Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar
A disclaimer: The original information for this page was gathered over several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s. That original website went down but with the help of cached pages and the way back machine I was able to reconstruct a lot of the information. However, emails, websites and products may no longer be correct or available.
Art Edelstein June 2018
WHAT'S CELTIC MUSIC AND CELTIC GUITAR ALL ABOUT?
The music is derived from the British Isles countries of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England and Brittany in France. The music often was for dancing and includes jigs, hornpipes, reels,as well as airs and frequently today the harp music of Irish harper Turlough Carolan and I have published a biography of this important composer.- Here's An Article I wrote on the Subject Fingerstyle Guitar and Irish Music An Overview By Art Edelstein (This Article originally appeared in Irish Music Magazine in 1999).
- What may have seemed one of the least suited instruments for playing Irish music, the guitar, is currently enjoying a surge of interest among musicians who have discovered the airs, jigs and reels of Ireland and other Celtic lands.
That Celtic guitar is now a growing cottage industry may seem strange to Irish music purists. The guitar was never taken very seriously in Irish music before the late 1960s, and then primarily as a rhythm instrument backing the fiddle, whistle, box, flute, pipes or banjo.
Acoustic guitars aren't very loud, and their sustain when compared to the fiddle is nil. Then there's the problem of drone notes. The guitar tuned to standard tuning, (EADGBE) just doesn't work well for a body of music that is primarily played in the keys of D, G and A.
But leave it to the English to make the guitar more Celtic-oriented. When Davey Graham "invented" DADGAD tuning sometime in the 1960s he gave guitarists a shot in the arm. This tuning worked well with Celtic music. Irish guitarists Daithe Sproule and Michael O'Domnhail adopted it as their preferred tuning and stylistically changed rhythm playing with in their work in Skara Brae, the Bothy Band and later Altan. But they, like many other current traditional music guitarists playing Irish music, are primarily rhythm players.
In recent years, the guitar as back-up instrument in Celtic music is rapidly changing. Top American players including El McMeen from New Jersey, Steve Baughman and Tom Long from California, along with Pat Kirtley from Kentucky, David Surrette from Maine, and John Sherman in Ohio have joined with England's John Renbourn and Martin Simpson, France's Pierre Bensusan, and Italy's Franco Morone, in growing the body of recorded work that includes Irish music.
Scotland's Tony McManus has become well known in this style as well. John Feeley is one of few Irishmen playing this melodic style. He is classically trained however, and this is reflected in guitar approach the nylon strung concert guitar he records with. All the other guitarists I have mentioned play steel string guitars exclusively.
What sets these guitarists apart from their rhythm counterparts is that they play fingerstyle. They use their fingers rather than a flat pick to pluck notes from their instrument. In the course of developing the growing body of fingerstyle Celtic music, they have produced an almost bewildering number of guitar tunings and stretched the instrument's repertoire and use far beyond that of a rhythm instrument in a band, or accompaniment for singing.
It's in the variety of newly invented tunings that Celtic fingerstyle guitar shines. As guitarist Pat Kirtley writes, "Many of today's crop of guitarists playing Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar use a variety of alternate tunings. This is done for several reasons. Primarily, by using "open" or "alternate" tunings a player can achieve the drone effect of the pipes and approximate the sound of the harp with arpeggios. Open tunings allow for interesting cross string patterns not available in standard guitar tuning."
Several years ago, I began listening to this style of guitar playing. Since then I've collected a list of alternate guitar tunings used in the music. They include: DADGBE or "Dropped-D", DADGBD "Double-Dropped D", DADGAD, and DGDGBD also known as "Taro Patch tuning." There are many others. I've found selected guitar tracks with the following, DGDGBbD (Gm) tuning DADF#AD (a Blues-related tuning), DADEAD used by Franco Morone and others, which helps in playing in key of A. There's also, CGDGAD "Low C tuning" used exclusively by El McMeen, and CGCGCD played by Ged Foley of the House Band and Patrick Street. Martin Simpson also uses this tuning as does Steve Baughman. There's more! CGCGCE tuning is played by Tony Cuffe formerly with Ossian as well as Scotland's Dougie Mclean. EADEAE is rare but good for the key of A. I've seen DGDDAE tuning and EGDGBE which I am told some Scottish guitarists use to get a G drone in the bass to imitate the sound of the bagpipes. FGDGCD tuning has been used to play pipe tunes in F.
You might ask why bother? Why Use Alternate Tunings and have to learn new fingering positions and chord shapes? Simply stated, Celtic music lends itself well to alternate or "open" tunings. The music often contains few chord changes. Unlike other musical styles like jazz, blues, and even rock n' roll, the chord patterns in Celtic music are generally very regular.
While Celtic fingerstyle guitar began with Graham, Renbourn, Duck Baker and Stefan Grossman in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was very a very select and selective style of playing until the late 1980s. But, as the general interest in Irish and Scottish music grew into a very popular music form in the 1990s, Celtic fingerstyle guitar playing followed. This growth was recently documented with the release of a two volume CD and video production by Grossman's Vestapol Videos and Rounder Records. These two video/album selections Ramble To Cashel (Vestapol 13029/ Rounder 3156) (from an O'Carolan title) and The Blarney Pilgrim (Vestapol 13063/Rounder 3157), are a must for any player or listener as they showcase eight of the best players. The videos also include the guitar arrangements.
While Grossman has delivered an excellent video product he isn't the only producer working with Celtic fingerstyle guitarists. Homespun Video has produced several video lessons on the subject. You can learn Martin Simpson's style on three teaching videos Sim-GT01, 02. 03. Al Petteway, a Maryland guitarist also presents lessons on Homespun, they are ALPGT01, 02. John Renbourn teaches his style on Celtic Melodies & Open Tunings, GW 908 (Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop). Mel Bay has two performance videos in this style. Steve Baughman (MB97259VX) and Robin Bullock (MB97258VX).
That Celtic guitar is now a growing cottage industry may seem strange to Irish music purists. The guitar was never taken very seriously in Irish music before the late 1960s, and then primarily as a rhythm instrument backing the fiddle, whistle, box, flute, pipes or banjo.
Acoustic guitars aren't very loud, and their sustain when compared to the fiddle is nil. Then there's the problem of drone notes. The guitar tuned to standard tuning, (EADGBE) just doesn't work well for a body of music that is primarily played in the keys of D, G and A.
But leave it to the English to make the guitar more Celtic-oriented. When Davey Graham "invented" DADGAD tuning sometime in the 1960s he gave guitarists a shot in the arm. This tuning worked well with Celtic music. Irish guitarists Daithe Sproule and Michael O'Domnhail adopted it as their preferred tuning and stylistically changed rhythm playing with in their work in Skara Brae, the Bothy Band and later Altan. But they, like many other current traditional music guitarists playing Irish music, are primarily rhythm players.
In recent years, the guitar as back-up instrument in Celtic music is rapidly changing. Top American players including El McMeen from New Jersey, Steve Baughman and Tom Long from California, along with Pat Kirtley from Kentucky, David Surrette from Maine, and John Sherman in Ohio have joined with England's John Renbourn and Martin Simpson, France's Pierre Bensusan, and Italy's Franco Morone, in growing the body of recorded work that includes Irish music.
