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| | 100 Popular Irish Session Tunes
Bearing in mind that one of my life rules is Never say never, 100 Popular Irish Session Tunes is the last in the series. Although the series comprises 600 tunes, this last book is still packed with popular standards. The Green Mountain, George Whites and The Bank of Turf are all perfect examples. Reels, jigs, hornpipes, polkas, slides, slip jigs, and barn dances are to be found in the book with the usual importance given to reels followed by jigs. Six books of 100 Irish tunes plus six accompanying CDs has been a mega project. I think that if I had known at the outset what an enormous task I was setting myself, I would never have started. It has taken around 20 years to complete plus 15 years before that studying the music, when producing books such as these would never have entered my head. To be fair, the books development was nothing like as precise as this. I didnt wake up one morning and say to myself I think Ill produce six Irish music books. The books developed steadily over time, born out of my impatience to learn more and more tunes as quickly as possible. I found I kept forgetting tunes I had learned earlier, particularly the setting I had worked out to suit myself and my instrument, (I still forget nowadays but on a larger scale). Because of this, I started jotting the tunes down for easy revision. Then I saw a gap in the market and I published 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes from my crib sheets. It was a much bigger success than I had imagined, so I continued the series. I didnt intend to bring out accompanying CDs but I had such a lot of requests for them that, in the end, I relented and produced the recordings, that took 13 years. Now the project is finished, Im glad Ive done it and Im pleased with the end product although I would have liked to have had more talent to put into the soundtracks, but its difficult when you dont start young. However, I feel that I have been paid a great compliment by the fact that companies in Ireland have copied my products, some tunes note for note. The tune settings in this book are all session friendly, i.e. you can learn them exactly as written and know that you will have a perfectly acceptable version. However, I consider it unwise to learn a tune from only one source and I would suggest strongly that, when learning a new tune, you pay heed to other books, recordings and live performances. It is important to note that the settings in this book are greatly influenced by the instrument I play, the D/G melodeon (an accordion system rarely found in Irish music circles - B/C and C sharp/D are the norm). Ive made a conscious effort to allow this to happen in order to give the book its own unique character. When choosing books, take care not to be put off by the title; some of the best sources of tunes are from tuition books. Just because the book cover says Learn to Play the Banjo, dont think its of no use if you play the tin whistle. Books will only help you to learn the notes of a tune. To pick up the rhythm of Irish music you must devote a large amount of time listening to both recordings and live musicians. Of greatest importance, you must practice; the value of this book is directly proportional to the number of hours a day you spend practicing. Chord arrangements are more or less as played on the soundtrack, but nevertheless, are only suggestions. The dominant chords (i.e. D in the key of G, A in the key of D and E in the key of A etc.) throughout this book are noted as plain major chords, whereas many musicians prefer to play the seventh (D7, A7, E7 etc.). Feel free to play either type of chord as the mood takes you. Suggested ornamentation has been kept to a minimum and is indicated by the symbol ~. To help those whose music reading skills only extends as far as finding the notes, a separate, optional CD has been produced (AM406C -DMPCD1101), so you can familiarize yourself with a tune before learning it.
Edited By Dave Mallinson
Overall Difficulty: Beginning-Intermediate
Instrument: Acoustic Instruments
Music Style: Celtic/Irish
Publisher: Dave Mallinson Publications
 | This product has a difficulty rating of 3 on a scale of 1 to 6 with 6 being the hardest. |
 | Chord symbols are included in this songbook. |
Arranger(s): This piece was arranged by Dave Mallinson.
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