As I write this,  we are in the midst of a global pandemic. As we all do our best to self-quarantine, what a great time to practice our instruments and learn some new tunes! Hey, we do what we can with what we have, right?

It's also Saint Patrick's Day, and although the pubs are closed and parades cancelled, at least we can share music online and raise a glass to our collective health. So to all, a great big sláinte! 

Elise Kress, what would we do without you and your enthusiasm for this project? Elise is back with another tune: Mulqueen's Reel. Come, let's learn it together. 

About this tune, Elise says: "A great reel that's not too hard to learn. It's played a lot around the DC metropolitan area, particularly at Dennis Botzer and Marc Glickman's Sunday session at McNamara's pub in Arlington. I've attached a gorgeous version by De Danann."

So let's give it a listen:

Elise Kress is a teacher and performer in the metropolitan Washington, DC area of the United States. She offers online lessons on whistle and flute. Click here to get in touch with her directly.

Let's learn the tune together. It follows a familiar A-B pattern. Here's the slow version:

Once you've learned it at a slow tempo, try playing along with this faster version.

Taking a quick break while I find some more folks to teach tunes. If you or someone you know would like to teach a tune, please go to the "Submit a Tune" link at the top of this page to do it. The instructions and guidelines are all right there. Meanwhile I'm learning a few more tunes myself so I can teach them in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!--Dan

Before we get started this week, I wanted to send out an appeal to teach us a tune. If you've got a favorite tune, or you know a good teacher or good amateur player in any melody instrument, I encourage you to submit a tune! It's really easy to do, and then you'll be famous. Or famouser. And you'll have the satisfaction of having given back to the community, which is always a great feeling. Trust me.

​And now:  ​

Elise Kress is back this week to teach us The Reel of Rio. "I don't have anything brilliant to say about it," says Elise. "It's just a great reel to play." That's good enough for us, Elise! 

Let's give it a listen. I found this recording of Dylan Foley and John Whelan rocking (reeling?) out the tune here. This is what music is all about: the pure joy of playing and sharing. It doesn't get much more fun than this.

This week we're being treated to a tune taught by Andrew Caden of the Washington, DC, area of the United States. He is a student of Brian Conway, and the 2017 All-Ireland fiddle champion (15 to 18) at the Fleadh Cheoil in Ennis, Co. Clare. O'Donnell's is a hornpipe he learned from button accordion player Billy McComiskey. [Ed. note: There's more talent in that paragraph than one should rightly be able to contain.]

So first let's have a listen to Billy's playing.

This week I'm teaching The Jolly Beggarman, which I learned as The Red Haired Boy. I probably learned it because it was called The Red Haired Boy. But I digress. It's a nice hornpipe whose A part is similar to its B part, making it easy to pick up pretty quickly. It's played in bluegrass jams probably as much as it is in Irish sessions.

--Dan

Let's give it a listen. I like this version played by Emmett Cooke, who also calls it Red Haired Boy.

Diana Havlin, from the Washington, DC area of the United States, shares: 
This is a lovely little tune that I learned from a recording on the concertina player Edel Fox's solo CD, Chords and Beryls. The melody is simple but holds a lot of interest.

So let's give a listen to a performance of the reel, with the awesome percussive sound of a couple of step dancers thrown in for good measure:

A couple of years ago I started a Spotify playlist called "Tunes to Learn," and this tune was one of the first to be added to the list. It's got an easy, accessible pattern to it, and it's just lovely to play. I hope you enjoy it, too.

I like this version by John Whelan on his album ​Celtic Roots (Spirit Of Dance).

Now let's learn the tune. As a reminder, the sheet music is available in the Session link at the top; the first setting is what's being taught here. But if you can learn it by ear without "the dots," give it a try!

When I first began searching for tunes to learn, Christy Barry's was one that tickled my ears a lot. The version I heard is played by Kevin Crawford. It's on his 'd' flute album. Let's learn it together!
--Dan Kaufman, Arlington, Virginia, USA

First, listen to Kevin's version. It's just the first tune on this set:​

Now let's learn it. If you learn best by reading the music ("the dots") you can download the music from thesession.org. The second version at the link is probably closest to the one we'll learn here. That said, as most teachers will tell you, you'll pick up tunes a lot faster over time if you learn to play Irish music by ear. So I encourage you to give this a try.