best tutor books?

ston · Post by **ston** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 1:08 pm

I'm about to enter grad school and I'm thinking about how I can reduce costs. I'm also starting to learn uilleann pipes, and the idea of paying for a lesson every week sounds like a lot of money to me. So I was thinking that I might try learning from a tutor book. Before you cry out in horror, I'll still be going to monthly club meetings, plus weekly sessions (playing recorder), so I'll still get a lot of live contact with Irish music and pipes.

Anyway, can anyone recommend a good tutor for someone who can read music and has played several other instruments to varying degrees of mastery? Using a method book worked well for me on recorder, so I thought I might give this a try.

By the way, I'm not committed yet to this course of action, so if you can give me a compelling reason to spend the money on lessons, I'm open to what you have to say.

-David

Patrick D'Arcy · Post by **Patrick D'Arcy** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 1:29 pm

Em... I need the money!

PD.

Ted · Post by **Ted** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 1:49 pm

Suggestion: get rid of the f%#*ing recorder and get a good whistle for sessions.

Ted

djm · Post by **djm** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 2:06 pm

Ston, at the risk of setting off a great hue and cry here, I will tell you of four tutor sources, none of which are complete, but taken together will help you cover a lot of ground:

1). HJ Clarke's Tutor "The New Approach to Uilleann Piping" - book & companion CD
2). Denis Brook's "The Union Pipes: A Workbook" - book from Irish Piper's Club-Seattle
3). Mad4Trad - Uiilleann Pipes Tutorial - CD-ROM
4). NPU - 3 videos

The books will give you the dots and the cross-fingerings. The CDs and videos will let you see/hear what its supposed to look/sound like.

What none of these sources helps with is the physical reality of wrestling with the octopus. That's where an articulate instructor can be of the most assistance. If, as you say, you have that covered, then the above should give you a good start.

Once you have the basics down (depending on how good you really are

) you can branch out into some of the NPU books of transcripts of the masters like Patsy Tuohey, Willy Clancy, and (coming soon) Seamus Ennis.

Hope that helps,

djm

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 2:25 pm

djm wrote: Once you have the basics down (depending on how good you really are ) you can branch out into some of the NPU books of transcripts of the masters like Patsy Tuohey, Willy Clancy, and (coming soon) Seamus Ennis.
djm

Let's not forget Ennis' own tutor book 'The Masters Touch' available from NPU. Quirky terminology, but useful and entertaining all the same.

Regards, Harry.

Antaine · Post by **Antaine** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 2:36 pm

I'll tell you the book I started with and why. I never had any actual lessons...never met in person another uilleann piper...

I knew how to read music. I needed basically a fingering chart, a description of the technique used to play, and some arrangements for pipes would have been nice, too.

I found all three (cheaply) in davy spillane's uilleann pipe tutor.

>gasp< I know it's taken criticism on this board before, but like I said, I only needed to two, maybe three very basic and easy to provide things, and that book had them.

Pat Cannady · Post by **Pat Cannady** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 3:09 pm

Ted wrote:Suggestion: get rid of the f%#*ing recorder and get a good whistle for sessions.

Ted

Yeah, seriously, Ston...get a good whistle. You don't have to spend hundreds of dollars for one, either, a $10 metal and plastic job will do fine. Clare, Generation, Oak, or even Feadog are your best entry-level options; of the lot, Clare is about the best but Generations are perhaps the most readily available. If possible, try a number of them before buying.

The recorder has no place in Irish music, none, zip, zero, zilcho, nada. Empty set, dude.
404 File not Found.

AlanB · Post by **AlanB** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 3:41 pm

Seems a lot of places won't let you try their whistles before buying them(Over here in the UK anyway) . Diseases? Too many Lonesome Boatmen? *shrug*

Regarding tutors, they are great, but I've yet to see one that shows how to ornament rolls etc., properly. These need to be got 1 to 1 in real time.

Alan

Patrick D'Arcy · Post by **Patrick D'Arcy** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 4:38 pm

AlanB wrote:These need to be got 1 to 1 in real time.

Listen to them Ston, they are speaking volumes here

I found the NPU vid's very helpful as there were no teachers around when I was learning ... (on-going process) ... hence all the tionól excursions and visit's to Willie Week... I hate to think what I'd be like if I hadn't done this.

Listening is key, as Séamus told us and being constructively critical of your own playing is also essential.

