Way back in April, exactly 3 months ago today, I had the pleasure of once again attending the Baltimore Irish Trad Festival. I took a flute workshop taught by Sean Gavin, who taught us this jig and the reel I’ll be posting next. Anyway, he called this jig “Biddie McGee’s”, tho’ it seems most folks (and all the sources I’ve seen online) call it Paddy Clancy’s.
And here it is:
It never fails. I play the tune all day, and I play it pretty well. However, as soon as I turn the camera on, I completely lose any control I have over the instrument. I’m still hoping that my “camera panic” eases up as I continue this project. So far, it’s not.
So, this week’s tune is a jig called The Horse’s Leotard. I think this will be my last “tune with critters in the title,” but since I haven’t picked out the next tune yet… we’ll see! I learned this tune from a recording I made of Kathleen Coneely in a workshop I took at last year’s Baltimore Irish Trad Fest. If you’re in the area during the weekend of April 26th, and you like Irish trad music, you should definitely check out this year’s fest! Click here for more info.
Oh, yeah, the video. Here it is.
This week’s tune is yet another entry in my series of “tunes with critters in the name.” It’s a jig called The Cow That Ate The Blanket. Next week, I’ll do one last tune in this series. It’s not that I can’t find plenty more tunes with critters in the name, it’s just that I’m getting bored with it! Perhaps next week’s tune, The Horse’s Leotard, can segue into a new series: “tunes with nonsensical titles.” Ha!
Continuing with the theme of “tunes with critters in the title” is week eight’s tune, a slip jig called “The Kid on the Mountain.” It’s a five-parter (as opposed to the usual 2-part tunes I’ve been learning), so I only played through it once in the video. Honestly, I had such a bad time making this week’s video that I don’t think I could’ve gotten through the tune twice without a major malfunction. Let’s just say I’m having a “bad flute day” and leave it at that. Here’s the video:
Ok, after last week’s poor iPhone video, I’m back to using my real camera. I’m also doing another jig: Gander in the Pratie Hole. Cute tune…weird name. I have no idea what a “pratie hole” is. The best Google could tell is that it’s “something to do with potatoes.” Go figure. Next week I’m gonna switch it up again with a reel called “The Hare’s Paw.”
Hey gang! This week’s tune is a jig called Shandon Bells. I’ll apologize in advance for the poor sound quality on the video. I experimented with using my phone instead of my real camera. Let’s just say the experiment FAILED. Anyhoo, here it is anyway. What’s that? You want to know why I didn’t rerecord it with my real camera? There’s no time for that! It’s Super Bowl day and I got stuff to do. Go Ravens!
Hey folks! This week’s tune is a jig called Trip to Athlone. This is another tune that has been hanging out in my “gotta learn” list for the past several years. The recording I used as my guide was made on February 25, 2010, so that should give you an idea of how long I’ve been neglecting to sit down and learn it. Anyway, here it is: