The Tarbolton Reel in Numbers and ABCs

I plan on learning the Tarbolton Reel next month. In preparation for that, I am trying a different tactic than I've been using. I've written out the head melody for the tune in both numbers and letters. I hope this helps with learning and memorizing The Tarbolton. It's part of a larger set with Longford Collector and Sailor's Bonnet.

The numbers version is based on where the notes fall within the major scale. Since I'm classifying The Tarbolton as E-Dorian (Harmonic World #2), the numbers are two for E, three for F#, four for G, five for A, six for B, "sev" (one syllable) for C# and one for D. Interestingly, this tune also has a C-natural note in the 7th measure of both the A and B parts. Since C# is being called sev, I call C natural "dev" which stands for diminished seven. Here is The Tarbolton written out with scale numbers.

For the letters version, I wrote the actual note names of each note. Pronounced ee for E, eff for F#, jee/gee for G, ay for A, bee for B, "shee" for C# (shee as in sharp C), and dee for D. The C-natural note that shows up in measure seven of the both the 1st and 2nd parts is simply "see" for C. And since it is pretty much assumed that all F notes played in Irish music are actually F#, I refer to F# as "eff" 100% of the time. To prevent this from getting too confusing, in the rare case when a tune such as Chief O'Neill's Favorite actually does have an F-natural note in the melody I would call that note "feff" instead of "eff" for flattened F. Or maybe it could be "neff" for natural F. For the sake of completeness, if/when a tune had a G# note I would call this note "geesh" for sharp gee. That doesn't apply here though. Here is The Tarbolton written out as letters.

For singing the melody I think I prefer letters over numbers. It's a little bit easier to sight read the letters as well. If writing out a confounding tune this way helps me learn it, then I might implement this process for more pieces down the road. In case you're interested, here is The Tarbolton in regular sheet music notation.

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Back to the Basics of Playing Irish Tunes

This may be at odds with my Learn It Fast To Play It Fast post from last month but I think the time has come for a back to basics approach to Irish tunes. I've been fudging a lot at the Irish sessions I go to. I might have about 80 to 90% of the tune but there are sections where I fudge through what is unclear to me. 

Now that I'm reading Molly Gebrian's Learn Faster, Perform Better I realize that the best way to handle mistakes is not to plow through them but to locate precisely where the mistake is taking place, where you are going wrong, then slow down to make sure that you play the passage correctly, gradually bringing it back to tempo, and make sure to play it many more times correctly than incorrectly to reinforce the correct pathway.

One thing about regularly going to sessions is that I can make note of tunes that I supposedly "know" but don't actually know. Case in point: The Maid Behind the Bar. Despite having played that tune for years, I felt very lost in the B-part of that tune when it was played last Sunday. It became apparent that this was one that I needed to investigate so the other day I took a focused look at where I get off track and identified that measures 4 and 5 of the B-part was where this was primarily taking place.

In measure 4 I wasn't sure where or when to go to the high B note and I hadn't been remembering that the sequence of notes is G E B E G E E G. In measure 5 of the B-part there was one note different from how I learned it all those years ago, and that one note difference was throwing me off. So I'm trying to remember how these specific measures go.

One important factor that I think gets forgotten about is to know exactly how the tune is supposed to sound. Be able to hear it (visualize it) in your head and also try signing the melody. The sections that I fudge tend to be sections that I can't "hear" clearly. 

So one of my goals for this next year is go back over the dozens of tunes that I've become more familiar with over the last year that I currently fudge and fine tune my understanding of those so that I can play them three times through from memory exactly as written with no mistakes. At a reasonable speed. No ornamentation, variations or improvisation. Exactly as written. If there is a Trailjams version available I will use that as may source, and if not perhaps Aiden Crossey has a mandolin version or Hatao will have flute version with the music.

I feel like if I get the basic tune down with the correct notes and correct picking technique, then A) I can gradually speed it up and B) any variations or ornamentation will be more under my control rather than being used as band-aids to cover up not knowing what the actual notes should be.

Another tune I found myself unclear on was The Foxhunter's slip jig, so I am going to stop typing now and do an investigative refresher on that one.

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A Music Tip from David Reed's Improvise For Real book

I recently returned to my copy of David Reed's Improvise For Real book to review his section on the Seven Worlds, which is/are the seven harmonic worlds of the major scale. Since I am almost exclusively playing Irish traditional tunes (melodies) at this point, I don't need some of the more improvisation oriented teachings from the book, however, I still find his approach to scales/modes invaluable.

David describes the major scale as having no beginning and no end. Here's an example of how I conceive this: 

1·2·34·5·6·71·2·34·5·6·71·2·34·5·6·71·2·34·5·6·71·2·34·5·6·71·2·34·5·6·71·2·34·5·6·71... and so ad infinitum.

Notice that there's no space between 3 & 4 or 7 & 1. This is because these are half-steps/semi-tones. Everywhere else is a whole step/whole tone. What David calls the Seven Worlds are the seven different patterns found in this never ending sequence of whole steps and half steps. 

