As a beginner in playing traditional Irish music, I've found some wonderful teachers and great places to hear the music in San Diego, as well as helpful web sites for listening to particular tunes or finding free sheet music.  Here they are.  I'll add to this page as I learn more.  If you have additions or suggestions, please email me (mackcole@sbcglobal.net).

Irish Music Class at Acoustic Expressions  The Irish Music Class at Acoustic Expressions has ended.  In the class, Michael Eskin and Elaine Thompson taught San Diego seisiun tunes in the traditional way -- by ear.    Here are recordings from the class.
Recordings of tunes taught in class Recordings were made with a Sony ICD-ST25 digital recorder and converted to 11 kHz 16-bit monaural WAV format using Digital Voice Editor V. 2.27.   Tune Type/Title Key        Musician     Instrument Recording (WAV) Jigs         Banish Misfortune G Michael  Whistle Listen Blarney Pilgrim G Michael Whistle Listen Cheer Up Old Hag G Michael Concertina Listen Cliffs of Moher A Dor Elaine     Flute Listen Connaughtman's Rambles D Michael Mandolin Listen Gallagher's Frolics          E Dor     Michael Whistle Listen Humours of Lisheen G Michael Whistle Listen Kesh D Elaine     Flute Listen Jimmy Ward's G Michael Whistle Listen The Lark in the Morning D Elaine Flute Listen Merrily Kiss the Quaker's Wife G Michael Whistle Listen Morrison's E Dor Elaine Flute Listen Munster G Michael Whistle Listen My Darling Asleep D Michael Whistle Listen Rambling Pitchfork D Elaine Michael Flute Whistle Listen Listen Rose in the Heather D Elaine Flute Listen Sport D Elaine Flute Listen Sporting Pitchfork D Mix Michael Whistle Listen St. Patrick's Day D Elaine Flute Listen Tatter Jack Walsh D Mix Michael Whistle Listen Trip to Athlone     D     Michael Mandolin Listen Tripping Up the Stairs D Michael Mandolin Listen Walsh's Favourite aka Bill the Weaver's   Michael Concertina Listen           Jig Sets         Trip to Athlone /Tripping Up the Stairs/Connaughtman's Rambles D Michael     Mandolin Listen           Slip Jigs         Butterfly Em Elaine Flute Listen A Fig for a Kiss E Dor Michael Mandolin Listen The Kid on the Mountain  Em Michael Mandolin Listen          Marla's       Michael Concertina Listen Snowy Path D     Listen Wheels of the World (Maire Rua) G Michael Banjo Listen           Hornpipes         Alexander's Hornpipe D Michael     Whistle Listen Boys of Bluehill D Elaine Flute Listen Kitty's Wedding D Elaine Flute Listen           Reels         Ah, Surely G Michael Whistle Listen Banshee G Elaine Flute Listen Cameronian D Michael Guitar Listen Christmas Eve G Michael Whistle Listen Cooley's E Dor     Listen Copperplate   Elaine Flute Listen Craig's Pipes   Elaine Flute Listen The Earl's Chair D Maj Elaine Flute Listen Frank's Reel by John McCusker A Elaine Flute Listen For another recording of Frank's Reel, visit Michael Eskin's San Diego Traditional Irish Tune Swap Recordings page George White's Favorite G Elaine Flute Listen Gravel Walk A Dor Elaine Michael Flute Whistle Listen High Reel A Mix     Listen Hunter's Purse A Dor Michael Mandolin Listen     Elaine Flute Listen Lad O'Byrnes G Elaine     Flute Listen     Michael Mandolin Listen Maids of Mt. Cisco A Dor Elaine Flute Listen Mason's Apron A Maj Elaine Flute Listen Merry Blacksmith D Elaine Flute Listen Old Copperplate   Elaine Flute Listen Pigeon on the Gate E Dor Michael     Whistle Listen Providence D Elaine Flute Listen Rakish Paddy A Dor Elaine Flute Listen Silver Spear D Maj Michael Whistle Listen Sligo Maid     A Dor Elaine Flute Listen Tom Billy's (Speed the Plough) D Elaine Flute Listen           Polka Set         Babes in the Woods/ John Ryan’s/Dennis Murphy’s   Michael     Mandolin Listen   D Drone for practice   Michael Pipes Listen
Places to Listen in San Diego The Field in the Gaslamp Quarter, Downtown San Diego - traditional Irish music and dancing every Sunday from 5:30 pm The Ould Sod in Normal Heights, San Diego: open sessions every Tuesday evening, 7:00 - 10:00 pm The Blarney Stone in Clairemont - open sessions every Tuesday evening Tom Giblin's in Carlsbad - open sessions every Sunday, 4:00 - 7:00 pm Thornton's, a new Irish pub and restaurant at 1221 Broadway in El Cajon. Dublin Square Irish Pub in the Gaslamp Quarter, downtown
San Diego has more traditional Irish music sessions than either Los Angeles or San Francisco
