RE: [Harp-L] Ireland

[Steve Shaw <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

> What top 3-5 tunes should I study on harp, so I can sit
> in at the pubs when I go to Ireland? Scotland??
> What is the jam etiquette in this pub situation?
> 
> Robert Hale, "the Duke Of Wail"

 

The default reaction to harmonica players in traditional Irish sessions is suspicion.  It is not a mainstream instrument.  You won't go down very well if you sit in and wail and bend all night.  You need to play tunes, not try to play accompaniment, which sounds even worse coming from a harmonica than it does from a bad guitarist (and there are plenty of them around).  Accompaniment is regarded as optional by many traditional musicians, though in most places good, tasteful, restrained (not jazzy) guitar playing is welcomed.   I've been writing about playing trad Irish music for a couple of years in the magazine of the National Harmonica League http://harmonica.co.uk.  You'll have to join to read the articles (and get the dots to my tunes) but there are some examples of tunes up there under Music Downloads under my name (sorry, I know how this sounds).  You could listen to Brendan Power's CD New Irish Harmonica and/or buy his guides to playing Irish music on diatonic and chromatic harmonicas (they come with lots of tunes on accompanying CDs).   In short, if you play a different style of harmonica you really need to get your feet under the table first before you pitch in, and the way to do it is to listen in on traditional pub sessions as much as you can (they happen all over the world these days - there are session guides on TheSession and the Chiff & Fipple websites).  And listen to lots of recordings of Irish music (not the Blarney O'Shamrock variety though!)

 

Steve Shaw   


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