Festival and colleges

[Lorie Tracey]

Hello

 

I am trying to decide to attend my first concertina college, festival, or summer camp. I am considering two, and am having difficulty deciding which to commit. The Celtic Roots Festival with Edel Fox, in Goderich Ontario, or the Noel Hill class in Erlander Kentucky. They are both at the same time so doing both is not an option. Does anyone have any advice. I live in the UP of Michigan so the Celtic Roots Festival is about 3 hours closer than the Kentucky Noel Hill class. Plus with my thick blood the Shore of Lake Huron may be a bit more comfortable than Kentucky in August. Other than that, the learning opportunities may be quite comparable?

[Greg Jowaisas]

Hi Lorie,

I'll offer advice as an 8 time participant in at Noel Hill Midwest. I've never been to the Celtic Roots Festival and the website description of the concertina class was rather vague to me so I can't really comment. Perhaps someone who has been to CRF will comment. I will say that i have taken intermediate and advanced classes from Edel at East Durham Irish Arts week and she is a patient and thorough instructor and inspirational player.

 

Noel's classes are divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced groups. Each group meets with Noel for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. The rest of the day Noel expects you to practice and most of us need the time. Pretty much 4 days of concertina immersion with Noel giving one or two tunes a class. He lays out the bare bones, explains any alternate fingerings and allows you to record the tune as he plays it slow, faster and at full speed. He also explains and adds the ornaments with commentary. Next class you are expected to demonstrate what you have practiced. (It doesn't have to be perfect but Noel wants to see you are using good technique and making progress) He takes an interest in each student's playing and progress.

 

Friday morning combines all the classes in a farewell session where Noel gives several tunes to the entire group for "a long winter of practice". He also takes tune requests and treats each request as if he were teaching the tune in class. (Pretty amazing tour d'force!)

 

The experience is intense and inspirational. Noel has a missionary zeal to share his approach to understanding the concertina. It's a great way to start playing or gain further insight into Irish Trad on the concertina.

 

Toward the middle or end of the week Noel generally gives an evening concert. It is an opportunity to see and hear "the best" when he is at his preforming best.

 

Yes, it can be warm in Kentucky in August. T-shirt and shorts are the norm. The Midwest facility is a retreat center and air conditioned. The room furnishings are spartan but comfortable allowing concentration on practice. The food is institutional home cooking and filling and friendly if not fancy. The grounds are lovely and perfect for an evening walk or gently swinging on the big porch overlooking the lake.

 

I've found the Midwest participants to be friendly and supportive.

 

That's my take. I would be interested to hear more about the Gooderich Celtic College.

 

Greg

[david_boveri]

i would say that the learning experience is not going to be comparable, and that it depends on your goals what you should chose. noel's camp offers an unparalleled opportunity to genuinely improve compared to a festival/workshop week. this is not because of the teachers, but because of the format.

 

noel's irish concertina school was actually started because some of his students at another festival/workshop week were dissatisfied. the students felt like they showed up every year for lessons with noel, had a lot of fun, but left without really learning anything. they asked noel if he could come the same time next year, but make it more of a workshop and less of a festival.

 

my first year of playing the concertina, i went to a summer workshop similar to what you describe. it was a lot of fun, but it's hard to learn anything for the long term with all the distractions. the following year, in 2005, i went to noel's camp and spent a solid week practicing improving, and getting better.

 

as greg said, noel's camp is a great place to be no matter what your experience level. we all started as beginners, and many of us got our true start at noel's irish concertina school. when i first showed up, i was a person who owned a concertina, and i left as a concertina player. also, it is a great place to try instruments, as you would be hard pressed to find a greater variety of quality instruments in one place, never mind being allowed to try them out.

 

i am a 7 year veteran of noel's midwest camp. greg (above) and many others who also attend the midwest camp have taught me an unbelievable amount about the concertina, above and beyond the technique and tunes that noel teaches in the classroom. i think it is fair to say that i would not be playing the concertina today if it weren't for all the encouragement and inspiration i have received from noel and all the attendees over the year. i actually got in the car to go to noel's camp my first year and said to myself, "well, i am not sure i really like the concertina, but i'll play it this one more week and see what i think."

