Reflections on the Fleadh
, 1.23.2011
Irish Fiddling Competition. The very idea makes me shake with fear. But, if there's one thing I LOVE about Comhaltas, the organization that puts together the All-Ireland competitions, it's that they put all the audio and video up on their website for me to download for free! I'm learning tons of new tunes and from some of the best young fiddlers.
In Ireland, traditional fiddling is really stylized. In America, we "Celtic" fiddlers can get away with playing a sort of watered down Celtic-ish style that's really an amalgam of Classical, Old-time, Scottish, English, or anything else we've been exposed to. Here, that's okay. There are no Irish police (unless you go to certain sessions) checking to make sure you don't do the wrong kind of ornamentation or play a tune too slow or fast or with the wrong kind of bowing.
When Liz was in Ireland doing her MA she'd send me recordings from her lessons with some of the top fiddlers. From there I've been doing a search for Irish tunes and fiddlers and trying my darnedest to stay true to the style without letting others creep in. It takes concentration and discipline, which is something I haven't really given my fiddling for a long time. I'm actually practicing tunes rather than just playing through them.
Anyway, the Mid-west Chapter of the All-Ireland Competition is this April in Chicago. I'm slightly tempted to go, but this semester is KILLER so I can't. That gives me 14 months to prepare some tunes for next year.
This summer we're taking off to go to Kuwait, and I've already made some friends! Click here.
very sweet of you Katie! :D thank you.