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Author: maldonm
08/2025 Dance by Ear
intro
Intro
| Monday | Wednesday | Friday | |
| 7:30am | Woodshed | Keep Her Lit | Speed & Craic |
| Week 1 – The Hare’s Paw | No Class | Aug 13 | Aug 15 |
| Week 2 – The Hare’s Paw | Aug 18 | Aug 20 | Aug 22 |
| Week 3 – | Aug 25 | Aug 27 | Aug 29 |
week 1
Tune
- The Hare’s Paw – Links and more
- theSession.org Hare’s Paw: https://thesession.org/tunes/1462
Steps & Vocabulary
- A Part of the tune
- Hips / Heel Backs
- Paddy Bon / Heel Backs with a tip
Woodshed
Learn and woodshed the tune and steps
Keep Her Lit
- B Part of the Tune
- Step tip steps and heel drops
Speed & Craic
Playlist – The Hare’s Paw – Find the version that you like best.
week 2
Tune
Woodshed
Keep Her Lit
Speed & Craic
week 3
Hare’s Paw | A & R varations
08 2025 – Wed | 6:30-8pm PST | Sean-nós Dancing the Tune
intro
Intro
- Class 1 – July 9 – Bobby Gardiner – Triplets
- Class 2 – July 16 – Kitty Lie Over
- Class 3 – July 23 – Steps by sounds
- Class 4 – Aug 13 – Hip Drums
- Class 5 – Aug 20 – Review & Routine Creation
- Class 6 – Aug 27 – Fine Tune the Routine
- Bobby Gardiner
- Tripplets
routine
M/W/F | 7:30am PST | Dance by Ear | 2025 July
intro
Intro
The month of July we will continue to explore dancing by ear and learning tunes in our feet. I will also be including practice drills that are aimed to build skill and exapnd your dancing by ear abilities.
| Monday | Wednesday | Friday | |
| 7:30am | Woodshed | Keep Her Lit | Speed & Craic |
| Week 1 – Reels The Cavan Reel / Sporting Nell / Rattigan’s (reels) by Mary MacNamara | July 7 | July 9 | July 11 |
| Week 2 – Polkas John Walsh’s / Upperchurch / Muirisin Durkan Bobby Gardiner | July 14 | July 16 | July 18 |
| Week 3 – | July 21 | July 23 | July 25 |
| Week 4 – | July 28 | July 30 – NO CLASS | Aug. 1 – NO CLASS |
week 1
Tune
- The Cavan Reel / Sporting Nell / Rattigan’s (reels) by Mary MacNamara
Steps & Vocabulary
- Shuff-le backs – 3 of them
- Stuff-les – singles
- Hips
- Starting the step by shifting where you start with each movement of the step.
Woodshed
Learn and woodshed the tune and steps
Keep Her Lit
Speed & Craic
Play and improve with material and dance at various tempos.
week 2
Tune
- John Walsh’s / Upperchurch / Muirisin Durkan
by Bobby Gardiner - Past classes and videos for the “Upperchurch”
Woodshed
Polka founcatinoal steps.
- 123’s (ornimation – heel brush, toe tap)
- 1 2 123’s (ornimation – heel brush, toe tap)
- Slide 123 (ornimation – heel brush, toe tap)
- Nellies Polka – Preston
- Nellies Polka – Keep Her Lit
Keep Her Lit
Speed & Craic
week 3
Tune
Bohola – YouTube Clip
Bohola is one of my favorite bands, and I completely fell in love with this album. It’s a bit hard to find—I’ve looked on their website, and it’s not currently for sale—but I’ll keep searching in case any of you want to purchase a copy.
This album also inspired a step that Ronan and I recorded on our DVD, which we ended up calling “The Bohola Step.”
Woodshed
Learn and woodshed the tune and steps
Keep Her Lit
Review tune of the week and dance past tunes
Speed & Craic
Play and improve with material and dance at various tempos.
week 4
Tune
Woodshed
Learn and woodshed the tune and steps
6:30pm | Tuesday Summer Sets
intro
Playlist for the term:
- Youtube Summer Playlist
- Music Playlist
- Here is Last term’s class page. It has many helpful links. https://maldonmeehan.com/12pm-wed-630pm-tue-irish-set-dance/
Harvest
The Harvest Dance Set – Composed by Edwina Guckian
Merchant
Merchant Set – Composed by Pádraig & Róisín McEneany
Kilfenora Plain
Kilfenora Plain Set – This link has more details about this dance and a direct link to each figure if you just want to watch one at a time or go directly to one.
Protected: Brendan Curran Lessons
June 2025 | Dance By Ear
intro
Intro
The month of June we will continue to explore dancing by ear and learning tunes in our feet.
