Thank you :) hadn’t realised there was an American connection there! Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks :) very kind of you to say

Awesome! Thanks so much for the info :)

This is a Fylde Orsino and I love it! I’d definitely recommend checking out Fyldes. For Irish session stuff you’ll not want anything too small, this is around the size of a dreadnought which works quite well. Lots of players use 13 gauge strings for a deeper bass - I did that for years but it came back from the workshop recently with 12s on and I’ve been loving how playable they are and they sound great!

It’s an Ashbury - nothing particularly flashy, but it’s done me proud!

Thanks for the kind words :)

Hey! Thanks for the kind words :) I guess it's my own arrangement of a favourite tune! I'm in DADGAE tuning here, which I use a lot! If you're interested, there's a transcription available of this arrangement in the "Top 10 American Irish Tunes" tunebook linked in the description! Thanks! John

Standard mandolin tuning - GDAE :) hope that helps! Thanks :)

They’re also presented alongside the manuscript notation which can be useful if in doubt!

Hahaha good luck in your search :) thanks for the kind words :)

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Awesome! I’ll try and keep them coming :)

Thanks for the kind words :) pleased you like it!

It seems the jigs video is generally more popular! I guess counting to three is easier than counting to four - maybe that’s why my jigs are better 😜

Agree. Cooley's is way too fast. Relax.

@@brendanmurphy4866 Hey! I've always thought it's really cool how you can pretty much play these tunes at whatever tempo you feel like (unless you're playing for dancing of course!). It always surprises me how different a tune can feel at a different speed. I'd recommend taking a tune you know well and trying it at a drastically different lick, it can be a lot of fun! The way I play them pretty much reflects how I feel on the day - the day I recorded Cooley's I'd probably had a lot of coffee! Sorry it's not the tempo you like, but it's probably a pretty accurate reflection of how I was feeling that day, and as far as I'm concerned that's what it's all about :)

Thanks! :) It’s a lovely tune!

Haha feel free to get the ball rolling ;) thanks! :)

Thanks so much :)

Thanks so much :)

Haha I prefer to focus on the prettier stuff ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by and for your kind words :) I’ve always found the movement of music around the world fascinating as well - particularly Irish tunes! I’ve just released a tunebook exploring the shared traditions which you can find in the video description, maybe that’s something you’d be interested in! Thanks again :) John

Thanks very much :) it is a great tune!

I think they’re phosphor Ernie Ball 12s. I was usually team 13 but these got put on when it was in for a service and I really like them!

Thanks :) pleased you enjoyed it!

Always the way! One of the trickiest things about running the channel is tracking down the names of the tunes! If you remember them let me know :) thanks!

@@CelticFrets Found them! Donald Blue + Sleep Soond Ida Mornin’. Your tune being the first tune of the set

@@darraghgoggin848 Great tunes! That's a mighty set! Maybe we'll get to play them together one day!

@@CelticFrets for sure! Uploaded my first tune in years today!

@@darraghgoggin848 Sounds great! Those triplets are crisp as fresh snow 👌 Awesome work!

Thank you for the kind words! Great you're a mandolin player too! If you ever fancied a lesson just fire me an email :) thanks!

Thank you very much! :)

It’s a classic! Hope you enjoyed my version :)

Great! I can never believe how many ways there are to play these tunes! It’s a huge part of what makes them so fun I think

Hey! Thanks for checking in :) like it says in the description… These are the top 10 Irish reels according to The Session. Do you agree? Which one is your favourite? Which ones have I missed out? I’m thinking of doing an ‘Alternative Top 10’ video based on your suggestions in the comments below, so don’t hold back! I never said “best”, and my favourites are just my favourites - everyone’s will be different! :) What’s your favourite?

@@CelticFrets Farewell to Erin, Cup of tea... Greetings from Hellas.

All great tunes!!! I haven’t played a couple of them in a while, I’ll have to dust them off next time I sit down to play! Thanks for checking in :)

I had no idea! I just picked it up in a session! Thanks for letting us know :)

@@CelticFrets yes, I wrote this tune. I'm cool about its use, as long as people credit me with the composition...

