MBi5217BCD MEL BAY'S COMPLETE CELTIC ·F INGEISTJLE G U I T A R B O O K By Stefan Grossman, Duck ,Baker, a -II McMeen "if AIRS JIGS -rn Pretty Girl MMking A Cow G9 (Ducic Balcer) IMI Elsie Marley CC4 (Duck Baker) [I] Blind Mary EE2 (DucIc Balcer) -1!5J BIameyPilgrim (Version One) A14 (DuclcBaker) ~ Bridget Cruise E13 (Duck Balcer) ®.J Blarney Pilgrim (Version Two) 04 (ElMcMeen) [~J Bridget Cruise 3rd Air 011 (EI McMeen) SUP JIGS [§] Bridget Cruise 4th Air 015 (EI McMeen) IIZI [[] Inisheer Air OS (EI McMeen) The Kid On The Mountain (Version One) AB (Ducic Baksr) HORNPIPES MARCHES CZJ MEDLEY: Wicklow Hornpipe & Proudlock's Hornpipe A1 2 I!Il Duke of Fife's WelcOme To Oeeslde A9 (DucIc Baker) (DucIc Baker) IIi] The March Of The King Of Laoise A2 (Duck Baker) [U The Rights Of Man (Version One) CC3 ~ Sir Sidney Smith EES (Ducic Baker) (DucIc Baker) CAROLAN COMPOSITIONS PLANXTIES I2IJ Sheebeg An Sheemor (Version One) CC5 (Duck Balcer) III Planxty Hewlett (Version One) E10 (Duck Baker) ~ Sheebeg An Sheemor (Version Two) A7 ~ Evans) [M] PIanxty Hewlett (Version Two) A1 (Dave Evans) -~ Carolan's Concerto (VerSion One) B11 (Duck Balcer) (llJ Charles o'Connor (Version One) B14 (Duck Balcer) ~ Carolan's Receipt 014 (EI McMeen) !12l Morgan Magan (Version One) EE7 (DucIc Baker) I2ID Carolan's Cottage 017 (EI McMeen) ffaJ O'Hara's Cup (Version One) E3 (DuclCBalcer) ~ Carolan '179 016 (EI McMeen) -I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 01995 BY MEL BAY PUBlICATIONS, INC., PACIFIC, MO 63069. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT SECURED. B.M.!. MADE AND PRINTED IN U.S.A. THE COMPLETE CELTICFINGERSTYLE GalTARBoOK Preface by Stefan Grossman Playing Perspectives by Duck Baker and EI McMeen .Explanation Of The Tab System . AIRS JIGS Pretty Girl Milking A Cow. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. 21 Elsie Marley ........................... " 130 The Bonny Bunch Of Roses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 24 The Blarney Pilgrim (Version One) ........... ; 131 B\.ind Mary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . • .. 25 The Blarney Pilgrim (Version Two). . . . . . . . . . .. 135 Bridget CrUise .................... , • . . . . .. 28 The Blarney Pilgrim (Version Three) .......... 140 Bridget Cruise 3rd Air ................•.•... 31 Swedish Jig. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 142 Bridget Cruise 4th Air ...................... 34 The Killmoulis Jig ...•.. ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 144 Lament For Owen Roe O'Neill . . . . . . . . . . . • . . .. 36 The Humours Of Ballyloughlin ............• :. 146 lnisheer Air ..........•..........•.......... 38 Irish Washerwoman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 148 The South Wind. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 39 SUP JIGS HORNPIPES Come Onder My Dimity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 153 ~udlock's Hornpipe. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 46 The Humors Of Whiskey .... ~ ... '.' . . . . . . . .. 154 Wick low Hornpipe ......•.........•...... :. 48 The Kid On The Mountain (Version One) . . . . . .. 156 Callaghan's Hornpipe. .. . • . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . .. 51 The Kid On The Mountain (Version Two) ...... , 158 Chief O'Neil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 54 Gusty's Frolics ....•....•...... ~ . . . . . . . . .. 160 Bantry Bay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 56 The Rights Of Man (Version One) .•........••. 58 MARCHES The Rights Of Man (VersionTwo). . . . . . . . . . . . .. 60 Duke Of Fife's Welcome To Deeside .•. . . . . . . .. 165 The March Of The King Of Laolse . . . . . . . . . . .. 169 REELS Sir Sidney Smith's March. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 172 Green Fields Of America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 66 Brian Boru's March ....................... 175 . The Golden Keyboard ................... '" 68 Temperance Reel. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. 70 CAROLAN COMPOSITIONS Jenhy Picking Cockles .................... ;. 72 The Boys Of Ballisodare ...•.........•....•. 74 Sheebeg And Sheemor (VersionOne). .. . . . . .. 184 Sheebeg And Sheemor (Version Two) • . . . . . . .. 188 The Fairie Queen ......••.•. " • • . . . . . . . . .. 