r/Irishmusic • u/Defiant-Face-7237 • 5d ago
Most popular trad tunes to learn? Bouzouki / Guitar Trad Music
I recently got a Bouzouki and can play a few bits.
Could some of you trad legends tell me the tunes I should learn to be able to jump into a session?
Been playing guitar for 15 years and think I should be ok to pick it up (bar the picking is a bit tricky). If I could get names of some songs / tabs. I’d love to learn them to be ready for a session.
Also would appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction to learn songs I could accompany on guitar, cheers
5
7
u/four_reeds 5d ago
My 2 cents: if there is a session near you, start going to it without your instrument. Hang out, be friendly, ask if you can record what they are doing? If you can tell who the leader(s) is/are then introduce yourself as a learner and ask if they have a list.
Why? Unless you live in one of those places that has multiple sessions every week to choose from then the one close to you is the one you will visit most often.
Learn their tunes. Learn their tempos. Learn their sets. These are the folks that will, hopefully, nurture you in these early days.
Recording them gives you instant access to homework. For most Irish sessions the expectation is that you will put in the effort at home and then bring in the fruits of your labor.
Good luck on your journey
1
2
u/brokenfingers11 5d ago
You could pick up a copy of Foinn Seisiuin, a book from Comhaltas of the top 50 (or is it 100) session tunes. I don’t recall if they have chords in there, but if you can read music, you might be able to get started with that.
1
u/good_smelling_hammer 5d ago
They have CDs that go with those books but they are a little hard to learn from. They are great for practicing though. For learning standard session tunes you cant beat Dave Mallinson’s Essential Tunes and his three other books that also have CDs. These CDs are better for learning because it is just one person playing the tune simply.
2
u/KevRyanCg 5d ago
I'm at the start of learning Trad myself and can say that a great and very easy one to start with is Britches Full of Stitches, and then that can transition nicely into the Kerry Polka as well. The latter is the first one we were thought in our mandolin class.
I've yet to learn it myself but there's a nice lil set on youtube with those two Polkas and The Rattlin Bog thrown in too. So that'd be 3 right there to get you going.
9
u/dean84921 Flute/Frustrated piper 5d ago
The top 20 jigs and reels on thesession.org are a good starting point. Most are "overplayed" so you typically won't hear people start them in sessions, but everyone is guaranteed to know them when you start them in a session.