Lesson 68. O’Carolan’s Draught

One of the better-known compositions of the great Turlough O’Carolan. Tony has set this arrangement in 4/4 rather than 2/2 or “cut” time, that is 4 groups of 2 quavers rather than 2 groups of 4. This is a subtle difference although with a tune played at the somewhat slower tempo than a reel, or even a hornpipe, the difference …

Gerry GaffneyLesson 68. O’Carolan’s Draught

Lesson 41. Charles O’Conor

This week we have another piece by the famous blind harper, Turlough O’Carolan. Tony mentions “The complete works of O’Carolan”, published by Ossian. This is currently out of print. He also mentions “My heart belongs to Jenny”, by Duck Baker.

Gerry GaffneyLesson 41. Charles O’Conor

Lesson 28. Lord Inchiquin

Another tune by the highly influential Turlough O’Carolan. Planxty Irwin (which we had in Lesson 14, in Book 1) was another O’Carolan tune. This is in 3/4 time, with emphasis on the first beat of each bar: *one* two three, *one* two three, *one* two three. In this episode, we’ve also included a version with Tony playing the bouzouki and …

Gerry GaffneyLesson 28. Lord Inchiquin

Lesson 14. Planxty Irwin

This is a finger-style arrangement of an O’Carolan tune. The tune was written in G. Tony’s arrangement is in open D, with strings tuned as follows (from lowest sounding to highest): D A D F# A D. The booklet contains both the finger-style information, and a traditional version if you’re not quite ready to tackle that! If you’re learning the …

Gerry GaffneyLesson 14. Planxty Irwin