Playing Celtic Songs (CGDGAD, etc.)

[Brent Hutto]

Another recent thread mentioned Jim Tozier's book of transcriptions in various tunings. I just got my copy and went directly to one of my favorite songs off his CD's The Rose of Allendale which he plays in CGDGAD tuning. Other than a couple of simple folk tunes in Drop-D this is my first experience with altered tunings.

I think I've had a realization although I don't know if it generalizes to all altered tunings or is just about this song...

It's all about the right hand. Yeah, I know that all guitar playing comes down to the right hand. The left hand just makes the notes. Same with fiddle, etc. But a song like The Rose of Allendale can be reduced, with the correct tuning, to basically open strings and the 2nd and 4th frets in various combinations. After a dozen read-throughs I practically have the notes memorized.

But I can't play the song at all. My chippy little fingernail plucks, uneven attack and lack of rhythm makes it all sound like a cat walking on a piano. Maybe a super resonant, beautiful sounding piano with the sustain pedal pressed but it's hard to discern the actual tune in all those herky-jerky notes. But the good news is I don't have to peek at my left hand or make any awkward stretches (some fingerstyle arrangements are torture devices IMO). So as I'm woodshedding the song for next couple weeks I can concentrate totally on rhythm, dynamics and articulation with my right hand.

I think this piece can almost serve as a etude for developing some Celtic flavored touch and feel. Plus it's an absolutely beautiful, lilting song when it's done right. Good stuff, thanks Jim!

[Jim Tozier]

Thanks, Brent!

My general approach to alternate tunings can be summed up best by paraphrasing something that David Wilcox once said, which was something along the lines of: "Guitar is hard enough already... why not use different tunings to allow the guitar to do some of the work for you?"

Now, unlike David, I try to stick with a minimal number of alternate tunings. I started out by choosing two that I'd try to get familiar with--DADGAD and CGCGCD. Every other tuning that I use is a variation or hybrid of these two. From CGCGCD, I've used CGCGCE and CGCGCEb, which only change the open note on the 1st string. From DADGAD, I've used DGDGAD and CGDGAD, which only make changes in the bass notes.

When I begin to arrange a tune, I'll try it in DADGAD first. If the melody falls nicely under my fingers, I'll look at the bass notes and see if having DA, DG, or CG on the bass strings works best. If the meoldy isn't working out for me in DADGAD, I'll try it in CGCGCD. So far, everything I've tried to tackle has worked pretty well in one of those tunings.

I know the tuning is working when I can use a lot of open notes and there's a minimum amount of finger gymnastics with the left hand. My goal is demphasize the "guitar playing" as much as possible so I can focus on the song rather than playing guitar.

As a result, I think my arrangements are fairly easy and accessible; you don't need to be a great guitarist to be able to play them. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to play them, either!

The challenging part--based on the work I've done with my students who were learning the tunes--seems to be getting the right timing and feel. The notes themselves are relatively easy to execute, but there are subtle things that don't come across in the notation or TAB that make a lot of difference.

The "herky-jerky" notes you referred to, Brent, will become smoother and smoother the more you're able to internalize the song. Once it's memorized to the point where you don't have to think about what your fingers are doing, you'll be able to concentrate on the song itself. Break it into smaller segments and really listen closely to what you're playing, and the herky-jerky notes will start to disappear.

Most importantly, remember to keep it fun! Enjoy!

[Bern]

Very informative post, Jim...
I wish more players would do the same.

[HHP]

I can't add much to that but one suggestion from my own attempts to play Celtic tunes is that you have to listen to them a lot. The more you listen , you begin to hear the signature phrasing and get it into your head what it should sound like. This seems to be more important in music like Celtic, Blues, and Jazz where the timing and phrasing define the style.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by HHP

I can't add much to that but one suggestion from my own attempts to play Celtic tunes is that you have to listen to them a lot. The more you listen , you begin to hear the signature phrasing and get it into your head what it should sound like. This seems to be more important in music like Celtic, Blues, and Jazz where the timing and phrasing define the style.

+1 on that. If the timing a song gives me trouble, I'll just play the bass notes along with the CD to get the feel of the song (do it a gazillion times, it'll come to you).

I haven't tried The Rose of Allendale yet, I'll give it a shot this weekend.

[IainDearg]

Playing Celtic Songs

What's a Celtic song?

[Brent Hutto]

Originally Posted by IainDearg

What's a Celtic song?

One where you hear it and say "Ummm, what a nice Celtic song". What a silly question!

[IainDearg]

Originally Posted by Brent Hutto

One where you hear it and say "Ummm, what a nice Celtic song". What a silly question!

Why's it silly? I really would like to know. Please help me out here, Brent.

[Jim Tozier]

Originally Posted by IainDearg

Why's it silly? I really would like to know.

Since you use "Celtic" on your own website to clarify what you mean by "Scottish and Irish tunes," it does seem a rather silly question.

So what is your real motivation in asking?

[Brent Hutto]

Originally Posted by IainDearg

Why's it silly? I really would like to know. Please help me out here, Brent.

Play me a few bars and I'll let you know.

Celtic songs are like the judge said about pornography, he can't define it but he knows it when he sees it.

[IainDearg]

Originally Posted by Jim Tozier

Since you use "Celtic" on your own website to clarify what you mean by "Scottish and Irish tunes," it does seem a rather silly question.

So what is your real motivation in asking?

Some of the Irish and Scottish musicians I've talked to object to the use of the "Celtic" label, and like to poke fun at Americans for doing so.

Well, I'd be one of them!

I've been playing Scottish and Irish songs - as well as my own - for decades and never came across the term "Celtic" applied to them until the days of the internet, and then only relatively recently. I have an interest in Celtic studies going back some time and it's generally held that we have no idea what music the peoples who are describes as Celts played and / or sang. The Irish and Scottish tunes that we have have a lot more in common with current Norwegian folk styles than most anything and are thought by many to carry influences from the time of the Viking incursions.

It's true that I advertise some of the Scottish and Irish fiddle tunes I have arranged as "Celtic" tunes but that is a barefaced exploitation of the term misapplied to the music simply to attract visitors to my site who use (for example) "free celtic tabs"" as a search term in Google, etc! I admit I am ambivalent about my use of the term.

Personally, and completely apart from the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) I do with these keywords, I dislike the term Celtic as applied to the tradition music of these lands because it obscures their true origin and heritage.

I live in Aberdeenshire but I don't claim to be Pictish songwriter! (although, thinking about it...)

[Jim Tozier]

Originally Posted by IainDearg

Well, I'd be one of them!

That's why I deleted my lengthier response... it became quite obvious that this was where the question was leading.

So it goes. Poke away.

[IainDearg]

Originally Posted by Jim Tozier

That's why I deleted my lengthier response... it became quite obvious that this was where the question was leading.

So it goes. Poke away.

Nah, I'm cool.

[Jim Tozier]

Originally Posted by IainDearg

Nah, I'm cool.

Much appreciated.

By the way, I've heard some of your music before (someone from the Celtic Guitar Talk forum recommended it to me), and I really enjoyed it. Good stuff!

[TBman]

Celtic or not, there is something about Scottish and Irish music that touches something inside.