@@SandyMathers Quite right! I've added a note in the description - thanks for the tune, it's a favourite of mine!

Absolute belter of a tune!!!

Thank you! It’s one of my favourites!

Hey! Thanks for stopping by :) it’s a classic!

Go raibh maith agat! :)

​@@CelticFretsFadhb ar bith 😉

Hey, this performance is in DADGAE tuning, which is my preferred tuning for playing Irish music, but I can write it out in standard tuning for you if you'd like :) in fact, I could do both for you so you can explore them both and see what you like. Just send me an email on the address at the start of the video and we can get it sorted, thanks! :)

Thanks Tim! :)

They’re nicely presented, printable, all in the one place, with chords. I thought that might be worth something to somebody. Also all presented in DADGAE guitar tuning which I’m a big advocate of. No worries if they’re not for you, pleased you enjoyed the performances all the same :)

I would like to know more about the coconut smoking. Does it improve the banjo playing to be as good as this? If so... Gets me some of these coconuts.

@F.Grinder haha it’s a little known fact that most great Irish musicians have terrible coconut habits! My monthly coconut budget is through the roof!

De rien! :)

Thanks so much :) it’s one of my favourites!

Hope you enjoyed hearing it! Thanks for stopping by :)

Hey! They’re Daddario 13s. I always use 13s and for a while I had a wound second string cause I play in DADGAE tuning a lot, so having that extra weight on what would be the B in standard tuning really helped with tuning stability, but I teach a lot in standard tuning so tend to just use a normal set that can handle both, as tuning those wound As up to a B would be pretty much guaranteed to snap them. When I recorded this I was waiting on a new set to arrive in the post to change them as they’d gotten pretty dull, but I heard lately Kris Drever always uses dull strings and he’s one of my favourite guitarists, so I was trying to get a bit of extra mileage out of them. I quite like the sound of them in this video, but if you’re anything like me you’re always changing your string set up and trying new things!

@@CelticFrets they sound great! the dull string sound is really sweet

@John12512 Thanks very much :) saves a bit of money too haha!

Hi Geoff! Thank you very much, pleased you’re enjoying it :) if you send an email to the address at the start of the video, I’ll get back to you with a PayPal link and the transcription of this tune! Transcriptions are $10 per tune. Thanks!

Hi Geoff, just wanted to check in and see if you still wanted that transcription? Thanks!

Hi Geoff - just wanted to let you know I’ve just launched a digital tunebook that features a transcription of this tune! You can get it here: celticfrets.bigcartel.com

Thanks Louis :)

Thanks Phillip! Hope you’re enjoying the channel!

Thanks Tom :)

Hey! Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! No album as of yet, but thinking of putting some arrangements together down the line, so maybe something will come of that :) re the ornaments - I tend to think of faster ornaments as essentially rhythmic rather than melodic, so I don’t worry too much about using a fret that represents a scale note and just go for whatever feels comfortable to my hand. I suppose occasionally that might introduce a weird note, so in that case I’d think of another way to do things! But usually it works just fine, as the effect created happens too quickly to really hear the pitch. Hope that helps :)

@@CelticFrets That's really helpful thank you! Do you also offer lessons in person? Also, do you consider it unfeasible to pick a jig like this in full alternate picking (DUDUDU)?

I do indeed, though it would depend where you live! Send me an email on the address at the start of the video and we can have a chat and see what’s doable :) if in person isn’t possible, I do a lot of Zoom teaching, so that’s always an option too! DUDUDU is definitely feasible for a jig, and I know some great players that play this way. I like the DUDDUD approach as it bakes the 6/8 rhythm in to the picking pattern, but I’ve spent time working on alternate picked jigs as well, as it can give you different rhythmic options, and I’ll often sidestep into using it for a phrase or two to achieve a particular accent pattern. This sort of thing tends to be quite idiosyncratic, so my advice would be to pick a jig you know well, try both approaches and see what you like! It’s great fun to be able to chop and change between the two of them!

Thank you so much :) it’s a classic! Pleased to hear it still finds its way under your fingers :)

Thank you very much! He did indeed! Many classics! Thanks for stopping by :)