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Home , Reel (dance), Slip jig, Tin whistle, Uilleann pipes

Chapter 4 The Dance Tune Tradition ______(1) AA Pages 59-60 CD Track 10, Reels - “The Ash Plant and “The Dog Among the Bushes”

1. Review the structure of Irish tunes that was introduced in Activity 6, Chapter 1, and then read the description of tune structure on p. 59.

2. Read the directions under Activity 4.1 on p. 60. Note that each section of “The Ash Plant” is not repeated, but in “The Dog Among the Bushes,” each section is repeated.

3. During first listening, (1) tap or clap the beat and (2) show the duple meter throughout by counting in this way: 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 7-2, 8-2. As you tap and count, follow the listening map on Overhead 4.1 to help you. Make sure to go straight into the second when you finish the first.

4. Now follow the melodies of the tunes using the notation. Since this music is passed on orally and varies with each performance, the notated tune will not be the same as the performed tune. What differences do you notice between what you hear and what you see? ______(2) /U Pages 60-61 Finding Tunes

Print collections: The authors describe the life and contributions of one important collector of Irish tunes, Francis O’ Neill. In Chapter 2, they introduced a collector from an earlier period, Edward Bunting. Go to Worksheet 4.1 and after you have chosen a collector of Irish tunes, conduct research on the collector and answer the questions. ______(3) S, C/U Pages 60-61 Finding Tunes

Online collections: Go to and examine the way in which Irish tunes are organized and presented in the public domain. Set up a class discussion on the impact of the on access to tunes, notation/storage, dissemination, and performance. ______(4) S, C/U Pages 60-61 Fieldwork Project in Community: Collecting and Learning a Tune

1. Identify a musician from whom you would like to learn a tune. 2. Get permission to record and notate the tune. 3. Ask the musician how s/he learned the tune. 4. Decide on a medium for recording the tune. 5. Store the tune in audio and visual form. 6. Learn the tune. 7. Share it with group or/and class. 8. As a class discuss the challenges of collecting tunes. 9. Write a paragraph describing how you learned the tune. ______(5) S, C/U Pages 64-65 Variation and Ornamentation: The Essence of the Tradition

1. Listen carefully to the examples of ornaments (cuts, rolls, triplets and crans) on CD Track 11, as you follow the notation on p. 65. 2. Try to replicate the ornaments on a e.g. , recorder, , . 3. Examine the way ornaments are notated on p. 65. If you play a musical instrument such as piano or flute, find a piece in your repertoire that has ornaments. Play it in class and compare the use and effect of ornaments in that piece to their use in “Garrett Barry’s ,” CD tracks 18 and 19. ______(6) AA Pages 74-75 The

1. Before listening to the jig performed on the uilleann pipes on tracks 18 and 19, find a picture of the instrument. Identify and memorize the different parts: chanter, bellows, drone pipes (tenor, baritone and ).

2. , one of the most famous pipes players in the tradition, described the process of learning to play the pipes before one could master the instrument: seven years learning, seven years practicing, and seven years playing. Provide several reasons why you think he made this statement.

3. Compare the uilleann pipes with similar instruments from other areas of the world, using the following guidelines: size and shape of instrument, register, how sound is produced, typical places when and where instrument is heard. Examples: Scottish pipes, Bulgarian gaida, or Breton biniou. ______

(7) S, C/U Pages 68-74 CD Track 18 and 19, “Garrett Garry’s Jig” performed by Jerry O’ Sullivan 1. Listen to the tune played on a classroom instrument, as notated in Fig. 4.4 on p. 71 (part 1). Follow the notation as you listen. Get it on your ear and be able to hum it. 2. Listen to track 18, which is the “skeletal” rendition of the tune with basic ornamentation. As you listen: a. follow the notation in Fig. 4.4 (2). b. tap/clap the basic compound duple meter using 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 7-2, 8-2 3. Listen again, and this time: c. identify the form by writing down the number of times you hear section A and section B. 4. Listen to the recording a third time and focus on ornamentation: d. How many different ornaments does Jerry O’Sullivan use in this version? Check notation of ornaments on p. 65 to help you identify which ornaments he uses.

5. Now proceed to track 19 in which Jerry O’Sullivan plays another rendition of the jig with more ornaments. As you listen: a. Follow the notation on Fig. 4.5. b. Listen for the various ways in which the performer further ornaments the melody. c. Have class members play the tune and the regulator part.

6. Consider the two renditions played by Jerry O’Sullivan using the following headings: length of performance; ; use of ornaments; use of special effects. ______(8) AA Page 66 Variants of the Jig

Listen to the jig variants and follow the chart on Overhead 4.2. ______(9) AA Page 67 CD track 15 “The Reel of Rio” (and “The Woman of the House”), played by

Read Activity 4.2 on p. 67. Listen to the tune played live in the classroom and get it on your ear. Now listen to the recording.

