Irish Fiddle Lessons

Core lessons

• Irish Fiddle Journeys – overview
• Trills – lesson
• Melodic Scale Variation 1

Core tunes

I’ll teach basic and variation lessons for core tunes. Think of these as old friends that teach us new things when we re-visit them.

Learn or review at least two of the following core tunes:

• Mary Had A Little Lamb – melodic variation 
  • Note: we’ll return to this tune throughout the course. It’s an easy and fun way to integrate the embellishments you’ll be learning.

• Clare Reel – basic
• Kerfunken Jig – basic
• Hector the Hero – basic

Bonus tunes

The bonus tunes will help to expand your fiddle vocabulary. They are also a way to experiment with adding variation on your own.

• Dennis Murphy’s Polka – basic 
• Wild Mountain Thyme – basic
• Galway Girl

Core lessons

• Triplets – lesson 
• Melodic Scale Variation 2

Core tunes

Learn or review at least two of the following core tunes:

• Mary Had A Little Lamb – triplet variation 
• Miss McCleod’s – basic
• Chief O’Neill’s Favorite – basic
• Rights of Man – basic
• Lilting Banshee – basic
• Sheebeg and Sheemore

Bonus tune

• Boys of Bluehill – basic
• Wise Maid – basic

Core lessons

• Jig Swing – lesson 
• Melodic Variation On Tunes 

Learn or review at least two of the following tunes (or other jigs and slip jigs you know). Then try to add the jig swing variation.

• Lilting Banshee – basic
• Kerfunken Jig – basic
• Kesh Jig – basic
• Rolling Waves – basic 
• The Butterfly – basic

Bonus tunes

• Drops of Brandy – basic
• Club Ceili – basic

Core lessons

• Cuts – lesson
• Cuts Exercises

Core tunes

• Mary Had A Little Lamb – cut variation 
• Kerfunken Jig – cuts variation
• Foxhunter’s slip jig – basic
• Tam Lin – basic

Bonus tunes

• Off to California – basic
• Bird in the Bush – basic

Now that you’ve learned a bit about Irish fiddling, take some time to review and refine what you’ve learned. This attention to good sound will bring joy to your practice.

Use fingerprinting to help you remember tunes better. Learn more in this lesson: How to remember fiddle tunes. 

Remember, there are three phases of learning a tune.

• Learning a basic version
• Making it sound better
• Adding expression

Learn more in this lesson: Three Phases of Learning a Tune

• Review tunes learned in modules 1-4. Also, review any other Irish tunes you know.
• Review all technique exercises: triplets, jig swing, trills, melodic variation.

Do you remember all the tunes you learned?

This review can be done in one or two practice sessions. What do you need to go over? Just be honest with yourself.

Core lessons

• Grace Notes – lesson
• Kerry Polka – Adding Double Stops
• Miss McCleod’s – variation
• Kesh Jig – variation 

Bonus tune

• The Girl Who Broke My Heart – basic

Core lessons

• Mordents – lesson
• Kerry Polka – variation
• Wild Mountain Thyme – variation
• Lilting Banshee – variation
• Rolling Waves – variation 

Bonus tune

• Planxty Irwin – basic 
• Cooley’s Reel – basic

Core lessons

• 16th Note Duplets – lesson
• Chief O’Neill’s Favorite – variation
• Rights of Man – variation 
• The Butterfly – variation

Bonus tune

• The Humours of Westport – basic 

How To Practice Sets Of Tunes

As you learn more tunes and variations, older things might start to slip from your memory. So take some time to strengthen things you’ve recently learned. Making and practicing sets of tunes is a good way to approach them with a fresh perspective.

You can also continue these other review practices. They’ll help you remember what you’ve learned in a fun and productive way.

• Keep a list of tunes you’ve learned.
• Practice “review sets” of 4-10 songs.
• Practice “fingerprinting each song”.
• If possible, transpose tunes to other strings.
  • This helps form a better mental map of the tune. (And it’s fun).
• Learn more about his process: Renew With Review.

Review all the tunes that you liked.

Review all technique exercises: triplets, jig swing, trills, melodic variation. This can be done in one or two practice sessions.

Did you skip any of the core tunes? If so, consider re-visiting them.

What techniques are still difficult? How can you reinvent your approach to practicing them?

Core lessons

• Rolls – lesson
• Mary Had A Little Lamb – rolls variation 
• Kerfunken jig – rolls variation
• Wassail – variation 

Learn at least one of the following:

• The Banshee – variation
• Clare Reel – variation
• Miss Monaghan’s Reel – variation 

Bonus tunes

• Lilting Banshee – Jig to Polka! 

Core lessons

• Melodic Variation On Tunes 
• How To Make Sets Of Tunes
• Tam Lin – variation
• Foxhunter’s slip jig – variation
• Hector the Hero – variation
• Galway Bay Hornpipe

Bonus tunes

• Planxty Irwin – variation
• Ida Red – Old-time to Irish Jig! 