Scotland's Tony McManus has become well known in this style as well. John Feeley is one of few Irishmen playing this melodic style. He is classically trained however, and this is reflected in guitar approach the nylon strung concert guitar he records with. All the other guitarists I have mentioned play steel string guitars exclusively.
What sets these guitarists apart from their rhythm counterparts is that they play fingerstyle. They use their fingers rather than a flat pick to pluck notes from their instrument. In the course of developing the growing body of fingerstyle Celtic music, they have produced an almost bewildering number of guitar tunings and stretched the instrument's repertoire and use far beyond that of a rhythm instrument in a band, or accompaniment for singing.
It's in the variety of newly invented tunings that Celtic fingerstyle guitar shines. As guitarist Pat Kirtley writes, "Many of today's crop of guitarists playing Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar use a variety of alternate tunings. This is done for several reasons. Primarily, by using "open" or "alternate" tunings a player can achieve the drone effect of the pipes and approximate the sound of the harp with arpeggios. Open tunings allow for interesting cross string patterns not available in standard guitar tuning."
Several years ago, I began listening to this style of guitar playing. Since then I've collected a list of alternate guitar tunings used in the music. They include: DADGBE or "Dropped-D", DADGBD "Double-Dropped D", DADGAD, and DGDGBD also known as "Taro Patch tuning." There are many others. I've found selected guitar tracks with the following, DGDGBbD (Gm) tuning DADF#AD (a Blues-related tuning), DADEAD used by Franco Morone and others, which helps in playing in key of A. There's also, CGDGAD "Low C tuning" used exclusively by El McMeen, and CGCGCD played by Ged Foley of the House Band and Patrick Street. Martin Simpson also uses this tuning as does Steve Baughman. There's more! CGCGCE tuning is played by Tony Cuffe formerly with Ossian as well as Scotland's Dougie Mclean. EADEAE is rare but good for the key of A. I've seen DGDDAE tuning and EGDGBE which I am told some Scottish guitarists use to get a G drone in the bass to imitate the sound of the bagpipes. FGDGCD tuning has been used to play pipe tunes in F.
You might ask why bother? Why Use Alternate Tunings and have to learn new fingering positions and chord shapes? Simply stated, Celtic music lends itself well to alternate or "open" tunings. The music often contains few chord changes. Unlike other musical styles like jazz, blues, and even rock n' roll, the chord patterns in Celtic music are generally very regular.
While Celtic fingerstyle guitar began with Graham, Renbourn, Duck Baker and Stefan Grossman in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was very a very select and selective style of playing until the late 1980s. But, as the general interest in Irish and Scottish music grew into a very popular music form in the 1990s, Celtic fingerstyle guitar playing followed. This growth was recently documented with the release of a two volume CD and video production by Grossman's Vestapol Videos and Rounder Records. These two video/album selections Ramble To Cashel (Vestapol 13029/ Rounder 3156) (from an O'Carolan title) and The Blarney Pilgrim (Vestapol 13063/Rounder 3157), are a must for any player or listener as they showcase eight of the best players. The videos also include the guitar arrangements.
While Grossman has delivered an excellent video product he isn't the only producer working with Celtic fingerstyle guitarists. Homespun Video has produced several video lessons on the subject. You can learn Martin Simpson's style on three teaching videos Sim-GT01, 02. 03. Al Petteway, a Maryland guitarist also presents lessons on Homespun, they are ALPGT01, 02. John Renbourn teaches his style on Celtic Melodies & Open Tunings, GW 908 (Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop). Mel Bay has two performance videos in this style. Steve Baughman (MB97259VX) and Robin Bullock (MB97258VX).
Guitarists of Note
There are many superb Celtic Fingerstyle Guitarists: Among them my favorites are--El McMeen, Martin Simpson, Pierre Bensusan, Tony McManus, Steve Baughman, David Surrette, Keith Hinchliffe, John Renbourn, Bill Coulter, Al Petteway, Anisa Angarola, Donal Clancy, Pat Kirtley, Franco Morone, Ian Melrose, Dick Gaughan, Alec Stone Sweet, Junji Shirota, Davey Graham, John Feeley, Nic Jones, Chirs Newman, Clive Carroll, Jim Tozier, and Chris Dean.
There are many superb Celtic Fingerstyle Guitarists: Among them my favorites are--El McMeen, Martin Simpson, Pierre Bensusan, Tony McManus, Steve Baughman, David Surrette, Keith Hinchliffe, John Renbourn, Bill Coulter, Al Petteway, Anisa Angarola, Donal Clancy, Pat Kirtley, Franco Morone, Ian Melrose, Dick Gaughan, Alec Stone Sweet, Junji Shirota, Davey Graham, John Feeley, Nic Jones, Chirs Newman, Clive Carroll, Jim Tozier, and Chris Dean.
Celtic Fingerstyle Guitarists I have Interviewed
Glenn Weiser - Moderates the Celtic Guitar Group on facebook. He recently sent me the text of an interview I conducted with him in 2000.
An Interview with Celtic Fingerstyle Arranger Glenn Weiser
Glenn Weiser has arranged hundreds of Celtic melodies for fingerstyle guitar. Recently, two of his books of arrangements were published. They are: Celtic Encyclopedia Fingerstyle Guitar Edition (Mel Bay96985 and Celtic Guitar By Glenn Weiser (Warner Bros. 0439b) which comes with a CD of the arrangements. Both books are worth having in your music library. Glenn arranges for standard tuning and dropped D tuning although Celtic Guitar has some pieces in DADGAD. I conducted an interview with Glenn recently.
What is your musical background?
I studied classical guitar all through high school, and took music theory there also. Later, I continued to study harmony and counterpoint independently by buying textbooks on those subjects in used bookstores, and cross-referencing them when I wrote my arrangements.
What interested you in doing arrangements?
I started arranging for guitar when I studied ragtime with fingerstyle virtuoso Eric Schoenberg in New Jersey in 1971-2. After that, I arranged anything I thought would make for a good guitar piece-I have a book a of Christmas carols out as well as unpublished Joplin rags, Tin Pan Alley tunes, Sousa marches, and all kinds of oddball stuff. As for Celtic guitar, I looked at what was in print in the 1970’s and decided to try something different, which was writing arrangements with bass lines and inner voices that adhered to the rules of harmony yet still had a folk flavor. All the published Celtic arrangements before mine were done by unschooled players with folk music backgrounds. While the arrangers themselves were great guitarists, I felt that better music could be had by using harmony in my arrangements.
Why have you stayed with standard tuning instead of altered tunings other than the Dropped D you use?
Why switch? Standard tuning was developed over centuries for a reason, and it and dropped D are still the best in my mind for arranging for the guitar. The strings are at full tension (with the exception of the sixth in dropped D, of course) and have the most brilliance. I also must admit that my familiarity with
standard tunings made arranging easier because I know where all the harmonies are. Also, in dropped D you can have a G chord with the root in the bass on the fifth fret, sixth string, and the high third (B) on the seventh fret of the first string. In DADGAD the high third is moved up to the ninth fret, which requires a greater stretch. For “Celtic Guitar,” though, Warner Brothers wanted some DADGAD arrangements to enhance the appeal of the book, given that tuning’s preeminence in Celtic music. I agreed with their viewpoint and was happy to arrange some pieces this way. I found there are some sonorities that you can get with DADGAD that are unavailable in standard, so I may well explore it further.
