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Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Irish Trad Music Practice - Five Things to Focus On

Here are five areas of focus for me at the moment.


Repertoire - learning/memorizing the common session tunes played locally.


Ear - learn more by listening than reading. Absorbing, hearing it in my head. And then repeating or mimicking that sound on my instrument.


Speed - work on getting up to session speed. I am currently much more comfortable at like 60 to 70% speed!


Sound Better - Pretty self explanatory. Try to sound better. This doesn't necessarily mean trying to sound like a typical Irish tenor banjo player. But just play in a way that sounds good. For example, relaxed with clear notes, less staccato.


High B - lots of Irish tunes go up to a high B note, which can be troublesome on a tenor banjo. I am working on being able to play these sections more smoothly. Occasionally, like in the case of the Star of Munster B-part, I might just learn it a whole octave lower. But for other tunes such as Cliffs of Moher or Maid Behind the Bar, that high-B might become achievable with enough practice.




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