This is a progressive series of lessons, starting with easier variations like jig swing and moving towards more challenging variations like rolls. We’ll start by practicing each technique very slowly and then gradually speeding up.

• Triplets
• Jig Swing
• Trills
• Melodic Variation On Scales
• Melodic Scale Variation 1
• Melodic Scale Variation 2
• Melodic Variation On Tunes 
• Cuts
• Grace Notes
• Mordents
• 16th Note Duplets
• Rolls
• How To Make Sets Of Tunes

• The Banshee – basic
• The Banshee – variation
• Bird in the Bush – basic
• Clare Reel – basic
• Clare Reel – variation
• Cooley’s Reel – basic 
• Girl Who Broke My Heart – basic
• The Humours of Westport – basic 
• Miss McCleod’s – basic
• Miss McCleod’s – variation
• Miss Monaghan’s Reel – basic
• Miss Monaghan’s Reel – variation
• Tam Lin – basic
• Tam Lin – variation
• Wise Maid – basic

• Club Ceili – basic
• Kerfunken Jig – basic
• Kerfunken Jig – cuts variation 
• Kerfunken Jig – rolls variation
• Kesh Jig – basic
• Kesh Jig – variation
• Kesh Jig – Adding Double Stops
• Kesh Jig – Backup Chords
• Lilting Banshee – basic
• Lilting Banshee – variation
• Rolling Waves – basic
• Rolling Waves – variation
• Wassail – basic
• Wassail – variation 
• Swallowtail Jig
• Swallowtail Jig – Variation
• Swallowtail – Harmony

• The Butterfly – basic
• The Butterfly – variation
• Drops of Brandy – basic
• Foxhunter’s – basic 
• Foxhunter’s – variation
• The Snowy Path

• Boys of Bluehill – basic
• Boys of Bluehill – variation 
• Chief O’Neill’s Favorite – basic
• Chief O’Neill’s Favorite – variation
• Galway Bay Hornpipe
• Off to California – basic
• Rights of Man – basic
• Rights of Man – variation 

• Kerry Polka – basic
• Kerry Polka – variation 
• Britches Full of Stitches
• Ballydesmond Polka – upper octave – basic
• John Ryan’s Polka – basic
• Dennis Murphy’s Polka – basic

• Breton Gavotte
• Fisherman’s Blues – solo
• Lilting Banshee – Jig to Polka 
• Galway Girl
• Hector the Hero – basic
• Hector the Hero – variation
• Ida Red: Old-time to Irish Jig!
• Planxty Irwin – basic
• Planxty Irwin – variation
• Sheebeg and Sheemore
• Wild Mountain Thyme – basic
• Wild Mountain Thyme – variation

All of the following tunes can be practiced with the D drone track:

• Boys of Bluehill – basic
• Boys of Bluehill – variation 
• Chief O’Neill’s Favorite – basic
• Chief O’Neill’s Favorite – variation
• Dennis Murphy’s Polka – basic
• Foxhunter’s – basic 
• Foxhunter’s – variation
• John Ryan’s Polka – basic
• Kerfunken Jig – basic
• Kerfunken jig – cuts variation 
• Kerfunken Jig – rolls variation
• Miss Monaghan’s Reel – basic
• Miss Monaghan’s Reel – variation
• Planxty Irwin – basic
• Planxty Irwin – variation
• Rolling Waves – basic
• Rolling Waves – variation
• The Snowy Path
• Tam Lin – basic
• Tam Lin – variation
• Wild Mountain Thyme – basic
• Wise Maid – basic

All of the following tunes can be practiced with the G drone track:

• The Banshee – basic
• The Banshee – variation
• Bird in the Bush – basic
• Club Ceili
• Drops of Brandy -basic
• Girl Who Broke My Heart – basic 
• Kerry Polka – basic
• Kerry Polka – variation 
• Kesh Jig – basic
• Kesh Jig – variation
• Kesh Jig – Adding Double Stops
• Miss McCleod’s – basic
• Miss McCleod’s – variation
• Off to California – basic
• Wassail – basic
• Wassail – variation 

All of the following tunes can be practiced with the A drone track:

• Clare Reel – basic
• Clare Reel – variation
• Britches Full of Stitches
• Ballydesmond Polka – upper octave – basic
• Hector the Hero – basic
• Hector the Hero – variation
• Lilting Banshee – basic
• Lilting Banshee – variation
• Lilting Banshee – Jig to Polka 

All of the following tunes can be practiced with the E drone track:

• The Butterfly – basic
• The Butterfly – variation
• Cooley’s Reel – basic
• Drowsy Maggie
• Ida Red: Old-time to Irish Jig!
• Swallowtail Jig
• Swallowtail Jig – Variation
• Swallowtail – Harmony