 

just about everything i know about playing the concertina i learned from noel hill at the midwest camp. here is a video of me playing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_NXCYUtpQ8

 

just about everything i do in the video i learned from noel or saw him doing in one of his many concerts i have seen over the years. the tune choices and all the mistakes are my own, :-P.

 

hope that helps! feel free to ask any questions here or in PM.

[Peter Laban]

My son started off learning with Edel (who was fifteen herself at the time). After a few years doing that, he went to Noel Hill every second week for another two years.

 

It depends a bit on what stage your playing is at but I'd say each will offer you a good learning opportunity.

[Azalin]

I am considering two, and am having difficulty deciding which to commit. The Celtic Roots Festival with Edel Fox, in Goderich Ontario, or the Noel Hill class in Erlander Kentucky. They are both at the same time so doing both is not an option. Does anyone have any advice.

 

Well, I think it depends on the intensity you want your workshop to be. From what I heard, Noel Hill's workshops are a relatively intense, and people will get a LOT out of them only if they're willing to push themselves a bit more than usual. You might have to play some phrases with a specific fingering, sometimes a fingering you're not used to, so that means working on it an night so that you don't feel 'left out' in the following days. With Edel, I think it's not as much focused on technique and more about learning a few tunes, with more flexibility on the fingering and technique, unless you try to dig for more information yourself. So I think it all comes down to what type of learner you are, and what you want to get from these workshops.

[David Levine]

Edel herself studied with Noel and cites him as one of her teachers. Edel is great but I'd go to a Noel workshop to start out with. I wouldn't be surprised if she would advise you to go to him first, as well. You can learn the basics as delivered to Noel when he first encountered the burning bush, where He was appointed by God to lead us out of ignorance and into understanding. Some think Jesus is the Son of God. Most of us here know it is Noel.

[RP3]

While I won't go quite so far as David Levine in endorsing Noel's class, I can say that I have been participating in the NHICS since 1996 and believe it to be an outstanding learning experience. And at the same time I have attended classes in other venues with other instructors -- including attending the Swannanoa Gathering on multiple occasions. Out of these different teaching venues, I would rate Noel's class as being the best for learning concertina. Some people -- mostly people who have never attended his class -- seem to think he is some kind of a tyrant in his teaching methods. This is far from being the truth. But I would caution any new NHICS student that Noel will expect you to learn his fingering methods first and progress to tunes next. Some find this off-putting but once you have his method down, you will find it greatly eases your further progress. Should you be concerned that this will limit the number of tunes you get exposed to, relax. Noel teaches two tunes a day and provides a whole winter's worth in the Friday wrap-up session. You will get your money's worth and more.

 

Some people want to take a class but are looking as much or more for the total festival experience. If this is your goal, then Noel's class may be too focused for you. If you decide to take Noel's class, I think you will be very pleased with the experience. As with most things, you will get more out of it, if you put more into it -- meaning practice, practice, practice.

 

Hope to meet you in Kentucky with the rest of the faithful!

 

Ross Schlabach

[Lorie Tracey]

I would like to thank all of you for your support and advice. Many of the things that where pointed out where very helpful. I am a person who works hard when I am working and plays hard when I am playing. The concertina comes under the category of "play" but you would probably not be able to convince my husband of that. He endures three hours of practice per week night, except Wednesday night jam night. Weekends are different, it much worse, it can be most of the day. He does appreciate the calluses which have formed on the ends of my fingers, all the better to give a good back scratch. I have decided to attend Noel's camp, as long as the family issues in June resolve positively. I will commit and reserve a spot the end of June, hopefully there will still be availability. Thanks again, you all where very helpful.

[david_boveri]

lorie, glad we could be of help. i would recommend talking to linda to let her know that you would like a spot. linda organizes the class, and the email address is on the web page. just tell her what you told us about delaying your final decision, and that way you don't have to worry about whether or not there is a spot open.

 

3 hours a day of practicing! you'll fit in . fwhat sort of concertina do you have?

[Lorie Tracey]

David, great advice, I will call Linda, Thank you. As far as the concertina, I play an Edgley, it is the Eucalyptus Beryl, and yes, it does smell great.

[david_boveri]

glad to hear you have a good concertina! i'll have to smell it for myself, :-P