Bill Frisell: An Anthology - Song Book

Until this past weekend I didn’t know there was a published book of Bill Frisell compositions but there is! It’s called Bill Frisell: An Anthology. If I had known about this book prior to now I would have bought it years ago. Soon I will have a copy though.

An Anthology was first published in 2001 so it only includes Frisell's work up through that year’s Blues Dream album, but it still contains over 80 pieces dating all the way back to Throughout from 1983’s In Line. Other tunes include Amarillo Barbados, Lookout for Hope, Rag, Strange Meeting, Egg Radio, Verona, Monroe, Poem for Eva and Ron Carter. The full contents are below.

In the preface Frisell says “I’d rather not try to explain too much about how any of this music might be approached, but let the notes speak for themselves. When I’ve played these pieces over the years with my various groups, they’ve been a jumping off place – hopefully with something new happening each time. There’s no real set way to approach them. I hope that anyone else playing them will try to find her own way – changing the tempo, orchestration, whatever. They’re not really meant to be played just like the record. I hope the music in this book will be of interest not only to guitar players. Some of it was written with guitar in mind, but much of it is presented like a score and could be arranged in any number of ways, for any instrument(s).”

On writing, Frisell says, “I’m not a fisherman, but writing for me is something like what I imagine fishing to be. There’s this huge ocean of music surrounding us, moving by us all the time, and if we’re patient, quiet, and sit there long enough, a melody will come along”.

Bill Frisell: An Anthology contents 1 of 2

Bill Frisell: An Anthology contents 2 of 2

Recently I’ve been trying to play along with some of Frisell’s more approachable single-line melodies, such as We All Love Neil Young/Song for Lana Weeks from Big Sur and Farmer/I Am Not A Farmer/Small Town from Disfarmer. Hopefully we are due for An Anthology Volume 2 because arguably Bill’s best work has come in the 15 years since this initial collection was published.

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The Portland Collection Volume 3 Now Available

A third volume in the Portland Collection series of tunebooks is now available.  Just like the previous two spiral-bound books, this collection contains over 300 tunes from the repertoire of the Pacific Northwest: traditional Irish, Appalachian and Québécois tunes, recently composed jigs and reels, and more.  Altogether, the three volumes in this series represent one of the most comprehensive modern collections of fiddle tunes.

What I like about these Portland Collection books is the variety of music that is included.  In addition to numbers that are smack dab in the middle of the Celtic and old-time traditions, respectively, they also feature the types of contra dance tunes that land somewhere in-between and are often overlooked in local jams and sessions.

For example, in addition to the keys of D, G and A, and "A-modal" and "E-modal", you can also find tunes played in F, E, Bb, Gminor...even F#minor!  It's fun to just go through the pages and randomly find tunes to play as an exercise in sight reading and discovery.  The only criticism I might have is that because these are written to be dance tunes, some of the more feral oldtime tunes that might otherwise be crooked can be squared off for the purposes of this book.

As always, the authors Susan Songer and Clyde Curley recommended that you find an audio recording of the tune to supplement the notation.  Ultimately you want to be able to play these them as you feel them and not be bound by someone else's transcriptions or chord suggestions, but this book provides a great reference point.

