Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Overview

  • 13 lessons teaching how to play 13 very popular Irish tunes.
  • Progress at your own pace, pause & repeat videos.
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  • PDF sheet music & mp3’s to download & keep for each tune.
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BONUS:
  • Access our Entire Course Catalogue for Every Instrument.
  • Library of over 150 popular Irish tunes to practice along with.
  • Virtual Reality Sessions for the unique Irish Pub Session experience – a real treat for the Irish music lover.
  • Community Forum of students and teachers, all friends with a love of Irish music.

Ireland is famous the world over for its rich mystical heritage. The lore, the music and the legends; the stone circles, dolmens and tombs; all evoke in us a deep sense of the beyond, the otherworldly. More than any other instrument, wind instruments such as the flute and whistle, seem to innately have the capacity to translate that ethereal mystical nature into haunting notes which, when executed masterfully, offer a glimpse beyond the ordinary.

It is with great excitement that we present this intriguing course, straying from our normal, up-beat lively dance tunes, as we ramble down an even more alluring, possibly even contemplative, path. It is taught by flautist Kirsten Allstaff, steeped as she is in the Celtic tradition all her life.

So we invite you to tarry a while in her expert company as she invites you into the world of waltzes and slow airs, to learn first to play them, and then perhaps moving into the even more intriguing delight of letting this instrument play you as you explore embellishments and articulations that really bring the tunes to life!

By the end of the course you will have dipped your toes into some tunes that are centuries old, with a couple of exceptions. With 13 lessons in all, each lesson is broken down into 3 to 4 tutorials, taking you slowly and methodically through the skills and techniques. Although the course is aimed at those who already play, it is a basic course, accessible to all, and recommended to basic and accomplished player alike. (This course is also taught on tin whistle here.)

Course Structure

The aim of this course is to teach you how to play some slower pieces of music on the flute with haunting embellishments.

Kirsten teaches 13 simple and beautiful slower pieces of music from the Irish tradition. All the pieces are very well known and are time honoured favourites here in Ireland and throughout the Irish music world.

Some of the techniques Kirsten covers include: Breath control; how to support longer, slow phrases, ornamentation for slow tunes, vibrato, how to approach phrase endings, intonation, articulation, plus how to create momentum and fluidity with the use of tempo and dynamics.

Tunes covered are:

The South Wind
Down By the Sallygardens
The Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow
Éamonn an Chnoic
Planxty Irwin
Thoir Dhomh Do Lámh
Eleanor Plunkett

Marino Waltz
My Lagan Love
An Chuilinn
Lord Inchiquin
Boulavogue

 

Your Tutor
Kirsten Allstaff, co-founder of OAIM, is an acclaimed flute and tin whistle player that has played throughout Ireland, Europe, North America and Asia with various Irish dance shows and groups. She has a First-Class Honours Master’s Degree in Traditional Irish Music Performance from the University of Limerick, Ireland. She previously tutored flute and whistle at The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance where she was involved in early online lecturing initiatives. 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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Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lessons

Level

The South Wind

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lesson 1

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Focus on breath control, melodic cuts and slides

Waltz

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Down by the Sally Gardens

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lesson 2

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Continuing the study on breath control, melodic cuts and slides

Air

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Boulavogue

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lesson 3

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Demonstrates and discusses various types of vibrato

Waltz

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Eleanor Plunkett

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lesson 4

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Focus on intonation and tuning between octaves

Waltz

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Thoir Dhomh do Lámh

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lesson 5

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Articulation, ornamentation and vibrato

Air

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Éamonn an Chnoic

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lesson 6

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Focus on the tapering of phrase endings

Air

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The Lonesome Boatman

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lesson 7

  • E Minor
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Continues the study of vibrato and phrase endings

Air

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The Marino Casino

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lesson 8

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Ornamentation and articulation

Waltz

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The Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lesson 9

  • A Minor
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Demonstrate and discuss the use of dynamics in shaping phrases and also variation

Air

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Planxty Irwin

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lesson 10

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Slides and cuts

Waltz

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Lord Inchiquin

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lesson 11

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Rolls

Waltz

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My Lagan Love

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lesson 12

  • D Mix
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Focus on fluidity of tempo, dynamics and expression

Air

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An Chuilinn

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Flute Lesson 13

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Fluidity of Tempo, Dynamics and Expression

Air

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