Week 1
We hope you really enjoyed last month’s piece. The next song you’re going to learn will be the last of your first year, and the last song before we start exploring different keys and other pieces of theory (don’t worry, it won’t be getting too abstract). It’s another piece by Turlough O’Carolan, and one that many folk musicians will recognise-if you start playing it at a folk session then there’s a good chance that someone will be able to play along with you.
The melody itself is slightly simpler than Planxty George, but the accompaniment is slightly harder. Again it’s in 2 sections, and again we’ll learn Section A first, but we’re going to do things slightly differently in that next week we’ll learn the accompaniment for Section A, and the week after that we’ll learn Section B including the accompaniment, again with a practice week after to bring it all together. We hope you enjoy learning it!
Section A Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Part 5:
To play the section, play parts 1-4 through, then play 1-3 then 5. The whole song will look like this once you’ve learned it:
Learn Section A as well as you can this week, because as you can see the accompaniment to it is challenging. You can do it though!
Planxty Irwin MP3
Week 2
I hope you’ve learned the melody to this first section well. The accompaniment isn’t unfathomably complex, but it’s trickier than the accompaniment to Planxty George. It’s mostly broken chords, but it’ll be an interesting brain exercise for you to try and fit the two together.
Left Hand Part 1:
There’s a lot there, and fitting it in with the melody is a challenge. As always, don’t try to do too much at a time, and really listen out to the timing. We’ve broken down how this bit goes with the melody into 4 parts:
And don’t worry if after much practice you can still only play it slowly and haltingly-this is what I sounded like after an hour trying to get to grips with it!:
Left Hand Part 2:
Which goes with the melody like this:
Enjoy!
Planxty Irwin MP3
Week 3
The second part of this song is slightly easier than the first part, which is why we’ve just given a week to it, with a practice week to follow. As I’m sure you know by now, the timing of the course is only suggested, and there’s nothing wrong with not being able to keep up and having to go back over things again. If you’ve managed to learn Section A then you are doing great, and I’m sure you’ll be able to learn Section B too.
Part 1:
Part 2:
The Left Hand Accompaniment to Parts 1 and 2:
Which goes together like this:
And this:
Well done. If you’ve made it this far, take a breather, play it through a few times more to really get it anchored in your brain and in your fingers, and then move on to Section B, Part 3:
Part 4:
The accompaniment is very simple:
And it all fits together like this:
And this:
The whole song should look something like this:
I know that there was a lot in this week’s lesson, so if you’re struggling with it at all then please get in touch with a call or an email. My number is 07961 512428 or email is info@handsonharps.com
And if you’re not struggling with it then very well done indeed!