🎻 It's hard to explain -- the music just speaks to our souls

Hi Reader!

I am a Suzuki kid -- around the age of 5, my mom encouraged me to pick a musical instrument to start learning, and I chose the violin.

We used to listen to a lot of Classical for Kids cds, and I particularly liked the Vivaldi story where the young orphan Catarina takes to the streets of Venice to track down a stolen Stradivarius. It was a mix of storytelling and playing snippets of the Four Seasons throughout the CD.

Funnily enough, we also had a copy of the Seal Maiden CD narrated by Karan Casey that followed a similar format of song and story. I only put two and two together after finding this CD again while sorting through childhood memories that Karan was the narrator! She was the artist in residence during my time at UCC, and I attended her weekly Monday evening song circles, which were always a delight.

While my classical training gave me a lot of valuable technical skills and gave me an early introduction to the ear training that is so crucial in the Irish traditional music space, I also never felt like I fit into the classical world.

It felt like I was doing a bunch of work (ie practice) but I rarely (if ever) had a performance where I was fully engaged and loving what I was doing.

That all changed when I found Irish music.

Suddenly here was a type of music that was FUN. It has energy, it has a whole range of emotions from mournful, nearly meditative slow airs to lively driving reels.

I enjoyed the people I was meeting who played this music, and it felt more like a circle of friends than a competitive cutthroat environment.

While there was still plenty of work for me to do to improve (and I've learned that the lifelong learning process is fun when you let it be), this music came a lot more naturally to me.

I think it's because I love it so much that I'm willing to put in the work to learn it, to enjoy listening to it, and to push through the harder and not-so-fun bits (ie a discouraging practice day or less than stellar gig).

Deep down I love it enough to care and to keep at it.

I'm guessing that you and I have a similar story, Reader. Something about Irish traditional music drew you in, whether it was the people, the playfulness, the history, or something else.

If you have a moment, I'd love to hear more of your story -- what brought you to Irish music, and what makes you stick with it even on the hard days?

Hit reply and let me know! Or if you prefer, take some time to reflect on this and let it fuel you when you pick up your instrument this week.

Happy practicing!

~Hannah

P.S. NEW bonus resources added to the Tune Library this week! I recorded several play-along audio exercises for getting familiar with hearing thirds on your instrument in D, G and A. A couple of them have the added bonus of getting comfortable with jig and reel rhythms as well!