What suggestions do you have for others who want to arrange melodies they find?
Study harmony, and learn to write simple diatonic bass lines. Use inner voices in the airs and marches. Avoid the rough sound of parallel fifths and octaves on one hand, and the excesses of heavily chromatic bass lines on the other-that’s where Haydn and Beethoven got into trouble with their Celtic arrangements.
Do you perform your arrangements? Any CDs other than in the book? Further projects?
I play in a traditional Celtic duo called Byrne and Barrett with Greg Schaaf, an immensely talented singer, piper, and whistle player. Those are our Irish clan names, by the way. I’m also working on a debut guitar CD which will feature arrangements from my books as well as material Greg and I perform.
British Columbia Guitarist Todd Habekost plays triplets with ease. Here's how he does it. "I play triplets with the three fingers of my right hand. I got it from listening to Tony McManus (required listening for any Celtic player) not having seen him I assumed he played all his triplets that way. When I saw his videos it was a surprise to see that he only uses his fingers on the E and B strings and uses his thumb for everything else. So I am trying to get that down and it is really hard! The way I do triplets with the fingers is a lot like drumming your 3 fingers on a table starting with your third finger, transfer that motion to the guitar. The key is to start every triplet with your third finger. My right hand floats over the strings like a classical player so that tells you the angle I attack the strings at. I got it going by just playing straight triplets on the E string, then by working it into simple melodies. It really is an almost invaluable device to have especially in Celtic music as it really sounds like a fiddlers bowing and it spices up a melody line. Be careful, I almost blew my right hand apart learning how to do it! "
California Guitarist John McCormick
I had heard of John McCormick for several years but could not find his recordings. Recently I located John on the Internet and he sent me his two fine recordings "Western Island " and "Between Our Hearts" both on his own Phantom Record label. John is a fine singer, songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist. While vocals predominate on his albums, he does include some instrumentals. His guitar style shows how well fingerstyle guitar can work with vocals. He uses many of the techniques instrumentalists to back his singing. Here's an email interview I had with John recently: John: "I suppose that my obscurity is due to typical reasons...album distribution, promotion and touring. Where do I play? Throughout the eighties I had regular gigs in California and some tours in the eastern US. I resumed a day job in 1988, and since then have toured in Europe fifteen times or so. With some good agents over there I am able to do very compact and fruitful three week tours. I lived in Boston from 1994 to 1997...thoroughly enjoying that acoustic scene and playing nearly every weekend. I won't bore you with why I traded New England for a return to California, where the good gigs are rarer. I still return to Kentucky and Europe, but haven't been East for over a year now. I miss it. I am currently shedding my cocoon and diving into fulltime guitar playing again. Please wish me well. I would like to focus more on various regions of the States soon. The tunings I used on those two CDs are standard, DADGAD and dropped D. I have alot of tunes written in my simple guitar tab. Maybe someday I will make them more presentable. I have shared some of these with interested folks. Most questions I hear about guitar techniques are usually answered with whatever my left hand is up to. Trills, hammerons, pulloffs, phantom notes etc. (I like the phantom notes one).
Scottish Guitarist Tony McManus.
I've been listening to Tony for several years. He has two solo albums out Tony McManus Greentrax 096 and Pourquoi Quebec? Greentrax 151 as well as working with others, especially the lovely Return to Kintail with the great Scots fiddler Alasdair Frasier on Culburnie Records, CUL113D. At a Celtic Fiddle Festival concert in 1998 I got to see Tony play. Luckily I had front row tickets at the Spaulding Auditorium at Dartmouth College and was just a few feet from the stage. I learned a lot about back-up guitar playing that night watching Tony. He was wonderful, and, surprisingly, he told me later, that was his first night on the tour with fiddlers, Burke, Cunningham and Lemestre. But I've long wondered how Tony did what he did when playing fingerstyle. Here's his comments to my queries. -HOW DO I DESCRIBE MY STYLE
All my life I've been dealing with the intersection of two obsessions: one is the acoustic guitar and the other is traditional music and song. The first thing to be aware of as an acoustic guitarist is that this music, while it may suit the instrument to some degree, evolved independently of it. Even in terms of accompanyment, the usual instrument was the piano and often not even that. So my approach has been to apply one obsession to the other- I've tried, often subconciously, to bring what I have absorbed in listening to fiddlers and pipers and singers and flute players and so on... to bear on what I do as a guitarist. So the way I ornament single line melodies is often a direct result of how a fiddler would play a roll or a grace note or how a piper would play a cran (on Irish pipes) or a burl (on Highland pipes). In arranging tunes for guitar I don't try so much to turn them into guitar music, since on the whole they are not 'instrument specific' to begin with. Rather, my aim is to bring my music within the fold of the tradition as a whole. So, I flatpick the guitar a lot of the time but, it's probably more like tenor banjo playing than it is like, say, bluegrass guitar. Likewise, when I fingerpick, I'm often inspired by the sound of an ensemble of lead and rythm players, rather than by Travis picking or any other style of guitar playing. This is just a result of the chronology of what I was listening to as my playing developed. I listened to the great bands back in the seventies- Planxty, The Bothy Band, The Chieftains- then, later, I encountered Scottish music- Ossian, Silly Wizard etc. and THEN, later still, I heard John Renbourn and Bert Jansch and Martin Simpson and the whole body of acoustic guitar music. TUNINGS, GUITARS AND SETUPS
