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Published: July 21st 2016
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Arrived in Dublin around 8:30am and got through baggage claim and customs in record time. Because my guesthouse doesn't start check-in until 3pm, I was going to go to the conference first but that doesn't start until 11am, which left me 2.5 hours of spare time. Rather than head into the city and explore with a huge suitcase that screams "tourist!" I decided to get a good breakfast at the airport. In retrospect, I am so glad I did that because there was no time to eat the rest of the day! Around 11:30, I ventured out to find the City Bus 16, which would take me to St. Patrick's College where the conference is being held. Thank goodness the people here are so nice! When I got to the bus, I realized I was 20 cents short of the bus fare since you can only pay with coins but the bus driver let me on anyway and even told me where I needed to get off. I can't imagine going to a foreign country and not speaking the language...it was hard enough trying to find my way in an English speaking country!
Once I found my way
Dorset St.
On my way from conference to guesthouse. to St. Patrick's College and the conference location, I happened, unbeknownst to me at the time, to sit next to a doctoral student who is a primary (our equivalent to elementary school) teacher in Dublin. After awhile we got talking a little bit and I learned some fascinating things about Irish primary schools. For starters, there are no specialists; the classroom teacher teaches all 13 subjects and the only break they get is for lunch (20min) and "the yard" aka recess (40min!). She was sharing with me the challenge of fitting all the subjects in in their short school day (8:45-2:15) and teaching subjects she isn't familiar with and/or has no formal training in, like music. I am learning there are a lot of changes going on in Ireland's education system and there had been a shift to a greater focus in science and technology (sound familiar?!). She also told me that the guesthiuse I am staying in was easily within walking distance (a relief since I had been worrying about this) and gave me directions.
The conference officially started with a performance by a MaSamba school ensemble from a primary school in the most disadvantaged part
of Dublin. The group played two rhythms, samba and hip-hop, on different sized drums, a djembe, and Latin bells. I thought that it was interesting that this primarily Latin drumming program took off in our equivalent to an urban school, in the middle of Ireland. I took a few recordings to show my students so they can see that boys and girls from other parts of the world are doing similar things to what we're doing in music class. After the performance, we headed inside for the start of the conference. I quickly realized that almost everyone at the conference is a college professor and that the conference is more geared towards teacher preparation rather than music in the schools but, I am looking forward to learning about their practices from around the world (there are professors here from Hong Kong, New Zealand, Ghana, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Canada, Germany, and Texas) and making connections with researchers from around the world.
After an hour of blitz presentations (10min), it was time to make the trek to my guesthouse. Trusting the women who I had talked with earlier, I decided to walk there rather than take a taxi.
Luckily, I set up a Google Map route to keep up on my phone to see the map of where I'm going even though I knew it wouldn't track me since I disabled all data and cell service. Somehow my phones gps still worked and showed me where I was on the map through the whole journey...thank goodness!!! There are no street signs so I had no idea where I was or how far away I was from the guesthouse. It was slightly terrifying realizing I was relying on a piece of technology that could stop working at any moment and if it did stop working, I would be lost. I can't imagine what it would be like trying to find my way in a country where English isn't a primary language!! After a THIRTY MINUTE "adventure" with my suitcase through the streets of Dublin, I finally found my guesthouse. Ireland is in the middle of a heat wave: 75 and sunny, which Is a pleasant surprise! Because it took much longer than expected to get to the guesthouse, I had just enough time to drop my luggage and find my way to the New Walton's Music School for a
tin whistle and bodrán lesson with a professional folk musician.
If anyone reading this blog finds their way to DubLin (can't get it to stop autocorrecting to that), I HIGHLY suggest you do the music tasters offered by Walton's. For three hours, I got to talk to and learn from a professional Irish folk musician. Any music teacher can pick up a "how to" book on tin whistle and bodhrán and a book about Celtic history but getting to learn the intricacies and techniques from an actual musician who grew up immersed in the Celtic culture and playing tin whistle, was an invaluable experience. I wish I could take another set of tasters because it made me want to learn more! With tin whistle, I learned that there are three key ornaments (slurs, vibrato, and cuts), specific to Celtic music, that are used only in certain genres (Airs, gigs, reels, hornpipes, etc.) and just like with traditional western ornamentation, you don't want to overuse it. Another way folk musicians develop their own sound and style is how much they tongue each note. Unlike recorder, slurring is common and necessary in tin whistle playing. In the lesson, we
did a lot of playing by ear and echo playing so I could really get the celtic style and feel since I already knew the fingerings and could read notation. Once I get back to the states, I plan on playing tin whistle as much as possible; just like I had always wished I took Irish step dancing lesson as a kid, I wish I had been exposed to tin whistle playing. But, it's never too late to get started so I hope my roommate is prepared to hear lots of tin whistle playing once I get back! The bodhrán drum portion of the taster was tricky! The technique used to play the drum is different from anything Ive ever been exposed to and is going to be tricky for my students to learn. However, I am confident that they will be able to pick it up with focused instruction. The bodhrán has three primary "foundational" rhythms that are all in triple meter and place the emphasis on different beats; the form and dance dictates which rhythm is used. After some practice and much concentration on my part (as my college friends can attest, I am NOT a percussionist!!!), we
were able to play some duets with me on the drum and my teacher on the tin whistle...what an experience! Luckily I was able to get a few recordings of my teacher playing and the duets we played to listen to for reference when I get back to the states and to play for my students.
On the lesson was over, I took a taxi back to my guesthouse, ate a protein bar (so thankful I brought them!!) and went to bed to try to get over some serious jet lag.
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