How to accompany other genres of music, specifically Celtic music
I know this is kind of broad and off topic since this is a blues site but any advice would be appreaciated.
I live in an area where Celtic music is very prominent, specifically played on bagpipes. A lot of my friends and family play bagpipes at the festivals and gatherings and now that Im getting a little more proficient in harmonica I would like to contribute a little more. I know how to accompany the 12 bar blue (thank you Dave for that) but any advice on how I can translate this skill to Celtic music (or even any other type of music)? Or said in another way, how can I accompany Celtic music?
as for a song that might be played this is one
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r50295nVm4Q/VXG5P3PJ-QI/AAAAAAAAD6s/fGYEP2PPn5...
I moved to Galicia a couple months ago.
“It's important to listen and learn the most-common chord structures, and then to learn arpeggios for those chords, and melodies of the most popular tunes.”
Documentation is quite scarce for muiñeiras but im definitely going to dive into it.
But with my limited music theory knowledge i guess, for example the song muiñeira de lugo, i would find what the chords are and then figure out arpeggios for those chords and melodies like you said. Ill look into it. I hope by next summer I can jam with my friends at some of the festivals. Thank you!
Gamma:
You don't by any chance live in Galicia, e.g., "Celtic Spain," do you? (I think the Muiñeira is a popular dance form there. And they play pipes.)
For starters, I barely know Irish, a style I've started working on in addition to blues. But music in the Celtic world, including Ireland, Scotland, Galicia, Brittany, Cornwall, and New York City, etc., shares a lot of similar stuff.
It's important to listen and learn the most-common chord structures, and then to learn arpeggios for those chords, and melodies of the most popular tunes.
I don't know of any specific learning tools for Galician music, but you might start by watching David's video interviews of Brendan Power and James Conway here at bluesharmonica.com. Then check out Power's book, "Play Irish Music on the Blues Harp." https://www.brendan-power.com/instruction.php#view3
Tony Eyers, from Australis, is another great source of info for Celtic music. (www.tonyeyers.com) He created a tuning system that Seydel markets as its "Major Cross" harp, and I have various keys of that model. Major scales, using a lot of draw notes. I love 'em for Celtic type, major-scale tunes. Eyers also plays Celtic music using tremolo harmonica.
And the simplest way to make a Richter-tuned diatonic harp work well for this type of music is to use "Paddy Richter" tuning, created by Power. Either off-the-shelf or DIY-tuning your own harp(s). For that tuning, all that happens is that the 3 blow is tuned up a whole step. Makes a world of difference when playing typical Celtic turnarounds.
Boa sorte! Or ... Go n-éirí leat!