[scots-l] [Fwd: Re: [START] Gaelic Medium Feis]

[Toby Rider]

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Title: Gaelic Medium Feis

Tuition will be offered in ... Cląrsach   Sorry, that is no longer acceptable from an organisation at the forefront of Gaelic music education. The Wire Branch of the Clarsach Society has a busy website providing information that the Fčis should be on top of. If you support pibroch, most of which has been resurrected from old manuscripts, it's illogical not to support the Gaelic harp too.   I'm sending this to START because Jessie is in good company, hiding the lesser-known of Scotland's harps under a blanket of ignorance. I'm sure no-one means to, but it's time anyone who knows anything about Scottish music familiarised themselves with www.clarsach.net to make up for what our education system didn't teach us. You won't be dissappointed - the site is a direct response to David Francis' 1999 SAC report.   Below are links to what's in the pipeline. We're always glad of feedback and would love to offer tutor-training courses through the Fčis - or any organisation - as online learning isn't half as good as real teachers living locally. However, our online solutions do help in situations of tutor shortage and excessive travelling: http://clarsach.net/lessons/bill_exercise_1.htm http://siubhal.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=39 (this online classroom software is in development) http://siubhal.com/clarsach.net/   We now have hundreds of students worldwide who know the difference between the Gaelic brass/gold-strung cląrsach and the Scottish gut/nylon-strung cląrsach. Every time we fail to specify which harp is being taught, we perpetuate the myth and intellectual dishonesty that blots the constitution of the Clarsach Society: "To uphold its title to be the true and most ancient instrument of Scotland", which is like implying that the piano is the most ancient keyboard. Romantic fa la la!   The Gaelic harp students in Staffin, Edinburgh, Dingwall and Ullapool who might attend the Edinburgh Fčis an Fhoghair have a right to know whether or not the cląrsach being taught is their instrument or not, without having to ring for clarification. A teacher of "Scottish harp" (to use Alison's and Wendy's term) may or may not be able to handle these students, studying the older Gaelic fingernail technique which is a universe apart. If anyone IS offering Gaelic harp tuition, do let our web editor Simon Chadwick know and he'll add it to our busiest page: http://clarsach.net/lessons.htm.   A pragmatic suggestion: in modern English, "clarsach" (without the accent) refers to BOTH the small harps we share with Ireland; in modern Scottish Gaelic, cląrsach refers to any harp, including pedal and African. In both languages, the word by itself is ambiguous.   Sorry to rant! Thanks for your attention.   Barnaby Barnaby Brown Secretary, Wire Branch of the Clarsach Society www.clarsach.net tel: +39 079 531-9000 cel: +39 340 712-4376 fax: +39 079 531-068 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Arthur Cormack Sent: 02 October 2002 10:47 To: STRAMATH; START; FnG Information; FnG Board; FnG Staff Subject: [START] Gaelic Medium Feis Please pass this on to anyone you think may be interested. Fčis Dhun Eideann Launch Gaelic Medium Fčis FEIS AN FHOGHAIR 8 - 10 November 2002 Lowport Centre Linlithgow Fčis an Fhoghair is a Gaelic-medium Fčis open to participants from all Fčisean across Scotland.  Tuition will be offered in Fiddle, Step Dance, Cląrsach, Gaeic Song and Gaelic Drama, with the chance to take part in some group sessions with the tutors in the evenings.  The Fčis is open to participants aged between 10 - 14. The cost of the weekend is £70 per person, which includes accommodation, food and all tution. For further details, or an application form please contact Jessie Newton on 0131 447 1252 or e- mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]

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