February update

Steve and Robyn taught a great tune last Wednesday - a four part hornpipe, Murphy's Hornpipe. There's a bit to learn in it but it's going to rollick along nicely.

 

PLEASE NOTE: There will be no early class tomorrow (25th Feb) as Steve has a gig commitment in the afternoon. The second class will start as usual at 7:00pm.

Wednesday 4th February - The Boy in the Gap

It was great to be back playing again last night.  Thank you to Steve and Robyn for the lively three part reel "The Boy in the Gap".  This goes well with a tune that we learned previously "The Boy in the Boat".
We assume that somehow the boy fell out of the boat but I'm not clear whether or not the sheep that was in yet another boat, the subject of another tune, was involved.

Next week the slow class will resume, starting at 6.10pm, to be followed as usual by the regular class at 7.00pm.

While it was good to see another new face last night the class isn't intended for those that are totally new to their instrument.  It really is necessary to know where specific notes are and preferably be able to play a few scales, G and D particularly.  If you know somebody that is keen to start up but needs some lessons to get the basics covered contact Steve or Robyn or message us here.  Between them they can cover the most common session instruments or otherwise probably know somebody else that can.

Tunes Class resumes after the New Year break

Hooray! It's February so the tunes class will resume this Wednesday, 4th. This week we will start at 7pm with no early slow class. Everybody is welcome but be aware that we may be proceeding a little briskly. See you there!

Fun at Woodford

What a great crowd of dancers braved the heat and humidity to join us for the Woodford ceili. The dance hall was packed! We had great fun playing, they appeared to have fun dancing, and we enjoyed watching the mayhem with those dancers that couldn't tell left from right.
It was lovely to have Alan and Kristen Kelly join us in the band!
Did anybody get photos, we would love to see them?

 

Thank you to Ian Mcelhinney for this video clip of the dancers having fun to the tune Cuillinn.

 

 

Ready for Woodford

That's it for the year as far as classes go folks.  We're all practiced up ready for the ceili at Woodford Folk Festival.  Come along and dance to our tunes in the Dance Hall on Monday 29th December at 9.00pm.

 

Classes will resume on 4th February as many of us will be away during January.  In the meantime those remaining in the area are still likely to be playing in the usual sessions at Finbar's and wherever else Celtic tunes may be found.  Finbar's sessions start around 5.00pm every Sunday, and intermediate sessions on 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month from 2.00pm to 4.00pm.

 

Have a great festive season everybody!

New class format and preparing for Woodford

Last week we changed the format of the Wednesday evening classes and practice. The session now starts at 6:15pm with teaching done at a slower rate, more suitable for players new to Irish music. At about 7:00pm the pace picks up for the more seasoned players. This change appears popular so we'll continue doing it this way.

Maleny Ceili Band will be playing for a ceili at Woodford Folk Festival again this year, on Monday 29th December at 9:00pm. For the next few weeks we'll be concentrating on practicing our sets, many new ones but some of the old favourites still included.

Tune learning, ceili set practice, and session playing have all been continuing as usual, although several members, including the editor of this blog, have been away at various times.  Perhaps not surprisingly the majority visited Ireland to experience the music at it's origins.

The experiment of learning at higher speed has been successful but we are aware that this method is not practical for newer players.  In the near future we will trial starting the Wednesday evening class half an hour earlier, teaching at a slower pace for the early part of the evening then picking up speed later.  We'll let you know when this begins.

The next major event on our calendar is the Woodford Folk Festival where once again the Maleny Ceili Band will play for a fun-for-all dance.