Learn How To Play Irish Folk Songs On Guitar

Get the basics off before moving on to the other song, most of the songs on this site use only three chords anyway so they are not that hard to learn.

It may feel daunting the first time you pick up
the guitar and decide your going to learn how
to play a few songs. It's very easy to get fed 
up and stop practising, this is the last thing 
you should do. It's well worth the effort you
put in. The hardest part is the first few weeks.
The amount of practise you put in depends on how
quick you want to learn the instrument.


I recommend about an hour a day, but not all at once
as the top of the fingers get sore, so break your
practise into about three twenty min. sessions a
day. You'll be a bit rough around the edges for
several weeks and you'll think it'll never come.
When it does come and you start playing your first
song on guitar you will even start to enjoy the
practise.


Getting over the sore fingers will take perseverance
but the top of the fingers will soon get hard and
they will stay hard once you keep at it. You don't
really need a guitar teacher but it helps you
developing bad habits from the start. Apart from
the fingers getting soar the other big hurdle you'll
have to master is changing from one chord to another.
Another thing about being thought from a teacher
is that you'll develop a style simaler to the teacher
instead of developing a style of their own.


Again this takes a bit of time and effort, you'll be 
slow at the start and if your a compleat novice the
time it takes to change from one chord to another will
be about 5 or 6 seconds. Keep at it, never give up.
Over a few weeks you will soon be changing chords in 
about three seconds, then after six weeks or so it will
happen almost instantaneously. You'll be changing without
even thinking about it.


You'll want to start of with an easy song. Regardless of
what kind of music your intrested in. Pick a song with
only two or three chords. Stick with the song you choose
instead of drifting from song to song. The most widely
used chords in all songs are D G A C Em Am.
The first couple of ballads I started with were Monto,
Now I'm Easy and Henry My Son, that's because they only 
have a couple of chord and I knew the lyrics of by heart.


You don't have to be playing a song to be practising,
You could be sitting there and just using your left
hand to change the chords while the right hand does
nothing. Example of this is if you don't want to be
making noise and having to listen to your partner
moaning.


The links on this page will take you to videos I have made
where you can clearly see what chords I'm using and they will
give you the tepmo and strumming pattern. I keep the timing
to the way the songs were written originally. There are also
some videos by friends of this site including Padraig Grimes
who has supplied many great video lessons.

The Town I Loved So Well. Advanced guitarists - I'm sure there are many who visit this site and are looking for even more ways to improve their playing techniques. I was about to record another of Phil Coulter's but forgot that Siggi from Germany who has a youtube channell already sent me The Town I Loved So Well where he plays the melody and chords together. As I say, this one is for the more advanced players out there but with lots of practise anyone can get to this level of playing. It's a long video but siggi goes through it step by step.

When you first start to learn the guitar you usually want some handy little three chord songs. The one today has only the 2 chords and was one of the very first ones I learned may years ago. It's an old tradition English ballad about a boy who eat some poison berries from a tree and becomes ill. Henry My Son. Another 2 chord job is a song I wouldn't normally play at a session but would only play for my own enjoyment at home. This one is about going to prison for 21 years [ song lyrics ] and wasting away. Prison songs for which there are plenty of would usually give a bit of background information to the listener as to why the person ended up in jail but this one doesn't. It concentrates on the complete loneliness of being locked away from his sweetheart.

The Song With No Name. Me being a huge fan of The Pogues I just had to record a few of their songs. Although The Pogues play this one nowadays it was actually done when Shane MacGowan had left [got sacked] from the band and was recording his new stuff with The Popes. On the album The Snake this one is credited to Shane, the music is actually a traditional tune written long before he was born

Nancy Spain. One of Christy Moore's most popular songs is Nancy Spain which he got from Barney Rush many years ago, Christy sing it at nearly every gig he plays. It's another slow ballad which suits me down to the ground, I love the slow sad songs, I'd play this kind of song 'till the cows came home. Again it's another which I use the capo and play it in the key of A Major.

I changed camera for this one, I'm using an iphone 4s to see if the sound quality is any better. It turns out not too bad. It's The Ballad Of James Larkin in the key of D using a capo on the first fret to give it a bit of umph. I usually play this one without any capo. There's lots of information on the life and times of James Larkin who formed the Irish Transport And General Workers Union and was in charge of the union during the ''Lock Out'' of 1913.

Have You Any Video Lessons I Could Use ?
If you have recorded a video and want to display it on the site to help others out then let me know. The only thing I ask is that whatever chords your are playing can be seen in the video and that you kept to the original timing as best as you could. While groups like The Dropkick Murphy's and Flogging Molly are proficent musicians and singers thay have changed the way the song was originally written and as I'm trying to keep the tune of the song as original as I can, their versions of traditional music wouldn't fit what I'm trying to achieve here.

Spancil Hill Lyrics And Chords
The first video lesson of the new year is an old standard ballad that's sang by every ballad singer in Ireland. I use a capo on this one which is called Spancil Hill it's almost always played in the Am key. If you didn't alread know where it's located, well it's in Co. Clare.

Galway Bay
Brian Flynn who wrote that big hit for The High Kings gives the lesson this time and the song is Galway Bay. They call these auld songs ''Chestnuts'' for some reason. Brian plays it with the capo on the first but you don't have to. This one is very old and known all around the world. There's also lots of info. on the songwriter. It's in waltz timing.

