101 Irish Tunes with Sheet Music, Chords and Audio - Tenor Banjo and Guitar

Australian Tony O'Rourke of the Irish Guitar Podcast has come out with a collection of 101 Irish Tunes complete with sheet music transcriptions, chords and mp3 audio files.  Played on Irish tenor banjo with guitar backup (in standard EADGBE guitar tuning).  Reel, Hornpipes, Jigs, Polkas, and O'Carolan tunes.  My Ireland - Volume I is available for download for the very reasonable cost of just $16.

Tony's instrument of choice is the tenor banjo, but he is also an excellent guitarist familiar with accompanying Irish music, and he plays both instruments here.  The speed is slow enough for playing along but still fast enough to sound like music, which is perfect for its intended purpose as a learning tool.  Each tune is played twice through and ornamentation is kept to a minimum so that the melody is clear.

Tony O'Rourke - photo by Sean Kenan

Most collections of Irish music choose to omit chords for various right or wrong reasons. On his decision to include chords, Tony says in the liner notes, "I believe that this will be of benefit to my fellow guitar pickers and am convinced it will not make the guitar accompaniment of Irish music any worse!"

Here is an audio sample from the book of the jig The Cat that ate the Candle.  You can download a free sample of the book (PDF, 840k) which contains the table of contents and a few pages of sheet music.  The full list of the 101 tunes is below.  

Reels
Banshee, The
Bellharbor Reel
Bird In The Bush
Blacksmith’s Anvil
Boil The Breakfast Early
Boys of Ballysodare
Boys Of Portaferry
Broken Pledge, The
Bucks Of Oranmore
Christmas Eve
Coalminer’s Reel (A)
Coalminer’s Reel (G)
Cottage In The Grove
Crosses Of Annagh
Derry Craig Wood
Devaney’s Goat
Dillon Browne’s
Dillon's
Dunmore Lasses
Earl’s Chair
Far From Home
Farewell To Erin
Father Kelly’s
Fermanagh Reevey’s
Foxhunter’s
Glass Of Beer
Glen Allen
Graf Spee
Green Fields Of America
Humors Of Ballyconnell
Humors Of Lissadell
Humors Of Tulla
Ironing Board, The
Jackie Coleman’s
John Brennan’s
John Dwyer’s
Julia Delaney’s
Kilty Town
Lady Anne Montgomery
Lisdoonvarna Reel
Longford Collector
Lucy Campbell
Maid Behind The Bar
Merry Blacksmith
Miller’s Daughter
Miss McCloud’s
Miss Monaghan
Moving Clouds
My Love Is In America
Nigel Davey’s
Nine Points Of Roguery
Otter’s Holt
Over The Bog Road
Plough And The Stars
Reel Of Rio
Sailor’s Bonnet
Salamanca, The
Sally Gardens
Shaskeen, The
Speed The Plough
Star Of Munster
Tarbolton Reel
Teetotaller’s Reel
Tim Maloney's
Wise Maid

Hornpipes
Boys Of Bluehill
Byrne’s
Cronin’s
Cuckoo’s Nest
Fairies’ Hornpipe
Flowing Tide
Harvest Home
Home Ruler, The
Kitty’s Wedding
McMahon’s
Off To California
Rights Of Man

Jigs
Blackthorn Stick
Cat That Ate The Candle
Eavesdropper, The
Frost Is All Over, The
Geese In The Bog
Health To The Ladies O'Carolan Pieces
Irish Washerwoman
Jackson’s Morning Brush
Joy Of My Life, The
Merrily Kiss The Quaker’s Wife
Rakes Of Kildare
Rollicking Boys Of Tandragee
Ships In Full Sail
Strike The Gay Harp
Tobin’s Favourite
Tom Billy’s Jig
Tripping Up The Stairs

Polkas
Denis Murphy’s
Egan’s
Johnny I Do Miss You

O'Carolan Pieces
O’Carolan’s Concerto
O’Carolan’s Draught
Planxty Irwin
Sídh Beag Sídh Mór

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