Folky Fridays #22 - DADGAD accompaniment lesson for 7 classic Celtic tunes

In this week’s episode of Folky Fridays I’ll be examining the evolution of “Celtic” instrumental music over time and how the move towards modern functional harmony and the influence of church music can be seen in tunes from different eras. I’ll also be examining how you can update harmony options for older tunes or reflect more traditional modal styles in your backing guitar. I’ll be playing in the DADGAD tuning which is very popular amongst Irish, Scottish and general Celtic backing guitarists for it’s ringing, open, modal sound.

Thanks to Duncan Cameron for giving me permission to use his fantastic recordings of classic jigs, reels and polkas in this guitar lesson.

Here are links to all the tunes covered:

The Lark In The Morning:

The Providence Reel:

I Have A Bonnet Trimmed With Blue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATEr6FKIsJg

Rakish Paddy:

The Monaghan Jig:

Jenny’s Chickens:

Tam Lin:

I recently finished writing a complete Beginner’s Guide To Celtic DADGAD Accompaniment! You can find it here.

If you're just starting out in the world of Celtic backing guitar, my books can help! They cover everything you need to know about theory, structure, rhythms, chords, fingerstyle and much more... Check them all out here

If you'd like to learn how to play by ear then there's really no substitute for an experienced professional teacher. Click here to book your free trial lesson today!

If you would like a complete guide to folk backing on the guitar then you really need my book Backing Guitar Techniques For Traditional Celtic Music, which tells you all the music theory, strumming patterns, chord shapes and everything else you need to become a great backing guitarist and
My invention The Amazing Mode Wheel can show you all the notes and chords which fit in any scale used in Celtic music.

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