JenniferC --I do sing it as well. Have a video of my half-hour Opening Act performance at the Americana Community Music Association here in Fort Myers. I did Lay The Bend Bonnie Broom, which evolved into The Riddle Song (I gave my love a cherry); and The Elfin Knight which became Scarborough Fair. I'll have to see if I can upload it here...
Nigel-- some of us also play/sing Ar Hyd y Nos and Rhyfelgyrch Gwŷr Harlech (but not in the Welsh, mind) and
I am glad you liked them, Marsha. The Welsh national sport is rugby and the hymn "Calon Lan" is always sung by the watching crowd, especially if Wales are winning.
It is translated as "clean heart".
Nigel, I looked up those two songs you recommended on YouTube. They are both beautiful.
in the dulcimer club I played with a couple of years ago, before moving up here to the mountains, there was a sweet lady from Wales who played with us. She taught us to play the Welch song, Calan Lan. And it became one of the club's favorites.
I bought my only dulcimer three weeks ago. You will appreciate that I am unable to offer technical advice relating to how it should be played
I am Welsh and love Celtic music. I would like to draw attention to two pieces of music written in Wales. I really don't know if they could be arranged in a form which is suitable for playing with a dulcimer but, even if they are not, they are very beautiful and I am sure that people here would enjoy listening to them. I am not allowed to post YouTube links here and will refer to the music by description which enables a search to be made.
The first is "Dafydd Y Garreg Wen" and was written , allegedly, by David Owen as he lay on his death bed. The YouTube version I recommend is that performed by Hannah Thomas and Catrin Meek. There are many versions available but this is my favourite.
The second is "Myfanwy". I have to admit that I am totally biased as I drive past the house where the music was composed at least twice a day. Additionally, I had the pleasure of meeting Ryan Davies in 1968 when I was a student at UCW Aberystwyth. He was a very nice guy. I have chosen his version as my favorite (American spelling this time).
Sadly, like Dylan Thomas, Ryan died in New York State at a very early age. I hope you enjoy these two wonderful pieces.
Mark Gilston sent me the tab for the version of Elfin Knight that I do with 12 verses. Great DAC Aeolian tune! Usually I then explain that that song evolved as it moved south into England to a town near London where they created a version (new words, new tune, same story). 500 years later, Paul Simon borrowed 4 verses of Scarborough Fair and brought them to America...
Oh YES, I, too, am that kind of gal. Some of my favorites are:
Carrickfergus
Ned of the Hill
Foggy Dew
Will Ye Go Lassy Go
Skye Boat Song
Danny Boy
Cill Cais
Come By the Hills
Come Fare Away
Parting Glass
Star of the County Down
Ye Banks and Braes of old Bonnie Doone
and of course.... Will Ye No Come Back Again
Joe Collins has 2 good books, Simply Celtic, and Irish Charms which you can order online and you can sign up for his monthly free tab, which are often Celtic tunes.
Tull Glazener has some good ones too which you can order online.
www.contemplator.com
Nearly all the Child Ballads, Turlough O'Carolan, Scots/Irish/English Folk, Sea Chanties and more. Histories and back stories and interesting commentary on the songs. Sometimes it's hard to pick out the melody from her MIDI files, but there are other sources. Plus links to a lot more...
Dana,
There are several books of Celtic music for the dulcimer. Mark Nelson, Lorinda Jones, Neal Hellman, and Linda Brockinton all have good books out, and I'm sure others do as well. You might also look specifically for music by Turlough O'Carolan, for a lot of those harp tunes work very well on dulcimer, and again, there are books dedicated to O'Carolan tunes arranged for the dulcimer. Shelley Stevens has one out as does Linda Brockinton.
I have a student who is concentrating on Celtic tunes, so I am helping her work through Neal Hellman's book, Celtic Tunes and Slow Airs for Mountain Dulcimer . The book used to come with a CD, though newer editions give you access to the music online. The music is really good; for most tunes there is an instrumental version of the arrangement in the book and another version with the dulcimer strumming chords and Janet Herman singing. Beautiful stuff. If you use Neal's book, be forewarned that he uses a lot of hammer-ons and pull-offs. I tell my student to ignore all of that initially, to learn the melody first, and then slowly to add some of the hammers and pulls only when it makes sense to her. The book has a nice mix of well-known tunes and others that are more esoteric.
On my website for River City Dulcimers I also have a "hidden" page of tab for Celtic tunes that are common in dulcimer circles. Some of the tab is my own, some is found elsewhere on the web. None is copyrighted. Feel free to make use of it. And if you want to work on tab that I wrote, I am happy to provide a video or audio demo. Just send me a note.
Happy picking!
Yep. I love celtic songs.
Give me a Blackest Crow, Will Ye No Come Back Again, Dark Island...
I play and pick and play these songs again and again, adding to them the harmony of Greensleeves and a few others.
I need some more music. If you know the above songs, then you know what I love. Can you please recommend some other possibly little known celtic-y tunes that are haunting or lovely?
I'm happy to pay for tabs. I just need some fresh songs. Thank you, thank you!
