Karen and I have selected tunes of traditional music that have influenced our playing over the years. The tunes we selected give the musician the opportunity to elucidate the beautiful aspects of our traditional music. Some of the tunes are familiar, but we believe, are rich, subtle and varied.
The tunes settings will be of much benefit to both learners and experienced musicians. The tunes are not given with the idea that they will be learned literally, as classical pieces. But rather, they are an introduction to unique insights of the music.
The audio recordings which accompanies this book are played as notated the first time around and embellished the second and third times. In some cases the tunes are played at a slow pace first time around to enable the musician to gain an insight to the richness of the settings. The music in this book we consider to be a resource, assembled by traditional musicians to be used by teachers and pupils.
We both believe in the soulfulness of our native music and its magical, if not spiritual, experience will help embellish our sacramental occasions. As Like Sean O Riada envisaged “I would like to hear a man coming out of Mass whistling the Our Father, or hear a man making hay whistling the Our Father,” we both hope the music will have the same effect upon the listener.
In keeping with the Second Vatican Council’s spirit of ‘aggiornamento’ and openness to the world, attention had also been focused from the outset on the cultural and musical heritage of individual peoples, with a view to identifying elements of worship which could be adapted to their ‘native genius’; Hence the emphasis in this project on Traditional Irish Music.
This volume of transcripts of Irish music is a flavour of music which can be used in the Church setting, Sacramental occasions such as Sunday Masses, Confirmation, First Holy Communion, Weddings and Funerals.
The tunes could be performed at different times during the mass for example;
- Before the Entrance Antiphon
- During the preparation of the gifts
- During Communion and/or a reflection after Communion.
- After the Concluding Rites
Key Signatures of Tunes:
All the tunes are mainly in the key of G major (using C Natural and F sharp) or D major (using F sharp and C sharp) as we felt that these keys were the easiest for children to learn and play at primary school.
Low and high notes are distinguished by using a ‘ sign above the letter to donate high pitched notes: e.g. D’ being high D and D donating Low D