You can order a copy here:  https://www.theportlandcollection.com/tunes-vol-3/

Here's A List of the Tunes in The Portland Collection Volume 3:
A Jig
Aaron’s Key
Accidental
Accordion Crimes
Acorn Stomp, Part 2
Across the Black River
Adirondack, The
Adriatic Bridge, The
Aimé Gagnon
An Titim Fada see Long Drop, The
Argo’s Reel
Asturian Way
Auld Fiddler, The
Baerendans
Bank of Ireland, The
Bank of Turf, The
Barter’s Hill
Battle of Waterloo, The
Beauties of the Ballroom
Bell Cow
Belle of Lexington, The
Bells of Dover
Berkeley Reel
Bert Murray see Auld Fiddler, The
Bibb County Hoedown
Bijoux, Reel
Billy in the Lowground
Bird in the Bush, The
Bird in the Tree, The see Bird in the Bush, The
Bitter Creek
Black Rock
Black Scoter, The
Bloom of Youth, The
Blue Bonnets Over the Border
Blue Earth Special, The
Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine
Bonhomme, Reel du
Bonnie Isabel Robertson
Boring the Leather
Bound to Have a Little Fun
Box Man, The
Boyne Water
Boys of Antrim, The
Boys of Malin, The
Boys of the Lough, The
Brandywine
Brendan McMahon’s
Broue, Reel de la
Brumley Brae
Buckle Up the Backstrap
Buffalo Girls
Calling Wood, The
Castle Aaaa, The
Cat Fish Jig
Cat in the Hopper
Cemetery Road
Champaign Jig Goes to Columbia, The
Chattanooga
Cleveland Park
Clog de Pariseau
Cloud Nine
Colonel McBain
Come Under My Plaidie
Concert Reel, The
Cori-Lation
Cranberry Rock
Cripple Creek
Crock of Gold, The
Crook Brothers Tune
Cruinniu na mBad (Gathering of the Boats)
Cuckoo’s Nest, The
Cumberland Gap
Dailey’s Reel
Darkies’ Dream see Acorn Stomp, Part 2
Deer Walk
Denver Belle
Derrane’s see Hardiman’s Fancy
Deux Lisa, Le Reel des
Dilbert’s Jig
Divine Reel, The
Donegal Lass, The
Donnybrook Fair see Joys of My Life, The
Dowd’s #9
Drummond Castle
Dubuque
Dunmore Lasses, The
Eighth of January
Elvira
Erik’s Reel
Erin
Evil Red Three
Exile of Erin, The
Faubourg, Reel du
February March
Fée des Dents, La
Fiddler’s Dream
Field in the Forest, The
Fine Times at Our House
Fly Fishing Reel, The
Flying Fox
Folklife Reel
Francine Desjardins see Hommage à Mes Amis Musiciens
Franco-American Reel
Fred Finn’s
Fremont Center
Funnel in the Tunesmith’s Truck, The
Gadeliderot, Le
Gallagher’s Frolics
Gallope de Francine Desjardins, La see Hommage à Mes Amis Musiciens
Garfield
Gigue des Capuchons
Gigue des Montagnards
Gigue des Sucres
Gigue des Touristes see Quadrille de Beauharnois
Gigue du Plateau Mont-Royal, La
Gigue du Salon
Gillian’s Reel
Girl Who Broke My Heart, The
Goglu, Reel du
Goodbye Girls
Goodbye Girls, I’m Going to Boston
Greasy Coat
Green Fields of Woodford, The
Green Willis
Griffenfeldt
Grondeuse, La see Marmotteuse, La
Happy Hollow
Hardiman’s Fancy
Hava Na(jig)ilah
Haymaker’s Hoedown
Heather McCarthy
Hector MacDonald’s Reel
Helena, Reel
Hens’ Feet and Carrots
Homeward Bound
Hommage à Arthur, Marcel et Phylias Pigeon
Hommage à Gilles Laprise
Hommage à Harmonica Jean
Hommage à Mes Amis Musiciens
Hommage à Montmarquette see Clog de Pariseau
Hommage à Ojnab
Hommage aux Pigeons see Hommage à Arthur, Marcel et Phylias Pigeon
Homme à Deux Femmes, L’
House in the Glen, The
Huffing Up Great Gable
Hull’s Reel
Humours of Ballinafauna, The
I Buried My Wife and Danced on Her Grave
I Get My Whiskey from Rockingham
Immigrants’ Dream see Acorn Stomp, Part 2
Indiens, Reel des
Ingonish
Iron Mountain
Jack Daniel’s Reel
Jackie Coleman’s
Janet Beaton Jig, The
Jigermyster, The
John Brain’s see Brumley Brae
Johnny’s Wedding see Colonel McBain
Joys of My Life, The
June Apple
Juniper Jig
Kentucky One-Step
Kiss the Bride
Kitchen Jig, The
Klezmer Kerry Polka #1
Knockdhu Reel, The
Lads of Leith, The see Beauties of the Ballroom
Lady of the Lake
Laington’s Reel
Laird o’ Cockpen see Cat in the Hopper
Lark on the Strand
Laurie in F
Lennon’s No. 4
Life is All Chequered see Come Under My Plaidie
Little Daisy
Live Oak
Liza Rose
Lizzy in the Lowground
Log Cabin, The
Long Drop, The (An Titim Fada)
