I managed to squeeze in before the registration filled up, so I'll be there taking classes and checking out sessions. It looks like a packed week with lots of stuff going on outside of the school itself. Kevin Burke and Paddy Glackin are teaching the intermediate and advanced fiddle classes. There's a placement audition for class level at the orientation, with no idea what the audition will consist of (seems like we would play a tune or two) and no idea who would be listening (it said faculty makes the final decision about who goes where, does that mean we'd play in front of Kevin and Paddy, yikes!), I feel slightly nauseous everytime I think about it. However, I'm determined to get through that and then spend the rest of the week joyfully wallowing in the music.
Yes, that reminds me, what is the deal with the class placement "auditions"? Any gaelic roots alumni out there who can elaborate? Are there significant differences between what goes on in the advanced class vs. the intermediate class?
Yes you will indeed be playing for the the instructors. Each audition varies based upon the group of instructors and the instrument.
The auditions are to try and get people on the same level so that there is some reasonable consistency in the the skill set of each student in each class and their ability to learn the chunes together. They are trying to eliminate having people with no skills dominate the time necessary to pick the chunes being taught in the classes. In years past the instructors have tried to teach anywhere from two to four chunes at each class session with two being typical in the less advanced class and four in the more advanced class.
The skill set that seems to cause the most problems once the classes start are the aural skills. If you are a music reader and don't pick up chunes well by listening you may want to opt into the lower level classes. Each instructor is different in the amount of time they spend with the printed notes on the page but in the advanced classes its likely that only a limited amount of time will be spent reading the music or even playing the basic tune with much more time spent on ornamentation and style.
The other reason for the auditions is so that they have an equivalent number of students in each class. That is because they don't want 50 people in Kevin's class and 2 in Paddy's class.
If you play regularly in sessions or a group and can pick up chunes by ear without much problem then you probably start in the advanced class. The instructors tend to get a sense of the class skills and then challenge the class to learn the chunes. The advanced classes tend to learn more chunes at a faster pace and with more ornamentation.
As a suggestion, so that we can all get to meet each other and possibly play together can we all plan to meet in the back (opposite end from the stage) of Irish Hall after the opening program where Seamus Connolly introduces all the instructors and other participants in the program. There are usually a few minutes available to at least say hello. As to playing together, how about meeting again on Monday morning at the intermediate music session tent (tent B) following the first set of classes around 11:00 - 11:15 AM ? If anyone has any other thoughts please let us know.
By the way the open sessions twice daily at 11:00 and 4:00 are the best way to develop your playing skills. These sessions are open to the public as well as the students. And oh yes, they are typically lead by two or three of the teachers who call upon the students to start the chunes.
The craic is probably the best on the Wednesday night boat cruise around Boston Harbor and tickets are reportedly still available at the Gaelic Roots web site posted above if you were not able to get into the full program.
Don't forget to introduce yourselves and wear your name tags if you have registered. I will be the one handing out the twizzlers.
Bob,
*thanks* for all the info. this is really helpful. great idea about making plans to meet: i'll look for the twizzer man on sunday toward the back of irish hall, then again on monday morning at the session tent. see ya then...
Yes, thanks for the info, Bob - it is very helpful. One other question, how much stuff will be happening outside (i.e. with no airconditioning?). Humidity is a foreign concept here (particularly *this* year), if we'll be outside a bunch I'll have to do some research. Anyway, I'll look for you and Brendan at the back of the hall after the opening program. The name on my tag will be Susan (not Sosaidh) Coghlan. Will you be tagged as "the hitman" (and what exactly *is* it that you hit ?
Sorry for the delay in responding, its been a hectic week. One thing about the New England wheather, if you don't like it wait a minute and it will probably change.
Most of the classes are inside in college classrooms, only some of which are air conditioned. It can get hot and humid after a couple of hours. The sessions are outside on the quadrangle lawn in open tents which provide shade from the summer sun, there are folding chairs and there is usually a bit of a breeze which is a welcome relief from some of the inside classrooms. Bring sun screen and sit outside the sunny side of the tent if you want to multi-task.