190 PLANXTIES Carolan's Concerto (Version One) . . . . . . . . . . .. 193 Planxty Irwin ................•............. 84 Carolan's Concerto (Version Two) • • . . . . . . . • .. 196 Planxty Hewlett (Version One) . . . . . • . . . • . . . . .. 86 Carolan's Receipt ........•••••...• '.' . . . . .. 199 Planxty Hewlett (VerSion Two) .............. '" 88 Carolan's Quarrel With The Landlady (Version One)?02 PlanxtyKelley . . . . • .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .• . . . .. 90 Carolan's Quarrel With The Landlady (VerslonTwo) ·,205 Charles O'Connor (Version One) . . . . • . . . . . . . .. 92 Carolan's Cottage ..•...••.. .'. .. . . • . . . . . .. 208 Charles O'Connor (Version Two) . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 94 Carolan No. 179 ....•..••................ 210 Morgan Magan (Version One) ........ . .•• . . . .. 96 Carolan's Farewell To Music ....... ;........ 212 Morgan Magan (VerSion Two) ................ 98 O'Hara's Cup (Version One) ...•.....•...... 102 SONGS O'Hara's Cup (Version Two) ..............•. 104 JamesPlunkett ...... '.' ..... ; . . . . . . . • . . .. 106 Danny Boy. . • . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 220 Eleanor Plunkett ......................•.. 108 Mist Covered Mountains Of Home (Version One). 222 Fanny Power ........... '.' . . . . . . . . .. . . ... 110 Mist Covered Mountains Of Home (Version Two). ~24 Sir Festus Burke .........•........•.•... " 112 The Castle Of Dromore . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . • . . .. 227 Hugh O'Donnell ............•.....•. , •.... 115 Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go? ..•...........•..• '.. 230 One Morning ·In May/Boys Of The Ould Brigade . 232 One Morning In May/Boys Of The Ould Brigade . 234 SET DANCES Jock O'Hazeldean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . • .. .. 236 The Blackbird ............................ 120 My Mary Of The Curling Hair . • . . . . . • . . • . . . .. 240 · The Ace and Deuce Of Pipering . . . . . . . . • . . ... 123 The Gypsy Rover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . .. . .. 242 2 PREFACE by Stefan Grossman The Celtic repertoire offers the listener and musician a wide range of experiences from sad laments to flowing melodies to rhythmic dance tunes. Our 6- string guitar is a very versatile instrument that can create a wide variety of textures, tonal patterns, and atmospheres. Attempting to play Celtic music in a fingerstyle technique is an exciting and challenging study. This collection presents a vast array of arrangements covering airs; hornpipes, reels, planxties, set dances, jigs, slip jigs, marches, songs, and compositions by the great 17th Century blind Irish bard, Turlough 0' Carolan. There are many roads that lead to Dublin and in order to put this book together I joined forces with Duck Baker andEI McMeen. The idea is to show that various fingerstyle ideas and approaches can be used to play Celtic melodies. Duck's approach is quite different from EI's. Duck tends to play in standard or a dropped D tuning (D-A-D-G-B-E) with a feel rooted in folk traditions while EI favors the C-G-D-G-A-D tuning and plays in a more harp-like manner. I think you will find it enjoyable as well as fascinating to study a tune played from different paths. An example is "The Blarney Pilgrim". We present three different arrangements. Each is played in a differenttuning and uses different right hand Each produces a distinct feel and atmosphere. ideas~ The text throughout this volume haS been written by Duck, EI, and myself. We decided to refer to ourselves as a communal "I" and you can discover whose arrangement you are studying by checking out the copyright credits for that tune. We have prepared a cassette that features many of the arrangements presented. This will help you in your study but please remember that your.best source is always to go to the roots of the music. We have added a "Suggested Listening" to the description of each tune. We can not recommend strongly enough that you should hear traditional Celtic musicians. There is an abundance of recordings that are essential to your learning experience. Record companies such as Shanachie, Green Unnet, Claddagh, Topic, Gael-Unn, and Clairseach have wonderful catalogs of traditional and revival musicians. There are various mail order companies throughout the USA that can supply you with hard-to-find albums. We have listed several of these at the end of the book. Duck and El have prepared both video and audio lessons that focus on fingerstyle Celtic guitar. You can get more information about these by writing to Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop, P.O. Box 802, Sparta, NJ 07871. You can also contact us at this address if you have any questions or comments about the material in this volume. I hope you enjoy the many pages in this collection. 