Caitlín Triall ['Kitty Tyrell'] is a well-known song air, which has continued in the living tradition of Irish traditional music. Other songs that use versions of this air include Éamonn an Chnuic [‘Ned of the hill’], and The Lambs on the Green Hills. The version that we will learn in this session is based on a live, field transcription that Edward Bunting jotted down from the playing of an old Irish harper at the end of the eighteenth century. We will look at the transcription together and discuss some of the questions that arise, and I will give you suggestions for fingerings and basses. This version of Caitlín Triall is also very useful for understanding pentatonic modes in old Irish harp music, so we will discuss that too!

Post festival access: this event recording is available to ‘Early-Bird All Access’ and ‘All Access’ ticket holders until 29 December 2021.