Learn how to sing 9 traditional Irish songs
What you'll learn
- Sing nine Traditional Irish songs.
- Master techniques such as ornamentation and phrasing
- Understand each song so that they can be effectively interpreted
- Have the confidence to sing at least one ballad in public, using traditional Irish techniques
Requirements
- You do not need any prior singing knowledge or experience to take this course
- You need to have access to a PC, laptop, tablet or phone to access the course.
- If you would like to print lyrics of songs, you will need a printer.
- If you just want to listen to MP3 versions of songs, you need a device to listen to them on, e.g. ipod, phone, etc
Description
Irish traditional singing is an untrained art. It was and is a celebration of culture and the tradition of story-telling.
In this course, you will be encouraged to find your voice and interpret traditional ballads. It was the tradition at an Irish session that most people sang, whether they had a good voice or not. While they sang, the others listened or joined in, if it was that type of song. We seem to have lost a lot of that confidence and the patience to listen to each other. This course aims to help you find the confidence to learn and sing a song or if you can do that already, to explore an alternative genre.
You will also gain insights into the way of life in Old Ireland as some common themes and events are sung about in each ballad. Before each ballad is sung, I will explain background details of each song so you can gain a deeper understanding of it and therefore, learn how to best interpret the song.
As well as breaking down the first verse of each song to learn the air, you will also get the chance to practice some techniques such as phrasing, variation and ornamentation. We also take a look at lilting and how the tempo of the song can affect techniques.
You will have the chance to practice each song along with me, as each video has captions and also to practice the techniques that are shown to you throughout,
Irish traditional singing is a rare art-form and has many unique characteristics. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, the biggest promoter of Irish Traditional Music runs competitions each year, called Fleadh Cheoil, where musicians, singers and dancers can compete against each other in different age-categories, with a view to winning an All-Ireland title in their competition. I have won titles at this level and you may be interested in competing as Comhaltas has many branches internationally - so some of these songs might suit you for such competitions.
Maybe, you just want to set yourself a challenge to learn a song or to gain deeper understanding of this particular type of singing. You may also be interested in the historical details of the songs. Whatever your motivation is, this is a unique opportunity to learn something interesting and challenging.
Who this course is for:
- Anyone who would like to explore the area of Irish Traditional singing and also those who may get therapeutic benefits from singing.
- Established singers who may like to diversify
- Singers from other cultures who might like to compare singing styles
- Singers interested in entering Irish Traditional singing competitions
- Traditional singers who wish to add to their repertoire
- Beginners who wish to try singing
- Anyone who loves to sing just for the joy of singing
Instructor
- 4.8 Instructor Rating
- 81 Reviews
- 492 Students
- 1 Course
I am a Traditional Irish singer, composer and tutor from Leitrim, Ireland. I have many years experience of singing, composing and tutoring. I have won awards for singing, including All-Ireland medals and I am also qualified to adjudicate singing competitions. I have been building a repertoire of songs for over 30 years now and have been influenced by many great traditional singers, such as Rosie Stewart, Paddy Tunney and Pauline Hanley. I have recorded songs for albums and sung with some well known artists, like Cathy Jordan from Dervish, Donal Lunney and Eleanor Shanley. I teach traditional singing on a weekly basis and also at Irish traditional workshops and Summer Schools. I have worked with students from all different walks of life and from many different countries, including Japan, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Switzerland. I have and can sing many different styles of songs, but I am fiercely committed to preserving and promoting the art of Irish traditional singing by resurrecting older songs that have become almost extinct, by singing and teaching lesser- known songs and by composing new traditional ballads to commemorate the times that we live in.