3 PLAYING PERSPECTIVES BY DOCK BAKER Like many American musicians, I became interested in Irish music by follow ing the way back from traditional mountain music. I had up to then been more involved in trying to play blues, ragtime, and some jazz styles but was aware of bluegrass and old-time music and had spent time working out Doc Watson tunes. In 1969 I met Dan McCorison and he got me a lot further into playing fiddle tunes like "Devil's Dream", "Old Joe Clark", and"A rkansas Traveller". He also turned me on to some great records, like The Friends of Old Time Music which featured Doc Watson,The Stanley Brothers, Doc Boggs, Almeda Riddle, Hobart Smith, and Roscoe Holcomb (as well as Mississippi John Hurt and Jesse Fuller). What a great introduction to the music! Two other recordings I remember wearing out were Byron Berline with The Dillards and Franklin George. I heard something wild and exciting in Byron's playing that, even though it represented state-of-the-art blue grass (it still does, thirty years later) harkened back to something older, in fact ancient. Oddly, the tunes themselves and Byron's Texas-Oklahoma style do not go back more than a few generations. But I will return to this paradox later. Franklin George's first record on the Kanawha label was the work of a staunchly conservative West Virginia musician (his choice for a label name for a later release was "Anachronistic.") It featured Frank's wonderful banjo and fiddle, a couple of tracks of highland piping and a few minutes' worth of some of the most beautiful music ever recorded-the fiddle duos with the great Indiana mUSician,·· John Summer. At 19 years of age, when I first heard this recording, I thought I had found the Holy Grail, and in a way I had. As a passionate banner-bearer of moun tain music, George was playing a style that was certainly older than Berline's Southwesternisms, and he was very conscious of the links between Appalachia, Scotland and Ireland. But again, this music can sound much older than it is-ban jos and much of the repertoire of mountain music are 19th century in origin. In any event, it is fair to say that Franklin George's record represents an aes- . thetic base which I have always referred back to when arranging Irish, Scottish, and Appalachian tunes. Certainly that base has been given all kinds of added support as I absorbed as many kinds of music as I could, got to know traditional players on both sides of the Atlantic, and generally to learn life's lessons. But my first tri~d hearing of George and Summers was like suddenly seeing another world, and while I have since found many other artists that can open such windows, that initial view point is the one I return to when I go about arranging a tune. I have dwelt on these impressions, because I am inclined to think that nothing is more important to defining style in music than a clear aesthetic base. Whether we define this to ourselves in terms of recordings or live performances, we must all have some inner reference point. That is surely not to say that we need ever try to 4 sound just like our guides. In fact, being a fingerpicker pretty well precludes that when the tradition we are dealing with is by and large banjos, fiddles, pipes, flutes, squeeze boxes, and singers. The base I am talking about simply gives one a clear sense of what the music is. Without that, you are not likely to be a convincing in terpreter. No doubt my grounding in American music, like ragtime and blues, influ enced my approach to fiddle tunes and later to Irish I started, I cer tunes~ When tainly just tried to find ways to play the melody over an alternating bass. Since the melody of a fiddle tune is likely to consist of a run of 8th notes too fast for the right hand fingers to play without alternating, that technique becomes