Longford Collector, The
Lord Mayo
Louis Riel
Love Shack, Reel du
Maghera Mountain
Magnolia One-Step
Maid in the Meadow, The
Marche de Queteux Pomerleau
Marche des Elèves, La
Mariposa
Marmotteuse, La
Martin Reilly’s see Martin Rilly’s
Martin Rilly’s
Mary Devlin’s
McDuggle’s Reel
Ménage à Quatre: Bourée No. 3
Menteries, Le Reel des
Merryn’s Reel
Miller’s Reel
Miss Barker’s
Miss MacPherson Grant’s Jig—of Ballindalloch
Miss Thornton’s
Molly’s Graduation
Mona’s
Moon Behind the Hill
Moorit Lamb
Morin Farm Jig, The
Mortgage Burn,The
Mouse in the Kitchen
Mrs. Norman MacKeigan
Mrs. O’Sullivan’s
Multnomah Falls
Munster Bacon
Munster Hop, The
My Little Dony see Oh, My Little Darlin’
Neckbelly
New Fiddle, The
New Money
New Mown Meadows, The
Ní Felis Gratis
Nine Points of Roguery
Nord, Reel du
North River Fox, The
Obama’s March to the White House
Oddville Cupola
Oh, My Little Darlin’
Ol’ Bob
Old Chattanooga see Chattanooga
Old Horse and Buggy
Old Woman Tossed Up in a Blanket, The
Old Yeller Dog Come Trottin’ Through the Meetinghouse
On the Danforth
Orage du Québec, L’
Out with the Boys
Paddy Fahey’s Reel No. 3
Paddy on the Turnpike
Parry Sound Reel, The
Party Tune, The
Pateroller
Peacock Rag
Phone Call, The
Piedmont
Pipe on the Hob, The
Pipe Slang, The
Plowman’s Folly
Pont de l’Etang, Le Reel du
Portland Gypsy Reel, The
Pottinger’s Reel
Première Partie de Quadrille
Pride of Cluinte, The
Printemps, Le
Puppeteer, The
Quadrille de Beauharnois
Quadrille des Ancêtres Figure 2
Quadrille Montcalm
Racine le Beau
Ray’s Classic
Red Boots, The
Red Prairie Dawn
Redondo
Reel à Répondre see Répondre, Reel à
Reel de la Broue see Broue, Reel de la
Reel de la Rue de Gaspé see Rue de Gaspé, Reel de la
Reel de Rivière-du-Loup see Rivière-du-Loup, Le Reel de
Reel de Saint-Etienne see Saint-Etienne, Reel de
Reel de Valleyfield see Valleyfield, Reel de
Reel des Deux Lisa, Le see Deux Lisa, Le Reel des
Reel des Indiens see Indiens, Reel des
Reel des Menteries, Le see Menteries, Le Reel des
Reel du Bonhomme see Bonhomme, Reel du
Reel du Faubourg see Faubourg, Reel du
Reel du Goglu see Goglu, Reel du
Reel du Love Shack see Love Shack, Reel du
Reel du Nord see Nord, Reel du
Reel du Pont de l’Etang, Le see Pont de l’Etang, Le Reel du
Reel Helena see Helena, Reel
Reel of Rio, The see Rio, The Reel of
Reel Ti-Bé see Ti-Bé, Reel
Repeal the Poll Tax
Répondre, Reel à
Riding on a Load of Hay
Riff City
Rio, The Reel of
River Bend, The
Rivière-du-Loup, Le Reel de
Road from the South, The
Road to Errogie, The
Road to Lisdoonvarna, The
Road to Rio, The see Rio, the Reel of
Robe de Mariée, La
Rockingham Cindy
Rod ta Houll, Da
Room 211
Rue de Gaspé, Reel de la
Rumblestrip
Safe Harbor
Sail Away Ladies
Saint-Etienne, Reel de
Saint-Germain, 6/8
Sally Was a Poor Girl
Salt Creek see Salt River
Salt River
Salty River Reel
Seamus Cooley’s
Seán Frank see Colonel McBain
Seanamhac Tube Station
Seeking Turf
Seize the Day
Shakin’ Down the Acorns
Shaking Off the Acorns see Shakin’ Down the Acorns
Sheepskin and Beeswax
Sherburn’s Breakdown
Simple Tune
Single Man, The see Girl Who Broke My Heart, The
6/8 Saint-Germain see Saint-Germain, 6/8
Skippingham
Sleeping Lulu
Sleepy-Eyed John
Slippery Kate
Soirée Chez Alcide
Sparkle of Starlight
Sporting Paddy
Step Around Johnny
Such a Boychik!
Sugar Hill
Surveyor’s Reel
Susanbirds of Wendell, The
Swords into Ploughshares
Taggart’s Reel #3
Taking Care of Mom
Tatter Jack Walsh
Terrebonne Depot
Terwilliger Tempo, The
Ti-Bé, Reel
Tomahawk
Tongadale Reel, The
Torn Jacket, The
Tracy’s Turn
Troll Soup
Trombone Rag
Turlute à Lisan Hubert, La
Tuttle’s
Uncle Bob’s Boogie
Union Street Session
Up Downey
Up South
Up the Steep Pitch
Valleyfield, Reel de
Wagner
Wagon Wheel
Watermill, The
Weighing Anchor
Whelan’s Old Sow
White Buffalo
Willie Hunter’s see Ray’s Classic
Willie Mcguire’s see Auld Fiddler, The
Windy Gap see Tuttle’s
Winter at Pemaquid Light
With Ourselves
Woodridge Breakdown
Zinnia’s Favorite

