Author: Folk_Friend
Myself and my very talented friend Tiffany Schaefer will be presenting a complete guide to accompanying Irish music on harp, guitar and any other stringed instrument (bouzouki, mandolin etc) on July the 13th! The workshop will be conducted over Zoom and will be a really fun opportunity to learn all about how to join in with folk sessions by ear. We’ll be sharing a little music theory knowledge, some simple ear training exercises and a whole host of fascinating tips that you can use to make your backing sound professional and musical, quickly and easily! The workshop will take place over Zoom with participants tuning in from across the globe. You’ll then receive a link to watch the whole event back whenever you want, so you’ll be able to instantly review what you’ve learnt and come back to the tricky parts later! This will be an incredible opportunity to train your ears and pick up some really cool techniques from hugely experienced tutors so don’t miss your chance to join us; CLICK HERE to find out more and book your place today.
For viewers who missed the live event, please be aware that you can still pay to access the playback and accompanying materials from the workshop- just check out as usual and I’ll send you a log in link!
Questions? Click here to contact me.
Thanks to Jack Hughes for the beautiful fiddle playing! The tunes in this set are The Old Flail and Health to the Ladies.
Tiffany’s social media:
In today’s video I’ll be continuing from my last video and showing you how you can combine the CAGED system with some handy shapes for common chord substitutions to enhance your playing as you move up the fretboard, to add interesting rhythmic and harmonic elements over the top of LOUD folk session guitar players!
Check out my book, Backing Guitar Techniques for Traditional Celtic Music for a complete guide.
CLICK HERE to join me and Tiffany Schaefer for our complete accompaniment Zoom workshop on July the 13th!
I’m finally back with another tutorial! This will be a two-parter, showing you how you can play over the top of LOUD guitarists in sessions while still being heard and adding something interesting to the overall sound. In this part we’ll be looking at how the CAGED system can be used to quickly find alternative chord voicings higher up the fretboard. I’ll also be showing you how you can take those and use them to quickly find the three main chords for popular major keys. In part two, I’ll be looking at some more advanced tips and tricks which will enable you to add substitutions and cover tunes in minor keys and the mixolydian mode.
My upcoming harp and guitar Zoom accompaniment workshop with Tiffany Schaefer is coming up very soon, on July 13th 2025! Click here to find out more and book your spot!
The PREVIOUS workshop can be watched back by clicking here.
Check out The Guitarist’s Guide to Chord Inversions for quick gateways to all sorts of crazy chord voicings right across the fretboard!
https://youtu.be/ctkSdAvDObM
In this video I’ll be showing you how to accompany one of my favourite Irish reels, Ramnee Ceilidh in DADGAD guitar tuning!
I’ll also be telling you all about the Folk Friend tour- I will be offering tailor made guitar and general accompaniment workshops all over the UK, suitable for groups of all ages and levels! Click here to book or find out more
Click here to find out more about Finale Music School.
https://youtu.be/leQPIJj0hJk
My latest business venture (alongside Folk Friend and Finale Guitar) is now open! You can find out more about Finale Music School here.
This week I had a little jam with one of our tutors, Mitzi. In this video we play a hornpipe called Nod To Tom and a reel called Secret Sister and I run you through the DADGAD guitar techniques I’m using to accompany them by ear. I talk about DADGAD chord choices, rhythmic variations and lots more!
Mitzi offers fiddle lessons over Zoom- you can contact me to book.
My latest (currently!) book, The Beginner’s Guide To Celtic DADGAD Accompaniment, is available here.
In this week’s free DADGAD guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I’ll be running you through some of the techniques I use when accompanying Irish reels by ear, with special guest Felix Parker-Price!
You can get the new book with a complete kit including Mode Wheel and Playalong Pack by clicking here. You can also click here to get the book on its own.
This week I’ve decided to post a little clip of myself and my mum jamming through a new set of jigs. It’s not perfect as it was the first time we’d played this set, but I think it gives a good insight into the process of picking chords by ear. I’ve then added a commentary track which will hopefully help you to steal some of my backing techniques and apply them in your own playing. You can find loads more great Irish guitar accompaniment ideas in my new book! Tune names will be added soon. This video also includes a top secret view into my kitchen lair at a top secret location in the back of Folk Friend HQ.
You can get the new DADGAD book by clicking here.
https://youtu.be/LHt7rVuDJsc
Welcome back to part 2 of the Folk Friend Beginner’s Guide to Celtic DADGAD Accompaniment! This video series will be covering some of the material from my latest book, which shows you everything you need to know to become a great Celtic DADGAD backing guitarist and is available at the link below. This week’s installment will cover how to pick chords by ear for a very popular Irish session tune in the key of G major, the Kesh Jig.
Click here to open my free Playalong video for the Kesh in a new tab.
Here are the root notes I mentioned in this clip:
Click here to watch part 1
It’s nice to be back making videos at Folk Friend HQ! I’ve finally finished my latest book, The Beginner’s Guide To Celtic DADGAD Accompaniment, so to celebrate I’ll be making a free course of DADGAD Youtube tutorials for complete newcomers to this rewarding and easily accessible tuning! This week’s instalment covers how to pick chord by ear in major keys- we’ll be looking at a classic Irish reel called The Maid Behind The Bar.