Beginning Irish Mandolin

As promised, here is the second Brosna slide, usually called the Scartaglen slide. Last time I mentioned that the Brosna set usually consists of three slides. Traditional music is typically played in sets of two, three or even four tunes, each repeated several times. So when you feel ready, try to play this month's tune with the previous one in succession, without stopping. They do go well together.

There is an album of Sliabh Luachra music on which this Brosna set has been recorded. It is Johnny O'Leary, Music for the Set, Traditional Irish Music from Sliabh Luachra. It was recorded in 1976-7. I highly recommend you pay close attention to the strong pulse of Johnny's incredibly rhythmic playing. He began playing accordion (or melodeon) for set dances as a young teenager and continued doing so into his seventies.

You can attempt to imitate the recommended pulse of the slide by emphasizing slightly the downbeats in our tab. These are marked with the usual down stroke symbol. I've played the accompanying mp3 somewhat more slowly than the first Brosna (The Lonesome Road to Dingle). Beginners should learn to play a tune accurately at a slow pace first, and then gradually increase the tempo over a period of (perhaps) months. Never play faster than the speed at which you can accurately play the most difficult parts. If you find yourself making mistakes, SLOW DOWN to smooth out that difficult measure. I suggest that you download the mp3 and play along with it. There's a wonderful piece of software (available for windows PC's as well as Mac's) that will slow down (and speed up) any digital music file. It is called The Amazing Slow Downer and is available at www.ronimusic.com. I highly recommend it - it's a fantastic learning tool, in my opinion.

In our next issue, we will recommend some common session tunes and display the music and tablature for a couple of mandolin-friendly versions of them. Questions, comments and criticisms are always welcome - you can email me at michael.gregory@und.nodak.edu.