Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
By imitating live performances. This is the best method, but it has the
drawback that it is difficult to pick up by ear a ll the details of a
performance. Even if you do find it possible , slavish im itation is not
the ultimate goal, but you need to assimilate the characteristics of the
music as it comes to you before you begin to introduce your own
personal touches.
Playing
Other ways of learning to perform apply rather to playing only:
Whistle:
Eithne &John Vallely, Learn to Play the Tin Whistle 13, Armagh Pipers Club , Armagh, 7th ed . 1976; Geraldine Cotter,
Traditionallrish Tin Whistle Tutor, Ossian Publications, Cork, 1983, with
flexidiscs and cassette; L.E. McCullough, The Complete Irish Tinwhistle
Tutor, Silver Spe!lr Publications, Pittsburgh, rev. ed. 1976, with
cassette; Micheal 0 hAlmhail) and Seamus Mac Mathuna, Tutor for the
Fead6gStain [tin whistle], CCE, Dublin, 1971, with cassette.
Fiddle: Eithne and Brian Vallely, Learn to Play the Fiddle, Armagh
Pipers Club, Armagh, n.d.; Matt Cranitch, The Irish Fiddle Book,
Mercier, Cork, 1988, with flexidisc and cassettes.
Flute: Fintan Vallely, Timber. The Flute Tutor, Long Note Productions,
Clare, 2nd ed. 1987, with cassette; S.C. Hamilton, The Irish Flute Player's
Handbook, Breac Publications, Cork, 1990, with cassette.
Pipes:Denis Brooks, Irish Union Pipes. A Workbook, Brooks,
Washington D.C., 1985; H.J. Clarke, The N ew Approach to Uilleann
Piping, Clarke, Galway, 1988, with cassette; Tadhg Crowley, How to Play
the Irish Uilleann Pipes, Crowley, Cork, 1936; Leo Rowsome, Tutor for the
Uilleann Pipes, Walton, Dublin, 1936; Eithne & J.B. Vallely, Learn to Play
Uilleann Pipes, Armagh Pipers Club, Armagh, n .d.; G. de M.H. Orpen-
Palmer, Walton's Tutor and Selection of Irish Airs for the Bagpipes [war
pipes], Walton, Dublin, 1967.
Accordion: Pat McCabe, Tutor and Tunes for the Button and Piano
Accordion, Annaverna Press, Dundalk, 1980; David C. Hanrahan, The
Box. A Beginner's Guide to the Irish Traditional Button Accordion, Ossian
Publications, Cork, 1988, with cassette.
Banjo:Anthony Sullivan, Sully's Irish Banjo Book, Halshaw Music,
Cheshire, 3rd ed. n.d. , with cassette.
Harp: Sheila Larchet Cuthbert, The Irish Harp Book, Mercier, Cork,
1975; Nancy Calthorpe~ Begin the Harp, Walton, Dublin, 1987.
Bodhran: Micheal 0 Suilleabhain, The Bodhran, Walton, Dublin,
1984; Steafan Hannigan, The Bodhran Book, Ossian Publications, Cork,
1991, with cassette and video.
Useful general works which deal with several instruments are:
Eithne and J.B. Vallely, Sing a Song and Play It 1-3, Armagh Pipers
Club, Armagh, n.d.; Eamonn Jordan, Whistle and Sing! 1-2, Ashardan,
Portadown, 1988.
Singing
The problem about learning to sing is that it does not lend itself easily to any
specific method of approach. The voice expresses temperament more plainly
than an instrument, and the traditional 'rules ' of singing are better learnt by
sympathetic listening and imitation than by formal tuition. Remember that the
words take precedence over any refinement of the air.
Other
The formal education system at first and second level makes little provision for
the teaching of traditional music. But in spite of the restrictions of the official
syllabus many teachers throughout the country very successfully impart a
knowledge and love of the music to their pupils, and some schools actively
promote the music on an extra-curricular basis.
At third level, tuition in traditional performance forms part of B.Mus. and
B.A. in Music courses at University College, Cork (tel. 021-276871) and at the
Regional Technical College, Waterford (tel. 051-75934).