1. First listening: tap the basic beat. 2. Second listening: count and write down the number of times you hear part A and part B. (The form is AABB, played three times). 3. Third listening: ornamentation of the melody. The notated melody on Overhead 4.3 is the skeletal version and it will help you follow the melody and what is ornamented. ______(10) 7-12, C/U Page 14 CD Track 4 Three played by the Dublin Metropolitan Garda Céilí Band: “The Sunshine,” “Humors of Castle Bernard,” and “Dick Sands”

See Chapter 1, Activity number 9, for listening lesson. ______(11) E Page 68 CD track 16, Two Kerry Movement activity

[Note: The following activity is pedagogically sound but is not native to the tradition.]

Section A: form a circle and march clockwise for the first 8 measures; turn and march in counter clockwise direction for the next 8 measures Section B: march toward the center of the circle during measures 1-4 measures and march in place during measures 5-8. March away from the center for measures 1-4 and march in place during measures 5-8. ______(12) E, S Page 68 CD track 17, “ Fanny Power”

1. Challenge students to learn and play this lyrical melody by ear. It is played here in the Key of G. The tune is also found in The Complete Works of O’Carolan (Ossian Publications, 1989, p. 106). The version on Overhead 4.4 is found on the Ceili House Band collection of tunes at

2. Follow the notation on Overhead 4.4 and compare with the recorded version. ______(13) AA Pages 70-83 Musical Instruments of Traditional Ensembles

A. Review the instrument systems of classification in Chapter 2 (pp. 28-37) of Thinking Musically in this series.

B. Go to the book, Musical Instruments of the World (The Diagram Group, New York and Oxford: Facts on File Publications, 1976), or Microsoft CD ROM, Musical Instruments of the World. Find pictures of the following instruments of the Irish tradition:

p. 81 bodhrán p. 154 p. 80 melodeon p. 80 p. 18 uilleann or Irish Union pipes p. 57

C. Complete Worksheet 4.2 by matching each instrument with the Sachs-Hornbostel and the European classification of musical instruments.

D. Devise one more way of classifying the instruments that are used in traditional music performance, both in solo and ensemble contexts. ______(14) AA Page 79 Tin Whistle Tutors

Cotter, Geraldine. Geraldine Cotter's Traditional Irish Tin Whistle Tutor. Cork: Ossian Publications, 1983, rev. 1989.

Williamson, Robin. The Penny Whistle Book. New York: Oak Publications, 1977.

Vallely, John and Eithne. Learn to Play the Tin Whistle. Books 1-3. Armagh Piper's Club. 1976.

See the website for CD ROM tutorials of several instruments of the tradition, including tin whistle. ______(15) AA Page 79 CD Track 13, “Fig for a Kiss” (), played by Dorothea Hast (tin whistle) and Stan Scott (mandolin)

1. Listen to Track 13 and follow the notation of this slip jig on Overhead 4.5. 2. Learn the melody. 3. Accompany the tune on keyboard or using the chords written above the melody. 4. On the recording the tune is doubled on tin whistle and mandolin. Arrange the tune using different instruments e.g. recorder and guitar, or other instruments available to the group. Overhead 4.1

Reels - “The Ash Plant and “The Dog Among the Bushes”

“The Ash Plant”

A 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 7-2, 8-2 B 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 7-2, 8-2 Repeat twice

“The Dog Among the Bushes”

A 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 7-2, 8-2 A 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 7-2, 8-2 B 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 7-2, 8-2 B 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 7-2, 8-2 Repeat Overhead 4.2

Variants of the Jig

Jig Variant Meter Rhythms Example

Double jig 6/8 Two groups of Track 3: The Mist three eighth notes Covered Mountain; per measure Tracks 18-19, Garrett Barry’s Jig Single jig 6/8 or Predominant Track 12: Road to 12/8 pattern of quarter Lisdoonvarna note followed by eighth note

Slip or hop jig 9/8 Predominant Track 13: A Fig for a pattern of three Kiss eighth notes, combined with dotted quarter and quarter followed by eighth note 12/8 Predominant Track 14: pattern of quarter O’Keeffe’s Slide note followed by eighth note Overhead 4.3 Overhead 4.4

© Ceili House Band, 1996-2000 Overhead 4.5 Worksheet 4.1

Collectors of Irish Tunes

From the list below, choose one collector. Document his life and collections, by answering the following questions:

a. Where was the collector born? b. In what year was he born? c. How did he become interested in collecting tunes? c. What external factors influenced the collection(s) (e.g. nationalism, preservation, demand)? d. Where did he collect the tunes? e. Is the collection(s) still in print? f. Find an internet source that describes the collection and find one more important fact about it to include in this description.

List of collectors:

Brendán Breathnach, J. C. Clinton, Aloys Fleischmann, William Forde, James Goodman, Henry Hudson, Walker Jackson, Patrick Weston Joyce, Patrick O’Farrell, Donal O’ Sullivan, George Petrie, William Bradbury Ryan. Worksheet 4.2

Musical Instruments

Sachs-Hornbostel European

1. Chordophones A. strings 2. B. winds () 3. Membranophones C. winds (woodwinds) 4. Idiophones D. percussion a. ______b. Harp ______c. Flute ______d. Uilleann pipes ______e. Tin whistle ______f. Accordion ______g. Melodeon ______h. Concertina ______i. Bodhrán ______j. Guitar ______k. ______l. Mandolin ______