I actually don't use all that many tunings. I came upon Dropped D tuning myself (DADGBE- it's hardly rocket science if you know standard!) around age 12 and thought it was wonderful. With the tonal centre of much Irish music being D it was great to have that big sound in the bass. I still use this tuning for most accompanyment of tune players or if I sit in at a session- which I don't do enough of these days. Then, a few yaers later, I couldn't figure out why I couldn't figure out Dick Gaughan's playing at all. As well as having one of the finest voices in captivity, I was amazed at Gaughan's guitar style. Then, on seeing him live and listening to him tune up, I got a clue as to why I couldn't figure any of it out- DADGAD. Immediately, I started playing in this tuning constantly and discovered that it is very forgiving- pick a shape, any shape, and it's a chord- simple! It is also quite easy to be boring in DADGAD, as I also discovered, for the same reason! I still use the tuning for a lot of solo arrangements and the odd bit of backing. I got CGCGCD from Martin Simpson, and a bunch of others as well. This tuning works well for some highland pipe tunes, capoed up 2, and also for some songs. I also use CGDGCD occasionally- for Bidh Clan Uillaidh on the album with Alasdair Fraser, for example. It's another one from Martin- I love the whole musical journey involved in a guy from Scunthorpe, England coming up with this guitar tuning to play Appalatian style banjo tunes (with afro-american origns) and then having it pinched by a Scotsman because it really suits this Gaelic song from the Isle of Lewis. The strangest tuning is probably DAAEAE, where the two A's are in unison like Hgihland bagpipe drones. In this tuning the pipe scale all sits comfortably in first position on the top two strings (except the low G on the third string) so those become melody strings and the fourth and fifth mainly drone in A while the low D on the open bottom is great for chord changes. Those are the main ones I use. GUITARS
My main guitar is a 000-size instrument made by Bill Kelday- a brilliant luthier from Orkney, though now living in Campsie Glen about 15 miles north of Glasgow. I first played it in 1993 in Bill's workshop and totally fell in love with it. Gradually I got the money together and I've barely let it out of my sight since. It has a spruce deck and cocobolo back and sides. The cocobolo is highly figured and looks for all the world like Brazilian rosewood. Despite the small body (and 12 fret neck) , it sounds huge. Bill also made me a baritone- this time from Brazilian and spruce- which is just beautiful. It gets tuned roughly a fifth below concert and, by god, does it growl. The strings are 18 to 85 I think, and made by Malcolm Newton of Newtone Strings- a small firm in Derbyshire, England which custom makes sets of strings of any and every guage. In 95 I bought an O5 Larrivee ( spruce/mahogany w/ebony f'board) which was a peach of a guitar untill the lower joint decided to split and Larrivee decided not to bother honouring their warranty. Its now a $1500 ornament! I have a fairly basic cedar/mahogany Lowden which is nice for absent minded doodling- it lives in my mothers house! I have a guitar by Davy Stuart from Christchurch, New Zealand which I keep high strung for when I'm in a Nashville frame of mind. In January I got a guitar from Rodger Bucknall of Fylde guitars- the antithesis of the Kelday- a huge bodied Magician Custom with a cedar top and walnut back and sides, a wide ebony fingerboard and a five piece laminated neck. It is very new and the sound will change but I like it a lot. There are some pictures of most of these guitars on my website. The Kelday 000 has a condensor mic/magnetic pickup combination made by Mike Vanden- another fine luthier (check out Martin Taylor's acoustic). The signal goes to an EMG super-jack and I plug a stereo cable from the guitar into a splitter box and the two signals go off independently to the desk. MIke sold the patent to Fishman who now market the thing as the "Rare Earth Blend". The baritone has no pickup whatsoever and reduces grown soundmen to tears. The Larrivee has a Fishman under-saddle pickup which is now gathering dust along with the guitar. The Fylde has a new pickup from a company in England called Headway. I don't know much about them except that they are very good. Strings are D'Addario medium guage (13,17,26,34,45,56) on all but the Baritone and the high strung guitar. Nails by Mother Nature! TRIPLETS
This is one of the most common ornaments in traditional music. A triplet is simply three notes for the value of one. In flatpicking guitar it is simply a question of moving the pick up and down fast enough! But finger style it's a bit more tricky. The first person I heard doing it well (brilliantly in fact!) was Tony Cuffe and after listening to him solidly for an eternity I managed to get something approaching his sound. The breakthrough was changing the position of my right hand. It now looks as if the heel of my hand is resting on the bridge of the guitar (in fact it rarely does). This has the effect of changing the angle of attack on the string and finally I got what I was looking for. Except that if you try this on the wound strings you get a horrible rasping sound as your nail scrapes along the string. So! Into the picture comes the thumb. The triplets on the wound strings are obtained by using the thumb like you would a flatpick- ie. down-UP-down all with the thumb. It can all be seen slowed right down on the two volumes of video lessons which are now out on Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop see www.guitarvideos.com for more details. NEW PROJECTS
I'm lucky enough to work with a variety of musicians all over the world so I get to indulge my love of travel as well. Cheers for now Tony McManus
Tony Cuffe
Was a fine singer/guitarist in the Scots tradition, he died too young. Tony explained his playing style and where his music can be found when we talked in 1999. "My tuning is dadadf#, which is basically open c (cgcgce) cranked up a tone. I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, but it works on my guitar (short scale length)and it has been in this tuning for most of the last twenty two years without exploding (touch wood). The guitar itself is an S. Yairi clone of a Martin New Yorker which I bought in Edinburgh in 1978 and I still haven't found anything that I like a whole lot better. In answer to your other questions: "Caledonia" is Iona 011. Iona is now a branch of Lismor Recordings The rest of my guitar instrumentals are splashed over various group albums, beginning with the now out of print "Alba" on Rubber Records 1976(vinyl only) All of these tracks feature other instruments, but the guitar does take the melody at various points in all of them. Guitar tracks on the Alba record are: The blacksmith's reel/The star of Munster Drummond Castle/ Paddy's Leather Britches. Jock Tamson's Bairns (Temple Records 1978) (reissued on cd as A' Jock Tamson's Bairns , a compilation of both Bairns' albums Greentrax Records cd trax 112) has: The Mullindubh (the black mill) (part of the Hieland Soldier track) Mrs. McDougall (part of the Hills of Perth track) Each of the Ossian albums has something guitarish on it: Seal Song 1981(IR 002) has: Coilsfield House, A Fisherman's Song for Attracting Seals/Lieutenant Maguire Lude's Supper, Mull of the Mountains Dove Across the Water 1982(IR004)has: Drunk at Night, Dry in the Morning, and The Cunning Workmen (a march of my own composition) Borders 1984(IR 007)(my favourite) has: John macdonald's/The Sandpit, The Ewe wi' the crookit horn (part of the New House set) Rory Dall's sister's Lament Light on a Distant Shore 1986(IR 009 )has: Far from Home ( part of the Johnny Todd track), Harris Dance (part of the Mrs.Stewart set) Another out of print vinyl album is "Fergusson's Auld Reikie" an album of 18th c. Edinburgh poetry, music and song 1981(Iona Records IR003). Guitar tracks are: The Yellow Haired Laddie, The Birks of Invermay William Jackson's Wellpark Suite and St. Mungo (Mill Records) also feature some guitar solos There's also a best of Ossian cd on Iona which has many of the above tracks. Portland America Distributing is a good source for Scottish recordings in N.America
Bob MacLean from Canada.
