Hi, I'm new to fiddling and irish music generally (2 months on the fiddle) and I was wondering what tunes might suit a beginner. I'm sure this has probably been asked before as well (so sorry)!!
I've got Morrison's and Out on the Ocean as well as some very simple ones going quite well at the minute and I'm eager to learn more without them being too hard- I'm still getting sharps where there shouldn't be and the like!
It's relative... I'm an experienced player and still find Out on the Ocean to be quite tricky... Calliope House in E came much more naturally to me.... but some people say it's hard...
listen to as much as you can find. great fiddlers, sure; tommy peoples, james kelly, et al, but don't be thrown by the ornamentation. there are plenty of other sources -- i think the chieftains are a great introduction to the tunes, myself. what you need is the tunes washing around your head all the time. when you get to the point where you wake up with a tune in your head, then you're getting somewhere. when you can get up and find that tune with your fingers, then you're halfway home.
you might try 'tripping up the stairs', just for fun. and look for a reel or two that you can get your fingers around. just listen -- you'll find one.
what i'm getting at is, the tunes pick you, not the other way around. i think the first tune i learned was 'kid on a mountain'. i don't recommend it.
I've been working on Morrison's for months! And still I only play it about half speed. Of course, even my best tunes I can only play at about 3/4 speed. Even Kesh which is a very simple tune that I've taught to others.
Fishmonger and Toxic when Wet. What marvellous names. Given proper consideration they seem to compliment each other perfectly. If you are infact ywo of the local girls that stand outside my local co op, your names and your smells ring true
Dow's list of 50 tunes to learn is excellent. I was just playing an old tune the other day that I think makes a good beginner tune - The Torn Jacket by Connie O'Connell.
Fairly straightforward and simple melody with many opportunities for variation and ornamentation when you want to try something out. Its been recorded many times so you can listen to a lot of ways it is played. Good luck.
I play the mandolin, and I thought The Merry Blacksmith was a great one...I think I learned the version from jaybuckey.com-if they have it- and it only took maybe an hour or two. It's pretty easy and it sounds cool, plus you can find different versions of it everywhere . dk if that helps but good luck!
Not all well known or even "cliched" tunes are particularly easy.
In fact, many obscure and even very good "highly thought of" tunes can also be very easy to learn.
The main advantage of learning well known session standards, in the first instance, is not necessarily the fact that they are easy(Some will and others won't be) but that repeated exposure to them will probably make them "stick in your mind" more. Less frequently played tunes may actually take longer to learn even although they are technically easier.
I like what 'tinamatt said, a big part of learning tunes, and learning about the music (especially since you're new to it) is listening to as much of it as you can. Then you'll find tunes you'd like to learn. It's much better than trying to pick out a tune that's suitable for a beginner, but you've never heard before.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/9504
He's O'er the Hill, which has just been submitted. Two finger tune, if you want to play it that way.
The trouble with trying to learn tunes 'by listening', is they might sound easy. But then try playing them!
"Fishmonger and Toxic when Wet. What marvellous names. Given proper consideration they seem to compliment each other perfectly. If you are infact ywo of the local girls that stand outside my local co op, your names and your smells ring true
# Posted on April 6th 2009 by Buck_Alek "
I smell a slag. Ugh.
And what the feck makes you think I'm female???
Oh by the way, learn to spell or at least use a spell checker please.
Easy or difficult. It is a mind set. Pick some tunes and go for it.
I learned that from watching our kids take classical piano lessons as they were growing up. I am jealous of kids. They don't know enough to make a judgment about hard or easy and do great things without knowing it.
Thanks for all the advice. I decided on Kesh and Road to Lisdoonvarna and they seem to fit me quite nice.
I also found a good CD on itunes which is called Slowplay Jigs Reels and Hornpipes. It has some good tunes which are all played at a slow speed so you can really hear every note which helps me not rely on sheet music too much!
Think I'm trying Lament for Stalker Wallis next. Tinamatt is right... the tunes do pick you as some just get in your head. I live in a shared house and now all my housemates have the tunes in their heads too!
Easy beginner tunes.
Easy beginner tunes.
Hi, I'm new to fiddling and irish music generally (2 months on the fiddle) and I was wondering what tunes might suit a beginner. I'm sure this has probably been asked before as well (so sorry)!!
I've got Morrison's and Out on the Ocean as well as some very simple ones going quite well at the minute and I'm eager to learn more without them being too hard- I'm still getting sharps where there shouldn't be and the like!
Thanks!!
# Posted on April 6th 2009 by LollyPop
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/13056#comment268197
# Posted on April 6th 2009 by hotsauce
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
It's relative... I'm an experienced player and still find Out on the Ocean to be quite tricky... Calliope House in E came much more naturally to me.... but some people say it's hard...
