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.

*** 

You Don't Have To Be Irish To Play Irish Music

From what I have noticed, as long as you're playing an instrument suitable to Irish music, and as long as you are playing it with some semblance of understanding, it doesn't matter how flimsy your connection to being Irish might be. 

I have no known history of Irish culture in my family. No relatives claimed Irish roots. We didn't grow up listening to Irish music in the house. I probably didn't even hear Irish trad until I was 30 years old on my first visit to Ireland and saw Yvonne Casey, Eoin O'Neill and Quentin Cooper play in McDermott's Pub Doolin. Or was it McGann's? Memories fade.

When I finally did start playing a musical instrument a couple years later it wasn't necessarily with the intent of playing Irish music. However, when I discovered that there's this type of music where you get to play all-melody all-the-time I was sold. No chord changes, no singing, no waiting for your turn to solo. Just play the melody 100% of the time in unison with other melody instruments. I thought, "I can do this". I try to keep thoughts of being completely inauthentic to the back of my mind.

To the original point. If you learn the etiquette and are making an effort to learn the tunes and get them up to speed, then you'll be fine. Don't wait around until you are good enough. I didn't. If I was waiting until I was good enough I'd still be waiting.

Welsh singer Tom Jones playing fiddle

***

Five Ways Irish Music Has Influenced Me

For the last couple years a lot of my time spent playing music was spent playing Irish traditional music: instrumental jigs, reels, hornpipes and such. Although recently I've temporarily drifted away from that repertoire it still has an impact every time I pick up my tenor banjo and pluck a tune.

Here are five ways Irish music continues to influence me:

1) It's All About The Melody
I love how in Irish trad if you play a melody instrument you play the melody all the time in unison with others.  You never have to comp or take a solo.  There is some variation and improvisation but it's minimal - you pretty much just stick to the melody and structure of the tune as it keeps repeating.

This mindset of repeatedly playing the melody has carried over into everything I play.  It's basically the same as using an instrument to whistle.  I try and find songs with good melodies and then just play those melody lines as instrumental tunes.

2) Dispense With The Chords
Harmony plays a big role in most music but in Irish traditional music it matters not as much.  When a jazz horn player plays a standard, he is conscious of the chord of the moment and that informs his note choices during a solo.  As a melody player in Irish music you don't really need to be aware of the underlying chords in this way since the tune is the tune and the chords are secondary or arbitrary.  You can be aware to the extent that you add harmony like double stops at certain places but those selections are often optional and variable.

Irish music has given me the confidence to use this same "chordless" approach no matter what I am playing.

3) Modes, Modes, Modes
My own theories toward music theory have been helped along by my experience playing Irish music.  I realized quite early on that the "modal" and/or "minor" tunes common to the Irish session repertoire (tunes in E-Dorian, A-Dorian, D-Mixolydian, A-Mixolydian, B-Aeolian, E-Aeolian) are all melodies comprise of notes from either the D-major or G-major scales, but resolving to a tonal center other than the "1" of those major scales.

Because of this awareness which stemmed from Irish music, I now analyze almost any melody I am learning in terms of the major scale - even if the mode being used is Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, or Aeolian.  When you analyze melodies in terms of the universal major scale patterns start to show up and you understand that "sharp" or "flat" note only occurs when it is truly sharp or flat!  This way of thinking also makes it easier to play the same melody in other keys since the major scale is universal.  Being a Dorian tune, Cooley's Reel is always going center around note 2 of the major scale.  It's normally played in E-Dorian, which is the D-major scale, but if you wanted to play Cooley's in G-Dorian you would simply transfer every note to the F-major scale.

4) Music Doesn't Need An Audience
People who play Irish music are going to play whether there's an audience or not!  A jig or reel is musically complete when one person is playing it on a fiddle, even if there's nobody else around to hear it!  I do realize that Irish music stems to a type of dancing which suggests the speed and rhythm that a tune should be played at and that Irish sessions are social in nature.  But musically these traditional dance pieces do not require full band arrangements or dancers.

This lack of a need for an audience is contrary to the way we're conditioned to think about music.  What rock band practices without some aspect of entertainment or performance or getting a gig being taken into account?  Yes you can play music for fun as a hobby without having to have performance or entertainment as the ultimate driver.

5) My Instrument Of Choice
I love to play tenor banjo.  More specifically, I love to flat-pick or pluck melodies on tenor banjo. I don't really believe in genre or style when I'm playing something.  I don't really care where the piece came from or what kind of tune or song it is supposed to be.  I just like using a tenor banjo to sound out a melody.

It just so happens that there's a whole genre of music where people flat-pick melodies on tenor banjo and it's called Irish traditional music!  Being able to hear masters like Angelina Carberry and John Carty play tenor banjo in this way really helps.  I know what the sound of a flat-picked tenor banjo by an expert musician should sound like thanks to these Irish banjo players.  I may not want to always play tunes of Irish origin on tenor banjo but without that connection I don't know that I would have made that leap to the instrument at all.

