Product Description

Celtic Music for Flute by Jessica Walsh contains 44 tunes for flute which can be played solo or with a chord instrument. This great collection includes tunes from Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, and the Isle of Man. The melodies were chosen from more than four hundred years of Celtic music. Most of the pieces have been extended with variations, which make the tunes a more suitable length for performances and are a lot of fun for the flutist to play.

In addition, they will introduce the beginner to the joys of improvising in Celtic music, in which ornamenting and augmenting melodies is a tradition. Every tune in the book is included on the digitally mastered CD. Though the tunes are very effective as solo material, Jessica chose to record most of them with guitarist Allan Alexander. Allan has rendered the chords artfully, and the result is a really lovely CD which is a pleasure to listen to.

For the player who is new to Celtic music, the recording will give insights into the melodies, and it will allow the flutist who has no access to a chord instrument to hear the harmonic progressions. For those who know and love these wonderful tunes, it will be a joy to hear them played by two musicians who obviously love to play this music together.The CD which comes with the book has all 44 of the tunes in the same order in which they appear in the book.

The CD will give you insights into the music, and it will be enjoyable to listen to on its own merit.

Contents: Follow My Highland Soldier, Blythe Was the Time, Carpenter's Morris, The Gentle Maiden, O as I Was Kissed Yestreen, Arrane ny Skeddan (Song of the Herring), Song of the Falcon Chief, Hush! The Waves Are Rolling in, Hunting the Hare, Fisherman's Lilt, The Foggy Dew, The Cuckoo's Nest, I Left Him on the Mountainside, Cold and Raw, Road to Listonvarna - The Morris Dance, Silent, O Moyle , Suo Gan, Kemp's Jig, Young Catherine, My Thousand Times Beloved, Pat's Missing Finger, Lassie, Lie Near Me, Shule Agra, The Butterfly, The Swan, MacCrimmon's Lament, Come, Give Me Your Hand, Cremonea, Send ‘em Running, Carolan's Farewell, The Chase (from Into the Hills), Niel Gow's Lament for the Death of His Second Wife, The Queen's Dream, Pastheen Fionn, The Exile Song, Fear a' Bhata (the Boatmen), Parting Forever, Ye Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon, Mary's Lament, Hush My Babe, Lie Still and Slumber, An Emigrant's Daughter, Johnny Cope, Manx Lullaby, and Blind M

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #389457 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10
• Binding: Paperback
• 35 pages

Customer Reviews

I love this book!!!
I played the flute for five years while in school, grades 5-9. I quit in the 10th grade and sold my flute. Ten years later I realize I have a strong passion to play again. Even in my dreams the desire was strong, night after night of dreaming of beautiful music played on the flute. For Christmas 2003, my husband gives me one along with a beginner book of sheet music. I could still play. The notes surprisingly were still embedded in my brain. I immediately wanted music on a more intermediate level thus ordered "Celtic Music for Flute". The point is, this book has fulfilled my desire of playing beautiful music. I highly recommend this book.

A Passionate Lament
Jessica Walsh's "Celtic Music for Flute" is a great book to come back to when reading and playing Irish traditional music. The book has over 40 traditional songs all written out plus Walsh's variations, ready to be played. The book also comes with an audio CD of the traditional songs played by Walsh herself.

If I had to give a rating for her audio cd, I'd give it an honest 4 out of 5 stars. Why not 5 out of 5? Well, although Walsh is an excellent flutist, I felt like she played most of the irish tunes with too much lament. Even the songs that were not exactly laments sounded depressingly so after continuious listenings. In the end if you're looking for a great music book on traditional irish music, Walsh's book is the one. And if you love laments, then you'll love Walsh's take on it. And even if you're not a lamentable person like me, you'll still enjoy Walsh's music just because she's really good at it.

Must buy for any flute player interested in Celtic music
This is an excellent collection of Celtic tunes and melodies for flute, fife or whistle. Well thought out including a nice description of each song.

The companion CD should provide helpful insights into the music for both the beginner and seasoned player alike.

The author also provides a careful review of the flutes she uses with a detailed description of her collection of individual instruments. There is also a good amount of additional resource information included.