Hello, y'all, and welcome to the
Gaelic College's 2026 Summer Adult Session 2!
We'll use this page to share lesson plans, links, and anything else that may be relevant to our classes this week.
If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an e-mail at
☞Advanced
Monday:
-Some Exercises to Get Our Hands Moving
-To start of the week, we'll learn a triple-down exercise and a single-ended roll exercise to get our hands moving.
Tuesday:
-Irregular Spacing Variations in 7
-In preparation for the tune that we'll start working on tomorrow, we'll learn an exercise that will help us with spacing and alternate voicing in two forms of 7/8.
Wednesday:
-New Repertoire- Olivia Barrett's "The Sparkle Horse" - Pt. 1
-One of the exciting aspects of a life in this music is finding new and engaging tunes that are just a little bit different. British Columbia fiddler Olivia Barrett's "The Sparkle Horse" is definitely one of those tunes! In this session, we'll learn the fundamentals of this composition, including its numerous meters and a basic voicing.
Thursday:
-New Repertoire- Olivia Barrett's "The Sparkle Horse" - Pt. 2
-Now that we've learned the basics of one pass of this tune, we'll explore some of the ways that we can enhance our drum part by expanding our voicing.
Friday:
-New Repertoire- Olivia Barrett's "The Sparkle Horse" - Pt. 3
-Now that we've learned on pass of the tune, it's time to figure out what we need to do in order to play the entire tune- sketching the form, changing voicing, for different passes, etc.
☞Intermediate
Monday:
-Dropping the "Nyah" In Your Reels
-Do what now? Dropping the "nyah," or rather a strategic placement of open, accented tones in order to better align our parts to certain tunes.
-In this session, we'll learn some exercises that will help us to develop this idea, and then we'll apply it to some tunes.
Tuesday:
-Dropping the "Nyah" In Your Jigs
-The same idea as Monday, but now in jigs.
Wednesday:
-Ideas for Phrasing Your Reels
-Do you ever feel "stuck" in playing a reel? Do you feel like you do the whole "seven bars of motor rhythm and a slur" thing too often? In this session, we'll explore some of the ways that we can make the phrasing of our reels more interesting, including:
-How to add variety to your fills
-3+1 phrasing
-2+2 phrasing
-3+1+2+2 phrasing
Thursday:
-The "Pop" Polka
-Not all polkas are created equal. Some contemporary tunes have feels or rhythmic ideas that require a different kind of pattern. In this session, we'll learn and develop a pattern that works well with these kinds of tunes.
Friday:
-Using the "Pop" Polka in Tunes
-Now that we've learned this pattern, we'll explore some of the ways that we can use it in a tune.
☞Advanced Beginner
Monday:
-Fundamentals- Accents in a Reel
-In this session, we will learn an exercise that will help us with our placement of accents in a reel. We'll also learn this double-down variation of the same exercise.
Tuesday:
-Let's Tackle Polkas
-To some drummers, the idea of a polka can be daunting. In this class, we'll learn a system that will help construct effective drum parts "on the fly" when playing in sessions.
Wednesday:
-An Introduction to "Triple-Downs"
-We know what "double-downs" are. But "triple-downs?" We'll use this exercise to teach you a new sticking pattern.
Thursday:
-Let's Tackle Slip Jigs
-Having a simple system to tackle certain tune types can be a lifesaver in a session setting. In this class, we'll learn one of those systems to help us with slip jigs.
Friday:
-The LEGO Wall
-Looking for a fun and engaging way to develop better flow and coordination with mixed sticking patterns? This exercise will help you do just that.
☞New Beginner
Monday:
-First Steps- Fundamentals, Part 1
-Holding the drum and tipper
-Basic stroke types
-Basic sounds
-Basic patterns for reels
Tuesday:
-Next Steps- Fundamentals, Part Deux
-Review of material from previous session
-Mixing and matching basic patterns from previous session
Wednesday:
-Let's Use What We've Learned to Play a Reel
-Review of material from previous session
-Using sequences from last session in order to accompany a reel
Thursday:
-Now Tell Us About Jigs
-Basic patterns and sequences for jigs
Friday:
-Continue Telling Us About Jigs, But Let's Actually Play One
-Applying basic sequences for jigs to a tune