Transposing from Major to Phrygian (Rakes of Mallow in Ionian and Phrygian)

Most fiddle tunes are either in Ionian (AKA the major scale, mode 1), Dorian (AKA "modal", AKA "minor", mode 2) or Mixolydian (AKA "modal", mode 5), and sometimes Aeolian (AKA "minor", mode 6).  You don't see many in Phrygian (mode 3), Lydian (mode 4) or Locrian (mode 7), if at all. So, I wondered what it would sound like to transpose* a tune from major/Ionian - the most common and normal sounding of all keys - to Phrygian - a weird, exotic minor mode.

*Is there a more proper term than "transpose" for when you move a melody from one mode to another?

For this experiment I chose the Irish tune Rakes of Mallow because a) it's in the key of G, b) it's a relatively simple tune and c) it was the first tune I thought of!  To do this I had to get the music theory part of my brain working.  I knew that Phrygian was the mode starting on the 3rd note of the major scale, so in other words the G-major scale from B to B (B-C-D-E-F#-G-A-B) would be B-Phrygian.

Rakes of Mallow in G-major

Rakes of Mallow in G-Phrygian

I then made note of those intervals and transposed from B-Phrygian to G-Phrygian.  Those notes are G-Ab-Bb-C-D-Eb-F-G. (FYI: these are the same notes as the Eb-major scale starting on its 3rd note).  I suppose another way of looking at it is, to go from Ionian to Phrygian you flatten the 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th notes of the major scale.  I already had Rakes of Mallow written out in mandolin tab in G-major.  Based on that, I wrote it out in G-Phrygian, making sure to convert every A to Ab, every B to Bb, every E to Eb and every F# to F.  Those mandolin tab transcriptions are included above.

Another interesting thing to point out is how the chords changed.  Knowing that the G-Phrygian mode is really just the Eb-major scale starting on its 3rd note, I know that the G-Phrygian mode would use the exact same chords as the Eb-major scale.  (The I chord in Phrygian is the III chord in Major, the II chord in Phrygian is the IV chord in Major, and so on).  Using that logic, I think I wrote out the correct chords in the G-Phrygian version of Rakes of Mallow.

Rakes of Mallow is easy to play in G-major but very difficult and unusual feeling in G-Phrygian, partly because on a tenor banjo in the Irish tuning of GDAE you don't get to use any open strings when playing this melody in G-Phrygian.  (I bet if I had put it in B-Phrygian it would have been much easier because those are the same notes as the G-major scale).  But, I will say that by putting it in the Phrygian mode - with its half step between the 1st and 2nd notes of its scale - the tune takes on an almost Greek or Klezmer sound.

Listen and see what you think!

###

The Dual Roles of the Notes Used in Irish Traditional Music

The majority of Irish session tunes use the notes found in either the D-major or G-major scale, even when the tonal center is E, A or B. 

For example…

The note D is usually going to be either the 1^st note of the D scale or the 5^th note of the G scale.  It’s not unusual for a tune to have D as its tonal center but be using the G scale (i.e. Tatter Jack Walsh, Rakish Paddy, Star Above the Garter).  More on this later.

The note E is either the 2^nd note of the D scale or the 6th of the G scale.  Without going too far down the path of chords, which is a loose concept in Irish music, those two chord E-minor/D-major tunes like Cooley’s Reel and Swallowtail Jig can be thought of as using the II chord and the I chord of the D-scale, with the II chord (E-minor) being the “home” chord and the I chord (D-major) being the “away” chord.  That’s better than thinking of the E-minor chord as the I chord and the D-major chord as some kind of flattened VII chord.

The note F# is either the 3^rd note of the D scale or the 7^th note of the G scale.

The note G is either the 4^th note of the D scale or the 1^st note of the G scale.

The note A is either the 5^th note of the D scale or the 2^nd note of the G scale.  Those “two chord” A-minor/G-major tunes like Mist Covered Mountain and Congress Reel are using G-scale notes (A-Dorian), just like how those E-minor/D-major tunes are using D-scale notes (E-Dorian). 

The note B is either the 6^th note of the D scale or the 3^rd note of the G scale.  You occasionally have tunes like Musical Priest or Connaughtman’s Rambles that have B as the tonal center for portions of the melody, and/or modulate from B to D.  That’s usually an indication that B is acting as the 6^th note of the D scale.

The note C does not reside in the D scale, but it is the 4^th note of the G scale.  When you encounter a tune like Tatter Jack Walsh which resolves to D but has that prominent C-chord, you’re actually working within the G-scale.  The D-major chord in Tatter Jack Walsh, even though it is the “home” chord, is acting as a V chord, while the C-major chord, even though it can be seen as the “away” chord, is functioning as a IV chord.  These are characteristics of D-mixolydian, which is simply the G-major scale starting on its 5^th note.