I was turned on to Canadian Bob MacLean by a recent visitor to this site. Bob lives in Guelph, Ontario and hails from Cape Breton Island. He sent me his first CD "Dancing On A String" which is a fine album. A collection of traditional melodies and some self-penned music. Here's the tune list for the album with tunings and capo positions. Bob MacLEAN--Dancing On A String November Rain DADGAD Jock O'Hazeldean Drop D Touch The Dance DADF#AD/BADF#AD The Dark Plaintive Youth DADGAD - c4 My Hiking Boots CGDGBD Celtic Fare DADGAD - c4 Intro - Lord Randal CGCGCD - c5 Celtino! DADGAD c2 Lament for Owen Roe O'Neill / Planxty Denis O'Connor EADGBE c7 A tune for Jenn/My son the Artist/ The Curly Molly Ni Chuilleanian DADGAD c2 Blind Mary Drop D c2 The Dewy Dells of Yarrow / She Changes Everything She Touches CGCGCD Planxty Thomas Burke EADGBE c4 St. George's Square CGCGCD Bob is an excellent player. His guitar has a very nice bright, crisp, almost playful sound, very and the album is ver well recorded. Here's an email interview we did. Bob: "Tks for the kind words about the cd project. To preface the info below, I played R&R for many years until I was about 22, then took an interest in classical guitar and got a B.Mus in guitar and Music Ed. Then spent may years making ends meet through teaching as well as other non-music jobs. In 1995 I was at a career cross-roads and happento attend a Barra McNeils trad musicworkshop and was "bitten by the bug" the idea of taking a tune and having the freedom to play and arrange it as I saw fit - rather than how the composer saw it, was very alluring and I have not looked back. This is a unique sound I get from my Lowden - fairly large body, spruce-mahogany - which really add to the bright, crispness you hear, Art: "There were several times I heard some Martin Simpson riffs. Bob: " Yes, if I were to pick a major influence in the celtic guitar area, Martin would be it! I particular resonate with some of his CGCGCD stuff. Art: What got you interested in Celtic music? Bob: "Just taking a look at my roots in Cape Breton, also, able to apply 20 years of classical playing but with complete freedom to innovate and arrange as I wish. The Barra McNeils trad workshop referred to above, Art: Guitar heroes? Bob: "Martin Simpson, Duck Baker, Don Ross, Bruce Cockburn, Michael Hedges" Art: Who do you listen to? Bob: " Above artists + Chieftains, Altan, Clannad, Dick Goeghen, Bothy Band, Archie Fisher, Dougie MacLean, Rankins, Figgie Duff, Art: Guitars? Bob: Lowden O12, Larrivee L-09 (brand new this fall - wonderful rosewood instrument- will use it for warmer arrangements - it also has phenomenal intonation! )" Art: What tunings do you use? Bob: "Lots of DADGAD, CGDGBD and CGCGCD as well as drp D and conventional. These are my most common. Am also using AAAEAE, Open A, Open D, DADGAC, DADEAD, BADF#AD- when last counted it was 21 different tunings - very expensive on strings though - the Elixir people must like me!" Art: How do you choose the tunes you decide to learn? (the trad tunes) Bob: " I listen to trad performers as well as fiddle (O'Neills book), harp, song books, collections and see whatever fits - this is a very intuitive process - a combination of work, luck and inspiration!" Art: How do people order (and cost) of CD? Bob: Contact me via email or send $20 CDN or $15 US to Bob MacLean - 46 Elora Street, Guelph Ontario, Canada. N1H 2X8
Eileen Niehouse
There are so very few women playing Celtic Fingerstyle guitar that when you find one as good as Eileen you want to give her some notice. I've had Eileen's CD "Mad Grace" for a while. Its a fine album which shows off DADGAD tuning at its best. Eileen's a died in the wool DADGADer. Recently she wrote me to say she is online. I asked her to tell me something about herself and her music. Here's what she wrote: " It was 1963, and my best friend was playing a lot of Carter Family stuff. Sounded much different from the Irish music I had heard all my life...intriguing. Went to the Denver Folklore Center and signed up for guitar lessons. I didn't like to sing, so after the basics, I went to the guys who were in the blues boom. Learned a LOT of Delta blues and some ragtime. I still love Skip James very much. " Started performing a lot. Still going to Ireland every few years to visit relatives, but saw NO guitars, except the Clancys, who were not musically challenging. And by then, guitar and I had wed for life. Got back to Irish music on mandolin and then heard Pres de Paris.(by Pierre ben Susan) Also Skara Brae (early Irish group with Micheal O"Domhnaill and Daithe Sproule), Clannad and Bothy Band. Found there was indeed room for guitar in Irish music. "Took to DADGAD in 1979 and never looked back. Micheal O'Domhnaill came to town w/ Kevin Burke in 1980 and did a DADGAD workshop at my house. Gave me structure. I played in duo w/ a guy who played metal-strung harp (what a lovely sound combination) for about 6 years. He sang in Gaelic, and we did lots of what is still weird repertoire--and very little O'Carolan. When he ditched, I started playing a lot of backup w/ the local ceili band and played a lot for the dancers w/ my fiddle friend, John Nielson. There was no one here who played either DADGAD or Irish music on guitar, so I learned on my own from the Irish players on vinyl. My greatest musical influence is Liam O'Flynn. I would say that I have listened to him much more than any other musician or group. Something about trying to transfer the "feel" of those pipes to guitar. So, I am an Irish musician who plays guitar, as opposed to a guitarist who plays Irish or Celtic music. I put out MAD GRACE in a fit of pique over my musical isolation here, but still continued to play lots of backup and no solo gigs. When El McMeen first came to town, he convinced me that I could just concentrate on my fingerstyle and leave the backup gigs behind. I had been playing the Lowden, which was big and loud (lowd?) and perfect for backup but was giving me arm problems because of its girth. El sold me one of his guitars, an old Bourgeois OM, which is perfect for fingerstyle and is narrow enough to ease the arm ache. "Why DADGAD? It just grabbed me. Sent me to the land of no rules, no standard repertoire, total freedom. (Does anyone really want to be the 5,347,289th person to learn Windy & Warm?) I am never bored w/ it, and I keep finding new voices in it. I am currently in cross-picking heaven (or hell), which allows me to play lots of notes in one octave and have them ring like harp strings. How I arrange...I need to have the melody in my head before I start playing it. Fortunately, I've listened to so much that the tune hard drive has lots of files. I usually figure out the melody on the top three strings, ideally w/ middle, ring and pinky, which leaves me the index and thumb for harmonies or bass lines. However, this method is definitely subject to change w/ each tune. After I can pick out the melody in first position, I start looking around up the neck for the harmonics and higher-register melodies and harmonies. I tend to hum the melodies (in the car works best) and make up variations and ornaments away from the guitar--thus, I hope, not being too quick to use the obvious guitar licks. However, this can lead to some pretty humbling experiences when I'm trying to figure out how the hell to play them on guitar. But this is a challenge I love to face. " I have opened for the Fureys, Brian McNeill & Tony McManus (who DOES have the fastest thumb in the world. He can do triplets either w/ thumb or m,r,p at will. We had a great time playing a marathon Carolan's Draught, trading leads and styles and syncopations. I NEVER get to do that enough. And I opened for God, Liam O'Flynn, who had Arty McGlynn w/ him, another guitar pal I see too seldom. Other than that, the Irish fest here, and my yearly trips to Virginia. Even though I may end up being the oldest unknown guitarist, I am at peace Currently I have an every Sunday morning gig at a local coffeehouse. Two hours of practice while we all wake up, which keeps the old stuff from getting rusty. ...I have also just ended my participation in the Mother Folkers, a group of female acoustic players that has been doing a lot of practicing for 6 months each year, ending in 2 or 3 big concerts. We started 25 years ago when I was a blues player. They have finally gotten used to my "weird" tuning and Irish obsession. Each member (11 this year) picks a tune or song and selects from among the group for other players. We have everything from sax and harmonica to piano, fiddle, mandolin, percussion, banjo, guitars, of course, and even accordion (no, not Irish). There are singer/songwriters and classical, new age, pop, cajun and reggae playersand singers, so the mix has really stretched my knowledge of DADGAD, having to play on James Taylor, Melissa Etheridge, bluegrass, and weird originals. My mantra for that is "notes is notes," so they have to be there somewhere. MoFo alumnae who are nationally known include Mary Flower, blues empress, Mollie O'Brien (who sings better than her brother, Tim) Katy Moffatt, Lynn Morris, and Carla Sciaky. Right now, I feel like I'm going through another creative leap and am unwilling to do another release til I have more fruits from this particular vine. El is still a great influence in my life. Interested person can order Mad Grace by writing Eileen Niehouse PO Box 12223, Denver, CO 80212 The CD costs $16.50.