important. Of course, pull-offs, and slides can be used to get around this, but these ha~mer-ons, legato techniques are most effective (and most reminiscent of fiddle bowing) when they are not just used in between bass notes. So we have to get used to hammers, pulls, and slides coming at the same time as our right thumb hits the string. Certainly the straight alternating bass can box things in, so other approaches are desirable. Repeated bass figures that the melody.can go over, can work-"The Blarney Pilgrim (Version One)" is like this, and also features another obvious alter native, the monotonic or drone bass. Most Europeans, from Davey Graham to Martin Carthy to Pierre Bensusan favor this as a basic approach, and it sure is a good one. Alternating octaves gives us a drone and also an alternation. Sometimes we can alternate backwards, that is, hit the higher bass string on beats 1· and 3 and the lower on 2 and 4, instead of vice versa (the figure referred to jn "The Blarney Pilgrim (Version One)" does this as do parts of "The Golden Keypoard"}. We can also alternate two up and two down (the B section of "Temperance Reel"). For many, ifnot most cases, we will wantto1coristruct a bass part that is sim ply a second part to the melody. It might function as counterpoint, harmony or independently. The only rule of thumb is to let the tune itself suggest directions for the second part to follow. Ultimately, the instrument and the tune themselves, wHl teach you what to do if you let them. I do think it is useful to learn the rudiments of music theory, which just means learning the names of the relationships you have to use anyway. A major reason is to learn what not to do. John Renbourn pointed out that harmonizing Irish tunes in 3rds (or 6ths) makes it sound like cuckoo-clock music! Obviously a good thing to avoid. In fact, I will state unequivocally that treating any Irish, Scottish, or Appala chian tune I can think of to a straight tonal arrangement is a recipe for disaster. Of course, a lot of revivalist folk music does that, but this is the result of not listening hard enough to the traditional players to appreciate that the strangest sounding passages are often the best. The point here is that this music does not conform to straight tonal rules. Trying to make itdo so inevitably leads to washed.;out, unsatis fying interpretations. Even Carolan's tl)nes, which admittedly were influenced by the Italian composers (though nowhere near as much-as is oftenputforth), sound much better suited to such slightly off-center harmonic .d evices as minor 7th or suspended chords.t han to·s traight treatments .. 5 We fingerpickers are taking the first steps toward learning how to apply a vast and infinitely beautiful heritage to our instrument. If at times other instrumentalists seem to be closed-minded about our efforts, remember that turn-of-the-century folk purists were snooty about banjos. Maybe in another generation or two, we will produce people who can, like Byron Berline, open the door to that other world which is truly timeless, as ancient as hope and new as all our aspirations. Tradi tional music in its ever evolving forms preserves our memory of that world. A teacher of T' ai Chi once told me that discipline was like an unimaginable vast mountain, and the further one ascends the more one sees of heights to come that can't even be suspected from the plain. And so it is with music, or any aspect of what I think of as The Moving Business-poetry, dance, theater, fiction, what ever. But I do not mean to sound daunting. The view is nice from the little side roads I have found just off the path over here ... . -Duck Baker 6 PLAYING PERSPECTIVES (CON'T) BY ELMcMEEN There is a maxim in the real estate business that three things control the value of a piece of property-location, location,·a nd location. Likewise, in my own listening and playing of traditional Irish music, three matters are paramount-· melody, melody, and melody! Each statement is, obviously, an oversimplification. Other matters can be important, like size in real estate, and rhythm, speed, and "drive" in music (for example, reggae and "rap" music). Yet, more often than not, the melody is what draws me to a piece of music, whether it's sung or played on an instrument, and persuades me to try to render it effectively on the guitar. A