Jacquelyn Hynes
January February 2009
Lessons at the Irish Cultural Centre
February has come and gone and St Patrick's Day is nearly here, which was the deadline for my application to the Fund last year. Christmas was lovely and spent with family, and back in London in the snow and ice of January lessons started up again. Brendan Mulkere's lessons are a joy to attend. It would be impossible to put his unique, poetic, and very astute teaching style into print.
I am learning more than I thought possible, the flute is at last beginning to feel familiar in my hands, the tunes are gradually being absorbed, as Brendan said they would, (although I have a very long way to go) and because of his wealth of knowledge of the provenance of this repertoire each tune is a small (or large) treasure in its own right. "Imelda Rowland’s" for instance, he tells us was composed while the composer in question was cooking a pot on the hob. The Rowlands are a well known and hughly respected family of musicians, Raymond Rowland was a founder member of the influential London Irish Band “Le Cheile” in the 70‘s. I had a great time sitting with them at a recent concert by Mairtin O'Connor, Seamie O'Dowd and Cathal Hayden, after Brendan introduced us. Mairtin gave me a copy of his latest Cd after the concert. If you are interested in hearing something of Irish music I'd recommend it - "Crossroads".
Myself and Master Mulkere!
Brendan is challenging me with learning a tune in a flat key - this is the best way to become at ease with the differently fingered chromatic capability of the 8 keyed Irish flute.
These monday evenings are something I look forward to very much now. I try to arrive early as it gives me time to practise alone in a little room in the centre. I like being conscious of the activity going on in the place. The other instruments gradually arrive and collect in various groups in different rooms and Brendan works with all of them individually, Sharon Egan also teaches, specialising in accordion, and then we all meet up to work on repertoire.
One of Brendan Mulkere’s arrangements. One of the features of notated Irish music is that the rhythm and ornamentation are implied, and left to the discretion and imagination of the player. The played rhythm here would be almost dotted quaver semiquaver quaver, or slighty swung.The rolls, cranns and cuts would be inserted according to a combination of custom and discretion. I hope to devote a blog to this eventually.
There are literally hundreds and hundreds of Irish tunes with original variations of Brendan’s at his fingertips. It is astounding, he knows them all, along with variations he has created himself, and every lesson the section of the repertoire to be worked on is on the table (- sometimes on several tables and a windowsill!) and written out complete with variations for us to take home. During the course of the lesson he will aurally teach the variation, give us the story or the feel of the tune, and even vary the variations to show us what can be done. I always leave feeling that anything is possible - if this repertoire is treated musically and with respect there is so much beauty inside it. The “rut” that Brendan frequently warns us against falling into is the trap of merely playing through the tune repeatedly.
Brendan is now challenging me with learning a tune in a flat key - this is the best way to become at ease with the differently fingered chromatic capability of the 8 keyed Irish flute.
These monday evenings are something I look forward to very much now. I try to arrive early as it gives me time to practise in a little room in the centre. The other instruments gradually arrive and collect in various groups in different rooms and Brendan works with all of them individually, Sharon Egan who specialises in accordian also teaches and then we all meet up to work on repertoire.
Last week Brendan was away teaching at Limerick, and Sharon and her daughter Clare
took the lesson. Clare is a fine fiddle player, has been taught by Brendan since childhood and has recently gained a place on the performing M.A. at the Royal College. She brought some lovely tunes with her.
A postscript: One of the banjo players has recently taken up the fiddle, and his bow hold was gently corrected with the words " Now Jonny, you are not leading Ned the donkey!" (the very thoughtful technical musical explanation followed, but I am sure Jonny, and certainly I, will fondly remember Ned the donkey).
This term's repertoire!
30 December 2008
The months have flown by since being granted the Award, and lots of exciting things have happened. My first project was a trip to the Feakle music festival – which took place in the second week in August in East Clare, in the village next to Scarriff, where my Grandmother was born.
The Martyrs Memorial, Scarriff.
We shared a cottage with two friends from London who play fiddle and bodhran, Helen and Pete, and their children Finn and Erin.
The streets and pubs are full of music day and night, and because it is a small village there is room to meander and explore. The Festival is headlined by Martin Hayes who is an inspired violin player who has spawned many imitators of his distinctive style. A true virtuoso who creates great arcing structures out of apparently simple tunes, with great humility and generosity.
Martin Hayes photo courtesy of John Burton
There were also flute workshops with Paul Smyth who comes from Kilmovee in East Mayo, which were great fun and attended by all ages and nationalities. Tunes were learned and techniques swapped, and we had the luxury of hearing another local respected flute player from the Tulla Ceilidh Band who dropped by to swap classes and play for us. I asked him if he would mind playing the reel we had just learned from Paul so we could get an idea of the difference in their style. The Galway style is a somewhat more subtle less dramatic way of playing, rolling and fluid. I wonder sometimes if playing styles, like accents, reflect the landscape in which they have evolved. This is something I would be interested in exploring in depth once at Limerick. These are both fine Traditional flute players and you could learn a huge amount just listening to them. I like the drama and bite of the more dynamic styles but I am very drawn to the subtle and singing style of Galway.
