🎻 Want to style your tunes together, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]?

Hi Reader!

More often than not, the people who find themselves over in my corner of the internet are coming into the Irish traditional music space from another genre, and want to learn how to differentiate this style of music from other genres out there.

Maybe that's you? And if so...

You and I both know that playing Irish fiddle music like... well... an Irish fiddler, isn't really about playing and memorizing notes you see on a page.

Some folks call it playing with lilt. Others refer to it as the elusive nya.

It's that characteristic sound that makes an Irish fiddle player sound like they're playing Irish fiddle music.

And the reason it's so elusive and hard to define is that there really isn't one correct end-all-be-all way to play Irish music. Martin Hayes, Liz Carroll, and Matt Cranitch are all highly skilled fiddlers that would each be associated with Irish music -- and yet their individual styles are so different when you listen to them!

I do believe we each have the capacity to be our own Martins and Lizzes and Matts of Irish music. We can have a healthy appreciation for this music as it is and as it has been, while inserting bits of our personality into these tunes to truly make them our own.

So the big question then becomes... how exactly do we do this?

I've been mulling over the best way to teach these concepts for awhile. The most effective learning environments for me in past have been live workshops like those taught at the Swannanoa Gathering, O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, and many many more events across the world. (I'm actually just finishing up teaching at Tune Junkie Weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee as you read this! More on this next week.)

That said, there are an incredible group of folks receiving this newsletter every week, and we're working with quite a few different time zones!

So if this course topic appeals to you, Reader, but the timing doesn't work out for you, I would love to know... would you want to attend a group class at a different time of day, or would you want to cover this same material in more of a pre-recorded setting where you could still get my feedback + peer support?

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead filled with lots of tunes!

~Hannah

P.S. Style your Trad Tunes is open for enrollment for one more week! This is a live 6 week course where we'll meet once a week Tuesday evenings to workshop bowing, different tones, ornaments and variations you can bring to your tunes. Join us for the very first round of the course beginning on February 18th!

Hannah Harris I help aspiring Irish fiddlers find their lilt and get the real feel for the music. ​ New Style your Trad Tunes membership available for mastering your approach to bowing tunes! You can also take a private lesson or pop into the Tune Library! ​ Have fellow Irish fiddling friends? Please forward this email to them! 🎻 Was this email forwarded to you, and you want more? Sign up here. ​ 👇 Are we connected on social media, Bandcamp, Spotify, etc? ​​​​​

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