Every morning, I cross the Living Bridge over the beautiful and mystical River Shannon into the dream-world of the Irish World Academy of Music in Dance. As I get closer to the school, I can hear the sounds of accordions, pianos, and uillean pipes pouring out of the windows, greeting the sun and inspiring me to get up early and practice. So I find a sunny studio and fiddle away until the clock tells me that it`s time for class. Drum circles, puppet-making, songwriting, singing, children`s songs, jamming and improvising await me....
We are a small but diverse group of 8 postgraduate students from Ireland, Canada, the U.S., China, and Palestine. Each week, different community musicians spend two days with us, facilitating workshops in which we get to be the participants, and also learn about facilitation methods. In the tradition of Irish folk music, everything is taught orally. There isn`t sheet music or a powerpoint presentation in sight. In fact, you rarely even see laptops and there are no desks in the entire building--a welcome change from the last several years, which I`ve spent sitting at a desk in front of a computer screen. Now my days are spent playing music and doing creative projects, which I love! Of course, we do have research papers to write, but not yet....
Outside of class, I`m enjoying singing in the Gospel Choir and learning trad tunes at the weekly sessions at Scholars Pub. I`ve even found some Swedish folk musicians, who are teaching me polskas in exchange for old-time tunes. Joshua is taking guitar lessons from one of my classmates, and even went to a beginning tin whistle class this week. I have gotten used to having my sentences and stories punctuated by his trills on the tin whistle. He practices even more than me, and is developing some mean callouses! I`ve finally started Irish traditional fiddle lessons with Eileen O`Brien, daughter of the late Paddy O`Brien, a famous button accordion player and prolific composer from Co. Tipperary. Eileen plays lots of her father`s tunes, and specializes in slow airs. I`m excited to be learning the regional style of fiddle playing, which gives me lots of opportunity to practice my ornamentation!
All in all, I am so happy that we decided to come here. There are so many fantastic musical opportunities, and I`m being challenged every day to push the boundaries of my playing. Most of all, it`s great craic!
- Laura
We are a small but diverse group of 8 postgraduate students from Ireland, Canada, the U.S., China, and Palestine. Each week, different community musicians spend two days with us, facilitating workshops in which we get to be the participants, and also learn about facilitation methods. In the tradition of Irish folk music, everything is taught orally. There isn`t sheet music or a powerpoint presentation in sight. In fact, you rarely even see laptops and there are no desks in the entire building--a welcome change from the last several years, which I`ve spent sitting at a desk in front of a computer screen. Now my days are spent playing music and doing creative projects, which I love! Of course, we do have research papers to write, but not yet....
Outside of class, I`m enjoying singing in the Gospel Choir and learning trad tunes at the weekly sessions at Scholars Pub. I`ve even found some Swedish folk musicians, who are teaching me polskas in exchange for old-time tunes. Joshua is taking guitar lessons from one of my classmates, and even went to a beginning tin whistle class this week. I have gotten used to having my sentences and stories punctuated by his trills on the tin whistle. He practices even more than me, and is developing some mean callouses! I`ve finally started Irish traditional fiddle lessons with Eileen O`Brien, daughter of the late Paddy O`Brien, a famous button accordion player and prolific composer from Co. Tipperary. Eileen plays lots of her father`s tunes, and specializes in slow airs. I`m excited to be learning the regional style of fiddle playing, which gives me lots of opportunity to practice my ornamentation!
All in all, I am so happy that we decided to come here. There are so many fantastic musical opportunities, and I`m being challenged every day to push the boundaries of my playing. Most of all, it`s great craic!
- Laura
Man that's soo cool. ahgg. I need to come visit you guys soon. Maybe April?
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