Dans A Sailheu - Tavarn - Danse des Deux Pommes Frites (performance)
Lesson time: (5min 10sec)
Steve Baughman performs a set of Breton tunes - 'Dans A Sailheu', 'Tavarn' and his own 'Danse des Deux Pommes Frites' - on fingerstyle guitar, with notation to play along.
Free lesson
This lesson is part of the course Celtic Guitar Solos, Tunes & Techniques
Watch this lesson for free below.
Lesson transcript:
The Beauty of Breton Music
Brittany, northwestern France, has the most beautiful tradition of very idiosyncratic Celtic music. It features some truly unique elements, and fortunately, it has enjoyed a real revival since World War II.
Key Elements of Breton Music
- Instrumentation:
- Pipe music
- Flute music
- Fiddle music
While most of the music is played using traditional instruments, there is a small number of musicians who are starting to play it on fingerstyle guitar.
Today's Lesson
Today, I'd like to share with you a couple of sets of pieces:
- The first piece is a Breton piece that I learned from a harp player named Ann Hayman.
- Following that, I will perform a couple of my own compositions that I believe reflect the essence of Breton style.
About the instructor

Steve Baughman is one of fingerstyle guitar's true originals - a player whose open-tuned, Celtic-rooted acoustic work has earned critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. 'Once in a while an album comes along that can alter your thinking about guitar music - Steve Baughman's Farewell to Orkney is one of those... A must for all lovers of guitar and especially Celtic music.' --Acoustic Guitar Magazine 'A star of fingerstyle guitar: very deft, thoughtful, quietly adventurous, deeply lyrical and playful.' --Radio National, Australia 'Steve's artistry and musicality are world-class, with dynamics, timing and interpretation that always bring out the emotional essence of the song.' --Sing Out Magazine '...technical innovation, virtuosity, and intensity.' --Acoustic Guitar Magazine 'Incredible virtuosity ... showcases the quiet beauty of the open-tuned acoustic guitar.' --Marin Independent Journal (Too bad it's not the Washington Post. But I'll take it.) His album Farewell to Orkney was listed as one of the 'Best Albums of 2013' by Acoustic Guitar Magazine. And then there's the accolade Steve can't quite take seriously. He is on the Digital Dream Door list of the 100 best fingerstyle guitar players of all time, which includes dead ones. 'I used to put this in my press materials. But then I figured it was just the lone opinion of some dude/gal somewhere in cyberspace. Anyone can make a list. Besides, how many fingerstyle guitar players can there be anyway? It must be hard not to make the top 100. I suspect the 81-100 slots are all made up names. As long as you did a guitar CD you're top 80. I think I was 77. Maybe I'll be deleted from the list now that I've said all this. But I appreciate the passion of whomever compiled it. Thanks for including me, and it impressed my mother. Maybe it won't now.' In Celtic Guitar Solos, Tunes & Techniques, Steve shares the open tunings and fingerstyle approaches behind that sound, so you can play it for yourself. read more




