I have never experienced anything quite like the Donegal Fiddlers' Summer School in Glencolumbkille ("Glen"). It was a dizzying combination of focused instruction, concerts, sessions, and general socializing. (Well, at least I felt pretty dizzy at the end of it!) The instruction (the only part the School is directly responsible for) was excellent, the concerts generally good, and the sessioning -- exhausting!
This year there were more than 100 students (I never heard an exact count), broken into ten classes. The teachers included James Byrne, from Meenacross in the Glen area, an extraordinarily nice man and one of Donegal's great fiddlers (and Ireland's); Seamus Gibson, a gifted fiddler, technically and otherwise, and nephew of Tommy Peoples; Mick Brown and Ronan Galvin, who often play together, and whose style may be described as very sweet, moderately paced, and admirably reminiscent of the older players of southwest Donegal; Martin McGinley of Killybegs, an excellent fiddler and publican (regular sessions at the Sail Inn); Maurice Bradley, yet another great fiddler from southwest Donegal, playing in the old style; the brilliant Paul O'Shaughnessy, of Altan and other well-deserved fame; and a number of others (including Caoimhin Mac Aoidh, the School's organizer and yet another good fiddler). Most (all?) in their 30Õs or 40Õs. All excellent fiddlers.
Imagine all of them together, with students at all levels of development, in one small Irish town with three pubs, and charged with the task of teaching the students loads of tunes in one week. It was great!
The students arrived on Monday around 10 am, whereupon they were sent alone (i.e., out of earshot of the other students) into a classroom before Seamus Gibson and Mick Brown. The students played a tune or two for Seamus and Mick, who divided them into classes -- according to a method which we were assured was quite scientific and virtually foolproof! I was pretty happy with where I was put, anyway.
The classes began Monday afternoon, and went for three hours in the morning and two in the afternoon (it was never exact, of course). I think some valid generalizations can be made about the classes: (1) almost all classtime consisted of learning tunes (and ornaments and variations on the tunes, etc.); (2) sheet music was often (if not always) available, but was not used to teach the tunes, i.e., the tunes were taught by ear, i.e., the teacher plays a phrase, the students repeat it back, and so on; and (3) most, but not all, of the tunes taught originated in Donegal or were, in any case, often played in Donegal and often in specific Donegal settings.
I have no idea whether my own teacher, Mick Brown, was typical in terms of his teaching ability and methods. He was an excellent teacher due to his patience, his ability to play tunes very slowly and cleanly (in a way easily learnable by students), and his ability to explain new techniques clearly. I believe he went a bit slower than the other teachers; but there is a trade-off from the student's point of view: do you want to learn relatively few tunes very well, or many tunes quite roughly? Typically he would play a given tune two or three times up to speed, then play the first phrase, and then ask us to repeat it back about a half-dozen times until everyone had it. Then he would move on to the second phrase, and then the third, until we had the first part of the tune; we would practice that, and then learn the second part; and then we would practice the entire thing. Then Mick put the whole thing slowly on tape for us a few times. (Students were expected to bring tape recorders. I am very glad to have the tapes I made while at Glen.)
The style that Mick taught us was his own, which is deeply rooted in the Teelin and Glencolumbkille styles; Mick has played with and learned a great deal from James Byrne. The purpose of the School, after all, is to spread knowledge of and ability to play in the Donegal style of fiddling. (That is -- "the" Donegal style of fiddling. Of course there is more than one style.)
That being the case I was surprised that nearly all of the students (that I ran into, anyway) were not focusing specifically on the Donegal style (which is what I myself am doing). They came to the School because they liked and were attracted to the Donegal style, but not necessarily to the point of wanting to focus exclusively on it. Moreover, this is accepted and even encouraged by the teachers. Caoimhin Mac Aoidh (the main administrator of the school) told me that the teachers are perfectly happy with this because it means that some understanding of the Donegal style will be spread throughout the country (and indeed Europe and the U.S.). What this means from the student's point of view -- the student who doesn't want to specialize -- is that most teachers at the school will encourage some habits that you might later want to forget, e.g., single-bowing everything.
Students came from all over the world. There were probably more adult students from Britain and Europe than from Ireland. I was aware of only three students, myself included, from the United States. I believe many of the children were local (Donegal) residents. One fellow in my class was from France; I met quite a few Scots and English folks as well. Most everyone was friendly. And they were of all different abilities, from the just-begun to the seasoned semi-pro. I think most of the students (who weren't children) were in their 20's and 30's, but there were a few who appeared to be in their 40's or 50's (even a few of the relative beginners -- if you're starting relatively late in life, you wonÕt be alone there).
There was a concert of some sort every day of the week. On Monday through Wednesday there were concerts that included James Byrne, Vincent Campbell, and many of the teachers, as well as others who didnÕt teach. The concerts took place in the so-called "Tea Room" in the Folk Village, a tourist attraction south of the main part of Glencolumbkille, set up to represent an old Irish settlement. The acoustics in the Tea Room are good. The concerts were generally excellent.
A good many of the teachers and students at the School did not even attend the concerts, but after dinner headed straight to the sessions that were held nightly in each of Glen's three pubs. Some great music, of course, could be heard there. I've never been in more crowded places, though! It was worth it at any rate. I was able to play in one session led by James Byrne and which included Connie Drost (his wife) and Roisin Harrigan (she has a new last name which I have forgotten -- a really excellent young player). James has regular sessions in Glen, I understand. He plays the tunes none too fast (but not too slowly either) and typically at least five times. That was the best session I have ever been in! Another session (which, regrettably I only heard about) included Vincent and Jimmy Campbell, Paul O'Shaughnessy, and a number of the other teachers and good students from the school; this session began Friday night and lasted, I understand, until well past dawn!
It's a bit frustrating that so much music is going on until the wee hours of the morning most every night of the week, because on the next day one has to get up, get ready, and be in class by ten. There's a real trade-off between getting enough sleep (and thus for me at least, being able to play at my best) and taking in some of the best parts of the week! I suppose it's that way at any such fiddle school. I don't know what the solution is. Unless it would be to develop the incredible talent of being able to play consistently well, such as Paul O'Shaughnessy is reputed to be able to do, regardless of the hour of the morning or of the amount imbibed!
In short, for anyone who has an interest in learning something about playing fiddle as they do in Donegal, the Glen week can't be recommended highly enough. It is truly an exhausting and inspiring experience.
Thanks to everyone there who makes it possible.