At Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy in Miltown Malbay in July of this year, a group of musicians gathered for my ‘Read Music the Trad Way’ class.  As always, on a Monday morning at the start of a summer course, there was a particular buzz in the air — part excitement, part nervousness, part expectation. But in this room there was also a healthy dose of scepticism and curiosity in the mix:

“I’ve tried to learn to read before – and it just never clicked for me.” 

“5 days she says, and we’ll be sight-reading. I doubt it!” 

Fast-forward to Friday and that same group was confidently reading jigs, reels, and polkas straight from the page — no hesitation, no stopping and starting, no scribbling ABCs below the dots. It was proof that learning to read doesn’t take years — it just takes the right approach.

The Confidence Shift (in numbers)

At the start of the week, just 5% of the musicians rated themselves as quite confident at reading music (and no-one was very confident).

By the end, a whopping 100% were confident! Every single participant had moved into the “quite confident” or “very confident” category. How amazing is that! 

Liz has re-wired my brain! – Joachim

Why it Works

Read Music the Trad Way isn’t your typical music theory course. 

It’s designed by a trad musician, for trad musicians.

It’s tailor-made to help traditional musicians finally master the skill of reading music. Instead of bogging you down with rules you’ll never use, it strips things right back to what you actually need — the essentials that let you sight-read jigs, reels, hornpipes, and polkas fluently and with ease.

There are no complicated detours into classical music theory. No heavy textbooks. Just a simple four-step method that breaks reading into clear, doable stages.

And why that approach? 

Because I was that trad musician who tried (and failed) for years to learn to read. I knew how the lines and spaces worked – technically! I could rhyme off “Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit.” I could even scribble the ABCs under the dots. But read and play a tune straight off the page and make it sound like music? It just didn’t click. I thought that would be forever beyond me.

When I finally cracked it — and realised it didn’t need to be this big scary thing — I thought, “why did I waste all those years faking it?” So I took what I’d figured out and broke it down into the simplest steps possible. That’s how Read Music the Trad Way was born.

Now you don’t need years of study or classical training to read trad tunes. No faking it, no stress, no ABCs scribbled under the notes. With the Read Music the Trad Way method, you can go from “I can’t read a note” to “I can play from the dots” in just a few days or weeks (you decide!). 

On Monday I couldn’t read a note. By Friday I was able to read jigs and reels from start to end without ever seeing them before. I’m delighted! – Luke 

Ready to crack the code on music reading?

 Sign up for Read Music the Trad Way – the online course that will get you reading and playing tunes right off the page before you know it! 

By the end, you’ll be confidently lifting jigs, reels, and polkas straight off the page. No ABC scribbles. No stopping and starting. Just tunes. You’ll be delighted with yourself!

There is no way you CAN’T read music after taking this course – John