The intermediate lessons introduce some of the stylistic embellishments that make up the characteristic Irish traditional sound.
This is the first embellishment that we'll work on and much like cuts and rolls, taps can fit in with just about any Irish tune there is. It's played by tapping the hole immediately below the one that's being played to give the effect of playing the note twice.
This is part 2 of the key ornament tutorials. A cut is a single gracenote typically played with either the top-hand ring finger or index finger, depending on preference and whistle. This is a key ornament and one which is necessary to build towards more complicated embellishments.
A roll is nothing more than a combination of the previous two ornaments, cut and tap, which gives the effect of playing the note three times. As with all ornamentation, make sure to play it slowly and in rhythm so that all notes sound properly. You can hear this embellishment in nearly every...
A slide is a very common embellishment used to change between two notes. It gives the tune a more open sound, as opposed to tighter or "bubblier" ornaments that you'll learn about later.
This lesson will get you started using the embellishments that you have just learned. As you watch and listen to the tutorial, keep in mind where I'm playing the embellishments, but also remember that the way I play the tune is not the only way to do it. We'll get to more on variations in later...
Silver Spear is a very common session tune -- in fact I believe this was the first reel that I learned. It's a great tune to use to practice embellishments as the melody is quite simple.
