I began listening to Celtic music in the early 90's when a friend introduced me to Fiona Ritchie's NPR radio program, The Thistle and Shamrock. I'd already become aware of some session tunes through the pennywhistle primer my father had given me in the 80's (when he was still a well, active musician and would play duets with me at family Christmas parties), but I had never before heard recordings of the masters of the whistle, fiddle, harp and uilleann pipes. Needless to say, it was a revelation. Shortly thereafter it seemed like the entire world was listening to the lilting jigs and high-stepping dance tunes in the wake of 1995's Riverdance phenomenon.
I loved most everything I heard in that period, from the very traditional, but incredibly virtuosic playing of The Chieftains to the dreamy Celtic-inspired pop of Enya, to the amazing blend of the two extremes by artists like Loreena McKennitt.
Fast forward to 2010s . . . Ever since I started writing and arranging for the ukulele I've been planning this book; one that combines my love of traditional Celtic music with my love of the reentrant ukulele (gCEA), which sounds fantastic on solo dance tunes played in the campanella-style (where you try to avoid playing two consecutive notes on the same string to give the sonic illusion of playing on a harp). I'd like to acknowledge Alistair Wood for introducing me to this style of playing as well as three other inspiring arrangers of Celtic tunes for uke: Jonathan Lewis, Rob MacKillop and Wilfried Welti (though I've avoided their books while working on this title to avoid any unintentional borrowing). If you love this style, please check out their work as well!
How were the 'Top 25' Celtic session tunes chosen out of the thousands of tunes and variations that are available? Quite simply, I went to the top two sites for traditional tunes and chose to arrange the 25 most bookmarked tunes. Hardly scientific, but a good measure of tune popularity nonetheless. I hope you enjoy the results!
Sláinte mhaith (good health)!
M. Ryan Taylor
CONTENTS:
There are no page numbers in this book. The contents are listed in alphabetical order, as follows. Although there are no 'easy' tunes in this volume, 10 of the 'easier' tunes are marked with an asterisk.
Banish Misfortune
Banshee*
Blarney Pilgrim*
Boys of Bluehill
Butterfly
Conaughtman's Rambles
Cooley's
Drowsy Maggie
Gravel Walks*
Harvest Home*
Jimmy Ward's*
Kesh
Kid on the Mountain
King of the Fairies
Lilting Banshee*
Maid Behind the Bar
Mason's Apron
Morrison's*
Mountain Road
Musical Priest*
Out on the Ocean
Rights of Man
Silver Spear
Tam Lin*
Wind that Shakes the Barley*
NOTES:
* All of the tunes (except 'King of the Fairies') are arranged in the campanella-style. There are some places, however, where a repetition of a note on separate strings was not practical.
* Slur marks have been used in the staff notation to indicate places you may wish to use a hammer-on, pull-off or slide.
* A number of the arrangements go up to the 14th fret. I realize not all players have more than 12 frets, but I think enough do to warrant the inclusion. If your ukulele does not go above the 12th fret, experiment with taking these sections or phrases down an octave.
* Although there are no 'easy' tunes in this volume, 10 of the 'easier' tunes are marked with an asterisk on the contents page.
About the Author:
M. Ryan Taylor of UkulelePlay.com is the organizer of Utah's first Uke Fest and director of UFO HUM (Ukes for Others: Happy Ukulele Movement), a ukulele service group in American Fork, UT. Ryan also regularly teaches Ukulele Bootcamps, where absolute beginners learn all the basics of playing plus five songs in a matter of hours.
In Ryan's words, "After half a lifetime in music, I came to the ukulele after seeing Jake Shimabukuro's rendition of "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" on YouTube. Jake's performance inspired me and after getting familiar with the basics I started a ukulele program through the children's choir I conduct. It turned out there were just as many teens, adults, and seniors in the community who wanted to learn and I just kept going, creating materials as I went."
Ryan has degrees in Vocal Performance and Music Composition and has worked as a singer and recording artist, a composer of vocal music, and director of choirs. See his personal website, MRyanTaylor.com, for more his other projects.