Review: Improvise For Real by David Reed

My biggest takeaway thus far from David Reed's Improvise for Real (IFR) book is an unexpected one - the additional amount of fun that it's brought to playing an instrument!  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed playing already, but Reed's method has added a new dimension to this practice.  A freer way.  A more complete understanding.  A doorway toward expression.

IFR is not instrument-specific and it's surprisingly non-technical, but it'll quickly have you performing things that are much more complex than they seem.  Some of the ways he looks at music seem revolutionary, yet at the same time it echoes and confirms an awareness I had already been cultivating on my own, while putting it into more concise, coherent terms.

His book contains simple exercises that have infinite potential.  Exercises that give you permission to experiment, to see what the possibilities are, to take risks, to just have fun.  You will get to know your instrument.  The way I interpret Reed's teachings blurs the line between practice and playing.  It has increased my desire to pick up my banjo every day and try something new.

The other thing I've realized from working with Improvise for Real is that it's not about the rush to get better or be in any kind of hurry at all.  It's about enjoying the moment.  I do feel like it is teaching me how to be a better musician.  More importantly, IFR has given me the power to create music now - right now - instead of waiting for some future time when I'm good enough.

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The "Blue" and "Orange" Irish Session Tune Books/CDs

I have plenty of other tune-learning play-along books and CDs, so I can't believe I waited this long to get the Blue and Orange Irish Session Tunes books by Sheila Garry and Brid Cranitch.  I wish I had gotten these a long time ago because they are among the best compilations I have found designed for the purposes of learning Irish traditional music.

Between the two books there are over 180 tunes: primarily reels and jigs, but a few slides and polkas and one set of hornpipes are included.  Make sure you get the CD editions of the books (or just order the CDs and not the books) because the whole point is to listen to the tunes to get the feel of them.  The music is done by Sheila Garry who plays fiddle in the Clare style; subtly backed by Brid Cranitch on piano.  Sheet music is included in the books but no chords.  A listing of the chords being chosen by Brid on piano would have been a nice addition.

The tunes are only played once through, which is a minor nuisance that allows them to fit more on a "CD" (these were recorded in 2003).  This also means that as you listen to it a lot more tunes will fill your ears than if they were played multiple times through!  Another upside is the tunes are always put together as sets of two or three that flow together with no interruption, so you get an idea of how to smoothly transition from one tune to the next.  (This is a feature often ignored by other collections).  Just because they put certain tunes together as sets doesn't mean you have to keep them together. Once you have enough of these tunes under your belt you can make up your own sets on the fly!

Be wary of the titles of some of the tunes, or at least don't get too hung up on them.  On the Blue CD I noticed that "Dark Girl In Blue" was what we call "Denis Murphy's Slide", and "Kaiser's" was "Going to the Well for Water", and "Clare Jig" was "Mug of Brown Ale" and "Humours of Ballinafad" was "Geese in the Bog".  This is actually kind of cool because it teaches you that it's more about the tunes than the tune titles.  I suggest listening to tunes with unfamiliar titles to see if you recognize the melodies.  This is great ear training.  Sometimes a new tune is only a mild variation of a tune you already know.

Unlike other play-alongs you'll actually want to listen to these recordings over and over.  Sure, it's still scaled back a bit, but it doesn't feel stilted at all.  It feels like real music.  Sheila's fiddling is endearing and Brid's piano accompaniment is quite lovely in its minimalism.  You could randomly pick tunes to learn from these two books and the odds are pretty good that some folks at the session you are going to would be able to play them with you.

Note: The "Red" and "Green" books in this series do not feature Sheila and Brid and are therefore not as good in my opinion.  In the Red book the fiddle is played too fast and in a less pleasant, more flashy, manner.  In the Green book the tunes are played on tin whistle, which may or may not be a good source instrument for learning tunes if you are a strings player.  Start with the Blue and Orange books, and if you need more check out the Red and Green ones.

101 Irish Tunes with Sheet Music, Chords and Audio - Tenor Banjo and Guitar

Australian Tony O'Rourke of the Irish Guitar Podcast has come out with a collection of 101 Irish Tunes complete with sheet music transcriptions, chords and mp3 audio files.  Played on Irish tenor banjo with guitar backup (in standard EADGBE guitar tuning).  Reel, Hornpipes, Jigs, Polkas, and O'Carolan tunes.  My Ireland - Volume I is available for download for the very reasonable cost of just $16.

