Celtic music: regional cultures and modern success

What is Celtic music?

Anyone in the world is invited to join this noncredit online, self-paced course to meet the musicians and explore the history and culture behind the music fueling the Celtic trend. This colorful and thought-provoking tour through Celtic music will:

Take you deep into the traditional music of: Ireland Scotland Cape Breton Wales Cornwall Brittany Galicia Asturias

And bring you face-to-face with popular artists such as: Loreena McKennitt The Chieftains Ashley MacIsaac Seamus Egan Natalie McMaster Altan Mary Black And more

Study on your own schedule, at any computer in the world with a proven, easy-to-use Web-based teaching system. Away from the computer you will have the enjoyable book Celtic Tides and an excellent compilation CD from Green Linnet. The Web site adds plenty of readings (which you can print out) selected from the most authoritative book, journal, and e-publications on the regional traditions within Celtic music. The Celtic Tides book also offers an optional accompanying CD and DVD or video with interviews and music from the most popular Celtic musicians today. To cap it off, the best Celtic music resources from across the Web are built right into each unit, offering you a truly multimedia and up-to-date educational experience.

Your written assignments will challenge you to explore your personal attraction to the music and, with Bob's help, will guide you towards expressing well-informed, intelligent opinions about the many kinds of music known as "Celtic." No musical background is required.

The 7 course units each include reading, listening, and written assignments. After having absorbed the material of a unit, simply e-mail your written responses to Bob, who will respond with personal feedback and explain how you can further pursue the questions you found most interesting. The course also makes both a discussion board and live chat available for you to freely communicate with fellow students and with Bob.

• Unit 1: Taking A New Look at Celtic Music
• Unit 2: Is There Really Such A Thing As "Celtic"?
• Unit 3: The Current Celtic Craze
• Unit 4: Irish Music
• Unit 5: Scottish and Cape Breton Music
• Unit 6: Breton, Galician, Asturian, Welsh, Cornish, and Manx Music
• Unit 7: Writing Critically about Celtic Music

This course is a fun way to experience an in-depth cultural study of the social, creative, economic, and political forces that created the category "Celtic music." You will have examined, with the help of readings from scholarly and enthusiast authors, interrelationships between and internal historical developments within each of the regions known today as "Celtic." No fancy theoretical apparatus is required or applied in this course, which opens up tough questions to informal responses from amateur musicians, high-school students, scholars in unrelated fields, and other people like you!

Regarding credits: Celtic music: regional cultures and modern success is a self-paced music course for personal enrichment only. If you are looking for a distance education music course available for university credit, check out our Independent Learning music program.

How it works

You can start anytime, and there are no required hours to log on. It's all done with one-on-one correspondence with the instructor using email. You can read and print course materials in the course web site, which you can access at your leisure with a password that we will give you. Because of the one-on-one nature of our workshops, you'll find them an excellent "coaching" or mentoring situation that will keep you going. And if you want to just work on your own, that's fine too. We're also here throughout the year if you have questions.
 
Review the current technical requirements for students in Learn@UW online courses.

Costs

Registration is $119. You can purchase the course textbook and CD (see below) from any retailer for about $30. Work at your own pace and take up to a year to finish. You will earn 1.8 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) when you complete the course. Register at any time and work at your own pace.

Course Materials

Required textbook: Martin Melhuish. Celtic Tides. Traditional Music in a New Age. Kingston, Ontario: Quarry Press, 1998. ISBN 1-55082-205-5.
Required CD: The 20th Anniversary Collection. Green Linnet Records GLCD106, 1996.
Optional CD: Celtic Tides. Putumayo Music PUTO 141-2, 1998. ISBN 188526566-2.
Optional DVD: Celtic Tides. Putumayo Music PUTU141-7, 1998. ISBN 1885265735.

Student comments

"Well organized and especially the resources were great."

 

Contact

for more information about Celtic Music is Dr. Alan Ng, 608-265-9529, ang@dcs.wisc.edu.

For more information about online learning contact Lori O'Neill at 608-263-6322 or toll-free 877-336-7836 or email LSAonline@dcs.wisc.edu.

How to register

Online: Register now online with our secure server.

Mail: Print and mail our registration form.

Telephone: Call 608-262-2451 or toll-free 800-725-9692 to register. Our phone is answered M-F, 7:00 am-4:30 pm Central Time. At other times please leave a message, and we will return your call.

Also of interest

Explore more online music courses from UW–Madison Continuing Studies.

Independent Learning music courses are distance education through University of Wisconsin-Extension. Courses are available for university credit.