1·2·34·5·6·71

2·34·5·6·71·2

34·5·6·71·2·3

4·5·6·71·2·34

5·6·71·2·34·5

6·71·2·34·5·6

71·2·34·5·6·7

If you were applying these numbers 1 through 7 to the D-major scale the corresponding numbers to letters would be 1=D, 2=E, 3=F#, 4=G, 5=A, 6=B, 7=C# and so on. 

In Irish music we tend to use only four of these seven worlds: 1 through 1, 2 through 2, 5 through 5, and 6 through 6. An example of World 1 would be the reel The Wise Maid. It has a tonal center of D and if/when there is a C/C# note played it is always a C#. World 2 is also very common in Irish music. An example of World 2 is Swallowtail Jig. It uses all the same notes as The Wise Maid (D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#) yet the tonal center hangs on note E rather than D, making it the 2·34·5·6·71·2 world. E·F#G·A·B·C#D·E.

Worlds 3 and 4 are not typically present in Irish music so I'll skip those. And World 7 is not really used in any type of music that I know of. However, World 5 is very prominent in Irish traditional music. The High Reel is in World 5. It happens to use the same notes as The Wise Maid (World 1) and The Swallowtail Jig (World 2) but The High Reel has note A as its tonal center, making it the 5·6·71·2·34·5 world. A·B·C#D·E·F#G·A. World 5.

World 6 is also found in Irish music but surprisingly is not as common as Worlds 2 or 5. The Musical Priest is one that is World 6. Once again it shares the same notes as the other tunes mentioned as examples, but The Musical Priest has note B as its tonal center, meaning that it resolves to B instead of D, E or A. 6·71·2·34·5·6.

Maybe I'll cover the tonal centers of Irish music in another post, but I hope you can see how a book with its title/premise being Improvise For Real can still be very applicable to Irish music, a style known for ornaments and melodic variations but not improvisation, per se.

PS: I find it very interesting that David Reed disucusses the Seven Worlds without using the words Ionian (World 1), Dorian (World 2), Phrygian (World 3), Lydian (World 4), Mixolydian (World 5), Aeolian (World 6) or Locrian (World 7). Maybe he thinks those words scare people off or make their brains malfunction or sound too much like music theory talk, but for me making that connection between these music theory terms and the Seven Worlds was integral in my understanding of scales/modes. But then again, I Don't Punch Like Muhammad A Li.

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Practice Tip from Molly Gebrian's Learn Faster, Perform Better book

I received the book Learn Faster, Perform Better by Molly Gebrian as a Christmas gift and I can already tell that it's a book that I will be returning to a lot. Here's something that I got from the book that has to do with setting specific practice goals and how to handle mistakes. 

If you are a basketball player who is practicing free throws, some specific goals about what you want to accomplish might be "to make 10 out of 10" or "keep my elbows in". If you miss a couple shots in a row then you should attribute the missed shots to a specific issue with your technique and come up with specific ways to address this: "I didn't bend my knees" or "focus on the back of the rim". 

The best practicers have forethought and set specific goals for the practice session. Choose specific practice strategies to achieve these goals. Put the chosen strategies into practice and closely self-monitor how you're doing. After the practice session, use self-reflection to evaluate how you did and precisely why things went well or didn't go well.

For handling mistakes, you have to correct errors in such a way that helps you avoid making them over and over. Do some detective work to locate precisely where you are going wrong (where the mistake is taking place), identify the nature of the mistake and/or the underlying issues behind it, and come up with a plan about what you need to do differently the next time - what adjustments or tweaks to make.

Slow down and repeat to correct the error and make sure it is stabilized. Coordinate the correct motor movements at a tempo you can handle. Then gradually bring it back to tempo (or beyond), making sure to play it many more times correctly than incorrectly to reinforce the correct pathway.

If you are playing something incorrectly you have to address those errors immediately when they appear. Identify the precise location and source for each error and correct it. The more you play it incorrectly the harder it will be to fix. So fix it and then play it/practice it correctly so that your times playing it correctly outnumber the percentage of times you played it incorrectly.

No More Melodica for Me

I'm a mouth breather. Always have been. I spent all of my childhood and much of my young adulthood being completely stopped up, unable to breathe through the nose. Nowadays, thanks to Flonase, I can take in air through the nostrils but old habits are hard to break, I guess. I also have a history of asthma and bronchitis. My earliest memories are of being in the hospital with tuberculosis. Somehow I got T.B. when I was 2 or 3 years old and almost died from it. Breathing is a thing.

All that aside, a few weeks ago I got a melodica with the intention of learning some of the slower pieces that come up in Irish sessions like airs and O'Carolan harp tunes. A melodica is a portable, breath-powered keyboard instrument or "air piano", played by blowing through a mouthpiece while pressing piano-like keys to make the reeds sound. This is the first wind instrument I've ever tried to play. The tunes I was learning included Blind Mary, Inisheer, Sí Bheag Sí Mhór, The Parting Glass, South Wind and Fanny Power.

