Book Review--Easy Irish and Celtic Melodies for 5-String Banjo: Best-Loved Airs and Session Tunes.

This instructional book written by BHO member Tom Hanway for Mel Bay Publications in 2013, is a companion to the 2012 release, Mel Bay’s Easy Irish and Celtic Tunes for 5-String Banjo: Best-Loved Jigs and Reels.

The book, written to be accessible to beginners while giving intermediate players a foundation upon which to build potentially more lyrical interpretations of the tunes, is a nice, no-frills collection of 32 tunes. These tunes, written in both standard notation and tablature, include Irish classics such as “Danny Boy,” “Loch Lomond,” “Raglan Road,” “Scotland the Brave,” “The Wearing of the Green,” and “Whiskey in the Jar,” just to name a few.

Written with the beginner in mind, Hanway presents simple arrangements of tunes, keeping ornamentation to a minimum while highlighting the melodic contours and phrasings of the pieces being presented. The accompanying CD follows the notation and tab of the tunes exactly, leaving those with more refined skills to find their own interpretations, and Hanway suggests that the musician make these tunes his own.  He does suggest that one try to master one tune at a time and encourages the player to bend the tune but not to break it.

As a frailer, I must admit that I was a little intimidated at first to dive into the book when I noticed that the tunes were written for a three-finger style of playing. Not being one to shy away from a challenge, however, I dove in head first, listening to a tune from the CD several times before even picking up my banjo. Having an initial listen to nuances and phrasing helped to avoid frustration when beginning to learn the tab.

Getting through the proper fingerings for the tunes was a slow process. Patience, and starting out very slow definitely helped while I was learning. Frequently returning to the CD helped as well, and I did plug some of the tracks into my Transcribe software so I could slow things down a bit. Finger positions are given for each tune, but chord positions are not, so I would recommend having a decent mastery of the basics before diving in.

The accompanying CD is excellent. Hanway plays the tunes exactly as they are tabbed and noted, and the clarity with which he plays is perfect. However, it would have been nice to have an intermediately played version of each tune in addition to the basic version. The CD itself runs just over 20 minutes, so there would have been adequate space for this addition.

With all tunes written for standard G tuning, this is a great tutorial for banjo players wanting to explore traditional Irish tunes. Tabs are easy to follow, standard notation is included, and chords are included for accompaniment. The included CD is a welcome addition, especially for tunes that may be unfamiliar. I highly recommend this book to anybody wishing to expand his or her repertoire to include Irish music.