Traditional Irish Accompaniment
for Acoustic Guitar

Many years ago, when I moved to London first, I became familar with the notion of the Traditional Irish Session. One such session was (and still is) on a Friday night at The Hemmingford Arms in North London. It was there in the early days that I met up with the fiddle player, Robin Mc Kidd, who encouraged me to sit in on the session and play some guitar accompaniment. With Robins help, calling out the chords for the tunes with the fiddle wedged firmly under his chin, I began to develop an ear for the accompaniments.

Over the years, as I played at other sessions around London, I began to develop a method of accompaniment based on my own individual guitar style. By adding in chord inversions and working with moving bass lines, I found other ways to create more interesting and varied accompaniments for the Reels and Jigs. After a particularly invigorating session at Ryans Bar in Stoke Newington some years back, I was approached by someone who wanted to know if I did private tuition in acoustic guitar accompaniment. I agreed to give it a go and Jim O' Shea became my first student.As we progressed through the method, he mentioned that I should keep notes on what I was teaching him for the other students I was beginning to pick up. This tutorial is the result of all those lessons and notes scribbled down on various pieces of A4 paper. In the following exercises, you will learn the basic chords and rhythm structures needed to accompany "Cooley's Reel" and "The Kesh Jig". Above all, enjoy yourself and may this be the beginning of a long and stimulating journey into the world of Traditional Irish Accompaniment and acoustic guitar playing.

This is a concise method for elementary and advanced acoustic guitar players who wish to explore Traditional Irish Accompaniment. Please note that this method is best suited to steel strung acoustic guitars using standard plectrum techniques. It is assumed that you have a basic understanding of the common major and minor chords and general strum patterns before beginning these lessons.