Within a month of getting the melodica I developed a lingering cough that required prescription steroids to get rid of. Try as I might, during any 30-minute melodica practice session I would accidentally take in some breaths through the mouth tube. This led to the cough. Considering my history, this is not something I want to mess with so I have stopped playing melodic effective immediately. Nothing against melodica. Plenty of people are able to play them just fine without getting these symptoms. I'm not one of them.

It just sucks because for a moment I thought I had found a device to serve as my secondary instrument. Something to play in addition to the Irish tenor banjo. I was really enjoying playing melodica and it seemed like it had the potential to be tolerated on select tunes at the Irish sessions I go to. I briefly looked into other sources of air for powering the melodica such as the bellows and air bag setup used for uilleann pipes, but I don't see myself wanting to invest in such a precarious workaround.

Casio Casiotone SA-50 mini keyboard

For Christmas I asked for and received a Casio Casiotone SA-50 mini keyboard. Thanks Santa! The SA-50 has the same 32-key layout as the melodica I was playing, so I can continue working on the repertoire I had intended for melodica without having to use any kind of tube or mouthpiece. It has its own internal speakers and can run on 6 AA batteries or with an AC adapter. The SA-50 has 100 sounds with #9 vibraphone being my favorite. That's fine but I don't know if playing The Parting Glass on a mini electric keyboard designed for kids would the right way to end a session.

In the more longer term, I'm still looking for another instrument to play. I don't want it to be a stringed instrument and I don't want it to be an instrument that uses the mouth to blow air. It should also be non-electric and relatively compact and portable. I'm considering a melodeon or Irish button accordion. At this point I'm not even sure if these are different instruments or the same thing! I'm also considering a harmonium which is usually associated with yoga or Indian music but could also be used for Irish pieces. Or perhaps tuned percussion such as a chromatic Free Notes mallet instrument or a Hammered Mbira made by Don MacLane. Any of these would require a significant financial investment that I am not ready to make at the moment.

In the meantime I think I am going to have a new neck made for my one-of-a-kind J. Romero tenor banjo. For the last six months I've been playing a custom made 5-string Zach Hoyt tenor banjo tuned in all 5ths GDAEB from low to high. It has a 5 strings at the nut and the addition of that high B string makes getting to that high B note a lot easier for me because of the one-finger-per-fret way that I like to play. Played as an open string rather than at the 7th fret of the E string. I don't see myself ever going back to just 4 strings GDAE. This might be a doable task for local banjo luthier Brooks Masten. 

My Favorite Music of 2025: Two Albums Really Stood Out

Tortoise - Touch

I've posted a list of my favorite albums of the year each year for at least the last 15 cycles, and at this point I'm definitely past my peak. I'm not listening to tons of new artists the way Trey Anastasio does. I didn't do a bunch of end of the year cramming. I mostly checked out new releases by artists I was already familiar with as they came out, including Mulatu Astatke, Big Thief, Béla Fleck, Page McConnell, Bill Frisell, Enda Scahill, Mary Halvorson, Circles Around the Sun, Thomas Morgan, and Andy Thorn. More on those later.

I did have two big-time standouts this year though. Albums that I couldn't stop listening to. One in the spring and one in the fall. Those were Phonetics On and On by Horsegirl (spring 2025) and Touch by Tortoise (fall 2025). Neither of these artists were new to me. I've been a fan of Horsegirl since their 2022 debut Versions of Modern Performance and my obsession with Tortoise goes back well over two decades, ever since I first heard TNT. 

When the all-female rock trio Horsegirl first came on the scene they were still teenagers, and their slacker indie sound gained them comparisons to Pavement and Sonic Youth. On their 2nd album I still hear that, but I also hear the introduction of a mod, paisley-hued nature that made me think of The Shaggs. I know that's a lazy comparison but oh well. According to Spotify, Phonetics On and On was my most listened to album of the year. Despite being my most listened to, I think it was my 2nd favorite overall, with the number one slot going to Tortoise who won the race by a wide margin!

How do I describe Tortoise to those who don't know? First off, it's all instrumental, with elements of rock, jazz, classical, and film scores. Very heady. It's often drum forward although their guitarist Jeff Parker is one of the best jazz/experimental guitarists working today. Plus, I've always liked how Tortoise incorporates mallet instruments (vibraphone?) into their band. When I first listened to Touch, I would note the places or tracks where Tortoise sounded like Tortoise. It wasn't all the time. Now when I listen it is all the time. I might be biased because it's new, but if it's not the best Tortoise album of all time, it's at least on par with Standards and TNT.

Of the aforementioned names in the first paragraph, Life Lessons by Tim O'Brien, Bill Frisell and Dale Bruning is worth checking out, and is probably my 3rd favorite of the year. I think that one came out this year. The vinyl version is missing the Dylan cover Spanish is the Loving Tongue, which is a bummer. My 4th favorite might be BEATrio by Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda and Antonio Sánchez. I saw the first time that Béla and Edmar ever played together live at Big Ears in Knoxville in 2019. Now they've added a drummer and recorded an album together. Also worth noting is Banjo Dreams by Andy Thorn. Yes it's a banjo album, but it features some noticeably tasteful piano work by Erik Deutsch.

That's it for this year's list!