Jim Earp
recently sent me his album Rosewood. He's a fine player using a variety of tunings including my favorites, DADGAD and DGDGBD, hel also plays in CGCGCE which Scottish guitarist Tony Cuffe also plays in as does Martin Simpson on occasion. Now Jim doesn't play Celtic music, although I suppose he could, he's an excellent guitarist. I commented on the fact that I want to be able to hum the melody, which is why I like Celtic music so much, its so very melodic. Here's Jim's reply, which I think is a very good answer to the "why don't you play melody instead of guitar riffs?" question. Reply from Jim Earp: "Dear Art;
Thank you so much for the feedback on my CD- glad you are enjoying it! I wanted to respond about the difficulty of translating "defineable" melodies on solo guitar, because for the most part I agree with you. I will candidly admit that I view myself as a player easily lacking the chops of say, Doyle Dykes or Pierre Bensusan, so I've always relied on simple themes and song structure to deliver my pieces; usually verse-verse-chorus-verse or a variation of the standard "pop song" format. Pat Kirtley wrote me a while back after hearing Rosewood and commented specifically on the melodic content and complexity of my compositions- so I know that each listener will have a subjective feeling about any given individual artist- and so I welcome your impressions of my music just as I welcome Pat's. I can tell you that the trouble with an emphasis on technique, especially with solo guitar, is that it can obfuscate melody to a degree. Celtic music doesn't often seem to have this problem, because most of the beautiful O'Carolan melodies and such are first and foremost vocally based, timeless and familiar- and usually in Celtic ensemble music, the melody is delivered on pipe, whistle, fiddle, or voice, with the guitar providing harmonic support. Straightforward, with little variation on the theme; simple, beautiful, linear, and uncluttered. When you translate those wonderful melodies to guitar, the pieces seem to work best when they retain their straightforwardness with little embellishment (Martin Simpson's "Leaves of Life" comes to mind). Most non-Celtic players however, are not subjugating modern non-traditional techniques and playing styles to traditional, vocal-based melodies; they are using these new techniques and approaches to create new, guitar-based melodies, ideas, and moods. That is why it gets to be so hard for so many of us "contemporary" guitarists to find things that are hummable- frankly we aren't working from a "vocal" perspective! When a guitarist is employing the rhythmic funk of Leo Kottke and the percussive slap of Michael Hedges, he or she just isn't likely going to get the same kind of "vocal quality" melody of a classical Irish harpist or a traditional Spanish dance. The melodic line may be more harmonically intricate- such as a jazz player's- or modal or idiomatic, such as some of Billy McLaughlin's work. I think that the best way to deliver melodies on guitar is first to possess them, obviously; and then to stay with a simple, non-technical and traditional approach to the arrangement of the melody. Albeit, it can make for "quiet" solo guitar- but more often than not, this is where Celtic music shines. Ultimately the bottom line, Art, is that your heart shines through whatever it is you are doing, whether you are a disciplined traditionalist or some avant-garde two-handed tapping "new age" player. Each type of music has different expectations- and limitations- but it is the musicality of what is being done that matters. It really is about heart. With no heart, there is no music- and even the most beautiful melody sounds strained and tired when it is delivered dispassionately. BB King once said that "playin' guitar is like tellin' the truth". I have to agree... Well put Jim...thanks
Canadian guitarist Paul Wadden
Here's a guy who never performs out! He's a psychiatrist in Ontario, Canada and he contacted me about his CD "Walter The Penniless" on Dadyeen Records. (His album wins wierdest title of the month award). Just one listen was all I needed. Paul, drop the Prozac pills, sell the couch, forget about the super-ego and the ID and start performing!! A simply great album that is available from Elderly Instruments I'm told. Paul uses some very original tunings on this album that he said he made up. They are: DGDGBbF, EAEF#AE, DADGDF#, EAC#F#BF, BbADGCF, EG#BEBE. Here's some information Paul sent me.
" Glad you like the CD. The guitar i used was a little parlour size guitar made in St. Catherines Ont. by J. d. McKenzie. I bought the guitar in the early 80's at Ring Music in Toronto. I tried to relocate the builder in the 90's. A guy at Ring Music told me he died in the 80's.The guitar prospered in Nfld. but the weather extremes of the London area didit in, that coupled with my carelessness in regard London humidity conditions. Never had to worry about that living on an island in the Atlantic. Marc Beneteau made me another guitar incorporating some of the faetures of the Mckenzie. He made me a fine instrument. I recorded Carolyn's draught with the Beneteau on the CD. I was not used to the new instrument and didn't really understand how to get the most out of it. The rest was with the Mckenzie. All the tunes are solo except the jig at the end. I used extra light strings on the Mckenzie such that I could get a nice and tinkly sound with the bare fingertips. " I was born and raised in NFLD. and started playing at age 19. I moved to Ontario in1991. My wife's family is here. I'm a psychiatrist by trade. Yes the tunings do lend a lot to the sound.I arrived at them Through lots of trial and error. Ive started a new CD. 'Bout halfway throgh Same sort of deal. Don Walsh produced the album . I play mostly at home when my kids are in bed. I play best if I have a good cup of tea on hand Cheers, Paul. Tom Long I've heard of Tom Long for quite a while but could never find his albums. Recently Tom contacted me and we held a e-mail interview. His two albums are Satis Verborum (1992) and Monkeys Violate the Heaven Place (1995). Here's our e-mail conversation: AE: I received your two CDs and was very impressed. I hear some Bensusan, Kottke, lots of Tom Long and generally a very strong player. So why aren't you better known? TL: Hi Art. I get that question a lot but haven't developed a suitable answer. AE: I also like your aggressive approach, at least that's how it sounds. No namby pamby playing here. I thought your approach to learning Irish music (point a finger in O'Neills and learn the tune ) was unique. I tend to learn what I already know from my mandolin playing. I thought opening "Monkeys" with Jerusalem Ridge took balls, interesting arrangement. Bill Monroe might argue it with you if he was still around. TL:I was going for more of a "trance music" approach. Repressed white boy listens to North African music, etc. I'm certainly not a red-hot mandolin picker. I enjoy slapping that dombek. AE:So Tom, I would like to know a bit more about you for my web page. AE:What are your tunings, (especially on the Celtic stuff?) I remember the Cunla from Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine but don't have the magazine any longer. Was that DADGAD? TL:Yes all the Irish stuff I play right now is DADGAD.
AE:What other tunings? TL:DADEAD, DADFAD, DADGBE. Still using the Lowdens (O22C) great tone on the guitar, very intimate recording, i hear your breathing!! TL: I'm very happy with my Lowdens, they're wonderful guitars. I make a lot of noise when I breath because my nose is a mess, I broken it more times than I care to think about. I'm lucky that it's still roughly centered in my face.