Places on the Web to Hear a Particular Tune   ingeb.org - Locate the tune title on this list and click on Melody to hear the midi.   MadForTrad Archive of Tunes - On the MadForTrad home page, click on TUNES.  The archive has free MIDI files and sheet music for almost 50 reels, jigs, hornpipes, and polkas.   Packie Manus Byrne's tune index- Sheet music and commentary on a number of Irish traditional tunes as played on whistle by specific musicians.   Richard Moon's TUNEdb - Searchable database of tunes, playable from the Web and downloadable in standard notation, ABC or PostScript.   Sessioneer - From the Sessioneer home page, click on Tune Archives.  Tunes available in MIDI, GIF, and/or ABC formats.   SlowPlayers Music List -  Click on the tune title to listen to MIDI recordings of over 100 reels, jigs, and other tunes as played at sessions in the San Francisco area along with some from Boston.  Also provides sheet music and ABC for the tunes.   Small Circle Tune Learning Session playlist page - From the Small Circle Tune Learning Session in the Denver/Boulder area in Colorado.  Tunes in mp3, ABC, and sheetmusic (as printable GIF files).  The recordings are at "learning speed."   Sound Files page on Mick's Virtual Whistle site - download mp3, listen online, and view sheet music.   Wandering Whistler Music Archives - Recordings and sheet music       Free Sheet Music on the Web Blarney Stone Pub Session Tunebook compiled by Michael Eskin. Ceilidh Society Tunes Database - Alphabetical list by tune title and first few bars of the tune; click on title to see complete sheet music.  Allows you to select tunes and gather them in a free downloadable PDF tunebook. The Complete Works of Turlough O'Carolan - sheet music, MIDI files, and ABC and NWC notation. MadForTrad Archive of Tunes - described above. Packie Manus Byrne's tune index - described above. Richard Moon's TUNEdb - described above. Richard Robinson's Tunebook - Huge archive of traditional tunes; you can search by tune name, country, or type, browse lists of tunes, and download sheet music (GIF files) or ABC. Small Circle Tune Learning Session playlist page - described above. SlowPlayers Music List - described above. Sound Files page on Mick's Virtual Whistle site - described above. The Session - On The Session home page, click the Search tab and enter the name of the tune.  The search results lead you to tune details (tune type, key signature, other names the tune is known by, and a list of existing recordings of the tune), ABC notation if available, sheet music, and comments. Sessioneer - described above. The Virtual Tunebook at celticmusic.com - Sheet music for 92 tunes, with audio clips for some of them. Wild Dismay Tunes - Sheet music, ABC, and MIDI for a number of reels, jigs, slip jigs, hornpipes, waltzes, and songs from the Celtic band Wild Dismay. The Virtual Tunebook at celticmusic.com - Sheet music for 92 tunes, with audio clips for some of them. Wandering Whistler Music Archives - Described above.      Places to Buy Recordings New Custy's Traditional Music Shop in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland Celtic Note in Dublin Celtic Grooves Imports   Out of Print I've had good luck with half.com     Teachers Michael Eskin - Uilleann pipes, Irish flute, whistle, tenor banjo Elaine Thompson - Irish flute and whistle     Southern California Musicians Michael Eskin's Irish Music Page Elaine Thompson's Music Page An Carraig - Michael McMahon and George Rubsamen, who recently released their CD "The Rakings in the Dark." Last Night's Fun - Michael Eskin, George Rubsamen, Dennis Buskirk, Katherine Cleary Skelpin Ciunas  - Ciunas has disbanded, but their CD "Up at the Crack of Noon" is available - Listen to a sample
The Workings of Sessions Session etiquette - web pages Acoustic Expressions' Irish Slow Session Guidelines What Is a Seisiun? The Good Session Etiquette Guide The Scottish Session Chris Smith on session dynamics   "A Session – Nuts and Bolts and Memories" Gerry McCartney's account of a memorable session in County Clare   Field Guide to the Irish Music Session, A Guide to Enjoying Irish Traditional Music in Its Natural Habitat, by Barry Foy from Roberts Rinehart Publishers
Other Resources California Traditional Music Society The MudCat Cafe Ceolas Celtic Music Archive The Session devoted to the exchange of tunes Irish Herald		Other Classes, Festivals, and Schools House of Ireland Irish Music Class - Sundays 10:30 to noon.   Annual Summer Solstice Folk Music, Dance and Storytelling Festival, Calabasas, CA   Willie Clancy Summer School, Miltown Malbay, County Clare, Ireland