Paul Smyth leading the flute workshop at Feakle. Note the number of left-handed players! Photo: Clare Champion.
The highlight of the week for me was a three hour concert in the local church on the Friday night with Martin Hayes and Denis Cahill, Roisin Elsafty; Frankie Gavin and Mairtin O’Connor, and Helen Hayes. I had heard Martin Hayes play a solo set earlier in the day amongst younger performers and other musicians in the Community centre, and was completely transported by his rendition of a slow air. You really are taken on a musical journey with his playing, and you seem to return to earth refreshed and inspired. In the evening concert he just seemed to take off and fly, perfectly accompanied by Denis, but I will never forget sitting in that small community hall in the afternoon and being spirited away by that beautiful slow air. Mairtin O’Connor was also a highlight – an accordion virtuoso and composer. Frankie Gavin was also excellent and Helen Hayes and Roisin Esafty sang beautifully, the latter in Gaelic.
from the Clare People Newspaper tuesday 12.08.08.Photographer Eamonn Ward.
(That’s me listening to the afternoon concert in the community hall 2nd right)
We also joined in sessions in local pubs, chiefly Peppers. We had a great evening playing with Seamus Begley and his son, and I had the pleasure of playing “Her Mantle so Green” with Jacky Daly, a lovely tune taught to me by Eoin Quiery from the playing of Jacky Daly himself. Mr Daly came over and told me the history of the tune and how it had originally come from Margaret Barry, a renowned singer from the travelling community. I hope we will go back again next year to Feakle.
The festival finished for us on the Saturday night, with Martin Hayes playing with the Tulla Ceilidh band, where he started, and a whole host of people dancing. Set dancing is something to behold – the Clare battering as it’s called of the hard shoes on the floor making the percussion for the dance music. I heard a lot of tunes you would hear at sessions in London, and it was ear-opening to hear them played for their original purpose, dancing. There was a great steadiness and swing to the playing, and you couldn’t wish for better than this.
Ceilidh with the Tulla Ceilidh Band.
In September, classes began at the Irish Cultural Centre back in London. Brendan Mulkere is a tremendous teacher and has a great repertoire of tunes. I now have a folder about four inches thick of tunes to attempt this year! He advised me not to try and cram but rather to absorb the tunes gradually through repeated listening and playing, a technique which I hope is beginning to work. I have no idea how Brendan manages to simultaneously teach thirty people at various stages of their musical journey with varying instruments but he does. When lessons began I was startled by the cacophony of so many people playing at once and couldn’t manage to pick out anything but things have gradually begun to emerge from the mist! Brendan teaches purely by ear although he gives you the sheet music (transcribed by himself with suggested variations) as a reference. He seems to instinctively know what each person wants and needs in order to progress, and can tell if you’re using the wrong finger for a cut (an ornament) from across the room even though three banjos and several accordions are playing. On these occasions there is a “Jackeeee!” and a waggling of the appropriate finger. He has phenomenal aural memory and perception, and I strongly suspect him of psychic powers. The whole experience is very educational and enjoyable.
I have also begun to attend a few pipe classes and will resume next term. The waiting lists for Uilleann Pipes are years long, so I put out word that I was looking for a Practice set, comprising bag, bellows and chanter. Eventually I received a call from an excellent piper and friend Steve Gara, who plays Highland, Northumbrian and Uilleann pipes. He was playing for a wake and had met someone who possibly had a set in his cupboard…. Steve fixed up the set for me but was reluctant to hand it over immediately as he was enjoying playing it so much himself! This was definite proof of the quality of the chanter, the most important part of the Pipes. A couple of weeks later and the deal was fixed, I went round to Steve’s flat in Acton and he produced the set, played me cds by some of his favourite pipers and loaned me a book called “Leo Rowsome’s Tutor for the Uilleann Pipes”. He also gave me lots of piping advice, some waxed thread wound on a cork, dinner, and several glasses of wine. Steve plays in a session at the Hemingford Arms in Islington every Saturday, and is emigrating with his wife Lindsey to America in the new year, we will all miss them very much! For my birthday, I was bought some seminal piping CD’s - Seamus Ennis “The Pure Drop” and “The Fox Chase” and Paddy Keenan “Poirt An Phiobare” and another tutorial “The New Approach to Irish Piping” by H.J. Clarke, considered to be the best tutorial available at the moment. So I am now fully armed for the New Year. I also popped into Hobgoblin Music Shop to see if they had a case, and they found me a lovely old one in the basement which they gave me for free.
My practice pipes.
Stephen Gara playing at the Hemingford Arms.
And now for perhaps the most significant and exciting of the many things which the grant has enabled me to do: the purchase of the new Irish flute. The flute was made for me in France by Stéphane Morvan. It arrived in early September, after a traumatic couple of days when the post office appeared to have lost it! Fortunately, thanks to the heroics of my good neighbour Dot (whose partner is a fine musician), the flute was eventually located. I got it safely home, opened the parcel, and placed it on the sofa, There it remained for several days, it was strange but I couldn’t bring myself to play it. I just kept looking at it and sort of circling round it. Eventually I started oiling it (there are so many different opinions on this process but I am fond of almond oil), carefully sealing the keys with cling film. I oiled for several days and then began to play it in, but was really struggling to get the deep rich sound I remembered from when I had first tried one of Stephane’s flutes.
