Single Jig Hag at the Churn on Baritone Ukulele

I hadn't played the Irish jig Hag At the Churn in quite some time, but it came back to me tonight. I did glance at the music to clear up some fuzzy parts. After playing it a few times on tenor banjo I got out the baritone uke to see if I could find those same notes on that rarely played instrument and there they were!

Hag At the Churn is one of the few tunes I've played so far that feels good under the fingers in the DGBE tuning.  Since I couldn't believe that I was playing it quite effortlessly on the baritone uke, I had to make a recording.  Here it is with the music below.

The music/tab comes from Don Julin's Mandolin for Dummies book.  I'm basically playing those exact notes on the baritone uke, as far as I can tell.  Very basic, but what a cool sounding single jig!

Mandolin Tab for 250 To Vigo - Shooglenifty, Ceili Bandits

The last tune I'll post today is 250 To Vigo by the Scottish band Shooglenifty.  It was written by their fiddler Angus R. Grant and appears on the Shooglenifty album Venus In Tweeds.  However, this recording is taken from the album Hangin' at the Crossroads by The Ceili Bandits.  I came across The Ceili Bandits (Yvonne Casey, Eoin O'Neill and Quentin Cooper) during my first visit to Ireland in 2004 where I saw them play in Doolin.  They were also my first exposure to Irish trad music.

Shooglenifty can be a bit experimental, but The Ceili Bandits' take on this tune is fairly straightforward, which is why it's a great source to learn from.  At one point Shooglenifty shared the sheet music to 250 To Vigo on their website, which is where my mandolin tab arrangement comes from, but I can no longer find that original notation.  I did find some pdf notation here:  http://www.scottishfiddlers.com/Canberra/pdfs/250_to_Vigo.pdf

The Ceili Bandits don't play it real fast to begin with, but I've slowed down their version of 250 To Vigo to 80% of full speed, in case that helps with learning by ear.  250 To Vigo is not really a session tune- yet - but it would be a fun one to play with others.

Irish Jig Apples in Winter - slowed down recording

One of my favorite Irish music CDs is a 2010 live recording by Kevin Griffin, Eoin O'Neill and Quentin Cooper called Live at the Burren Centre, Kilfenora.  It is available from Custy's and Ossian USA.  Kevin Griffin is one of the best Irish tenor banjo players and this recording is pretty much a clinic in that style.  Problem is, he plays VERY FAST so it's not always easy to pick up on what he's doing.

A tune that caught my ear off this CD is the jig Apples in Winter.  To help with learning, I've been playing along with this tune at 70% speed.  I uploaded that same recording at the slowed-down speed onto YouTube and am sharing here so that others can know about this cool 6/8 tune.  The above notation comes form the Dusty Banjos presents Ten Years of Tunes tunebook.  It's not exactly what Kevin Griffin is playing, by any means, but it may help get you started.

Plucking/Picking Exercises for Tenor Banjo/Mandolin

I'm not convinced that practicing finger exercises is necessary for playing traditional music on tenor banjo. The tunes themselves are the etudes, and if you practice tunes slowly and mindfully as you are learning them you incorporate picking exercises into your routine by default.

Still, every once in a while it's helpful to focus on scales and exercises specifically designed to improve technique and increase speed and accuracy.  Enda Scahill's Irish Tenor Banjo Tutors, Volumes I and II, are a great source for this type of instruction.  Below are two examples of exercises (out of many) from his Irish Banjo Tutor Volume II.

According to Enda, practicing these exercises will stretch out the fingers, improve their separation and independence from each other and strengthen the fingers.  I highly suggest you purchase his tutors if you do not have them already.

Mike Keyes' Irish Tenor Banjo Blog

If you’ve ever been on the Celtic section of the Mandolin Café forum, or the 4-String Banjo board on Banjo Hangout, chances are you’ve seen comments by, or perhaps even corresponded with, Mike Keyes.  I’ve never met Mike, but he did offer me some very helpful advice when I was buying my first instrument – a 1920’s Bacon and Day tenor banjo – back in 2006.

Mike Keyes

A few years ago Mike Keyes was doing the occasional article for Mel Bay’s online Mandolin Sessions publication and even had his own site where he wrote about Irish music and the Irish tenor banjo.  Both of those are now defunct, but in late July of this year Mike started up a new blog called, quite simply, Irish Tenor Banjo Blog, where he posts in-depth and intelligent instructional material about playing Irish music on the tenor banjo, with the beginner in mind.

There’s a wealth of information to be found on this blog, including tips on gaining speed, playing triplets, learning by ear, how to practice…even building your own banjo from commercially available parts!  Mike has studied with many of the experts in the field, including Enda Scahill, John Carty, Angelina Carberry, Gerry O'Connor and Martin Howley, so he knows what he's talking about.  

While I tend to focus on my experiences learning to play the GDAE tuned tenor banjo across a variety of genres, including Irish, Appalachian, Caribbean and early jazz, Mike’s blog is focused entirely on the Irish tenor banjo, with some side trips into the world of Celtic mandolin and tenor guitar.  He’s been updating the site rather frequently, so it’s worth bookmarking and checking back often!