Tony's instrument of choice is the tenor banjo, but he is also an excellent guitarist familiar with accompanying Irish music, and he plays both instruments here.  The speed is slow enough for playing along but still fast enough to sound like music, which is perfect for its intended purpose as a learning tool.  Each tune is played twice through and ornamentation is kept to a minimum so that the melody is clear.

Tony O'Rourke - photo by Sean Kenan

Most collections of Irish music choose to omit chords for various right or wrong reasons. On his decision to include chords, Tony says in the liner notes, "I believe that this will be of benefit to my fellow guitar pickers and am convinced it will not make the guitar accompaniment of Irish music any worse!"

Here is an audio sample from the book of the jig The Cat that ate the Candle.  You can download a free sample of the book (PDF, 840k) which contains the table of contents and a few pages of sheet music.  The full list of the 101 tunes is below.  

Reels
Banshee, The
Bellharbor Reel
Bird In The Bush
Blacksmith’s Anvil
Boil The Breakfast Early
Boys of Ballysodare
Boys Of Portaferry
Broken Pledge, The
Bucks Of Oranmore
Christmas Eve
Coalminer’s Reel (A)
Coalminer’s Reel (G)
Cottage In The Grove
Crosses Of Annagh
Derry Craig Wood
Devaney’s Goat
Dillon Browne’s
Dillon's
Dunmore Lasses
Earl’s Chair
Far From Home
Farewell To Erin
Father Kelly’s
Fermanagh Reevey’s
Foxhunter’s
Glass Of Beer
Glen Allen
Graf Spee
Green Fields Of America
Humors Of Ballyconnell
Humors Of Lissadell
Humors Of Tulla
Ironing Board, The
Jackie Coleman’s
John Brennan’s
John Dwyer’s
Julia Delaney’s
Kilty Town
Lady Anne Montgomery
Lisdoonvarna Reel
Longford Collector
Lucy Campbell
Maid Behind The Bar
Merry Blacksmith
Miller’s Daughter
Miss McCloud’s
Miss Monaghan
Moving Clouds
My Love Is In America
Nigel Davey’s
Nine Points Of Roguery
Otter’s Holt
Over The Bog Road
Plough And The Stars
Reel Of Rio
Sailor’s Bonnet
Salamanca, The
Sally Gardens
Shaskeen, The
Speed The Plough
Star Of Munster
Tarbolton Reel
Teetotaller’s Reel
Tim Maloney's
Wise Maid

Hornpipes
Boys Of Bluehill
Byrne’s
Cronin’s
Cuckoo’s Nest
Fairies’ Hornpipe
Flowing Tide
Harvest Home
Home Ruler, The
Kitty’s Wedding
McMahon’s
Off To California
Rights Of Man

Jigs
Blackthorn Stick
Cat That Ate The Candle
Eavesdropper, The
Frost Is All Over, The
Geese In The Bog
Health To The Ladies O'Carolan Pieces
Irish Washerwoman
Jackson’s Morning Brush
Joy Of My Life, The
Merrily Kiss The Quaker’s Wife
Rakes Of Kildare
Rollicking Boys Of Tandragee
Ships In Full Sail
Strike The Gay Harp
Tobin’s Favourite
Tom Billy’s Jig
Tripping Up The Stairs

Polkas
Denis Murphy’s
Egan’s
Johnny I Do Miss You

O'Carolan Pieces
O’Carolan’s Concerto
O’Carolan’s Draught
Planxty Irwin
Sídh Beag Sídh Mór

An Excerpt from Matt Glaser's Ear Training for Instrumentalists

This week I've been listening to Matt Glaser's Ear Training for Instrumentalists in the car while driving.  Disc Three of this 6-CD Homespun Tapes "audiobook" is where it really gets interesting.  Glaser starts that disc by taking a short phrase and playing it in all twelve keys, while traveling in 4ths, pausing between each key so that you can play it back with him.  First he plays the phrase in C, then F, then Bb, then Eb, then G#, then C#, then F#, then B, then E, then A, then D, then G.  Very cool.

When I got home last night I gave this a shot on mandolin and it sure is an ear and finger buster!  I had to use some extra brain power to get through it, although some of it came surprisingly easy.  The phrase is do - la - sol, la - sol - mi, sol - mi - re, do.  Numerically, this is 1 - 6 - 5, 6 - 5 - 3, 5 - 3 - 2, 8.  Listen to the audio sample below and then try this out for yourself!

