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"Michael Kennedy Schottisches: Untitled/ Untitled/ Pretty Molly Brannigan" from The Dark of the Moon
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"Michael Kennedy Jigs: Untitled/ Untitled/ Haste to the Wedding" from The Dark of the Moon
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"The Cuckoo's Nest/ Fitzgerald's Hornpipe/ The Indian on the Rock" from The Green House
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"Michael Kennedy talks about the Cuckoo's Nest" from The Green House
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"Michael Kennedy plays the Cuckoo's Nest" from The Green House
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What will appear on the back of "The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle"

Grey has, through his research, patience, and diligence, completed a work on Irish flute and tin whistle that I feel is essential reading for anybody interested in getting it right.

Matt Molloy, Irish flute player with The Chieftains.


This book and CDs are for:

The beginner to the highly advanced player of:

Ø      Irish Flute
Ø      Tin Whistle (Pennywhistle)
Ø      Boehm-System Flute
Ø      Piccolo
Ø      Fife

and… everyone who is eager to learn about the nuts and bolts, and the heart and soul of traditional Irish music.

With this book and its CDs, you will:

Ø      Learn a compelling new approach to Irish ornamentation, one that goes far beyond previous methods. Learn ornamentation techniques never described in print before.

Ø      Discover a new and simplified system for notating Irish ornamentation.

Ø      Hone your skills with 49 ornamentation exercises.

Ø      Get crucial advice for Boehm-system flute players from Joanie Madden (of Cherish the Ladies), Noel Rice, and Chris Abell. Learn to play the modern flute in a traditional Irish style.

Ø      Learn to play more eloquently with in-depth advice on breathing, articulation, phrasing, variation, and practice.

Ø      Receive thorough guidance on flute and tin whistle embouchure (tone production) and ergonomics (your physical relationship with the instrument). Learn to play in a relaxed way and prevent injuries. Critical information for the absolute beginner and advanced player alike.

Ø      Gain deeper insight into traditional Irish music through a broad survey of Irish music theory and history.

Ø      Dig deep into the music of the masters with 27 meticulous transcriptions of great Irish flute and whistle performances, recorded and released between 1925 and 2001. These transcriptions bring to light, in marvelous detail, the ornamentation, phrasing, breathing, articulation, and variation styles of Matt Molloy (of The Chieftains, The Bothy Band, and Planxty), Joanie Madden (of Cherish the Ladies), Seamus Egan (of Solas), Kevin Crawford (of Lunasa), Cathal McConnell (of The Boys of the Lough), Mary Bergin, Willie Clancy, Séamus Ennis, Micho Russell, John McKenna, Tom Morrison and 11 other important players. See photos and read biographical information on each one, along with the author’s analysis of each performance. These transcriptions present the first deep, analytical, and comparative look into the playing styles of past and present masters of Irish flute and tin whistle.

Ø      Get 37 additional Irish tune transcriptions with suggested ornamentation for flute and tin whistle players.

Ø      Get two CDs with 198 tracks of Grey Larsen playing the tunes, exercises, and examples notated in the book, plus computer software and links to online resources.

Ø      View over 150 photographs, diagrams, and illustrations, and over 300 examples in music notation.

Ø     Refer to detailed fingering charts for Irish (simple-system) flute and tin whistle.

Ø     Understand much better what all those great flute and whistle players are doing.


"The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle" establishes an important benchmark for future generations of Irish music students, historians and music teachers. Above all, it fills a conspicuous void in the literature of Irish flute and tin whistle playing in America.

Thoroughly researched and comprehensive in scope, exploring the history of the instruments, as well as proffering a compelling analysis of ornamentation techniques, it is astutely aware of the pedagogical needs of the first-time learner and mature student alike. "The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle" is marked by an abiding sense of humanism.

The extended community of Irish music makers has now reached out and embraced a myriad of non-Irish performers who have added prodigiously to the artistic diversity of Irish flute music. Grey Larsen is a rare beacon in this new cohort of Irish flute players in North America.

Dr. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, MBA, Ph.D.
Jefferson Smurfit Corporation Professor of Irish Studies
Music Department, University of Missouri St. Louis.


Grey Larsen has been playing and studying Irish flute, tin whistle, and anglo concertina since the early 1970s, learning both from elder masters in Ireland, and from those who had emigrated to his own home turf in the American Midwest. He has taught, performed, and recorded widely throughout North America, Europe, and Australia. Also since the 1970s, Grey has been playing and exploring the traditional fiddle music of his native Midwest and Appalachia. Find out more at www.GreyLarsen.com.



Additional Info
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What will appear on the back of "The Essential Guide to Irish Flute ...

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