In addition to the sessions the Monday and Friday night dinners are outside, weather permitting, and the Wednesday night Boatride around Boston Harbor is out in the open for Ceili dancing on the roof of the boat and indoors on the other two levels of the boat for the sessions. A jacket or sweatshirt is a must once the sun goes down about 8:15 pm. (Last year the boat left the dock at 7:00 and sailed out to Boston outer harbor and when we turned around to sail back into the harbor we sailed right into a wonderful thunderstorm. It was quite spectacular to see the thunderheads and lightning bolts illuminating the night sky. The dancers weren't too thrilled to have to scramble below deck in the downpour which ensued. By the way that was the only rain all week.)
Most of the instructor performances, with the exception of Thursday night and Saturday (Robsham Theatre), are in Irish Hall which is over 100 years old and depending on the humidity can be hot if the air conditioning is not up to par. The lectures and the set and Ceili dancing (as opposed to step dancing classes which are in the classrooms) are usually inside in Irish Hall or the Honors Lounge which is across the hall.
The dormitory rooms are reported to be relatively comfortable. The suites have four bedrooms with individual temperature controls (if someone hasn't absconded with the adjustment knob), a common sitting room (for informal sessions) and a common kitchen with refrigerator and stove (to keep the Guiness cold and heat up the early morning pizza delivery).
If you get a chance see some of Boston while you are here. It is a nice city and can be a lot of fun. Every Monday night there is a session at the Greenbriar on Washington Street in Brighton about 3/4 of a mile from campus, which starts with a slow session at 7:00 PM and a regular session at 9:00 until about 1:30 AM that I usually play in. Often times the instructors join in after 10:00 PM. Also keep your ears open to the instructors comments about where they are going for the 11:00 PM to 4:00 AM time slot every night because if you want to hear some great tunes these informal sessions are usually brilliant.
Oh yea, my wife says that when I'm not hitting on one of the eight kids (Tara, Erin, Timothy, Maura, Rory, Brendan, Conor and Fiona) or the single young women in the crowd, that I sometimes hit on the Bodhran that brought me. Don't worry terminal insanity is not contagious and ITM is part of my therapy.
If you have any other questions or want to e-mail me off line I would be happy to try and respond as time permits (The kids keep wanting to eat, or have the tuition paid, so I have to keep working). Reach me at rcolema1@ix.netcom.com Look forward to seeing you folks and you won't be disappointed the craic is grand!!
Bob, look up Mike Dugger for me and say hi and see what he says. I don't know if he's running any of the slow sessions this year, but I do know he's probably stage managing the instructor performances as usual.
BTW, I have those CDs for you now! Hooray! See, I didn't forget. Will send them out this week. (I can't remember which of the two you wanted, so I'm just sending you both.)
Zina - We missed Mike last year both running the slow session and stage managing as well. Mike really gave us a lot of help getting our slow session going two years ago and thanks to him we now have about 35 regulars who join in the craic on Monday nights.
I hope he is back in town this June because he certainly has great enthusiasim and is able to connect with even the ITM beginners. Hopefully that good old banjo will be with us for the week and I will certainly inquire and pass on your best.
As to the CD's I am in your debt. Thanks for thinking of me.
Mike will be there, Bob, has his tickets and everything, and be sure to ask him to play the box for you -- he's been working at this new instrument (what does that make now, four?) for a bit and my bet is he's ready to play it out by now. I think he sounds great. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the operation for his finger will be successful so he can play fiddle again -- if only so I can get him to finally give me that lesson.
Mike leading the slow session playing the box, sounds like good craic to me. I hope he will consider playing it at our regular session slow session at the Greenbriar on Monday night at 7:00 PM to see exactly what he is responsible for starting.
Gaelic Roots 2002
Gaelic Roots 2002
Anyone going?
# Posted on May 13th 2002 by cvplummer
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
Don't we already have a thread on more or less this same topic?
Zina
# Posted on May 13th 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
Yes, i sort of started one at http://thesession.org/discussions/display.php/460
In any case, i for one am a going. should be a blast. can't wait...
# Posted on May 13th 2002 by Brendan
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
I'll be bopping around, but I didn't sign up for any classes.
# Posted on May 14th 2002 by B Rad
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
Whats gaelic roots 2002?
