Irish Mandolin, Intermediate & Advanced
This workshop will build on the basics of playing Irish music on the mandolin, focusing on repertoire, technique and musicality. We’ll look at phrasing and ornamentation, as well as using dynamics and variation to best apply the unique qualities of the mandolin to the music, respecting the core of the tradition on this ‘newcomer’ of an instrument. We’ll learn tunes together (by ear) and explore different ways to give those tunes life and lift, applying the concepts and techniques that we learn in class. Bring a recording device!
About Marla Fibish
Marla’s Irish mandolin voice is distinctive. With very few role models and an absence of teachers when she was starting out, she developed her own way of playing. As mandolin has gained popularity in the Irish tradition, Marla has become a respected, sought-after teacher. She teaches online at Peghead Nation , and has been on the faculty of many music camps including The Swannanoa Gathering, The Mandolin Symposium, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, Portal Irish Music Week and others.
She has a brand new recording out with fiddler Rebecca Richman entitled Playdate. Her playing is also featured on her 2020 solo album The Bright Hollow Fog, and The Morning Star—a duo CD with legendary Irish singer and bouzouki player Jimmy Crowley. Her songs are featured in the duo Noctambule, her longtime collaboration with guitarist and husband Bruce Victor. Together they have released 4 albums, most recently Every Migrant is My Fellow in 2021.
Some of the best mandolin playing in Irish music.” —Dennis Cahill, Guitarist