Youtube playlist – I made a youtube playlist as not everyone has spotify or Apple Music. Please add tunes to this list. If you have a tune or a version of one of the tunes we have been working on that you like, please add it to the whole list here and we can all use the track.
| Monday | Wednesday | Friday | |
| 7:30am | Woodshed | Keep Her Lit | Speed & Craic |
| Week 1 The Green Groves of Erin / Burnes | June 2 | June 4 | June 6 |
| Week 2 An Spailpín Fánach/Step it out Joe | June 9 | June 11 | June 13 |
| Week 3 Polly Put the Kettle on | June 16 | June 18 | June 19 |
| Week 4 New Mown Meadow | June 23 | June 25 | June 27 |
| NO CLASS | June 29-NO CLASS |
week 1
Tune
- The Green Groves of Erin/Burnes by Martin Quinn & Angeline Carberry
- Spotify
- Apple Music
- Youtube
- thesession.org – The Green Groves of Erin
- thesession.org – Burnes (Within A Mile Of Clonbur)
Steps & Vocabulary
Woodshed
Learn and woodshed the tune and steps
Keep Her Lit
- Review tune of the week and dance past tunes – May’s tunes
- Improv games and ideas
Speed & Craic
Play and improve with material and dance at various tempos.
week 2
Tune
- An Spailpín Fánach/Step it out Joe by Nathan Gourley and Laura Feddersen
- thesession.org – An Spailpín Fánach
- thesession.org – Step it out Joe
- thesession.org – The whole album on
- Youtube
Woodshed
Learn and woodshed the tunes and steps
Keep Her Lit
Review tune of the week and dance past tunes
Speed & Craic
Play and improv with material and dance at various tempos.
week 3
Tune
Woodshed
Learn and woodshed the tune and steps
Keep Her Lit
Review tune of the week and dance past tunes
Speed & Craic
Play and improve with material and dance at various tempos.
week 4
New Mown Meadow
- Past recordings with this tune
Woodshed
Learn and woodshed the tune and steps
Keep Her Lit
Review tune of the week and dance past tunes
Speed & Craic
Play and improve with material and dance at various tempos.
2025 May | 7:30 AM | M,W,F | Dance by Ear
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- Dance by Ear – Folder of Spring Showcase Tunes
- Playlist – Apple Music
- Youtube Playlist
- Step creation and Improv Elements
- List of Imrpov elements
- 2025 May Dance by Ear Playlist
- Tune Template
| Monday | Wednesday | Friday | |
| 7:30 AM PST | Dance by Ear Learn the tune | Dance by Ear Keep Her Lit Woodshed & build steps | Dance by Ear Speed & Craic |
wild night
- Many a Wild Night – This tune is from a set that Sliabh Notes plays. Sliabh Notes is Matt Cranitch (fiddle), Dónal Murphy (accordion), and Tommy O’Sullivan (guitar). The set is: Many a wild night / John Walsh’s polka / Daly’s mill. The Daly’s Mill is in the spring student showcase file as well.
- In our class recording I ment to be talking about this tune as the Sliabh Notes set of tunes that Portland has been playing. Also Desi Wilkinson is not in this band he is in the band Cran – which I also used for teaching for years and around the sametime that I was working with the Sliabh Notes album. I discovred both of these albums when I was in Ireland studying for my masters and both Matt and Dessie were around the college doing their PhD work at the same time I was there. Chemo brain at it best, sorry about that!
- Cran – Black Black Black – 1998
- Sliabh Notes – Gleanntán – 1999
- Both of these albums were my go to albums during that time and when I fist started teaching Sean-nós in America in 1999.
Many a Wild Night – Here is a rought rhythmic layout of the tune.
| A PART | A PART | B PART | B PART | ||||
| A | 1 | A | 1 | A | 1 | A | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ||||
| A | 5 | A | 5 | A | 5 | A | 5 |
| 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| 7 | 7 | B | 7 | B | 7 | ||
| 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
blackthorn
- The Blackthorn Stick – download the recording
- The Blakcthorn Stick on the session.org
- Apple Music Playlist – you can add version that you like. I also found a reel with the same name. It’s a fantastic tune! Worth exploring that tune as well.
- Youtube Playlist – you can add to this list as well.
Here is a rough outline of the rythmic patterns in the tune. Even though there are higher notes and other things happening with the tune I am seeing 4 rythmic paterns that are repeated and are the start of creating simple steps with this pattern. As we play more with the tune we will hear more and add more varation in tone to match the tune.
| A PART | A PART | B PART | B PART | ||||
| A | 1 | A | 1 | C | 1 | C | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| B | 3 | B | 3 | D | 3 | D | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ||||
| A | 5 | A | 5 | A | 5 | A | 5 |
| 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| B | 7 | B | 7 | B | 7 | B | 7 |
| 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
trip
congress
The Congress Reel – download tune
torrid romance
Learning is at the end of class I think
concertina
Concertina Reel – Learning is a the beginning of class.
Learn / Woodshed
Keep Her Lit