Matt Glaser

Matt Glaser is the Artistic Director of the American Roots Program at Berklee College of Music, so yeah he knows his stuff and this is a really well thought out teaching of Ear Training.  It is a few years old (published in 1999?), but the information it contains is of course timeless.  As you might expect, the ear training study overlaps with theory and improvisation.  Since it's mostly audio, with only a few printed pages in the booklet, the six disc set is a nice mix of the intellectual and the intuitive.  

There are many great tips along the way, including what Matt calls "internal hearing", and I haven't even gotten to the last two CDs yet.  This is definitely one of the better music practice book/CD sets I've come across.  What a novel concept - a music instruction book that is actually almost 100% audio!  

At $60 suggested retail, it's a little expensive, but there are some used copies on Amazon for under $25.  Well worth it, considering the content within is as valuable as several lessons with an instructor.  You can also download the audio from Homespun Tapes.  

Slow and Easy Vol. 2 Released: 25 (more) Essential Irish Session Tunes

John Weed (fiddle) and Stuart Mason (DADGAD guitar) have released their second volume of slowly played standards from the Irish session repertoire.  Just like on volume one, they cover a gamut of tune types (and modes and tonal centers) - reels, jigs, slip jigs, hornpipes, polkas and an air.

One thing I like about Weed and Mason's "play alongs" - in addition to the fact that the tune selections are spot on - is that it still sounds like music.  Instead of seeming condescending or purposely boring, the interpretations on both Slow and Easy volumes could exist as its own sort of alternate style.  If you can get into these tunes as they are being presented then it doesn't really matter that these same melodies are usually played much faster at sessions.  The whole point is to really get the feel of the tune and the music -- that feeling can always be sped up the more comfortable you are with it (or kept sorta slow if that's more your thing).

As a person who can sometimes get too bogged down in the study of Irish music, I can put this music on while driving or washing dishes and instead of it feeling like practice, it can feel like simply listening to good music out of pure enjoyment, which is a refreshing way to approach it.  Plus, since it's just two instruments - lead fiddle and backup guitar - you can clearly hear both the melodic and harmonic aspects and potential of this music.

Also like the first volume, there will be pdf charts (sheet music and chords) for all of the tunes available soon.  The music itself is streaming on Bandcamp or you can download it.  What I did last time was download the music so that I could then take it with me and/or use the Amazing Slow Downer to speed up the tunes as needed.  Yep you can use the Slow Downer in reverse too!

DVD Review - The Guitar Player's Guide to Improvisation by Tim May and Dan Miller

I like checking out instruction books designed for instruments other than the instrument(s) I play to see things from a different perspective and to better grasp the universal nature of music.  It was for those reasons that I ordered some Flatpicking Essentials books from Flatpicking Guitar Magazine.  With those books came a DVD called “TheGuitar Player's Guide to Improvisation – An Approach to Improvisation” which – until a few days ago – had remained unopened.

Recently I’ve been getting a hankering to jam out on Jerry Garcia and Gillian Welch songs, so a tutorial addressing the concept of plucking something other than the straight “vocal-line” melody is something I could use.  Prior to watching this DVD my attempts at improvisation felt like flailing in water over my head, never sure where to land.  After watching this DVD just one time through I suddenly had a firmer understanding of how one might approach improvisation.

On the DVD, the talented flat-picker Tim May and Flatpicking Guitar magazine editor Dan Miller teach what they call “fake it until you make it”.  Tim and Dan's belief is that even beginners should be working on improvisation skills and that anyone can improvise a solo, even with no previous experience with improvisation.  As a mandolin/tenor banjo player, I kept waiting for things to come along that were too guitar-oriented, but for the most part the concepts they covered apply to any melody instrument.

Tim and Dan are noticeably cautious when discussing things that could be construed as music theory, out of deference to folks who may be hostile to that philosophy.  They do use some terms such as “targeting the third” so a little theory understanding is needed and expected, but if you pay attention and follow along you shouldn’t have any trouble comprehending everything they are going over.

Tim May

A lot of instructional DVDs start off overly simple, then jump to overly complicated real quick.  Tim and Dan have a way of keeping things uncomplicated throughout, but never to the point of feeling dumbed down.  The fact that they manage to make an esoteric concept – improvisation – understandable is quite an accomplishment.

Topics discussed include:

The scale notes that best fit over diatonic (of the key) chord progressions.

How to employ those scale tones using techniques such as scale runs, folded scales, harmonized scales, and crosspicking.

How to target chord tones (the root, third and fifth) in your solo as the tune changes from one chord to another.

