obvious that singing is integral to traditional music, and nowhere is that more clearly illustrated than in sean-nós or “old style” singing, where the very style, whether highly ornamented or starkly simple, can clearly indicate the area from which both the song and singer originate. Swannanoa has several song classes scheduled during each dedicated week, as well as an entire week dedicated exclusively to singing.


Guitarist John Doyle teaches several song classes at the Swannanoa Gathering, as well as guitar. At the start of his musical career with Solas, Doyle was perhaps better known as an instrumentalist than a singer, but as his solo albums Evening Comes Early, and Wayward Son show, he sings as well as he plays. He talked about the blending of the contemporary and the traditional in Celtic music in his “potluck” class Traditional Song: Writing the New and Arranging the Old. During class he and his students discussed quantifi able aspects of singing, set time signatures, and strict adherence to standard scales - and why that isn’t really the way to approach sean-nós singing. He emphasized that the beauty of singing is in


‘... I think singing is probably the most important thing because it really defi nes the story, and it really defi nes the culture. Tunes can’t do it, airs can do it a little, but if you hear a song it tells us of human experience.’


the moment, rather than in a note perfect recital approach, using his father Sean Doyle as an example.


“When I hear just singing, the traditional singing”, he said, “then there is something in the tone that is so great – that feeling and expression – that can’t be got with other instruments, you know. You can mark it out, because I have. Someone will come in on, say, the 5, but then the next time my father would come in on the 6 or he would sing it again and do it in a different way…it’s all about the moment, how you feel in the moment, and that is the great part, because that is what it is…the expression of the moment. What you feel now, is not what you felt two minutes ago. You don’t have to do the same thing all the time - that is not what this is all about. Your voice is just what you need.”


“It is like all the traditional Irish music, when time signature came into Ireland it was a marriage between classical and traditional - originally there wasn’t really one. It was a diatonic sound - it wasn’t quite in tune to our ears now, but it was in tune then. If we went back 250 years and listened to what they were playing we’d be really surprised. I think singing is probably the most important thing because it really defi nes the story, and it really defi nes the culture. Tunes can’t do it, airs can do it a little, and taken as a whole they are all part of one big thing, but if you hear a song it tells us of human experience.”


I was impressed by the Gathering and not just because of the beautiful setting, the camaraderie of students and staff, and the quality of music to be heard all


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over the grounds. One thing I noticed was that in each class I attended, the staff were all more than willing to get together with the students after each class to answer questions, go over the days lesson, play music a little longer, and encourage those who were struggling a little.


As Eamon O’Leary so succinctly said, the students have to put in work, not just in the classroom but out, be able to keep up with the lessons – also in his words they have to want it - there are no shortcuts. But people who attend Swannanoa, often year after year, learn more about Celtic countries than just their music, and by being immersed in an atmosphere that encourages, and inspires students, as well as offering so many opportunities for them to just kick back and experience truly fantastic music from world class musicians, it all adds up to a experience that I believe could easily change a life…into one of music, year after year, after year.


www.swangathering.com


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