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mycatmarti
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Posts: 38
(3/18/01 9:06:35
am)
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Irish/Celtic
music for cello
Does anyone know of any Irish tunes or ballads written or arranged
for cello. I heard a Celtic music ensemble on TV yesterday, and a
cello was a big part of it. It really wonderful.
Mia
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Dorie
Straus 
Moderator
Posts: 535
(3/18/01 12:41:48 pm)
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Re: Irish/Celtic
music for cello
Do a search on the other board - or maybe you can do it from here;
this comes up every once and a while and I know it's there. Check
Cello Heaven archives, too.
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DWThomas
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Posts: 297
(3/18/01 1:08:01
pm)
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Re: Irish/Celtic
music for cello
Well, it says it's "Scottish" but probably only purists would
notice. 
There
is a book(let) of the cello music from the Abby Newton album,
"Crossing to Scotland." It's a Mel Bay publication, ISBN
0-7866-4452-4, goes for about 10 USD. Besides having a few spots
harder than I might have expected, it is only the cello line. It
would have been great to have had some of the full arrangements,
particularly several of the pieces that were primarily cello and
piano. It can be mail-ordered thru the Culburnie records site at www.culburnie.com/
Don't
know what sort of music software you might have (I am pretty
handicapped in that regard). There are a number of websites that
have whole collections of tunes in ABC format or MIDI. There are
programs that can print those out. They will typically be in treble
clef for fiddle, but you could probably start with those and knock
'em down about an octave (or whatever brings them into your playing
range -- no treble clef stuff here yet!).
Start at www.ceolas.org/ceolas.html
The
following have tunes and links to sources of software for various
purposes:
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/Info/RRTuneBk/tunebook.html
www.downie65.freeserve.co.uk/
home1.swipnet.se/~w-11382/abc.htm
I
realize this is not a simple answer, but it might be some
help.
Dave
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Markse
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Posts: 1
(3/21/01 1:00:15
pm)
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Re: Irish/Celtic
music for cello
Even though the sheet music for "Crossing to Scotland" has only the
cello part written out, a decent guitarist (or pianist, I suppose)
should be able to use the chord symbols to come up with an
accompniment. It's fun music to play.
You might try getting
some Celtic fiddle music on CD and learn the tunes by ear (the trad.
way of learning trad. music!). It's not as hard as you think it is.
Check out Kevin Burke or Martin Hayes. Both are wonderful players.
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TerryM
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Posts: 350
(3/21/01 2:51:01 pm)
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Re: Irish/Celtic
music for cello
In some ways, learning the music by ear is the best way to get it
as well. Most traditional music is not played as written and if
played as written sounds pretty "square" and lacks the "swing" of
real fiddle playing.
Being half Irish, I have a big interest
in this music and am presently, in my spare time (which is not too
spare at the moment), putting together a book of fiddle tunes, jigs,
reels, hornpipes, slow airs, etc., that are transposed for cello. As
mentioned above one can often just transpose them down an octave,
but they don't always sound in the best register of the cello that
way and it is often necessary to change the key as well. One has to
keep in mind that a lot of the fiddle tunes are in a fairly
restricted set of keys, especially if playing along with tine
whistles, and other traditional instruments. I hope to get some time
to complete this book in the not too distant future. Hope springs
eternal.
Terry
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Markse
Registered
User
Posts: 2
(3/21/01 4:07:09
pm)
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Re: Irish/Celtic
music for cello
Transposing to different keys could create problems if one ever
desired to bring new-learnd tunes to a session...
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galois00
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Posts: 14
(3/21/01 9:39:42
pm)
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Re: Irish/Celtic
music for cello
Terry,
You will let us know, won't you, when that book is
finished?
thanks,
Dan
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TerryM
Registered User
Posts: 351
(3/21/01 10:16:22 pm)
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Re: Irish/Celtic
music for cello
Yes, you are right. You pretty much have to stick to the basic keys
used in fiddle music. D major, G major, C and sometimes F and B
flat, along with a few minor keys. It still could produce problems
if you learn the piece in one key and it is most often played in
another, but once you learn it in one key tranposing it to another
while playing should not be a major problem.
