My first serious attempt to play Irish music took place from 2013 to 2017. I tried to familiarize myself with a previously unfamiliar type of music and memorize enough tunes so that I could attend sessions. The large repertoire of melodies you are supposed to have memorized, and the speed at which they are played can be a daunting task. I grew frustrated and quit.
Now, as of 2024, I'm revisiting Irish music (jigs, reels, hornpipes, slides, polkas, slip-jigs, barn dances, mazurkas...that kind of thing), but I'm going to try and go about it differently.
Spend less time tabbing - Instead of tabbing out tune after tune to put into a three-ring binder, I want to apply that time to listening and trying to mimic the sound of the tune on my instrument. Less visual, more aural. Or at least listen first, then try and write down what I am hearing and compare it to what it is supposed to be.
More focus on ear - When I quit playing Irish music, I turned my focus into creating my own little melodies, free from any genre or style. My method for "writing" a melody was actually a lazy version of transcribing. I would find something I liked, such as a melody from weird elevator music on Spotify or a melody Trey latched upon at minute 20 during a Phish jam, and then use that as the basis for creating a "new" tune. With no right or wrong and no written music to check my work, the more wrong I got it the more original the melody was. It turns out this might have been good ear training because I think I am better now at repeating a melody as I hear it.
No Old-time - During the years I was trying to learn Irish music I was also equally devoted to trying to get up to speed on old-time fiddle tunes, mostly on mandolin. This took me away from focusing exclusively on Irish music. My plan is to just stick to Irish music for now.
Irish Tenor Banjo primarily - My instrument of choice is a 4-string tenor banjo, set up left-handed and tuned GDAE one octave lower than a mandolin or violin. I no longer have a marimba, so I'm not going to get sidetracked trying to play that. I may occasionally still pluck out a melody on a guitar tuned in all 4ths (EADGCF), but the majority of my instrument time will be with the tenor banjo.
The Trailjams.org website - Jonathan Lay has done a fantastic job setting up, maintaining, and adding to Trailjams. Instead of having to hunt around for the audio or music to common Irish session tunes, Jonathan has assembled that all into one place so you can spend less time searching and more time actually learning. He even has the tunes arranged into sets of two or three that are then played at the local session he runs in Portland, OR. Previously, I never practiced playing sets or pairing tunes.
When necessary Dots, not tab - Up 'til now my favorite way to play any melody was to play it while reading the (mandolin) tab. I've realized that if I need the music, chances are the tune is already shown in sheet music notation on the Trailjams website, so by getting more comfortable with reading the standard notation already there - AKA "the dots" - I can simply glance at this written transcription when I need clarity and have not have to take the time to translate it into tab.
Portland's Irish trad community - Now that I have relocated to the left coast, the session options are numerous. There's the Trailjams open session every Sunday afternoon at the Hostel Cafe in downtown Portland, another session every Tuesday at Cooper Mountain Ale Works in Tigard, and one every Thursday at the Dublin Pub in Beaverton. Plus, an occasional session at a brewery in Forest Grove about ten miles to the west of me. Lastly, Portland also has a slow-players tune-learning group called Tune Explorers that I hope starts up again. I missed it the first time around because I wasn't living here yet.
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