Encyclopedia of Celtic Tunes for Flatpicking Guitar

Rating:
Summary: Rich collection of fresh arrangements
Review: Buy this book if you are looking for a good source of new intermediate-level material to work with. The material seems to be drawn entirely from the Irish/Scottish musical tradition, with no recently-composed tunes to jar one's ear. The arrangements are clever, there are hundreds of them, and you are sure to run into catchy or haunting tunes that you will want to add to your own repertoire.

Don't buy this book if your primary interest is getting acquainted with the range of standard session tunes being played today -- there are better books for that. The author admits in the introduction that he is fairly new to playing in the Irish traditional music genre, and it shows. While the tunes included in the "reels" section of this book are in fact all reels, swept up into the section labeled "hornpipes" here are some genuine hornpipes, but also many tunes that are usually played as reels, in addition to schottisches, polkas, set dances, etc. The inclusion is similarly eclectic in the sections the author labels "waltzes" and "jigs". There is some duplication of tunes under different titles, though Kaufman seems to have done an exceptionally good job of nailing down and listing alternate tune titles in common use.

There are a certain number of misspellings and minor typographical errors (some musical) scattered throughout the book. The author seems not to be interested in dealing with the question of modal keys that are so typical of Celtic music, and simply reduces each tune to a plausible guitar key, which is fine if you are planning only to play by yourself but not so good otherwise. The major shortcoming for someone interested in the history and background of this body of music is the complete lack of attention given to this point -- nothing here but tunes, tunes, tunes. If that is what you want, go for it!