Terry
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Beaker1
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Posts: 26
(3/22/01 11:55:40
am)
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2 pieces you may
be interested in
I think I ordered both of these from shar but I'm not sure. I have
a piece called "Celtic solo set" which has alot of double stops and
is written in treble, bass and tenor clef. I also have "the foggy
dew" which is a bueatiful air. Good luck!
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JC2
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User
Posts: 44
(3/25/01 1:34:35
pm)
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celtic
tunes
i have been collecting tunes from a lot of different sources, both
celtic and American old-time fiddle tunes and translating them into
bass clef, so drop me a line as to what kind of tunes you would
like, whether up tempo things like jigs, reels, and hornpipes, or
slower things like airs, and I can send you a couple via email. I
can send them either as gif or as noteworthy composer files, so let
me know.
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DLBrad
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User
Posts: 4
(4/2/01 2:11:27
pm)
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Re: Irish/Celtic
music for cello
It's true that you may have to drop down an octave for most tunes,
but that's not always an obstacle. I play Irish tenor banjo and
mandolin - both tuned E-A-D-G but an octave apart. I'd say 95% of
the session tunes I play work on either instrument without a key
change.
The music of Turlough (pronounced Turlock) O'Carolan
- originally for wire-strung harp but played today on everything
from pennywhistle to hammer dulcimer - would be _ideal_ for cello.
O'Carolan, a blind itinerant Irish harpist in the late 1700's,
derived his music from traditional Irish sources but was also
influenced by Italian Baroque composers such as Corelli and
Gemeniani (sp?).
Ditto on checking out www.ceolas.com - it's
probably the best starting point for links to Celtic music
sites.
David
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Noel
Rice
Registered User
Posts: 1
(5/23/01 3:36:28 am)
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Re: Irish/Celtic
music for cello
I am in Chicago and play Irish traditional music in a group
consisting of cello, 2 fiddles, flute, whistle, Irish(lever) harp,
and bodhran.
Our cellist will be leaving for long trip and then
attending an out-of-town college.
I am hoping to find a cellist
who would enjoy adapting the cello to Irish trad
music.
Noel
====
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Parker
Garvin
Registered User
Posts: 29
(5/23/01 8:58:30 am)
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Re: Irish/Celtic
music for cello
There's a website that has over 30,000 fiddle tunes in midi, gif
(graphic), and ABC files. I agree, learning by ear is the way to go,
but it always helps to see it on the page if that's what you're used
to. Anyway, give that a shot.
www.ceolas.org
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Markse
Registered
User
Posts: 17
(5/24/01 11:26:43
am)
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Re: Irish/Celtic
music for cello
While I'm still firmly in the "learn by ear' camp, it can be
helpful to have some printed music to refer to or to help get
started on a new tune.
There is ALOT of printed music
availible for treble clef instruments, so I just read treble clef
(useful for cellists anyway) and play everything down an octave (or
is it two octaves?). Saves alot of trouble rewriting everythig in
bass clef. Laziness is the mother of invention.
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JBL
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User
Posts: 2
(5/24/01 12:03:44
pm)
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G clef to Bass
clef
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JBL
Registered
User
Posts: 3
(5/24/01 12:14:11
pm)
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G clef to Bass
clef
I like the celtic music too, purchased Crossing to Scotland after
reading about it here. Anyway, my wife showed me how to take G clef
sheet music and make it Bass clef by erasing (whiting out) the
bottom line of the staff, and drawing a top line in its stead. That
way we can easily do little duets from tunes downloaded from the
Internet. We're both beginners (she on violin, but an experienced
musician on sax and woodwinds).
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