How to use techniques like phrasing, note articulation, and dynamics to make your improvisation fit the song while sounding interesting, engaging and tasteful.

It’s naïve to think that one DVD will make you a proficient improviser – only hours and hours of focused practice will really achieve this.  But, watching this DVD will certainly help you on your way toward that goal.  At the very least it will allow you to sit in at a jam session and “fake it until you make it”!

Building a Ragtime Repertoire

If you get Steve Parker’s book Ragtime for Fiddle and Mandolin and Mel Bay's Favorite American Rags and Blues for Fiddle by Stacy Phillips, then you'll have your bases covered when it comes to sheet music for many of the common stringband rags such as Pig Ankle's Rag, Stone's Rag, Mineola Rag, Plowboy Hop, Whistling Rufus, Stone Mountain Wobble and many more.  However, I've also found some great raggy tunes from other books and sources.  For example...

April Verch’s book/CD The American Fiddle Method - Canadian Fiddle Styles contains the ragtime foxtrot Walking Up Town in the key of C.  I really started to love this tune after transcribing it to the key of G, which is the way it is played by Tom Cussen’s Irish traditional band Shaskeen on their album titled Walking Up Town.  It's a little easier to play in G so you can start with April Verch's sheet music and tweak it based on Shaskeen's version.

The Dix Bruce and Bruce Bollerud tune collection called Mandolin Uff Da! Let's Dance:: Scandinavian Fiddle Tunes and House Party Music is one of my favorite tunebooks, containing many great waltzes, schottiches and polkas.  It also contains two very fun rags – Mabel Rag Two-Step (which I prefer to play in D than the arrangement in F in the book) and Red Rooster Two Step (which is noteworthy because it’s a 3-part tune that changes keys…the first part sounds like a march, the second part sounds ethnic, and the third part is very raggy).  In addition Mandolin Uff Da! also has some tunes called Almondo's Polka and Sally's Hoppwaltz which also have ragtime elements.  You won't find these tunes anywhere else, and they really deserve to be played by more people.

Celestial Mountain Music’s All-In-One Jambook contains a country rag I like a lot called Saturday Night Breakdown.  Click here to listen to me playing this tune.  Janet Davis’ The Ultimate Mandolin Songbook has a transcription of Scott Joplin’s classic rag The Entertainer that almost makes this tune doable!

Paul Rosen of the Charlottesville, VA area contra dance band Floorplay has written many tunes that I’ve started to play, including Clouds Thicken, Critter’s Gone to Texas and Locust Tree.  Just last week I started to learn one he wrote called Elgin’s Rag, which has become my favorite rag.  Paul has posted the sheet music for all of the tunes on Floorplay’s Block Party album, including Elgin's Rag, here.

On a site called Old Time Mandolin there's the mandolin tab for B-flat Rag by the Madisonville String Band.  Paul Tyler transcribed Les Raber's version of Dill Pickle Rag for Oldtown School of Folk Music's Tune of the Week series.

There’s also a site called Dr. Fiddle with many transcriptions of rags, including Cumberland Blues by Doc Roberts and Duck Shoes Rag and Ruth’s Rag by the Grinnell Giggers.  Rags may be somewhat scarce, but with a little poking around you'll have more tunes in that syncopated style at your disposal.

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.

Old-Time Fiddle Tune PDFs - Rich Crew's Tune Book

There are a lot of places online where you can find the sheet music notation for fiddle tunes, but one I'd like to point out is Rich Crew's Tune Book.  Rich's list represents what gets played in North Georgia, but it overlaps quite a bit with the tunes I hear people play in Central Virginia.  Each link points to a PDF file for the tune.

Dr. Richard Crew

These include:
Bull at the Wagon

Camp Meeting on the Fourth of July
Caterpillar sitting on a Sweet Potato Vine
Coleman's March
Cuffie
The Falls of Richmond
Half Past Four
Hunt the Buffalo
Icy Mountain
I'll Learn You How To Rock, Andy
Indian Ate a Woodchuck
Jeff Davis
Jimmy in the Swamp
Lost Girl
Martha Campbell
The Needle Case
Polecat Blues
Santa Anna's Retreat
Sarah Armstrong (The Old Tarheel)
Valley Forge
Walkin' Down Georgia Row

As Rich says, "the written sources are only a rough indication of what actually gets played. I have made only the most minimal indications of double-stops, and have omitted the unisons, slides, and other noises that are an essential part of the Southern fiddle tradition." 