beauti;.. ful melody, a haunting melody, a sadmeloqy-these can affect us and our listening emotionally and permit us to communicate·w ith ourselves and our audience. For such reasons, we guitarists must love music even more than the guitar. The guitar is only the means to the end. The goal is good music. Traditional Irish music in its many forms-airs and dance tunes like jigs, reels, and hornpipes-has tremendous appeal to musicians and listeners alike. Tunes of the Irish harper, Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738), survive generally in written compilations with melody lines only; yet songs like the "Bridget Cruise" airs, "Blind Mary", "Sheebeg and Sheemor" ,the "Farewell to Music" and many others sound·f resh to modern ears despite being almost (or over) 300 years old. What staying power! What a source of repertoire for modern guitarists! . For those of us drawn to traditional Irish music, thechaHenge is formidable: how can we faithfully render (and even possibly enhance and advance ) Irish music . from the standpoint of the solo guitarist? Every serious guitarist, of course, has his or her own answers. What follows from me is only my personal opinion. I hope, however, that it will be stimulating to your appreciation and playing of Irish music (as well as other·music, as I note at the end), GUITAR TUNINGS All of my recent arrangements of traditional Irish tunes are in two alternative, "nonstandard", tunings. Standard tuning, namely E-A-D-G-B":E, has provided the resource for millions of guitarists, with its flexibility, power, and potential. (Just think of the number of keys in which a guitarist can play, relatively easily, in stan dard tuning.) Yet, without going into any extended musical analysis, I have found that the "linear" quality of much traditional Irish music (that is, the emphasis on the melody line, with less concern for exotic chords and unusual chord changes) lends itself to the following tunings (bass to treble), which promote use of the open strings: D-A-D-G-A-D and C-G-D-G-A-D. D-A-D-G-A-D, with its three D notes and its history (invented by British gui tarist Davey Graham, and brought to an extraordinary level of melodicism by 7 French guitarist Pierre Bensusan) is a rather familiar alternative tuning. It is great for driving Irish jigs and reels, with the damped low D stril)g reminiscent of the Irish bodhran (small drum). It permits comfortable playing in octaves and in different registers, too. I use it on "The Blarney Pilgrim", "The Humours of Ballyloughlin" , and "The Irish Washerwoman", all jigs, and certain other tunes. For this piece, however,1 prefer to concentrate on the beauty and possibilities of the other tuning, C-G-D-G-A-D I became aware of the tuning C-G-D-G-A-D from evocative arrange wond~rful mentsby British guitarist Dave Evans of the Carolan tunes "Sheebeg and Sheemor" and "Morgan Magan", as well as the jig "The Galtee Hunt". Although Dave has recorded various types of music in this tuning, what struck me about his Irish arrangements were the sheer beauty of the guitar sound created, and the way in which the tuning allowed the player to accentuate the melody line in unusual and appealing ways, including the use of harp-like arpeggios. I will discuss tech niques below; what I want to emphasize here is that the beauty of arrangements in this tuning, and the possibilities that later became clear to me, led me to the effort of retuning my guitar (an exercise [had performed with some hesitation in the past). So I say to the reader: go ahead; be brave. Tune each of the 1 st, 2nd, and 5th strings down whole and the low 6th string down whole steps. With ~ ~, ~ this tuning, you will be able to play comfortably in the keys of G and G minor, C, D, and others. Experiment with the capo on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th frets for sound. If you feel that there's not enough repertoire for this tuning,.y ou should know that I have personally arranged 80-100 songs in this tuning, from "Danny Boy" through "Music of the Night" (from The Phantom of the 0pf!ra) to "The Tennessee Waltz"! Playing just two chords in this tuning revealStsome interesting things. The G chord (index finger on the 2nd fret of the 2nd string; don't play the open 6th string) contains two G's on open strings (the 3rd and fifth strings). The