Hannah Harris

Hi, Reader! Today I'm inviting you to take a peek behind the scenes -- imagine you're fending a cat off of half your keyboard (which is currently happening as I write this to you). You may have heard me talk about the Tune Library a fair amount in this season, and that is because I've been shifting gears to only offer the Library as well as private lessons in the teaching side of my business. Between chatting with current members, adding a new bonus training section, and checking on the...

Hi, Reader! Last week I told you I would get this jig memorized, since it was going to be a harder one to get under my fingers. It was listed as a Gan Ainm (without a name) tune, and as far as I'm aware, I hadn't ever heard a recording of it. But I was playing it through as part of my project to revisit Breandán Breathnach's Ceol Rince na hÉireann collection, and it caught my ear -- so I gave it the extra star mark to let future me know I really like this tune (more on my star system in this...

Hi, Reader! One of the most frustrating things when it comes to learning Irish traditional tunes is showing up at a session and not being able to recall how any of the tunes you practiced that week are supposed to go. You had it at one point, but then you throw the pressure of playing in front of other people in the mix, and it all goes to pot. I know that I have truly learned a tune when I can lead it and play it through start to finish at my local session without any glaring mistakes. It's...

Hi, Reader! Last week's chat about modal tunes had some great replies! Here are a few more tunes for your radar if you want a "spooky-ish" feel to your playing this Halloween season without going totally overboard (unless you want to, of course): Rodney's Glory (set dance with a hornpipe feel that bends an F natural and F sharp throughout the tune) Blackberry Festival Footrace (3 part d minor jig) Halloween (a nice Scottish strathspey in F) I'll also add Chief O'Neill's hornpipe to the mix...

Halloween is approaching, Reader! I can't say I'm one of those people who puts out a lot of Halloween decorations, or starts drinking pumpkin spice lattes as soon as September 1st has hit. But I do love a good modal tune in Irish music with a couple of "spooky" notes that make your ears perk up! My private students can vouch that this is the time of year where I start assigning more of those spooky tunes. Liz Carroll has written some fun hornpipes that definitely fit the bill -- if you're...

Hi Reader! There's something about the name "Liz" that immediately has me thinking "incredible fiddler and amazingly warm and kind person." (Liz Carroll, Liz Knowles, Liz Doherty, Liz Hanley, Liz Kane, Liz Faiella... the list goes on!) Today I want to chat about something that Liz Knowles said a year or two ago in a podcast interview that has stood out to me to this day. "Isn't it interesting how we all come to trad music differently and learn tunes in different orders!" I'm paraphrasing...

Hi Reader! There are some weeks where I sit down to write these letters to you, and I know exactly what I'm going to chat about. Then there are other weeks where I have a bunch of different ideas spinning through my head (and still others where it's all a blank 😅). This is one of those "busy spinning brain" weeks. Do I tell you about how a student and I tweaked one bowing pattern to totally change the character of a tune? Or the bonus video training I recorded on wrist flexibility for the...