🎻 Ready for the big day tomorrow, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]?

Hi Reader!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Whether you're out gigging or playing tunes full throttle this weekend, or taking this year to hibernate and relax, I hope you're having a great and fulfilling weekend!

It's my first year living in Detroit, and this area certainly knows how to turn St. Patrick's Day into St. Patrick's Month! Think packed pubs during sessions, and my friend politely telling the lady in neon green that we don't play "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," but we'll happily play some sets of tunes to celebrate the occasion.

In my book (and I expect in yours too since you receive these newsletters), Irish culture is something to celebrate year-round! So while I have no problem with this time of year and having a holiday to be particularly celebratory, I think it's equally important to move past the stereotypes, get curious and go deeper.

Just in case you didn't already know these, here are some quick fun facts:

• Pat and Paddy are more typical nicknames for Patrick in Ireland, as opposed to Patty (though if you have a friend who's a total saint named Patricia, then own that moniker, friend!)
• Yes, four leaf clovers are considered lucky (my mom has a particular knack for finding these). However, the shamrock has three leaves and is a symbolism for the Trinity.

When it comes to tunes that show up at sessions throughout the world, I feel much the same way about moving past stereotypes or super common tunes in favor of going deeper and enjoying the wealth of tunes there are to discover in Irish music.

(To be clear, if you're totally new to Irish traditional music, try not to worry too much about this! It's good to play tunes a lot of people know! At some stage when you know the basics, this is when I encourage going deeper and not staying stuck with just a few sets of tunes.)

This is a big reason why I have a variety of tunes over in my Tune Library all across the spectrum of well-known to rarely heard. I work with students in a wide variety of levels and prior experience, so this library is a collection of all the tunes I've taught over nearly a decade (and counting).

I add new tunes once a month, and this week happened to be my Tune Library week!

So if you need a couple of tune swap suggestions, now you can:

• Trade Harvest Home for Kitty's Wedding (I'm linking Kitty's Wedding here so you can see if you like the teaching format of these videos -- trust me when I say there are many more like these in the Library!)
• Try Jessica's where you'd normally play Mickey Chewing Bubblegum (aka Bill Sullivan's).

I didn't intentionally record tunes that all have women's names right after International Women's Day, but I'll roll with it!

Here's to being curious, learning a new tune, or revisiting a tune that has meaning to you that you love playing this week!

~Hannah

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P.S. Lots going on both on the performance and teaching fronts these days! My new album At the Core is out on all platforms, and my duo Shannon Lee is ramping up with some March gigs + more to come this summer. New tunes are up in the Tune Library, and if you want to get more comfortable with jig bowing, ornaments and variations, make sure you join the Style Your Trad Tunes membership prior to April 1st to get ongoing access to the March tutorials!