A Celtic Dream is the companion songbook to Michele McLaughlin’s 2009 CD by the same name, faithfully transcribed by the amazingly accurate Rebecca Oswald. Inspired by a trip to Ireland, several of the songs are lively and upbeat, creating a great variety of moods and playing styles. The playing level of this book is pretty consistent - level 3 and 4 - which would be an upper intermediate level. More advanced players will enjoy the vivid colors of the music and the potential for an emotionally expressive outlet. Although there are a few octave runs, there are very few chords and no reaches of more than an octave. Most of the left hands parts are repeated broken chord patterns that are easy to pick up. This is really a fun book to play, and I recommend it! It is available from michelemclaughlin.com.

Below is a list of the songs in the book, listed in the order they appear on the CD. I have included the key signatures and how many sharps and flats are in those keys, the level of difficulty on a scale of 1-5 compared to Michele’s other pieces (with 1 being the easiest and 5 the most advanced), and the number of pages.

Summer Solstice - Key of A Minor (no sharps or flats) - level 4 - 6 pages
Slainte - Key of C (no sharps or flats) - level 3 - 5 pages
A Celtic Dream - Key of A Minor - level 3 - 3 pages
Irish Rain - Key of D Minor (1 flat) - level 4 - 7 pages
Across the Burren - Key of A Minor - level 4 - 5 pages
Finn McCool - Key of C Minor (3 flats) - level 4 - 4 pages
Lament - Key of C - level 1 - 3 pages
The North Sea - Key of C Minor - level 4 - 7 pages
The Druid’s Prayer - Key of A Minor - level 3 - 4 pages
The Clurichaun - key of A Minor - level 4 - 3 pages
Glenveagh Castle - Key of C - level 3 - 4 pages
Causeway Coastline - Key of G Minor ( 2 flats) - level 4 - 6 pages
For the Lambs - Key of C - level 3 - 3 pages
From Where We Came - Key of Eb (3 flats) - level 4 - 6 pages
Carrowkeel - Key of C Minor - level 3 - 4 pages