subdominantchord (that is, the IV chord) in the key of G-namely, the C chord (middle finger on the 2nd fret of the 1 st string, ring finger on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string, and index finger on the 2nd fret of the 4th string)-also has the two open G strings ringing out, .b ut, more importantly, it has the root note C on the open 6th string. I have found that this feature distinguishes this tuning from standard. The only key in standard tuning that has the root note of the subdominant on the open 6th string is the key of B, and how often does anyone play in that key? (O.K., Merle Travis did so in one part of "Saturday Night Shuffle", but you get my point!) I can't tell you exactly why this is such a big deal, but play "Inisheer" and "Bridget Cruise (3rd Air)", and listen to "In the Bleak Mid-Winter" on my Shanachie recording Of Soul and Spirit (Shanachie 97012). Something special is happening here. And then there's the range of the instrument in this tuning (for example, the C chord encompasses 2 octaves and a 3rd). Finally, the tuning lends itself to the use of certain guitar techniques, as discussed below. 8 TECHNIQUES For over 20 years of playing guitar, I enjoyed the benefits, and suffered the burdens, of the "alternating-bass" fingerpicking style,as-American as apple pie, Merle Travis, and Chet Atkins. The benefits were bounce, speed, and apparent virtuosity (at least to those listeners not aware of how naturally the style faUs under the fingers, as we alternate thumb, finger, thumb, finger, etc.). The burdens in cluded, withoutlimitation,a general inclination togo on "cruise control" and lose melody (while having so much fun picking), and, more importantly in musical terms, difficulties operating in 3/4 time or slow 4/4 time. In any event, Lwas hung . up, and having a hard time adapting the alternating-bass technique to popular -repertoire qr my own musical ideas. . My growing interest in the melodies of Irish music, together with the C-G-D- G-A-D tuning and the way Dave Evans played in that tuning, as well as techniques and effects employed by harpers in the Irish tradition, led to a musical "de coupling" of thumb and fingers that beganto liberate the music. I could go in and out of the alternating-bass technique, as appropriate. For example, pinching the bass treble strings could be retained to establish a chord or harmony, but then arpeggio techniques (using the thumb. with atbumbpick. to pick strings ..f rom bass to treble. sequentially.·r ather than bouncing back and forth among the bass strings) could serve to enhance the melody notes by "fiIling in the musical spaces" in an appealing way. The result was less punchy, but more lyrical and flowing. With this level of concentration on the sounds and manner of playing of the individual strings, it became easier to compile, assess and utilize those "guitaristic" . {for want of a better word} devices that distinguish our instrument from, say, the piano. Some examples are: sustained notes; string bends; vibrato; unison notes on adjacent strings; slides; harmonics; string-snapping; andthe like. Once these tech niques were identified, moreover, the relationship to -sounds created by other stringed instruments appeared-for example the·a rpeggios and sustained notes of the harper,. and the siides,unison notes and vibrato of the violinist. In sum, instead ofa ttempting to force music into the mold of the alternating bass style (at least, .as I played it) ,Iwas discovering the beauty of other instruments, like the harp and the violin, and formulating analogous techniques for the guitar that enable us to emu late our fellow musicians on those instruments. A full treatment of guitar techniques is clearly beyond scope of this piece, but I would like to mention briefly two techniques (one from the violinist, one from the harper) that make a difference in playing Irish music on guitar. The first, learned from Stefan Grossman, is the slow-hand vibrato, whereby we keep a fretted string vibrating by a back-and-forthmotion across (that is, perpendicular to) the fretboard. Beware: it takes time to learn and master this on the acoustic guitar (on aU the strings, including the bass strings!). The time will be well-spent, however; your music will sing. The second is a humble guitarist's attempt to capture some of 9