A comprehensive listing of videos (CDs), and books The Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar Library Videos/and hopefully DVD or even downloadable. The Absolutely Best in Celtic Videos now available comes from Stefan Grossman's Vestapol Video series Its a two volume set "Ramble To Cashel" Vestapol 13029 and "The Blarney Pilgrim" Vestapol 13063. These are performance videos and on each you will see Martin Simpson, Pierre Bensusan, El McMeen, Duck Baker, Pat Kirtley, Steve Baughman and Tom Long. About as good as it gets (although several other great players like William Coulter, John Sherman, John Renbourn and David Surette) are not included. Each video comes with tab, a great way to learn how the players arrange their music. Rounder Records has produced the accompanying CDs of the two videos. Same titles as the videos. These are wonderful CDs. Al Petteway has two new videos on Homespun 1-800-33-tapes, titles are Celtic Instrumentals For Fingerstyle Guitar Videol 1 (DADGAD Tuning) and Video 2 Alternate Tunings Both come with printed arrangements. Al has a very soft spoken, easy delivery. If you are a fan of his, these are musts! I think the best way to learn Celtic guitar styles and various tunings is to see and hear a number of players live and on video. I got more out of one concert watching Tony McManus than I could ever get out of just listening to him, but that is not always possible. So, Al's videos, along with those of Martin Simpson, Pierre Bensusan, etc can give real insight into the techniques. John Doyle Irish Rhythm Guitar Homespun videos. Now hold on there Art!!! What this??? Ok, its rhythm, its a flatpick, the guy even plays left-handed %$#, so why mention it? Well, I too play rhythm with a flatpick in bands, and sessions. John's guitar Kicks ass!!! (as some might say) and this is a fun video. This video is a definite for anyone who backs Irish music. John is the guitarist with Solas, and really propels the band's sound. John's rhythm and chordal senses (he plays in Dropped-D tuning) are very defined and mature. You really can learn some tricks from listening to John as he backs a great box player John Williams. I have just one problem with this video, Doyle is a lefty and watching him is confusing. I think the producer should have used a mirror set-up. That aside, if you want to be a powerful presence as a session or backing other players, this is the one and only video on the subject and its very good. "Steve Baughman, Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar Video" Artist Series, MB97259VX $19.95. Holy Cow!! Is this guy a great player! I’ve been listening to Steve’s work for a year and he sounds wonderful on CD but to watch him is something else. Steve appears in the 45 minute video performing 12 tunes. It’s not a learning video per se but he does explain some of his techniques and tunings. But, just watch the man’s hands and you can learn loads. The sound is excellent also. You’ll also get to hear two beautiful Goodall guitars. I’m still scratching my head trying to figure out how the man plays the way he does. "Robin Bullock Acoustic Guitar Artistry Video," Mel Bay Artist Series MB97258VX $19.95 55 minutes. Robin is a string multi-instrumentalist on guitar, cittern, mandolin, fiddle etc. On this video he includes 3 cittern pieces, which should get guitarists interested in this instrument. Again this is a performance video but Robin explains some technique and tunings and use of capos. His playing seems much more accessible than Baughman’s but he’s no slouch. Great sound. "Celtic Melodies & Open Tunings" Taught by John Renbourn Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop GW 908. Available from Mel Bay $49.95. If you ever wanted to have John Renbourn in your living room this is the way to have it happen. This is a learning video, that is John first plays the tunes, then explains them with a split screen. There’s also an accompanying booklet of the arrangements. Renbourn is so smooth a player that he takes his very complicated arrangements matter of factly. He encourages the listener to play along, NOT QUITE. But the real learning experience here is just watching the man in action. You DO learn lots by watching. So, is it worth $49.95?? But still, a really good addition to your library if you’ve go the moolah ($$$) Celtic Guitar Books A plug for a friend's book. Tim Brookes and exceptional writer and fellow Vermonter whom I also teach with at Champlain College in Burlington has had published "Guitar An American Life" by Grove Press. It's about guitars and music--nothing particularly Celtic about it, but an excellent read by an excellent writer. Highly recommended. Traditional Irish dance tunes set for guitar by Patrick Zeoli Here's a first, a book of Irish melodies in staff only, no tab, produced in Estonia. Has the Celtic craze gone this far? This book comes with an English translation of the short text and apparently you can get a CD of the transcriptions. It's available from Forest Music in Estonia Traditional Irish Guitar by Paul de Grae Ossian OMB 130 While this book is not about fingerstyle guitar, de Grae gives an excellent explanation of the use of guitar in Irish music. He explains how to play guitar in the Irish music setting and includes a number of guitar arrangements for flatpicked guitar in the odd DADEAE tuning. Also, he includes guitar chord names for many of the standard Irish melodies. There is also an excellent CD available with this book of the tunes that are in this thoughtful and interesting book. You should have this in your Irish Music for Guitar collection. Order from Ossian USA. Book OMB 130 "DADGAD Tuning by Julie Henigan" MB95686BCD. Henigan is a very competent guitarist and singer. This book/CD contains 13 arrangements of hers in DADGAD from her album. The arrangements are accessible to all but the most beginning player. This book is a good way to get comfortable with the tuning. "Steve Baughman Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar Solos" MB97259BCD. Steve Baughman may be the most interesting of the recent crop of Celtic fingerstyle guitarists. He plays in several odd tunings including CGCGCD and DAAEAB. He is a joy to listen to and the CD that accompanies this book is never far from my CD player. But this is not a book of transcriptions for the newbie. Steve's arrangements are complex so I suggest this to those with a fair mastery of the genre. "Irish Traditional Guitar Accompaniment by Gavin Ralston" MB98359WBCD. This book, meant to learn accompaniment on guitar has lots of interesting tunes the fingerstyle guitarist can pick up. Each song's melody is reproduced along with suggested chords. Ralston uses Dropped D tuning for his guitar. Here's a book worth taking a look at along with ... "Celtic Back-Up For All Instrumentalists" By Chris Smith MB97205BCD Okay there is no fingerstyle material in this book but, it contains a very extensive discussion of Irish music and the modes that make the music distinctive. This book will help you arrange Celtic music for fingerstyle guitar because you'll be able to figure out the chords. Also, the accompanying CD contains over 30 minutes of fine fiddle-flute playing (with Grey Larsen on flute) and several really nice tunes. All are backed by guitar or bouzouki. This is the best book I know of for learning how to back up Celtic music. I frequently play at sessions and in performance as the rhythm player and Chris' book has already helped me with chordal ideas. A "must have" for any Celtic music library. "Guitar Solos In Open & Altered Tunings" by Paul Lolax MB 96326BCD $17.95 This book is close to my heart as the author is a friend and I’ve taken lessons from him. This book began as a collaboration because I was trying to get Paul to record several unrecorded Turlough O’Carolan pieces on guitar. I was using Open G tuning and Paul and I worked on several arrangements. I dropped out but Paul continued to work on the project, and eventually Mel Bay took over publishing the book. There are 29 arrangements here and a nicely done CD (Paul plays a nylon strung guitar in a classical style.) What’s nice about this book is that most arrangements are tunes not often (or ever heard) including; Nell Flaherty’s Drake, Princess