Books | Videos | Encouragement
Learn Irish Tunes
We learn best from one another!
It’s how Irish music is passed on.
It’s how I learned.
When I started playing Irish flute, I travelled around Chicago, Boston, and Ireland. I met friends who showed me stuff, loaned me recordings, pointed me to sessions. It was a slow, challenging and (mostly) great way to learn.
It’s easier to find everything now. Which is great. But also overwhelming! To find a little calm and clarity, I send encouragement and tips once a month from the HeatonTuneShed
And here are BITE-SIZED OFFERINGS from my heart to yours:
Find fellow tune lovers:
- VIRTUAL GUIDED SESSION on YouTube (ShannonHeatonMusic)
6+ years of livestreamed music sessions with me and Matt Heaton, featuring featured common tunes (and a few unusual ones) at a moderate pace. (We included many common tunes in our tune ‘cookbook’: IN HARMONY )
* We plan to continue with occasional pop-up sessions and livestream events. (Always announced in the HeatonTuneShed newsletter) - TUNE ZOOMS
I run occasional group classes over Zoom. We visit for a moment then then learn one great tune together. It’s so sweet. And even though participants are muted while learning, there is real connection. All instruments, all levels. - VGS FACEBOOK GROUP
In our private VGS Facebook Group folks ask music questions, share ideas and encouragement, and post practice videos. It’s gentle accountability–fun and empowering. (Make sure to answer membership questions, to keep this safe and private for musicians!)
Guided Session History:
On March 28th, 2020, Matt Heaton and I launched the Virtual Guided Session on YouTube. Simple idea: just an hour of session tunes at a moderate pace. People ended up joining from all over the world! (New players, advanced players who want to enjoy tunes at a moderate pace, folks looking for connection and company.
We called it after the “Guided Session” I started with fiddle player Ellery Klein, a monthly session in the cafe of an old Armory. Instead of going around a circle to start tunes, Ellery and I would lead every set with a consistent rhythmic feel.
We had a big, fun group of people. And month after month, folks knew more and more tunes until Covid closed us down.
Out of desperation, Matt and I tried one ill-managed livestream session in March 2020. The sound and picture were pretty bad, but people tuned in, made requests, and asked to do it again.
Over the years our online community has grown. We started a Facebook group; organized Zoom classes and events (including the “VGS Retreat” concert with Jean-Michel Veillon, Louise Mulcahy, Conal Ó Gráda, Hatao & Nami, Ivan Goff. Our friend Clayton made the VGSDB, a searchable database of all the tunes/livestreams. Elise produced Inis Here, a video tribute to our sweet online island of musical friends.
To make a contribution to our free offering:
For the third Saturday Virtual Guided Sessions (VGS) on YouTube, Matt Heaton and I rotate common core tunes. Many of these appear in the In Harmony tune “cookbook”). We also include selections from our #nameyertune series, tunes from my instructional books and videos, and a few requests.
Before you pore over all these tune lists, here’s a little pep talk my son assembled. We broach the topic of how to approach the vast sea of info out there.
VGS SESSION TUNES:
Like all sessions, we tend to cycle through a variety of tunes. But we really do try to cycle through hit parade tunes frequently.
Lauri Brandenburg’s Playlist Log details tunes we’ve played with the VGS since the start.
Clayton Cook created an index to help folks navigate Saturday session tunes. His VGSdb organizes individual tunes with links to videos. It’s comprehensive and easy to navigate. Many thanks to Clayton for creating and maintaining this free tool for everybody!
Where to Learn trad Tunes
- Tune of the Month Videos feature standard traditional tunes, taught phrase by phrase. This series began as a free podcast in 2012, and I expanded to videos in 2015–so there’s plenty of content!
- Matt Heaton’s Backer Corner on YT breaks down accompaniment techniques and concepts for Irish tunes.
- My instructional books all include recordings and sheet music. I invite musicians to start with the audio, as a way of knowing the music and playing from the heart!
- First 50: simple, beautiful tunes that prioritize smart flute breathing and fiddle bowing choices over ornamentation
- Oil for the Chain: tips and tunes to help players practice effectively and participate in sessions comfortably
- In Harmony: a quality selection of popular reels, jigs, slip jigs, and hornpipes with mid-tempo panned recordings (so you can play with JUST flute or JUST guitar).
DELVE DEEPER:
Irish music is a second language for me, and I enjoy learning tunes, techniques, and elements of style. It’s also a cultural, social, and communal thing, not just a collection of tunes!
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SESSION 101
Most of you already know about Irish sessions. That’s probably why you’re on this part of my site in the first place. Here are a few session posts and projects I’ve assembled, for new and seasoned players, including some treasurable Irish Music Stories podcast episodes.
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FURTHER READING
There are some great books that situate Irish tunes and songs in society, and in the landscape of Ireland.
My favorite of all time is a book of essays by Belfast flute player Ciaran Carson. He takes us “in and out of time” with his incredible snapshots of Irish sessions and tunes:
Carson, Ciaran. Last Night’s Fun. New York: North Point Press, 1996.
ISBN 0-86547-511-3
Another touchstone for me is Paddy Tunney. His books, The Stone Fiddle and Where Songs Do Thunder have deepened my appreciation of origin and place. I love learning about the three townlands he developed his music and his imagination.
Tunney, Paddy. The Stone Fiddle: My Way to Traditional Song. Dublin: Gilbert Dalton Ltd., 1979.
ISBN 0 86233 028 9
Tommy Peoples’s very rich and unique tune and story collection is 382 pages of personality and care. He talks about how to hold the fiddle, and how he held Irish music during his life. Seeing his original tunes in his own neat handwriting is special.
Peoples, Tommy. Ó Am Go hAm. Donegal: T.P. Publishing (self), 2015.
ISBN:978-0-9932571-0-0
And Rus Bradburd’s highly entertaining novel about his time coaching basketball and learning fiddle in Kerry is a delight.
Bradburd, Rus. Paddy on the Hardwood. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2006.
ISBN-13:978-0-8263-4027-6
And hear Rus speak in IMS Episode 48 about his days in Ireland.
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LEARNING from MISSTEPS
There’s learning, and there’s practicing:
Irish music is a social thing. Just like telling jokes, tunes are usually shared directly. You hear, learn, and pass tunes on BY EAR. For LEARNING, I’ve made videos where I break tunes down phrase by phrase, to make aural learning approachable.
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Honing skills and finding more fluency with your instrument and Irish music is about spending time in your little PRACTICE room.
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MORE THOUGHTS for LEARNING
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