Ornamentation for the Irish Mandolin and Tenor Banjo

My big focus last year was on committing to memory as many basic versions of tunes as possible so I could fake my way through sessions and not have to rely on a tablature in a public setting.  In the process I got a little better at playing by ear and more comfortable with winging it in those situations.  I still have a long, long way to go with ear training and that remains my number one area of focus, but I feel like it's time to also start working on ornamentation and melodic variation.  In a way they go hand in hand, I suppose.  Rather than trying to personally write about a topic of which I have little experience, I thought it would be best to link to some other people's articles on Celtic ornamentation, articulation and phrasing.  See below.

Here's a piece entitled Ornamentation for the Irish Tenor Banjo by Chris Smith.  Smith is the author of Celtic Backup for All Instrumentalists, and has a great CD of Irish traditional music called Coyote Banjo that I've been listening to.

Chris Smith

Here's an article on Celtic Mandornaments by instructor and bouzouki master Roger Landes. 

Roger Landes

And here's a feature on Triplets from tenor banjo enthusiast and Banjo Sessions contributor Mike Keyes, where he uses an unusual song - Stephen Foster's Camptown Races - to demonstrate this technique.

Mike Keyes

In a future post I may write about a triplets and variation exercise from Enda Scahill's Banjo Tutor that I am finding to be very helpful.

Book Review: Play Tunes on the Irish Tenor Banjo by Brian Connolly

Over the last several decades, the 4-string tenor banjo has become accepted as a viable instrument for Irish traditional music.  Despite increasing popularity, there are still very few Irish tenor banjo instruction books available.  Brian Connolly, of the trad group Craobh Rua, is helping to remedy that with the release of the spiral-bound Play Tunes On The Irish Tenor Banjo: Introductory Repertoire.  In the tutor Connolly, who is from Belfast, employs simple, user-friendly directives to teach the basic techniques required to get that Irish sound.

The book starts with the banjo beginner in mind, going over the parts of a banjo, the fingerboard, how to hold the banjo and the pick, what strings to use, how to position the fingers on the frets, tuning, and how to read music.  Many pictures are used to give the reader a visual image to accompany the text.  Even a seasoned player could do well by reviewing this material.  

Connolly then jumps into playing exercises, scales and arpeggios to help get your fingers moving. The beginner often wonders if playing scales and arpeggios is worth it, but down the road you realize that having this knowledge can help you pick up and better understand how a tune comes together.  

The book includes two CDs and practically every exercise, song and tune is accompanied by an audio recording on one of the CDs - essential for making the aural connection that is at the heart of this tradition.  There is a progress check at the end of each chapter to help you make sure you're ready to move on to the next section.

Then the book gets into the meat and potatoes - playing songs and tunes!  Connolly goes over 7 songs, 10 Irish polkas, 8 double jigs, 2 single jigs, a couple slip jigs, a couple slides, 4 reels, 2 hornpipes and 2 mazurkas (a full list of titles is below).  Along the way he covers ornamentation and triplets, arranging sets of tunes, and suggestions for further practice.  I should note that notation and tablature is shown for the songs, but there is only notation for the tunes - no tab.

The audio for pub songs like Wild Rover are played almost too slow for my taste, but I found the medium-tempo used for the tunes to be just right for playing along with and learning by ear.  In fact, getting to clearly hear the melody line of these tunes being played on tenor banjo, and having the notation to go along with it if needed, is one of the best overall features of the book. By just playing along by ear to the the audio tracks of tunes like The Eavesdropper, Tobin's Favorite and Paddy Has Gone To France, I've noticed an improvement in my abilities over the last few weeks.  

Brian Connolly

Throughout the book there are color photographs of current Irish tenor banjo players playing or holding their banjo. Not only is this great because you get to see how others may hold the instrument, but it will also provide you with some new names of players to check out.  

It says in the preface of the book that when not on the road with Craobh Rua Brian is kept very busy giving lessons to would be Irish banjoliers.  It is surely through this experience with teaching that he has been able to devise a book that feels like a series of lessons that you might get from Brian in person.  The book alone is not going to make you a great banjo player, but it can give you the confidence and motivation to put in the hard work and focused practice required to get there.  

Here's a list of the tunes and  songs in the book.  Along with some session standards, there may be a few titles on the list that are unfamiliar to you, as they were to me.  This is good because in addition to learning the auld favorites that everyone is supposed to know, it's nice to have a few obscure tunes up your sleeve so that you can pull them out at your local session.  

Songs: Down by the Sally Gardens, The Wild Rover, Whiskey in the Jar, Spancil Hill, The Irish Rover, The Star of the County Down, I'll Tell Me Ma.

Polkas: The Mist on the Glen, The Britches Full of Stitches, The Little Diamond, The Munster Bank, Dalaigh's, Egan's, Maggie in the Wood, Denis Doody's, The Ballydesomond No. 2, Matt Hayes' No. 1.

Double Jigs: The Leg of the Duck, The Blackthorn Stick, Slieve Russell, My Darling Asleep, Maho Snaps, Bill Harte's, The Eavesdropper, Tobin's Favourite.

Single Jigs: Sergeant Cahill's Favorite, Smash the Windows.