Royal, Gerald Dillon, Hugh Kelly and several others. Not all the tunes are in Open G but all are altered. The arrangements are accessible to most players with fingerstyle experience. I really like this book and can listen to the CD forever!!! "John Sherman So Inclined" MB96841BCD. Another friend, another great book with CD. John is a great fingerstylist playing DADGAD style. He’s fast as heck too and should be better known than he is. Last summer he visited me in Vermont and did a concert/workshop. At that time I took his picture which appears inside this book!!! Okay, enough crowing. John is an advanced player so these arrangements are sophisticated but a great learning device for DADGAD players. Good commentary about the tunes and stylistic considerations accompany each selection. There are 20 selections on the CD and 27 arrangements in all, a good buy at $19.95. "Midnight Howl" by Robin Bullock. MB96006. $11.95 Robin is a multi-instrumentalist (guitar, cittern, mandolin, fiddle etc.) and these are arrangements by his Maggie’s Music album of the same name. While it helps to have the album to listen to, you can work your way through the book easy enough. Robin plays in several tunings from standard, to dropped-d and DADGAD. Some arrangements are for flatpicking a few are derived from his cittern playing (he’s a great player!) I’ve already learned "For Ireland I’d Not Tell Her Name" which is a DADGAD tune. There are excellent notes for each tune as well. This book is a good way to get inside this fine player’s thinking. "Irish & Scottish Airs & Ballads for Acoustic Guitar" by Bill Brennan. MB95739BCD. Bill’s a busy guy. He’s also got a flatpicking book of similar content for MB. This book contains arrangements for 20 tunes many in DADGAD. Most are not very frequently covered such as; Matt Hyland, Flowers of the Forest, Curragh of Kildare. There’s some interestingly different material here. I’m not sure I agree with the way Bill arranges these tunes, but again, this gives the player insight into how to play and arrange. The accompanying CD is good as it goes, but Bill’s guitar is very "electric" sounding, which seems strange for an Acoustic book. "Traditional Dance Tunes of the British Isles for Two Guitars" by Andrew Charlton. MB95738 $11.95. This book is for music readers only. No tablature!!! That said, if you can read music, there are lots of odd tunes here, 40 in all. This will really stretch your reading and playing especially if you can figure out how to play both parts at once! Mel Bay on the web or email them [email protected] The Irish DADGAD Guitar Book by Sarah McQuaid published by Ossian (OSS 106). If you ever wanted to learn DADGAD but just couldn't figure out the chords this book will get you there. Sarah, an American living in Dublin Ireland not N.H., has penned a very helpful book. Her sections on modes and keys, chord diagrams and tablature and tunes are clear and interesting. There are good suggestions for the player backing up others in sessions. Sarah's tune section while written by a finger picking guitarist also adapts easily to flatpicking. You'll learn 25 tunes. Fingerpickers may want to embellish the arrangements a bit. The book is nicely illustrated with Sarah's charcoal sketches. Its nice to see a woman contributing to the Celtic Guitar world. I think Ossian books are distributed in the US. Ossian Books The ISBN is 0 946005 93 1. Ossian Publications P.O. Box 84 Cork Ireland. The Incomplete Celtic Guitar Vol 1 by Dan Mozell Here's 99 pages of Irish and Scots melodies to flatpick to your heart's content. Yes, sadly, another book for flatpickers. But, a good one none the less and its written for the alternate-tune impaired player (standard tuning.) Dan has done a nice job with his tune selection which features some of the less know melodies like "The Coach Road To Sligo". This book should appeal to the player just getting into Celtic music or just learning to flatpick melody. For us finger style players here's a chance to take Dan's melody lines (in notes and tab) and try to work out a fingerstyle arrangement. Dan is a cyberbuddy of mine and can be reached at his homepage. Celtic Harp Music of Carolan and others for Solo Guitar By Glenn Weiser This book contains enough transcriptions in STANDARD TUNING to keep a guitarist busy for years. Glenn does a great job describing the music, Carolan, and the celtic harp. Also the type setting is very clean and clear a boon to readers. I like the fact that Glenn includes several of Carolan's less popular melodies including: Lady Athenry, Dr. John Hart, Katherine O'More and Madam Judge. This book is brand new from Centerstream Publishing, P.O. Box 5450 Fullerton CA 52935 and distributed by Hal Leonard. Irish Tunes For Fingerstyle Guitar by Franco Morone (A great Italian Guitarist) This book of transcriptions accompanies Franco's latest album, Irish Tunes published in Italy by Berben, Ancona, Italy. OK, its in Italian and most of us won't have a clue as to what's being written, but the music, 14 melodies from Turkeys in The Straw (sic) to Marrily Dance The Quaker, are great. Franco plays a lot in DADGAD capoed up two frets. This book/cd combo could be hard to find outside of Europe but is distributed in the US by Presser, he tells me. If you see this publication don't hesitate to buy it, a great learning aide. Ciao! Antipasto! Richard Thompson Teaches Traditional Guitar Insturmentals This book with accompanying CD is a really good look at Thompson's style along with some nice arrangements. It cost $19.95 and is available from Homespun Music or Hal Leonard (HL00841083). Pierre Bensusan DADGAD Music Compositions from Spices and Wu Wei This book is not for the faint of heart or of finger. Pierre is Mr. DADGAD and cuts the learner no slack. But its a great teaching aide and window into this guitar maestro's mind. Comes with a CD. Mel Bay 95669. $18.95 Al Petteway, Whispering Stones Transcriptions for Al's Maggie Music album of the same name. Mostly his own compositions but nice. MB95381, $8.95 Ian Melrose: A Scottish Legacy Ian recorded a CD of the same title and this is the accompaning book by Acoustic Music Books. The CD was great. The book is also great because the arrangements are in DADGAD and DGDGBD tuning primarily. A few are in slide guitar/dobro tuning GBDGBD as well, a rarity in this genre. There are some lovely tunes here and the arrangements are clear and not terribly challenging although not for beginners either. El McMeen Playing Favorites The McMeen album in transcription. Contains the first ever Low C Basic Chord Chart. MB95973 $7.95 Also From Ossian Books-- Scottish Music for solo guitar arranged by John Feeley Vol one and two OMB 137-138 John Feeley is a great classically trained Irish guitarist. These two books contain 31 transcriptions of the Scottish repertoire. The transcriptions are in music format without tablature and arranged for standard tuned guitar. I'm not a very good reader of standard music so I stumbled through a few tunes but they don't seem to be particularly difficult. Great for the classically trained guitarist or reader wanting to learn some of this music. Irish Traditional Songs and Harp Tunes Arranged for Guitar by Bill Black. This book is distributed by Ossian USA. Again in music only/no tablature format. Black has taken 21 fairly common Irish tunes like Derry Air and Sheebeg Sheemore. They don't seem too difficult even for this poor reader. What does surprise me though, considering the many software programs now on the market, is why any guitar transcription book does not include tablature!! You can order this as the above from Ossian USA. More Transcription Books
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Information about the many tuning options for Celtic guitar playing
Many of today's crop of guitarists playing Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar use a variety of alternate tunings. This is done for several reasons. Primarily, by using "open" or "alternate" tunings a player can achieve the drone effect of the pipes and approximate the sound of the harp with arpeggios. Open tunings allow for interesting cross string patterns not available in standard guitar tuning.
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