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Virtual Folk?


Guest HallelujahAl!

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Guest HallelujahAl!

Hi, most probably someone has already flagged this one up ages ago - but has anyone visited the BBCs virtual folk session play along site? I have only just discovered it today...what do you all think?

Virtual Folk website on BBC Radio 2

 

AL

Edited by HallelujahAl!
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Thanks for posting this web site. I live in a very concertina depressed area :( I did get together with another English 48, player a few days ago and we taped some some songs so I could use to learn to play. Problem is my friend who is already a great player lives in another state so I don't get to work with her much. Having access to this BBC site will help me out quite a bit.

 

Thanks!

Pam

 

quote name='HallelujahAl!' date='Jul 19 2008, 05:51 PM' post='75514']

Hi, most probably someone has already flagged this one up ages ago - but has anyone visited the BBCs virtual folk session play along site? I have only just discovered it today...what do you all think?

Virtual Folk website on BBC Radio 2

 

AL

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Guest HallelujahAl!
See this thread for our most recent discussion.

 

Daniel

 

Hi, most probably someone has already flagged this one up ages ago - but has anyone visited the BBCs virtual folk session play along site? I have only just discovered it today...what do you all think?

Virtual Folk website on BBC Radio 2

 

AL

 

Yep, guess I missed that too. Still, I do think that good news bears repeating. So 'Hallelujah!' - a fantastic play-along website, that caters for people like me does actually exist on the BBC.

AL

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Out of curiosity, DO actual Irish sessions play so many medleys?

 

I thought the site was a wee bit medley friendly -- but still good!

 

(and I can't believe how fast it plays "Off to California"!)

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Out of curiosity, DO actual Irish sessions play so many medleys?

 

I thought the site was a wee bit medley friendly -- but still good!

 

(and I can't believe how fast it plays "Off to California"!)

 

Yes - an irish session almost never plays a single tune where 3 will do!

If you start a tune, everyone will look at you when it ends to see what you'll lead into next.. and after that.

They look quite surpised if you stop after the first one :lol:

I'll have to check back on "Off to California" in particular, but from memory everything on the BBC virtual Session is played at a fairly reasonable (for Irish ) pace.... which can be quite horrifically fast - much too fast for me.

 

Chris

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Out of curiosity, DO actual Irish sessions play so many medleys?

Yes - an irish session almost never plays a single tune where 3 will do!

Absolutely! The question "don't Irish musicians like their tunes?" sometimes arises (here and elsewhere), from people more used to playing English and American music, to which the answer might be "yes, but they've got lots of them!"

 

Typically a set of tunes will be three in number (though sometimes many more), and each tune is played through three times, and often they are tunes that "always" go together (or at least, have done since they did on somebody's recording ;) ). Indeed, people find it hard (impossible?) to keep track of the names of all the tunes, and it's not unusual for them to talk in terms of "the one that goes after such-and-such..." :unsure:

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This looks interesting.....nice to listen to also, I'm currently using it as background music in another window....hee, hee. the moving pictures in the background are a little distracting when trying to follow along with the music, but fun.

 

Another very nice thing is that the music part loads pretty fast! My computer is being slow right now (phone issues, grr) but the music loaded all nice and in good time....wow, I'm impressed. It's not way fast, of course, but not as bad as some things I've tried to listen to.

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...

(and I can't believe how fast it plays "Off to California"!)

 

I've checked back now ... nope that's a fairly moderate speed ... it could be faster.

I can manage that Ok - it's the reels that get me ... I play along with this sites tunes or the Comhaltas CDs and then find that session speed may be be even faster - scorched fingertips!

(Another site to try for play along Irish tunes is the Comhaltas one HERE ...

this is Off to californiafrom their site, maybe a breath slower)

Edited by spindizzy
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First time I have seen this site - its just ideal for me to get into playing session music. I currently play mostly for song accompanyment but melodian friend wants me to get into playing more tunes so that we can include some in our set.

 

Cheers

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no, i dont think off to california was too fast. i dont play that tune, and i could site read it.

 

i might have to spend the next couple of days with this site, i double my repertoire in a week or two! muahahahah--chicago here i come, badly practiced tunes to assault the ears of any listener.

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Out of curiosity, DO actual Irish sessions play so many medleys?

 

I thought the site was a wee bit medley friendly -- but still good!

 

(and I can't believe how fast it plays "Off to California"!)

 

 

I think its due to momentum: once they start, nobody really wants to stop. I have yet to see any Celtic performance where the triple-tune wasn't present, in fact, most of the muscians refer to them as sets, like the "Galloway set", or something similiar.

 

Its often a running joke "we don't remember the name of this tune either..."

 

This may sound bad, but after three days of non-stop reels, jigs, hornpipes, et al, I'm pretty much "celtic-ed" out, and they all start to sound the same, probaly why they forget the names.

 

A bluegrass banjo player asked me once "are celtic tunes like bluegrass tunes - you only give them a name so you can tell them apart...?"

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Guest Mick Diles
I've noticed that sometimes the guitar in the soundtrack isn't playing the same chords that are written in the score.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

.... but ???

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