My new flute made by Stephane Morvan
I was due to travel up to Liverpool Irish Festival, and I knew Clare Mann who is an accomplished wooden flute player, would be there. When we met I asked her to have a look at the flute for me. She tried it out in the kitchen and pronounced it a fine instrument, but one that would need a lot of power and a significantly different embouchure – blowing in more than across. Wooden instruments definitely seem to have more truculent and surprising personalities than metal ones, and after a week of playing my new flute in, I realised that the only way for me to develop a relationship with this flute was to actually play it, to take the plunge and take it out at gigs and in public.
The first obvious opportunity to do this came on the 11th October, when I was asked to play for the Carlow Association at London Irish Centre in Camden. I would be playing solo and unamplified for about an hour in the foyer as people arrived and waited for the Irish Ambassador. I took three flutes with me – silver Osten-Brennan, my keyless wooden Ormiston (which I usually play) and the Morvan so I could ease it in. I was positioned between the Irish Tricolour and the Carlow flags and really enjoyed just playing solo for an hour or so. At this stage I was swapping flutes around as I found my lip would tire quite quickly. Energies were restored by regular glasses of Guinness delivered by Terry, the manager of the London Irish Centre and later I was invited to dinner with the Carlow crowd, and what a great dinner and evening it was!
(Playing for the annual Carlow association Dinner Dance at London Irish centre Camden.
Photo Louise Jefferson Irish World)
On the 16th October I played an interesting gig with singer/guitarist J Owen and Ultan Cowley, the Irish academic and writer. Ultan wrote a book called “The Men Who Built Britain” about the Irish labourers who came to Britain and runs the “End to Exile” campaign. This moving evening was entitled “The Craic was Good in Cricklewood” and provided another outing for the flute. We are all hoping to tour this project at some point in the future.
I was due to do an amplified gig at O’Neills in Covent Garden on Sunday 9th November, and earmarked this as a good place to favour my new Morvan flute. Rather than move between flutes I would aim to perform as much as possible on the Morvan. I would again be playing with singer/guitarist J.Owen, performing original songs and the Irish repertoire, as well as pieces that I would normally perform on the silver flute. I could now use the Morvan flute as it has more chromatic capability than my other wooden flute, the keyless Ormiston. The gig went really well and the flute sounded like it was coming into its own. The strange thing was that when I went back to my Ormiston later in the week, it didn’t respond so well – I can only think that my embouchure naturally unconsciously adjusts itself to the instrument. J describes a similar conundrum with his guitars and says that one sulks if he favours another one!
I have also played the new flute recently at a support gig for the great Irish Folk Singer Niamh Parsons, and as part of a trio with Eoin Quiery and the fiddle player Aidan Burke. The flute seemed to appreciate the outings. There was a lot of nice feedback from the Niamh Parsons gig, and at our trio gig in “The Mother Redcap” on the Holloway Road, Aidan told me that someone had once sent back a similar flute to Stéphane thinking that it was faulty, “It’s all in the embouchure Jac, it’s a different way of blowing”. Aidan had asked Sylvain Barou who was closely involved in developing these flutes to tell him what the trick was, but he had replied, “I cannot tell her I have to show her!”.
Hopefully there will be an opportunity for us to meet up in the New Year.
playing the Stéphane Morvan flute with Aidan Burke and Eoin Quiery
at the Mother Redcap. Photos Phil McCorkell.
I have arranged to meet with an Irish flute player in London called Goretti Anglian in the New Year. She told me over the phone it took her about a year to adjust to her new Grinter flute (another good maker favoured by professional Irish musicians, based in Australia).
On the 23rd of November J and I were played at the Irish Embassy for the “Forgotten Irish Awards”. This was a real privilege and of course I took my new flute!
Irish Embassy photo: Irish World Louise Jefferson.
The next evening I met up with the Irish broadcaster Paschal Mooney and his friend Tom. Paschal interviewed me in December 2006 for his RTE programme “The Irish Experience” and had contacted us in autumn for his new programme about the Irish Diaspora. Paschal and his producer Aiden were interested in playing something on air from my Taraba World music project.
I only had live desk mixes from the two concerts but they managed to find something they could use. He was very interested in the fund and I gave him a newsletter. We had a fascinating evening talking about music and he sent me a great book of compositions of Ed Reevy which he has published. As I have been recording over the past couple of months, I hope to have something from the studio for Paschal to play on the radio in the New Year. I will write more about that in the coming months as hopefully things fall into place.
In the meantime I am gradually expanding my repertoire and learning what this fine instrument has to offer. Although I’m sure it hasn’t given up all its secrets yet, I am delighted with my new instrument. Every time I play it gives me a little more, whilst letting me know that there are things that I will have to keep working at!
I’m looking forward to what the New Year will bring.
I can feel I’m at the start of a new, mysterious and exciting relationship with music.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a bright and hopeful New Year!