Tunes from Doolin, County Clare

Doolin is where I first heard and fell in love with Irish traditional music almost a decade ago.  Some of the musicians that I got to hear on my visits there, including Yvonne Casey, Eoin O'Neill, Quentin Cooper, Kevin Griffin and James Cullinan, are still my favorites to this day.

Doolin Ireland

So, I was pleased to discover that a concertina player named Charles, originally from Switzerland but now living in Doolin, has created a site to share the tunes he is learning in County Clare. The site is called Irish Traditional Music from Doolin and you can find it here.

Charles

On his site Charles has posted the music and some recordings for the reels, jigs, hornpipes and other tunes common to this musically rich region of Ireland.  He's constantly adding to the list so check back often.  Heck, I even saw Shove the Pig's Foot a Little Further Into the Fire on there!  It's nice that one of our tunes has infiltrated this part of the world.  Tunes from Doolin is also on Facebook.  "Like" the page and you'll stay apprised of updates.

Charles and his wife Kate run a bed and breakfast in Doolin called Kate's Place, which would probably be a good place to stay while you're there.  The above mentioned fiddler James Cullinan also runs a seafood restaurant and guest house in the village, with his wife and piano player Carol.  However, Laura and I stayed in Toomullin House both times we were there.

McGann's Pub - Doolin

If you'd like to read about the recent musical history of Doolin - a little village with 3 or 4 pubs that was arguably the hub of Irish traditional music from the 1980's to the 2000's - I encourage you to read the academic but thorough book called Turning the Tune by Adam R. Kaul; now available in paperback.  

Dusty Banjos Ten Years of Tunes (book) and Live At The Crane (CD)

When I received my copy of Dusty Banjos Presents Ten Years of Tunes by Mary Lovett and Heather Greer with 400+ Irish session tunes arranged in sets, my first reaction was that this could be the best trad tunebook I've ever come across!  But let me back up for a minute and explain what Dusty Banjos is and what they do.

Dusty Banjos is a series of classes and sessions designed for adult learners (AKA improvers) who want to learn and play traditional Irish music with others.  It's a supportive, non-competitive atmosphere where all players and instruments are welcome to participate, regardless of level of ability (kind of like my Ashland jam/session, I hope).

The first Dusty Banjos session took place in Galway, Ireland in 2002, run by Mary Lovett of Community Music Crew.  Over the years additional Dustys sessions have been set up in Clifden, Ennis and other locations in Ireland.  Dusty Banjos also hosts the annual Cleggan Music Weekend each summer in the fishing village of Cleggan in Western Connemara, which looks awesome by the way!

The book Ten Years of Tunes was created to document the Dusty Banjos versions of tunes and sets from the repertoire accumulated over its first decade of existence.  The result is a broad-ranging snapshot of tunes that you're likely to hear in sessions in and around Galway and the rest of the world.  Tunes are organized by type - jigs, slip jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas, slides, barndances, strathspeys, mazurkas, waltzes, marches, set dances, flings and airs. From there the tunes are further divided into sets of two or three - with sets grouped together on a single page whenever possible - or as single tunes.

Dusty Banjos session in Oliver's Bar, Cleggan music weekend 2012

The tunes are written in both music notation and ABC.  There's a brief section on how to read the music, as well as a number of photos, posters, articles and other content that I found interesting.  The book is printed on sturdy, glossy paper held together by heavy-duty spiral binding, making it easy to turn to the page you want to look at.  My favorite tune out of the book so far is Lucy Farr's Barndance, although I'm sure there are many more gems to be found in its pages.

Dusty Banjos also does public performances as a band.  One of those performances was recorded in January 2009 to become the CD Live at the Crane.  Officially released live session recordings at a tempo conducive to playing along with are rare, so this recording is a valuable learning tool for student musicians.  These high-energy ceili band style settings are a little percussion heavy (snare drum and bodhran), but that makes it easy to tap your foot to and keep in time with. 

Although Live at the Crane was recorded independently from the tunebook, the CD does contain close to 40 selections from Ten Years of Tunes, in the same sets as the book, so it’s a great learn-by-ear add-on to the written notation.  I’ve immediately taken a liking to two jigs on the CD – The Black Rogue and The Blackthorn Stick – but there’s a whole slew of session standards on the disc.  I don’t know of a better individual practice CD for Irish music.

Dusty Banjos recording session, Crane Bar, Galway Ireland

The book Ten Years of Tunes and the CD Live at the Crane would make great additions to anyone's Celtic music library, but are especially suited to those who are just starting to attend sessions or who have been too shy to do so thus far.  The book can also help provide the framework for starting your own learners session, designed after the Dusty Banjos model!  You can order Ten Years of Tunes here, and Live at the Crane here.

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.