Concertina Progressions Overview

  • 13 lessons teaching how to play 13 very popular Irish tunes.
  • Progress at your own pace, pause & repeat videos.
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Concertina Progressions is aimed at those who already know the basics and foundations of anglo concertina playing but who want to progress with their ornamentation, repertoire and chording skills. If you’re new to the concertina you’re recommended to start with the Concertina Basics course, followed by Concertina Foundations before this course.

By the end of the course you will have a repertoire of thirteen tunes that sit well on the concertina, a better understanding of ornamentation and chords, and a deeper understanding of the Irish music tradition; not to mention a very good reason to head for the Willie Clancy Summer School in County Clare, in Ireland in July! The course has 13 lessons, broken into 3 to 4 tutorials each, where tunes are taught phrase by phrase.

Course Structure

Most of the tunes taught on this course have links to the town of Miltown Malbay, Co Clare, birth place of uilleann piper Willie Clancy and home to one of Ireland’s largest traditional music festivals held in his name: The Willie Clancy Summer School.  The repertoire of  Willie Clancy features strongly throughout the course. 

In the first three lessons the tutor focuses mainly on ornamentation: cuts, grace notes and triplets.  In lessons four and nine the links between concertina chording and the drones and regulators of the pipes are discussed and demonstrated. Although the lessons are aimed at an intermediate level of playing, the more advanced player can pick up advanced techniques which can be heard when the tutor plays the tune in full at the opening of each lesson: namely chords, ornamentation, variation and speed. 

The traditional Irish tunes taught in this course are:

I Buried My Wife And Danced On Her Grave
The Hills Of Coore
An Suisin Bán
The Mountain Top
The Battle Of Aughrim
The Hardiman The Fiddler
The Morning Star
The Lark On The Strand
Frahers
Sonny Murray’s Hornpipe
Willie Clancy’s Reel
Tatter Jack Walsh
The Humours Of Scarriff

 

Your Tutor
Liam O’BrienLiam O’Brien was brought up in a very musical family. After starting on the tin whistle at the age of four, by ten he took up the concertina and attended classes with Noel Hill for many years. He then went on to study Irish Music and Dance in the University of Limerick. Even at still such a young age, Liam has already travelled the world playing and teaching. He has been all across Europe, Africa and spent the summer of 2012 touring Japan. Liam has also been teaching concertina and banjo as part of the Brid O’Donohue School of Music for the last eight years where his popularity grows and grows. Read more.

Detailed questions and discussion on the course can be found in the Community Forum, available to paying members only.

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Concertina Progressions Lessons

Level

I Buried My Wife And Danced On Top Of Her

Concertina Progressions Lesson 1

  • D Mixolydian
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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This tune is in the key of D mixolydian

Jig

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The Hills of Coore

Concertina Progressions Lesson 2

  • D Minor
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Rolls

Hornpipe

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An Suisin Bán

Concertina Progressions Lesson 3

  • G Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Ornamentation: Triplets, Rolls and Cuts

Hornpipe

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The Mountain Top

Concertina Progressions Lesson 4

  • G Major
  • Level 2
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Chords

Reel

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The Battle of Aughrim

Concertina Progressions Lesson 5

  • A Minor
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Ornamentation and Chords

March

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The Hardiman The Fiddler

Concertina Progressions Lesson 6

  • D Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Ornamentation: Rolls, Cuts and Triplets

Jig

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The Morning Star

Concertina Progressions Lesson 7

  • G Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Ornamentation: Rolls, Cuts and Triplets

Reel

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The Lark on the Strand

Concertina Progressions Lesson 8

  • D Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Ornamentation: Rolls, Cuts, Triplets

Jig

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Frahers

Concertina Progressions Lesson 9

  • D Mixolydian
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Variation, Chords and Piping Trills

Jig

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Sonny Murray’s Hornpipe

Concertina Progressions Lesson 10

  • D Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Chording Technique

Hornpipe

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Willie Clancy’s Reel

Concertina Progressions Lesson 11

  • A Minor
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Focus on Rolls

Reel

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Tatter Jack Walsh

Concertina Progressions Lesson 12

  • D Mixolydian
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Chords and Piping Effects

Jig

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The Humours of Scarriff

Concertina Progressions Lesson 13

  • D Minor
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Ornamentation – Rolls on Low and High ‘D’ / Alternative Fingering

Reel

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