More mouth music...

Folk Tradition : Cainntearachd, Diddling & Chin Music - voices imitating pipe music and some lilting from Boys of the Lough as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFJ42v_apyY

Article titled "Learn how to lilt the Irish way with Sean Keane from Galway"
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2005/04/27/1354873.htm

One of youtubes natives giving a fine example of Irish reel "Splendid Isolation"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltErDTkHK6Y

Lilting/Jigging (Kilrush Fleadh 1967)- Jimmy Ward from Miltown Malbay, County Clare lilting finely
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkChjAW0E0E

Lilting from Séamus Brogan in West London
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX18CMR1I9Y

Bodhran to Voice (Lilting)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yucVF8IMqi8

It's tough whichever way...

If you want to be a musician with any degree of freedom you need to learn to do one of two very hard things: read music or play by ear.

You've got to find a way to take it in somehow, confidently and at speed. That's the bastard bit. Once you can do that it's a start, but that's the door that has to be unlocked.

When does a revival become a living tradition?

Supposing a tradition has completely died out. Someone finds a dusty book on the topic, reads it and thinks "hey! this looks like fun". The share it with their friends and their friends and soon it's pretty popular. Our first person starts some classes, and eventually the people they taught go on to teach other people to do this thing too, and eventually their pupils do the same. There's now a social network around this activity, competitions, festivals, events.

So when does it stop being a revival and start to be a living tradition? Perhaps two or three teaching generations? Enough people doing it to disagree how it should be done? When folk are so used to it they take it for granted and stop thinking about it?

This is an important question for me as a folk harpist and one that is pretty fascinating full stop. Within the harp world there are many broken traditions currently being reconstructed and many traditions which *almost* passed into the unknown but didn't quite and are now being given well deserved love. In Europe we see a really strong resurgence of many folk traditions but the mystique of a folk "tradition" really worries me, it seems so false. I'm always curious to see how people respond to the notion that we're just making it up for fun for ourselves as we go. I think that is the tradition I'd really like to pass on - diy artistic fun.