The Best Online Platforms for Learning Celtic Music
These platforms are designed to preserve musical traditions while embracing modern methods.
Studying Celtic music can be a great time, offering a look at historical tunes. This guide shares ideas about both paid and no cost resources. After a lot of research, we've made a short list of the best online platforms to learn Celtic music, good for learners at any level.
The best online platforms for learning Celtic music include 'The Session', a group just focused on Irish music. The 'Online Academy of Irish Music' gives a big list of traditional Irish music tutorials. The 'Scottish Music Academy' is an online music school teaching Scottish melodies and style. Also, there's 'Brittany Music', a site offering full tutorials in traditional Breton music. On top of that, 'Blayne Chastain' offers lessons on many Celtic instruments.
Go to the next parts for more details of what these sites offer with their different learning setups, lesson plans, and tools. Keep reading as there's a lot of information ahead about these educational tools.
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The Session
The Session is an active, online community based site. Here, musicians of Irish traditional music meet to share and grow their knowledge. With its easy to use website at thesession.org, this site helps lovers and learners of all skill levels as they look into the full list of Irish music.
It's a whole resource that gives a large archive of tunes for you to look at. It lets you join in sessions with other musiciansto talk about traditional Irish music. It also lets you stay up to date on new events like concerts, festivals, and hands on workshops to feel the lively air of live music. Also, the site offers users the chance to look at different recording track lists and grow their understanding of Celtic music.
The Session mainly runs as a non profit project. This makes sure all tools on its site are free of cost for all users. To support its goal and keep the site working, giving money is welcomed. This can be a one time payment or a regular monthly donation. You also have the choice to become a patron for a small monthly donation starting at $5.
In the end, The Session stands out as a huge resource for anyone with a passion for Irish traditional music. Its big collection of tunes, active talks, and event lists offer the perfect doorway to look at, learn and connect with this great musical style.
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Online Academy of Irish Music
The Online Academy of Irish Music, found at OAIM.ie, is a top resource for everyone wanting to learn and follow Irish music. The site has a huge collection of over 1,000 traditional Irish music video tutorials. They cover a range of 14 Irish music instruments.
OAIM shows 34 respected Irish music teachers. Among them are known names such as Kevin Crawford, Kirsten Allstaff, Niall Keegan, Niamh Dunne, Christy Barry, and Dáire Mulhern. This site focuses on making music educationopen to all. Knowing sheet music is not needed!
One of the special things about OAIM is its freedom and ease of use. All learning materials are open anytime. This lets you study at your own speed, no matter where or when. With full access starting from only €16 per month, it offers a low cost option to normal one on one teaching sessions.
Also, OAIM meets different learner needs, giving both mp3 files and sheet music for each tutorial. This way builds a full learning experience, fitting everyone from total beginners to middle and advanced learners.
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Scottish Music Academy
Found through scottishmusicacademy.com, the Scottish Music Academy (SMA) calls itself the only online educational place focused on Scottish music.
What makes this site different is its full program. With many courses, each for a different Celtic instrument, SMAmakes sure of complete learning. A main point of the teaching is the focus on traditional Scottish music, pushing for a love of the history and culture found in every tune.
The site has a team of professional musicians, each a leader in the area of Scottish music. Their deep knowledge and experiences are key in guiding the learners to find their way in Celtic music.
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Blayne Chastain
Blayne Chastain, a specialist in Irish traditional music, gives lessons on instruments like the Irish Whistle, Flute, Bodhrán, and Piano. His passion for this style led him to study at the University of Limerick. After that, he set up his own online music instruction site.
Living in less city based places can limit access to skilled teachers. Chastain tries to fix this issue through his online platform. His training library spreads the reach of quality Irish music instruction, giving helpful lessons for a worldwide audience.
The platform gives full lessons, teaching more than 150 tunes. Each lesson is easy to follow, being broken into many chapters and teaching tunes piece by piece. Other tools, such as .pdf sheet music and .mp3 files, come with each tune.
There are courses fit for beginners, along with a growing library of methods. In addition, students get help with their own needs, join student discussion forums, and have a chance to affect the planning of future lessons through comments and ideas.
Brittany Music
While not as known as others like OAIM and Scottish Music Academy, Brittany Music Lessons is a site set to meet the needs of anyone wanting to learn Breton music. When you join at brittanymusic lessons.com, you can get full access to many classes on traditional Breton instruments. These include the bombarde, bagpipe, guitar, diatonic accordion, Celtic harp, clarinet, and fiddle. Special lessons in Bombarde and Clarinet also make the site stand out.
Each lesson is made to fit beginners and more advanced learners. They show the teachers' broad experience both as teachers and performing artists. Instructional videos, with many camera angles, give students a full view of methods. They are helped by scores, tabs, and sound files for practice.
Learning goes beyond playing an instrument, as teachers share their view of Breton Celtic music. They put weight on the traditional Breton song list. Beyond just teaching tunes, Brittany Music Lessons takes in the rhythm, history, and special parts of Breton music, be it the identity showing bombarde or the rhythm giving guitar. This platform acts as a welcoming door to the broad musical world of Brittany.
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Final Thoughts
In short, digital platforms like the Scottish Music Academy and experts like Blayne Chastain are changing access to music learning. Their courses, focused on Celtic music, open doors for students all over the globe. These platforms are made to save musical traditions while using modern methods.
The use of skilled musicians as tutors adds worth to the learning experience. Social media groups, focused on special instruments, also play a big part in helping this education. They give interaction, tips, and shared knowledge that add to formal learning.
As technology plays a bigger part in music education, many resources have become open to students. By mixing set courses, expert help, and social media communities, learners get a full and rounded education. Today's digital way of music education holds great promise for those wanting to learn traditional music styles.
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What is Celtic Music?
