They say you cannot step twice into the same river. In this book and the accompanying recordings, the river, the moment, the torrent, is the traditional music of virtuoso piano accordion player, Karen Tweed. With timeless reels, jigs, hornpipes, polkas and slip jigs all expertly transcribed and laid out, with Karen's choice of chords and - possibly best of all - with her personal thoughts associated with those tunes, this is a marvellous anthology of her personal favourites.
Every musician can, at last, examine and appreciate her interpretations of these tunes, particularly with the aid of the recordings. One thing will come across early to anyone with a grain of sense: Karen's obvious love of and respect for traditional music. Each tune is treated as a living thing, each is nurtured and cherished.
Dip in your toe or immerse yourself in this beautiful collection of Irish session tunes. Suitable for all traditional melody instruments, it includes Karen's versions of several favourites along with a healthy selection of challenges. Chords are given as are hints, tips, illustrations and anecdotes. On two tapes or CDs, Karen plays every tune in her own sweet style, accompanied by Gordon Tyrrall, Peter Houlahan and Seamus O'Sullivan. No musician can fail to benefit from Karen's breadth of experience and depth of comprehension of Irish traditional music.
This is a book about traditional Irish session music, the tunes in this book are not 'piano accordion tunes' but simply versions that Karen has learned on that instrument. They are not intended to be seen as definitive versions, just examples of how each tune can be played; you can adapt the tunes to your own instrument and style.
Foreword by Phil Cunningham, 93 tunes, discography, photographs, Karen's personal thoughts and incidentally, Karen also came up with the intriguing cover drawing along with numerous illustrations inside.
Contents
Reels
All Around the World
Andy McGann's
Bríd Harper's
The Broken Pledge
Bunker Hill
Christmas Eve
The Congress
The Convenience reel
Corney's Coming
Dennis Langtou's
Dinkie's
The Drunken Landlady
The Fairy reel
Fearghal O'Gadhra
Girl who Broke my Heart
Hand me Down the Tackle
Humours of Loughrea
The Humours of Tulla
The Kilfodda
Launching the Boat
Matt Peoples'
Maudabawn Chapel
The Milliner's Daughter
Miss Thornton's
The Monaghan Twig My Love is in America
The Old Copperplate
Over the Moor to Maggie
Paddy Lynn's Delight
The Piper's Despair
The Raheen
The Reel of Mullinavat
Return to Miltown
Sailor on the RockThe Scholar
Seámus Meehan's
The Silver Spire
Siobhán O'Donnell's 3
The Steeplechase
The Watchmaker
Jigs
Boys of the Town
The Bunch of Roses
The Bush on the Hill
Con Cassidy's
Connaughtman's Rambles
Connie O'Connell's
Conway's
The Cúil Aodha
The Flowers of Spring Gander in the Pratie Hole
The Hare in the Corn
Hartigan's Fancy
The Humours of Kesh
The Maid on the Green
The Miners' jig
Munster Bacon
The New House
Rambling Pitchfork
Scotsman Over Border
The Second Victory
Siobhán O'Donnell's 1
Siobhán O'Donnell's 2
Strayaway Child
Tommy Peoples'
Tom Trainor's
Vincent Campbell'sHornpipes
The Cliffe hornpipe
The Cuckoo
Frank McCollum's
Joe Skelton's
Queen of the West
The Smell of the Bog
Smith's Favourite Spellan the Fiddler
The Tara Brooch
The Turnpike
Polkas
Ailbe Grace's
An Gallope
Art O'Keeffe's
The Ballydesmond
Captain Byng
Cousin's Delight
Din Tarrant's No. 3
Jim Keeffe's
Peg Ryan's
Sweeney's
Teahan's Favourite
Miscellany
Drops of Springwater
Going to Well for Water
Humours of Derrycrosane
Merrily Kiss the Quaker's
The Scart
Whinny Hills of Leitrim
Karen Tweed's Irish Choice Book and 2 CDs - Karen Tweed
Karen's mastery of the piano accordion defies belief. She has prepared a beautiful selection of Irish session tunes, suitable for all instruments, with chords, tips and anecdotes. It includes her own versions of several of her favourites along with a healthy selection of session standards.