Irish Bouzouki: How to Accompany in E Minor

Join my Patreon for full access: / kevinelammusic
Hey friends, today we are going to use the tune "Drunken Landlady" to discuss how to accompany tunes in E minor. We will cover:
What MODE is the tune in?
What are the four most important chords you'll need?
Why these chords are used, and when to use them?
How to incorporate some slick counterpoint lines; and finally,
How to include a "sexy" substitute chord!
In this video I use GDAD tuning, but you can use these concepts for any tuning, and even for guitar, piano, or another instrument. Grab your axe and get ready to learn!

[@kais.7075]

Amazing, thank you! Learnt more in this video than I did in the last 2 years with the OAIM.

[@KevinElamMusic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Gelsenbury]

This is great, but above my level with chords. I'll come back to this when I'm ready.

[@liamoconlocha3264]

I suggest checking out lessons with Robert Jones, excellent teacher.

[@SandraSElam]

Even though I don't play the bouzouki, I enjoyed the video.

[@NoahNCopeland]

I always hypothesized that the C# in E minor is common in Irish music due to the uilleann pipes being tuned to D Major, and you just gotta work around the least flexible instrument. but I always don't know much about Irish music XD

[@saoirsepaddy]

Thanks Kevin😀

[@patrickfarley8036]

That's very cool Kevin, I love the tone of that Bouzouki! Can you tell me what the make and model is, please? Is it as well built as it looks and sounds? Thanks, man!

[@KevinElamMusic]

It's an Octave Mandolin made by W.A. Petersen, who has since passed on. I actually don't know what the model is called... sorry. It is well built for sure. Cheers!

[@jamesfloyd8504]

Surely you're in E Dorrian?

[@KevinElamMusic]

Yep, but in trad music we typically just say E minor. Dorian is a type of minor scale.

[@jamesfloyd8504]

@KevinElamMusic The dorrian scale is neither major nor minor. It's part of what gives Irish music its unique character.

[@KevinElamMusic]

​@@jamesfloyd8504I'm fully aware of what the Dorian (not Dorrian) mode is. Although it is not the same as the NATURAL minor scale, it nonetheless has a minor triad, and so it can be thought of as a minor mode. In the Irish traditional music community we typically just call this mode E minor for simplicity's sake. Most folks are interested in knowing what the tonic chord is going to be, and in this case, the tonic chord is E minor. Yes I'm aware of the technical distinctions between the classical E minor (natural minor) key signature and E Dorian. But it's just not super important for Irish traditional music to get fussy about the different names.

[@jamesfloyd8504]

E Minor scale has F sharp. E Dorian scale has F and C sharp. I do think it's important to get the proper terminology.

[@KevinElamMusic]

@@jamesfloyd8504 E natural minor, yes. There are several kinds of minor. E melodic minor has F#, C# and D#. E harmonic minor has F# and D#. E dorian minor has C# and F#. If you don't want to call Dorian "minor", that's fine, I can't force you. But it is a minor mode. Also, this isn't classical music. There are different standards of nomenclature. The point of the video is to teach folks about what we in Irish trad music call E minor - which is the mode you find in this video. By the way, the tune itself is barely even Dorian, having just one passing C#, which could easily be omitted without drastically affecting the tune (on the and of 2 in measure 7 of both A and B parts). If you'd rather think of it as E (natural) minor with one C# as an accidental, that works too.

[@irish-bouzouki]

Thank you so much, Kevin. Is it only on my computer that video and sound are not in sync?

[@KevinElamMusic]

I just checked and you're right, it does somehow get out of sync throughout the first half of the video and then seems to link up again later. Not sure why. I think it has to do with frame rate. Thank you for letting me know, I'll double check this for my next video.

[@KevinElamMusic]

Ah yes, it flips back into sync at 18:35.

[@user-mx2gn7rm8z]

You'd be much quicker throwing on a tune/getting someone to play a tune in E minor and using your ears than sitting for 40 mins listening to this boring, wanna-be Irish narcissist...talk about staring at yourself in the pool...

[@KevinElamMusic]

None of my videos are EVER meant to replace the indispensable value you'll get from simply playing tunes with friends! I always encourage real world application. Sorry if this video wasn't for you. Cheers!

[@eoinkelly8507]

@@KevinElamMusicDon’t pay any attention to that horrible comment - he was probably pissed drunk when he commented. I have been playing along with musicians live for years but your video is giving me some great new pointers in accompaniment of minor tunes. It’s always good to reevaluate your info every now and again - especially the zook

[@KevinElamMusic]

@@eoinkelly8507 thanks for the support, I really appreciate it!