The Leaving Of Liverpool Lyrics And Chords
There are over 100 English folk songs on the site, one of the most famous would be The Leaving Of Liverpool. A raft of ballad singers in Ireland and England covered this one during the folk revival of the 1960s including Ewan McColl, The Dubliners and Johnny McEvoy. I play this one in the key of A Major using the capo on the second.

I'll Tell Me Ma
Here's one by The Dubliners with the lesson by Peter Edwards, there are several of Peter's video lessons on the site including ''Black Is The Colour'' and one by The Wolfe Tones called ''Flight Of The Earls''. 

James Connolly On Guitar I have set this one in the key of A using the capo on the 2nd fret. It's a rebel song I first heard from The Wolfe Tones in the early 1970s. Nobody knows who wrote it so it's credited as ''Traditional''. It tells the story of this man from Scotland who came to Ireland to organise the trade union movement in Belfast before moving to Dublin. He then sets up The Irish Volunteers and from his base in Liberty Hall in Dublin he marched his men to The General Post Offce which was only a few meters away to take part in the Easter Rising of 1916 and was later shot for his part while tied to a chair.

Peggy Gordon The next video lesson is an old Scottish song brought to Ireland by Luke Kelly, Luke learned most of the old stuff from Ewan McColl who was his mentor while in England. This one is a love song called Peggy Gordon which is in the key of D. This one is within everybody's voice range so you should have no bother singing it.

Sam Hall. There are standard songs that are preformed at nearly all folk session, what's meant by a standard is that there are about 50 or so songs that you'll hear being played time after time, today's song is one of them. It's a simple little three chord job that's being around for a hundred years and it's called Sam Hall Paddy Reilly is probibly the best known for this one, it was also sung by Johnny Cash but in a different sort of timing.

The Fields Of Athenry Lyrics And Chords Pete St. John is Ireland's most well known song writer, he has penned some of the countrys most loved folk songs over the past 40 years. His biggest hit to date went to No.1 in the charts when it was recorded by Paddy Reilly all them years ago, as Paddy said of Pete ''he writes for folk singers, he keeps things simple'' , and that's what I have done here with The Fields Of Athenry , I recently changed the key from G to D because that's the key I play it in. There's lots of info. regarding the reason for writing this classic on the page.

The Rising Of The Moon A rebel song today about the 1798 rising written by Leo Casey. This one I also set in the key of C Major while using the capo on the 5th fret. I use the capo here so the learners don't have to play the standard F Chord which I know can be hard while starting. It's just another way of playing in the key of C. Anyway this ballad is called The Rising Of The Moon

The Wild Rover There are many fine songs that arrived in Ireland over the last hundred years or so
from England. Most have stood the test of time mainly because they were written
in the standard folk style, what's ment by this is that they have usually got
four lines in the verse and a catchy chorus with a good tune to go with it.
Also the song is easy to remember and the subject is something that many
people can relate to. The Wild Rover is one of them.

Sean South From Garryown On Guitar who came from Limerick City and not Garryowen as the song says. This ballad is one of the more famous of all the rebel songs in Ireland. The writer, Sean Costello used the same tune as Roddy McCorley who also gave his life for his country and was exeuted in 1800 in the County Antrim town of Toomebridge. I believe Sean South was first recorded by The Irish Ramblers in 1963 on the album The Patiot Game which was recorded in New York and was before The Wolfe Tones album Let The People Sing 1972. But had the 'tones got this one out on a single ? any info. 

Long Before Your Time. Johnny McEvoy is renowned for singing old sad songs, most of which he wrote himself. The one I decided to cover today is Long Long Before Your Time which is around since the 1980's . The song tells of his a woman losing her child during birth. She chose to give up her own life to save the life of the baby which was common enough years ago

Here's a song about The Irish War Of Independence which tells an old man walking the streets of Dublin looking for his son who took part in the war.The song mentions that the father and son come from Cork City but there's no evidence to suggest that anybody from Cork took part in the fighting in Dublin. The Dying Rebel lyrics + chords I learned this one song from my grandmother way back in the 1960s.

If you ever get fed up playing the ballads and are looking for a bit of diversion I have put together a few old Country Songs On Guitar. It's a melody of a few classic oldies that use the basic strumming pattern. The key I'm using is C Major where I place the capo on the 4th fret and play G, C and D shaped chords, they are really easy to play along with.

If you missed any of the previous lessons there a list below of the ones I've done so far. I don't use a plec. /pick for any of the videos, just the fingers strumming up and down. This is something you should master because someday you'll be without your plec for one reason or another and so it's a good plan to learn how to play without the pick.
List Of Songs With Live Guitar Lessons
Leaving Nancy
Ballad Of James Larken          Lullaby Of London
The Cocky Farmer                  The Gypsy
Padraig Pearse                       Where My Eileen Is Waiting
The Dying Rebel                     Gallippoli
Nancy Spain                           I still Miss Someone
Long Before Your Time           Fields Of Athenry
Old Flames The Ferryman      Black Velvet Band
Boys Of The Old Brigade        Sam Hall
Rising Of The Moon                Peggy Gordon
21 Years                                 Night Visiting Song
Joe Hill                                   The Ferryman
Only Our Rivers Run Free     Song With No Name
James Connolly
Bright Blue Rose
Rainy Night In Soho
 
I have put together a video showing strumming Patterns for some of the songs on the site. Play thousands of ballads using a few different strums.