# Posted on May 14th 2002 by bb
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
If you want to know what Gaelic Roots is, check out the web site: http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/irish/gr.html
I managed to squeeze in before the registration filled up, so I'll be there taking classes and checking out sessions. It looks like a packed week with lots of stuff going on outside of the school itself. Kevin Burke and Paddy Glackin are teaching the intermediate and advanced fiddle classes. There's a placement audition for class level at the orientation, with no idea what the audition will consist of (seems like we would play a tune or two) and no idea who would be listening (it said faculty makes the final decision about who goes where, does that mean we'd play in front of Kevin and Paddy, yikes!), I feel slightly nauseous everytime I think about it. However, I'm determined to get through that and then spend the rest of the week joyfully wallowing in the music.
Sosaidh
# Posted on May 14th 2002 by chicagofiddler
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
Yes, that reminds me, what is the deal with the class placement "auditions"? Any gaelic roots alumni out there who can elaborate? Are there significant differences between what goes on in the advanced class vs. the intermediate class?
# Posted on May 14th 2002 by Brendan
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
Yes you will indeed be playing for the the instructors. Each audition varies based upon the group of instructors and the instrument.
The auditions are to try and get people on the same level so that there is some reasonable consistency in the the skill set of each student in each class and their ability to learn the chunes together. They are trying to eliminate having people with no skills dominate the time necessary to pick the chunes being taught in the classes. In years past the instructors have tried to teach anywhere from two to four chunes at each class session with two being typical in the less advanced class and four in the more advanced class.
The skill set that seems to cause the most problems once the classes start are the aural skills. If you are a music reader and don't pick up chunes well by listening you may want to opt into the lower level classes. Each instructor is different in the amount of time they spend with the printed notes on the page but in the advanced classes its likely that only a limited amount of time will be spent reading the music or even playing the basic tune with much more time spent on ornamentation and style.
The other reason for the auditions is so that they have an equivalent number of students in each class. That is because they don't want 50 people in Kevin's class and 2 in Paddy's class.
If you play regularly in sessions or a group and can pick up chunes by ear without much problem then you probably start in the advanced class. The instructors tend to get a sense of the class skills and then challenge the class to learn the chunes. The advanced classes tend to learn more chunes at a faster pace and with more ornamentation.
As a suggestion, so that we can all get to meet each other and possibly play together can we all plan to meet in the back (opposite end from the stage) of Irish Hall after the opening program where Seamus Connolly introduces all the instructors and other participants in the program. There are usually a few minutes available to at least say hello. As to playing together, how about meeting again on Monday morning at the intermediate music session tent (tent B) following the first set of classes around 11:00 - 11:15 AM ? If anyone has any other thoughts please let us know.
By the way the open sessions twice daily at 11:00 and 4:00 are the best way to develop your playing skills. These sessions are open to the public as well as the students. And oh yes, they are typically lead by two or three of the teachers who call upon the students to start the chunes.
The craic is probably the best on the Wednesday night boat cruise around Boston Harbor and tickets are reportedly still available at the Gaelic Roots web site posted above if you were not able to get into the full program.
Don't forget to introduce yourselves and wear your name tags if you have registered. I will be the one handing out the twizzlers.
Bob "The Hitman"
# Posted on May 19th 2002 by rcoleman
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
Bob,
*thanks* for all the info. this is really helpful. great idea about making plans to meet: i'll look for the twizzer man on sunday toward the back of irish hall, then again on monday morning at the session tent. see ya then...
# Posted on May 20th 2002 by Brendan
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
Yes, thanks for the info, Bob - it is very helpful. One other question, how much stuff will be happening outside (i.e. with no airconditioning?). Humidity is a foreign concept here (particularly *this* year), if we'll be outside a bunch I'll have to do some research. Anyway, I'll look for you and Brendan at the back of the hall after the opening program. The name on my tag will be Susan (not Sosaidh) Coghlan. Will you be tagged as "the hitman" (and what exactly *is* it that you hit
?
# Posted on May 20th 2002 by chicagofiddler
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
Sorry for the delay in responding, its been a hectic week. One thing about the New England wheather, if you don't like it wait a minute and it will probably change.
Most of the classes are inside in college classrooms, only some of which are air conditioned. It can get hot and humid after a couple of hours. The sessions are outside on the quadrangle lawn in open tents which provide shade from the summer sun, there are folding chairs and there is usually a bit of a breeze which is a welcome relief from some of the inside classrooms. Bring sun screen and sit outside the sunny side of the tent if you want to multi-task.