Slip Jigs: Deirdre's Fancy, The Fisherman.

Slides: Going to the Well for Water, Dan O'Keefe's.

Reels: Paddy Has Gone to France, The Glentaun, The Road to Lisdoonvarna, Sword in Hand.

Hornpipes:  The Humours of Tullycrine, The Fairies'.

Mazurkas: Prionsias O'Maonaigh's, Rachel on the Rock.

Play Tunes On The Irish Tenor Banjo is available from Claddagh Records, promusica.ie, Matchetts Music, and Clareen Banjos maker Tom Cussen's banjo.ie site.

Enda Scahill's Irish Banjo Tutors - Invaluable Instruction Books

Music instruction books for fiddle, guitar, mandolin, bass and ukulele may well outnumber those for Irish tenor banjo, but with the publication of his Irish Banjo Tutor Books I and II, Enda Scahill has provided us 4-string banjo flat-pickers with two instant classics that rank among the best manuals written for any stringed/folk instrument.

Enda Scahill at the 2012 Milwaukee Irish Fest

Scahill emphasizes the importance of basic technique, relaxation and reducing tension as the building blocks to advanced playing.  These are concepts that all musicians could benefit from learning (mandolin players especially should take note of these tutors).  Enda’s teaching methods and philosophy seem consistent with the latest research into “deep” practice and will help you learn how to learn.

There are loads of standout tunes in each book (even some old-time Appalachian ones!) and Scahill uses these tunes as the context to teach correct plucking, fingering, triplets, slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, chords, variations and more.  Taught in this way, these methods become more than just drills.  Enda also selects a couple tunes in each tutor and keeps returning to them to demonstrate how each new skill or technique would apply.

Volume I of the Tutor does not include tab, just notation, but you can purchase a separate tab booklet as an addendum.  Volume II includes notation and tab for all of the tunes and exercises.  Each tutor comes with 2 CDs containing the audio for all of the exercises and tunes.  At first I thought the tunes in Volume I were way too slow, but I’ve learned that it’s best to play a tune VERY slowly and methodically to begin with - building speed only after you can play it perfectly.   

By working with Enda Scahill's Irish Banjo Tutors I feel like I am finally gaining greater ease, improved rhythm, and cleaner and more varied ornamentation.  Somehow, Scahill has taken the complexity out of triplets and I've even started to find myself throwing triplets or trebles into all sorts of tunes - at slower speeds of course!

Reels, Jigs and Waltzes Tune Book PDF

I'm about to embark on a trip to St. John's Newfoundland for the next week or so.  I've created a homemade tune book pdf of mandolin tab (AKA tenor banjo tab) to take along with me for playing while I'm there.  It contains a mixture of "reels" (4/4 or 2/4 time including hornpipes, polkas, schottisches, two-steps, rags, breakdowns), jigs (6/8 time) and waltzes (3/4 time including a mazurka). Basically these are my favorite tunes right now. I may do some busking in an area with a lot of foot traffic and see if I can make any drinking money!

Click on this link to download the tune book pdf.

My tenor banjo is tuned GDAE so my tab is the same as standard mandolin tablature.

The following tunes are included:

Reels

Farewell to Whiskey

Staten Island

Rakes of Mallow

Whalen’s Breakdown

Swamplake Breakdown

Sackett’s Harbor

Arkansas Traveler

Soldier’s Joy

Whiskey Before Breakfast

Temperance Reel

Eli Green’s Cakewalk

Kitchen Girl

Sligo Creek

Nail that Catfish to a Tree

Tralee Jail

Flop Eared Mule

Scotland the Brave

Golden Slippers

Johnny Mickey’s Polka

Road to Boston

Over the Waterfall

Horace Hanesworth

Big Scioty

Jump in the Well

Johnny Johnny Don’t Get Drunk

Locust Tree

Quince Dillon’s High D

Old Grey Cat

Keel Row

Glenburnie Rant

Cripple Creek

Cluck Old Hen

Frosty Battle of Aughrim

Almando’s Polka

Stone’s Rag

Walking Uptown Foxtrot

Jigs

Banks of Lough Gowna

Lilting Banshee

Geese in the Bog

Pipe in the Hob

Star Above the Garter

Road to Lisdoonvarna

Fair Jenny’s Jig

Garry Owen

Andy’s Jig

Old Red Barn

Little Burnt Potato

Joys of Wedlock

Dancing Susan

The Butterfly

Kesh Jig

Swallowtail Jig

Clouds Thicken

Minnesota 6/8 Two Step

Camp Pleasant Jig

Sonny Brogan’s Jig

Waltzes

Black Velvet Waltz

Valse Clog

Cajun Walt

Uff Da! Waltz

Madame Sosthene

Ryerson’s Waltz

Grandpa’s Mazurka

Grandpa’s Waltz

Abner Juve’s Waltz

Johnny Homme’s Waltz

Valse Quadrille

Birch Hills Waltz

I noticed a type-O in Road to Lisdoonvarna - it should be an E in a couple places where I have a B shown, and a couple other tunes have some notes out of place I'm sure but for the most part this is fairly accurate.  Cheers.