maybe I have problem with my hearing seriously, but would love to be clarified.
Thank you.
Robert
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ratvn said
As mentioned in earlier posts, it's using pentatonic scale but it sounded like non-tempered scale. In another word, there seems like maybe 2 notes in the scale being tuned about 15-20 cents different, intentionally, comparing to our tempered pitches.
I play like my contemporaries: equal temperament, standard 7 note scales. Point of this thread was to throw out some starter points for the genre. Sorry I can't do more with that question. IMHO: non-standard scales/temperaments/tunings merit a new thread.
Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
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