# Posted on April 6th 2009 by The Merry Highlander
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
I don't find Morrison's particularly easy either.
Try Britches Full of Stitches, or Jim Ward's:
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1075
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/793
# Posted on April 6th 2009 by Ramiro
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
listen to as much as you can find. great fiddlers, sure; tommy peoples, james kelly, et al, but don't be thrown by the ornamentation. there are plenty of other sources -- i think the chieftains are a great introduction to the tunes, myself. what you need is the tunes washing around your head all the time. when you get to the point where you wake up with a tune in your head, then you're getting somewhere. when you can get up and find that tune with your fingers, then you're halfway home.
you might try 'tripping up the stairs', just for fun. and look for a reel or two that you can get your fingers around. just listen -- you'll find one.
what i'm getting at is, the tunes pick you, not the other way around. i think the first tune i learned was 'kid on a mountain'. i don't recommend it.
# Posted on April 6th 2009 by 'tinamatt
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
Matt People's Reel is a decent beginner tune.
Morrison's Jig is not a beginner tune. I do not know why it's perceived as such.
Try the Lilting Banshee for a (fairly) easy jig.
# Posted on April 6th 2009 by awildman2384
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
I've been working on Morrison's for months! And still I only play it about half speed. Of course, even my best tunes I can only play at about 3/4 speed. Even Kesh which is a very simple tune that I've taught to others.
I keep hoping the speed will come soon.
# Posted on April 6th 2009 by Fishmonger
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
Fishmonger and Toxic when Wet. What marvellous names. Given proper consideration they seem to compliment each other perfectly. If you are infact ywo of the local girls that stand outside my local co op, your names and your smells ring true
# Posted on April 6th 2009 by Miss Mulligan
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
Dow's list of 50 tunes to learn is excellent. I was just playing an old tune the other day that I think makes a good beginner tune - The Torn Jacket by Connie O'Connell.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/350
Fairly straightforward and simple melody with many opportunities for variation and ornamentation when you want to try something out. Its been recorded many times so you can listen to a lot of ways it is played. Good luck.
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by John Culhane
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
I play the mandolin, and I thought The Merry Blacksmith was a great one...I think I learned the version from jaybuckey.com-if they have it- and it only took maybe an hour or two. It's pretty easy and it sounds cool, plus you can find different versions of it everywhere
. dk if that helps but good luck!
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by steve...r
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
Not all well known or even "cliched" tunes are particularly easy.
In fact, many obscure and even very good "highly thought of" tunes can also be very easy to learn.
The main advantage of learning well known session standards, in the first instance, is not necessarily the fact that they are easy(Some will and others won't be) but that repeated exposure to them will probably make them "stick in your mind" more. Less frequently played tunes may actually take longer to learn even although they are technically easier.
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by Johnny Jay
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
I like what 'tinamatt said, a big part of learning tunes, and learning about the music (especially since you're new to it) is listening to as much of it as you can. Then you'll find tunes you'd like to learn. It's much better than trying to pick out a tune that's suitable for a beginner, but you've never heard before.
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by PatrickJWK
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/9504
He's O'er the Hill, which has just been submitted. Two finger tune, if you want to play it that way.
The trouble with trying to learn tunes 'by listening', is they might sound easy. But then try playing them!
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by gam
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
"Fishmonger and Toxic when Wet. What marvellous names. Given proper consideration they seem to compliment each other perfectly. If you are infact ywo of the local girls that stand outside my local co op, your names and your smells ring true
# Posted on April 6th 2009 by Buck_Alek "
I smell a slag. Ugh.
And what the feck makes you think I'm female???
Oh by the way, learn to spell or at least use a spell checker please.
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by Fishmonger
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
Easy or difficult. It is a mind set. Pick some tunes and go for it.
I learned that from watching our kids take classical piano lessons as they were growing up. I am jealous of kids. They don't know enough to make a judgment about hard or easy and do great things without knowing it.
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by zippydw
Re: Easy beginner tunes.
Thanks for all the advice. I decided on Kesh and Road to Lisdoonvarna and they seem to fit me quite nice.
I also found a good CD on itunes which is called Slowplay Jigs Reels and Hornpipes. It has some good tunes which are all played at a slow speed so you can really hear every note which helps me not rely on sheet music too much!
Think I'm trying Lament for Stalker Wallis next. Tinamatt is right... the tunes do pick you as some just get in your head. I live in a shared house and now all my housemates have the tunes in their heads too!
# Posted on April 17th 2009 by LollyPop