Speaking of whistles, Tony Dixon http://www.tonydixonmusic.co.uk/ whistles are very nice. I was given a plastic D recently and I'm very impressed with it.

Ciao bellows,

Patricimo.

AlanB · Post by **AlanB** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 5:21 pm

Oh! I meant 1 to 1 as in catching the piper in the pub, buy them a beer and then steal their techniques!!

Alan

djm · Post by **djm** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 6:15 pm

Yup. All very true, and to a great extent, each of us learns in different ways and has different needs. Some people "get" some things faster than others (like me).

I had help from lots of well-meaning people, and there are very few books etc. that I don't have, but my biggest awakening was sitting one-on-one with Martin Nolan for a half-hour. Not only was he able to tell me exactly what I was doing wrong, but he could explain why, and then show me the right way. Unfortunately, I had already been mucking about for a year and a half on my own by that time, and I still haven't been able to unlearn all the bad habits I had developed by then.

Something a book or video or whatever cannot do is watch you and correct you at an early stage. If for no other reason, having a teacher guide you right from the start is priceless. (IMHO)

djm

Kevin L. Rietmann · Post by **Kevin L. Rietmann** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 10:26 pm

The NPU videos are helpful, no doubt, although Gay and Nollaig look and sound like they're on trial for thoughtcrime. The tape editor's technique of instantly replacing an image of one piper with the other piper via jump cut makes it look like they're in the Twilight Zone, also.
Recorder, eh? Irish music has been played on lots of bizzaro instruments, jew's harp, saxophone, ukulele, accordion. Buy the tapes that come with Tomas O Canainn's slow airs book to hear some oddball instrumentation. That's a great reference book, too.

ston · Post by **ston** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 8:24 pm

Ted wrote:Suggestion: get rid of the f%#*ing recorder and get a good whistle for sessions.

Sorry to go off topic, but....

I Honestly don't understand this sentiment. Recorder is almost the same instrument as penny whistle, just a little higher tech (which of course isn't necessarily a good thing). It plays a full chromatic scale across two octaves, is tunable, has the right range for Irish music, has a broad repertoire in which I can use it, and (in my opinion) has a very nice sound. In almost all cases I'm able to do ornamentation just like on a whistle, so the only way you'd know it was a recorder is from the timbre.

I've tried penny whistle and I can play some stuff on it but I just don't like the instrument very much. It has a rough sound, is far from chromatic (unless you want to deal with difficult half-holing), often isn't tunable, and often has several out-of-tune notes. I got a "recommended" instrument (as learned from the C&F web site, a Feadog D) and it has most of these problems. I honestly have higher regard for my plastic Yamaha student model recorder.

I'm not just trying to be contrary here. I've thought this through quite a lot. I spent some time learning penny whistle, but it just wasn't for me. I like recorder a lot more, and I already know how to play it pretty darn well -- why shouldn't I play it in Irish music?

Besides, aren't we in this for fun? I know I am. I learn and play this music in order to have a good time. When people start telling me I can't participate because I have the wrong instrument is the day I stop coming to sessions. I want this to be an inclusive thing -- not only for my sake but for everyone. I want to be a part of something where everyone is welcome to join in if they can.

Okay, I guess I'll stop now. I welcome comments on this, as always.

-David

djm · Post by **djm** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 8:07 am

Ston, go for it. The only determinate here is the other musicains in your local sessions. If they accept a recorder in their midst, that's all that matters. You are quite correct that a recorder fits right in with other instruments in an ITM session, neither dominant nor dischordant.

You are not playing with anyone on this forum, so it really doesn't matter what opinions and purist sentiments may be spouted here. I have even heard of some folks going so far as to bring such non-traditional instruments as harmonicas, concertinas, accordians, banjos, guitars and bouzoukis to sessions. Pretty far-fetched, I know, but its true.

The only time I can think of that you may have to be more reserved in your choice of instruments is when you go to a more formal ITM event or competition, but these aren't necessarily for fun, anyways.

djm

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:54 pm

IMHO, the best tuned, most consistant cheap tin whistle I have ever tried is the Clarke original design, but they take around 3 months to "blow in".

When you get your ear trained to ITM, you will be able to hear what is "wrong" with the recorder. They just absolutely aren't tin whistles and their intonation and "bendiness" doesn't capture the "soul" of ITM.

For some strange reason, the painted ones sound better than the unfinished and those are much easier to lose and make "bananna" whistles of.

I just wish I could find some C sessions so I could play my Clarke C which sounds even better than the D.