Looking for good albums to learn from

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Celtic Banjo

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A group dedicated to Celtic music played on all kinds of banjos in all kinds of styles.

152 Members, Created 6/10/2011 -

Administrators: Banjowen (owner) , imac50 , Tom Hanway

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From mshipman on 3/1/2015 5:48:10 PM

I admit, I'm mostly a bluegrass picker, but really starting to get into Celtic banjo, 5-string, and could use some help finding some good albums to listen to to help learn some of the tunes. So I ask, what would be your top three (or more) albums to hear good Celtic banjo, preferably 5-string? Any help is appreciated.

9 Comments
	captbanjo says: 3/2/2015 3:27:15 AM Kieran Hanrahan, 'Irish Banjo'.
androo says: 3/2/2015 5:09:19 AM I believe you are talking about people who play this music on a 5 string banjo. Tony Furtado's first three banjo albums have great arrangements of Celtic Music. They are "Swamped, Within Reach & Full Circle." The other tunes are amazing as well. I also highly recommend Chris Grotewohl's "Under the Influence. This music is challenging to play on the 5 string but if you stick with it and practice faithfully you will see great results and be a better player.
	captbanjo says: 3/2/2015 7:10:45 AM Convert the great four string Irish players (Hanrahan , Gerry O'Connor, Enda Scahill, to name a few) to the five. If you are fluent with single string style, you can also play the Irish four string tenor banjo that way. I have a couple of examples of this on my homepage here.
mshipman says: 3/2/2015 2:07:29 PM Thanks! That will help me get started.
	Tom Hanway says: 5/7/2015 4:35:58 AM Fair play to you! I have probably recorded more tunes than most, just in my first collection which has 68 Celtic tunes - all I could fit - on the companion CD to Complete Book of Irish & Celtic 5-String Banjo (101 transcriptions), including Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Manx and Breton tunes, also famous tunes from the Celtic diaspora, e.g., Shetland, Cape Breton, Appalachia, New England and Canada. Most of the tunes in the collection are of Gaelic origin (from Scotland and Ireland). There's also a cross-referenced Glossary, history, study of embellishment techniques, exercises, and tabs, many with ornamentations. I have three follow-up collections Best-Loved Jigs and Reels - book/CD/68 tunes, Best-Loved Airs and Session Tunes (for beginners) - book/CD/32 tunes. Full description here: melbay.com/Products/95759BCD/c...anjo.aspx If that's not enough tunes, I have three follow-up collections, Best-Loved Jigs and Reels (beginner/intermediate) - book/CD/68 tunes, Best-Loved Airs and Session Tunes (for beginners) - book/CD/32 tunes. Also, I there's a brand new Carolan collection for all instruments with chords, standard and tab, a companion CD - every tune played twice through at tempo - 20 classic Celtic harp tunes - for a summer 2015 release. Interestingly, many harp tunes ascribed to Carolan - Carolan's Dream, Beauty in Tears, Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór (The Bonny Cuckoo) and others - he didn't compose by himself, but adapted from earlier sources. Fascinating stuff. Notes to the tunes in the Carolan collection for Celtic geeks!
mshipman says: 5/8/2015 2:50:37 AM I did pick up your Complete Book of Irish and Celtic 5-String Banjo. It's been very helpful.
mshipman says: 5/8/2015 2:51:08 AM I will keep my eye on the others. Thanks!
	ronh2510 says: 5/11/2015 2:43:28 AM Hi, Please check out my book of O'Carolan tunes for 5 String Banjo. Tabs for 20 of the Bard's lovely tunes (jigs, airs, reels) and all played note for note on the accompanying CD. Hangout Classified listing No 25132 - (Instructional materials). Examples here - youtu.be/hByroDxePt0 Regards from a fellow Celtic Banjo music lover. Ron Hughes
mshipman says: 5/14/2015 2:21:55 AM I will keep my eye on the others. Thanks!
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