(pardon that other non-existant message) I'm teaching the dadgad guitar class at Augusta Irish Week (Davis and Elkins college, Elkins WV, last week of July. For anyone interested, this my class letter that Augusta sends out describing the class: Irish Week Guitar Course Description The class will approach the art of accompaniment on the guitar in DADGAD tuning from a number of angles. The week will start with some important music theory fundamentals. The bulk of the week will be spent mastering the different rhythmic subtleties of the dance forms and expanding our repertoire. Throughout the week we'll also discuss the complex etiquette that makes an Irish session flow and how the guitar player can make or break that flow. If the class is up to the task, I would like to push the group to learn to play a few melodies before the week is out as well. The essence of the music theory that I see as essential to accompanying this vast body of music is mode theory. This is the set of different scales that are derived from the good old major scale. We'll start with the major scale, figure out the principal modes that are important in Irish music and from there learn how different sets of chords go with different modes in different keys. From there we can look at individual tunes and figure out what mode—or modes—they are in and thus what chords are appropriate. I feel strongly that understanding why you're playing what you're playing clears your head to play with conviction and confidence. The class will focus on DADGAD tuning. The tuning, in my opinion, lends itself best to the music because the music favors the key of D so strongly and even when it is in other keys it is essentially diatonic. Also, I think it's ultimately easier to sound better and be more relaxed. For my money music is about relaxation. Standard tuning is fine, particularly for G and C tunes, and if there is particular interest in the class we can spend half a day in EADGBE. The meat and potatoes of the week will be reels, jigs, hornpipes, slipjigs, polkas and slides. We'll talk at first about simply how to hear these and "feel" them. There are a lot of subtleties about the guitar player's role in defining the feel of the various forms. Taking the cue from the leader of the session as to the tempo, swing—or lack thereof--, intensity etc… An over-anxious accompanist can steamroll over a great player and mangle a great musical opportunity. A careful and steady player can pull the very best out of a group of novice melody players and hold them together. In the class we'll learn not to steamroll, but rather to help the session gel and find its groove. The etiquette that governs the session is best learned by experience. That said it's good to enter into it with some idea of what to expect. It's kind of like learning how to ask where the bathroom is in Russian before you get to Moscow. It doesn't mean that you understand the depth of the Russian soul, but you might keep from embarrassing yourself when you first get there. Most musicians who have come to this tradition in their middle years can remember an incident when they sat down at a session with a few old timers and dove in enthusiastically, thinking "Wow this is that quintessential Celtic moment I have been searching for, I'm going to cherish this one for years, I wish I had my cam-corder." Then moments later the older players start talking about an early night and begin slipping off to their beds. "Hey fellas! Wait! Where are you going? I just sat down. Don't you want to play some more of those mysterious ancient Celtic melodies?" The way that sessions happen is a difficult thing to learn. The best thing to remember is to always listen before you play and make sure that you know exactly what you are hearing before you jump in. Tune in to the senior player amongst the melody players and follow his or her lead in everything as far as music and pacing. It's always a bummer when the great player leading a session packs up the fiddle or accordion. All the beginning players look around and wonder what happened. "Were we that bad?" If you're always listening, you won't have been the reason. Picking the melodies in DADGAD works very nicely. Learning a few tunes helps a backer understand what the tune-heads are going through and gives new insight into backing the tunes. It also simply builds technique and facility on the instrument. Towards the end of the week if all the other horses are dead, we'll try to beat this one too. I hope that this gives you some idea what the class will be like. While I tend to run on at the fingertips here at the computer, rest assured we will play a lot and cover a lot of ground. The class can accommodate players of different levels, so don't hesitate if you are a beginner or an advanced player. We will have an excellent tune player with us in the class most of the time. Definitely bring a good tape or MD recorder and perhaps a "boom-box" for your room. I hope to have a practice CD available for you to use in the evenings as well as notes for the theory stuff and chord charts etc… Drop me a note with any questions or comments. See you in July! -Matt Shortridge