Thursday 30 July 2020

Irish Mandolin

Some accumulated books, though I am
learning mainly through MandoLessons.
My time in Intensive Care at the end of last Summer somehow left me with a dry mouth condition that made singing unpleasant. Scarcely had I more-or-less recovered from that and we were all hit with the Covid Lockdown. The revival of my singing with concertina accompaniment was thus delayed and remains a work in progress, but I have been doing a bit of acapella singing in Zoom sessions. 

I have also just started to learn Irish traditional dance tunes on mandolin. I've always loved this genre and made several attempts to play tin whistle without much success. Thanks to the experience I gained in the Bluegrass and Old Time genres, however, I'm getting further with the mandolin than I did with the whistle. 

It's a great thrill to be playing these tunes but I'm not putting myself under any pressure. My guiding ambition now is just to sing and play for my own pleasure.