In addition to the sessions the Monday and Friday night dinners are outside, weather permitting, and the Wednesday night Boatride around Boston Harbor is out in the open for Ceili dancing on the roof of the boat and indoors on the other two levels of the boat for the sessions. A jacket or sweatshirt is a must once the sun goes down about 8:15 pm. (Last year the boat left the dock at 7:00 and sailed out to Boston outer harbor and when we turned around to sail back into the harbor we sailed right into a wonderful thunderstorm. It was quite spectacular to see the thunderheads and lightning bolts illuminating the night sky. The dancers weren't too thrilled to have to scramble below deck in the downpour which ensued. By the way that was the only rain all week.)
Most of the instructor performances, with the exception of Thursday night and Saturday (Robsham Theatre), are in Irish Hall which is over 100 years old and depending on the humidity can be hot if the air conditioning is not up to par. The lectures and the set and Ceili dancing (as opposed to step dancing classes which are in the classrooms) are usually inside in Irish Hall or the Honors Lounge which is across the hall.
The dormitory rooms are reported to be relatively comfortable. The suites have four bedrooms with individual temperature controls (if someone hasn't absconded with the adjustment knob), a common sitting room (for informal sessions) and a common kitchen with refrigerator and stove (to keep the Guiness cold and heat up the early morning pizza delivery).
If you get a chance see some of Boston while you are here. It is a nice city and can be a lot of fun. Every Monday night there is a session at the Greenbriar on Washington Street in Brighton about 3/4 of a mile from campus, which starts with a slow session at 7:00 PM and a regular session at 9:00 until about 1:30 AM that I usually play in. Often times the instructors join in after 10:00 PM. Also keep your ears open to the instructors comments about where they are going for the 11:00 PM to 4:00 AM time slot every night because if you want to hear some great tunes these informal sessions are usually brilliant.
Oh yea, my wife says that when I'm not hitting on one of the eight kids (Tara, Erin, Timothy, Maura, Rory, Brendan, Conor and Fiona) or the single young women in the crowd, that I sometimes hit on the Bodhran that brought me. Don't worry terminal insanity is not contagious and ITM is part of my therapy.
If you have any other questions or want to e-mail me off line I would be happy to try and respond as time permits (The kids keep wanting to eat, or have the tuition paid, so I have to keep working). Reach me at rcolema1@ix.netcom.com Look forward to seeing you folks and you won't be disappointed the craic is grand!!
Play on!
Bob "The Hitman"
# Posted on May 25th 2002 by rcoleman
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
Bob, look up Mike Dugger for me and say hi and see what he says.
I don't know if he's running any of the slow sessions this year, but I do know he's probably stage managing the instructor performances as usual.
BTW, I have those CDs for you now! Hooray! See, I didn't forget. Will send them out this week. (I can't remember which of the two you wanted, so I'm just sending you both.)
Zina
# Posted on May 26th 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
Zina - We missed Mike last year both running the slow session and stage managing as well. Mike really gave us a lot of help getting our slow session going two years ago and thanks to him we now have about 35 regulars who join in the craic on Monday nights.
I hope he is back in town this June because he certainly has great enthusiasim and is able to connect with even the ITM beginners. Hopefully that good old banjo will be with us for the week and I will certainly inquire and pass on your best.
As to the CD's I am in your debt. Thanks for thinking of me.
Play on!
Bob
# Posted on May 28th 2002 by rcoleman
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
Mike will be there, Bob, has his tickets and everything, and be sure to ask him to play the box for you -- he's been working at this new instrument (what does that make now, four?) for a bit and my bet is he's ready to play it out by now. I think he sounds great. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the operation for his finger will be successful so he can play fiddle again -- if only so I can get him to finally give me that lesson.
Zina
# Posted on May 29th 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
Mike leading the slow session playing the box, sounds like good craic to me. I hope he will consider playing it at our regular session slow session at the Greenbriar on Monday night at 7:00 PM to see exactly what he is responsible for starting.
Thanks for the info Zina.
Play On!
Bob "The Hitman"
# Posted on May 30th 2002 by rcoleman
Re: Gaelic Roots 2002
Mike says he'll be at the Greenbriar if it's at all possible, with bells on, Bob.
Zina
# Posted on May 31st 2002 by Zina Lee