A leading music teacher is to launch a new series of online tutorial videos this week based around the growing popularity of a traditional instrument.

International Celtic harpist and tutor Rachel Hair will be releasing four new harp tutorial videos through Culture Vannin.

The free tutorial videos are based on a set of Manx melodies selected by Rachel fora suite of music she put together, called ’Mannin Aboo!’ and include step-by-step lessons and sheet music for the well-known Manx tunes ’Arrane ny Niee’, ’Auldyn River’, ’Flitter Dance’ and a timely version of ’Hop Tu Naa’.

Translating as ’Hooray for the Isle of Man’, Rachel’s Mannin Aboo! suite was given its first airing when she appeared at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival in 2018.

During the festival, Rachel, who is from Glasgow, oversaw more than 100 harp players who performed the suite alongside her young Manx harp ensemble, ’Claasagh’.

Rachel arranged the pieces of music to be accessible by all levels of harp players, ranging from beginner to intermediate, and can either be performed as individual pieces by a solo harpist or altogether as part of a large harp ensemble.

Rachel Hair is a familiar face in trad Manx music circles for many years, and for the past 10 years has been teaching harp for Culture Vannin, coinciding with a growth in popularity in playing the harp across many branches of traditional Celtic music

She was the tutor behind the mercurial rise of Mera Royle, when she was heralded as the BBC Radio Two Young Folk Musician of the Year in 2018, and has taught many other young harpists during her time on the island.

She has performed and taught Manx music all around the world at concerts and festivals, and she now working on a new collaborative album with Gaelic singer, Ruth Keggin.

’We are very fortunate to have Rachel Hair as our harp teacher,’ said Dr Chloë Woolley, Manx Music Development Officer for Culture Vannin.

’These new tutorials will not only be useful for her Isle of Man students, but also for harpists around the world who are seeking to discover and explore Manx music.’

All of the Mannin Aboo! videos and sheet music can be downloaded from manxmusic.com or from culture vannin.com