Customer Reviews

Irish and American Fiddle Tunes for Harmonica

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I'm into playing all kinds of music, so this book, along with the Rock n Blues Harmonica and the Blues Harmonica Collection, caught my interest. The other book of interest in this area is the Bluegrass book by Mike Stevens. That book has great tunes and techniques but like alot of harp playing involves alot of bending, which of course is an integral part of blues harp as well. So I was surprised that this book and cd of mostly Irish and American fiddle tunes for harmonica DOES NOT involve bending at all. This makes the songs more accessable especially for a beginner but what's also nice is that the tunes are not simplified or dummied down to allow for this. This collection will really give you alot of tunes to play and because of the no bending aspect you'll be able to play them right off. Well that's sort of true because many of the tunes are complex enough but that's cool too because they sound like they are supposed to and not simple versions. About 22 of the tunes are on the cd and I wish there had been more on there to give an idea of how the ones you're not familiar with go. Of the 100 songs in the book about 20 (none of which are on the cd) involve a 12 hole harmonica (Hohner 364 model, musician's Friend $24.00) The tab makes it easy to follow on these 12 hole tunes but the 12 hole harp has a different configuration of holes in the top register so can be a little tricky when just playing it like a regular harp. One cool thing you can do with one of these 364's is play some really low notes on the bottom holes that aren't on the regular harp and the hole setup on the bottom part is the same as on a regular harp. These 12 hole 364's are also great for playing some blues tunes like Sonny Boy Williamson's Bye Bye Bird. There's also a 14 hole harp, the 365, and I only mention this because there's a version of it called the Steve Baker that is set up like a regular harp on all the holes. This is a bit pricier and because it's set up like a normal harp the tab in the fiddle book would not work for this harp- just the 364 or the regular 365. Any, this is really a great collection. There's also alot of folklore and harmonica tidbits on the bottom of each page.

I bought this for my husband, who is just beginning the harmonica and loves this type of music. He picked the book up and started playing "Star of the County Down" right away.

My only disappointment is that it does not have many songs on the CD that he would like to play, so I have had to play the tunes from the book so he can get a feel for them since he does not read music well.

This book may not be ideal for the beginner, but it is not too advanced that a beginner cannont play the tunes.

The playing techniques at the beginning of the book, and tidbits of info with each song are interesting.

Songs on the CD are Soldiers Joy, The Arkansas Traveller, Farewell to Whiskey, Turkey in the Straw, The Year of Jubiloo, Liberty, Tobin's Favorite, The Irish Washerwoman, The Kesh Jig, The Morpath Rant, Ricketts Hornpipe, Planxty Irwin, The Rose Tree, Miss McCleod's Reel, Speed The Plow, Petronella, The Road to Lisdoonvarna, Paddy Whack, Garry Owen, Boys of Bluehill, The Girl I Left Behind Me, and The Eight of January.

This is a nice overview of harmonica fiddle tunes. It's not for a beginner, but for somebody adding to their musical or transitioning from a blues harp style, this is a nice book. If you've already learned some fiddle tunes on your own, this may not offer a whole lot, but even picking up a few tunes makes it well worth the price of admission. It is a nice, friendly approach.

This is a great collection of music. My two regrets/complaints about the CD are:
1) I'd rather he didn't announce the name of the tune at the beginning of each track. A written track list serves that purpose and is much less annoying with repeated use.
2) I'd MUCH rather have the fast and slow versions of each song on two different tracks. As the CD is recorded, you have to wait through the slow version to get to the fast version, even if you don't need the slow practice anymore.
Otherwise, it's a very well-done collection.