This will be the last free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend for 2020, but I’ll be back with loads more great content for both DADGAD and standard tuning (and maybe a few others too!) in 2021. I have finally released my first book of DADGAD arrangements of classic Irish tunes, so to celebrate I’ll be giving away a free tab for my arrangement of I Buried My Wife And Danced On Her Grave.
This free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend covers partial capo-ing, the easiest way to get the classic sound of DADGAD folk guitar without retuning or learning a single new chord shape!
I recommend the Kyser partial capo as it is quicker and easier to move around. You can now support Folk Friend by buying one directly from me (cheapest price in the UK guaranteed). Click here to shop now!
I recently finished writing a complete Beginner’s Guide To Celtic DADGAD Accompaniment! You can find it here.
In this video I respond to a message from Claire who wanted to know how capos work. I also show you an unusual way to use a capo to create more interesting textures to your chordal backing for Celtic music! I sell quick change capos which can be used for partial capoing and also moved around the neck really fast! They cost £10 with postage included and can be purchased here.
I also sell Kyser quick change partial capos, which can fret three strings while leaving the others open. This is very handy for getting the DADGAD sound without learning any new shapes and also has loads of other cool applications! Check them out here.
Shubb make a capo specifically for partial capoing. It is shorter than the standard capo so as to only barre a few strings at a time. You can get one here: https://amzn.to/2yzTB9R
My description of the Spider capo was a little misleading- they only capo one fret at a time, but can capo or not capo each string individually. Anyway here is where you can get one (there are cheaper versions, but these are the originals and probably better quality- I also feel that we should support the designers of clever things like this): https://amzn.to/2X3Lw7w
In this week’s free guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I’ll be showing you one super easy chord scale to practice in DADGAD, which contains every single chord you can play with a tune in the key of D ionian. The best part? You only need a maximum of two fingers per chord! These have to be the easiest DADGAD chord shapes for Celtic backing guitar!
Diagrams for all the easy DADGAD guitar chords I mention are included in the video :). You can learn more about the modes on my blog here.
I recently finished writing a complete Beginner’s Guide To Celtic DADGAD Accompaniment! You can find it here.
The topic of the 8th episode of the Folky Fridays Celtic guitar tutorial live stream from Folk Friend will be DADGAD! I’ll be showing you some extra things you can do to make your DADGAD backing more interesting and how to accompany tunes in a few keys other than D major.
I’ll be providing examples using my slow tune loop videos which are below: Kerfunken Jig (D major):
Tell Her I Am (jig, G major):
I recently finished writing a complete Beginner’s Guide To Celtic DADGAD Accompaniment! You can find it here.
In this week’s free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I’ll be looking at how you can use a set of simple chords in DADGAD tuning to play in G major and its related modes, A dorian, D mixolydian and E aeolian. I cannot recommend strongly enough that you learn a bit about music theory if you don’t already understand why certain chords go in certain keys and how the modes relate to one another.
Check out my Celtic theory videos here to learn everything you need to know.
I recently finished writing a complete Beginner’s Guide To Celtic DADGAD Accompaniment! You can find it here.
It can be difficult to get started learning Celtic backing guitar. There is so much to learn, from ear training, to music theory, to strumming patterns to rhythms to memorising tunes…. So much to practice- so little time! In today’s free Celtic guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I’m going to be telling you my top ten practice tips to make your guitar practice time more efficient.
I’ll also be demonstrating my brand new invention, the Folk Friend Guitar Practice Diary (click the link to buy now)! It uses a targeted system of quarterly, monthly and weekly reviews alongside an events calendar and my revolutionary Tablusic system to help you achieve your goals quickly. It also contains lots of handy tidbits for the budding Celtic guitarist, like chord shapes, mode diagrams, practice techniques and a ready made section for you to write your own tabs and chord diagrams quickly and easily.
The Stephen Guise book I mentioned (Mini Habits) is available here.
I receive a small affiliate commission if you buy it through the above link.
A few months ago I released a book of fingerstyle arrangements and soon after I ran a competition, in which I encouraged viewers to submit their own. One of the entries was from Jordan Lively, and it was so good that I thought it would be interesting for other Folk Friend viewers to hear him talk about how he writes his Irish fingerstyle arrangements and some of the playing techniques he uses.
Jordan has very kindly provided a free tab for the arrangement of Whelan’s Old Sow: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q5cyVQYUwurUGJAv_ceX-SGBXmGxir1Y?usp=sharing
If you want to find more of Jordan’s music, then check out his Facebook page: https://facebook.com/jordanlivelymusic
Here you can watch Jordan’s duet with the fantastic harpist Catherine Magee: https://www.facebook.com/167930823860401/posts/600620417258104/?sfnsn=scwspmo&extid=OQP7fmPS0mStOQTn
Jordan has lessons with Tony McManus- I’ve linked some of his recordings below along with Michelle Mulcahy, the harpist whose tunes we talk about later in the clip.
Tony Mc Manus’ album The Makers Mark: https://amzn.to/34Lg7ua 0
Suaimhneas album, by Michelle Mulcahy (source for the two tunes mentioned later in the clip): https://amzn.to/2YEFqdL
In other news, I recently finished writing a complete Beginner’s Guide To Celtic DADGAD Accompaniment! You can find it here.