The note C# is the 7^th note of the D scale.  It does not exist in the G-major scale, proper. However, C# does seem to be one of those notes that can sometimes be used in place of a C-natural note in a modal tune at the discretion of the melody player.  The presence of a C# in a tune like The High Reel is an indication that it is in A-mixolydian - the same notes as the D scale – meaning that the C# is serving as the 7^th note of the D scale.

This is kind of a hard concept to describe, but it gets clearer the more you think about it.  Basically, most tunes use either the D scale (resolving to either the 1^st note D, the 2^nd note E, the 5^th note A or the 6^th note B) or the G scale (resolving to either the 1^st note G, the 2^nd note A, the 5^th note D or the 6^th note E).  It’s also worth noting that the tonal centers D, E and A show up in both the D and G scales, and that both scales use all the same notes except for C or C#.  

Do I Play Irish Tenor Banjo?

Today is St. Patrick's Day and I'm ready to admit that I play Irish tenor banjo, or am at least on the road toward learning how to do so.

Tenor banjo was my first instrument.  I liked playing Neil Young songs on it initially, before adopting fiddle tunes.  Due to its versatility, mandolin almost took over for a while.  There has also been a little bit of flat-picked guitar, mandola and baritone ukulele competing for instrument time.  As of late I've sidelined those other instruments and returned to tenor banjo almost entirely.

I've also benched the oldtime Appalachian tunes I was playing, as well as any other folk melodies, songs or covers I was trying to play or transcribe (OK maybe I am keeping a couple Neil Young songs around).  It is pretty much 100% Irish tunes at this point.  Oldtime just ended up feeling disingenuous.

Seeing as how I'm only playing tenor banjo and I'm only playing Irish tunes, it's only natural that those two coinciding pursuits should be merged.  If you target each of things two things (tenor banjo + Irish music) long enough then ultimately what you end up doing is playing Irish tenor banjo.  It's inevitable, isn't it?

I suppose taking ownership of that intertwining coherence is one of the more difficult parts in all this.  But, like the Amish youth who return to the fold after Rumspringa, your practice is more devout when you hone in on the optimal form.

As an instrument tenor banjo is the one for me.  No other instrument feels as good when I play it or appeals in the same way.  Similarly, Irish music is what I want to play.  If I were still just a music listener, then I'd still be drawn to Trey Anastasio, Jerry Garcia and John Medeski for my musical fix.  But as someone who sees playing music as a potential hobby, the way others enjoy playing golf, knitting or chess, I've found that Irish music fills this niche in a way no other style of music can.

St. Paddy's Day Week as a Player of Irish Music

As a player of Irish music, St. Paddy's Day Week is, ironically, just like any other week.  If there was a friendly local session going on that was open to someone of my intermediate abilities, then I would enjoy going to that.  But as it is I'll just continue doing what I do every night...which is playing tunes at home...getting better acquainted with melodies such as The High Reel and Tripping Up the Stairs.

A lot of it has to do with not being good enough to be offered gigs or other (paid) playing opportunities, but some of it has to do with a personal disconnect to the idea of Irish music as performance.  Of course, if I saw what I do as a possible form of entertainment for others, and I was good enough and confident enough to present it as such, and someone was willing to pay me money to basically do what I would already be doing anyway (which is playing tunes), then I would definitely be open to that!

It's funny that I should be disinterested in the groups that play a polished, concert form of Irish music because I am definitely susceptible to the idea of music in the concert setting and can identify with the hero-worshiping fan.  If I counted up the number of times I've seen Phish, Dark Star Orchestra, moe., Leftover Salmon, Yonder Mountain String Band, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Keller Williams, Strangefolk, even String Cheese Incident, it would number in the hundreds. (yes these are bands for white kids to take drugs to, but also great performers!).  So, I'm no stranger to the perspective of being a starry-eyed music spectator and appreciator.

I suppose there's a slight feeling of being left out going on here, although prior to playing Irish music I had no real connection to the culture so I didn't pay much attention to St. Patrick's Day as a holiday. Now I'm more aware of it due to a quizzical feeling of should I be a more direct participant in some way?  There's got to be more to the celebration than just the secular Americanized version of guzzling green beer, even for a snoot like me.

90% of my music listening these days is to Irish traditional tunes.  I view this type of listening as a disciplined study; mental preparation for the music that I love to play, which is basically any form of traditional Irish instrumental tune.  That's probably not a well-rounded absorption of Irish music as it noticeably omits the pub style ballad that so many listeners think of when they think of the Celtic genre.  It's a selfish indulgence that becomes more complex this time of year.

Irish Tenor Banjo Sound Comparison - Paramount vs. Romero

Today I borrowed a 1920's Paramount Style B 19-fret, 22.75", arch top resonator banjo.  I'm used to 17-fret, 21" short scale tenor banjos, but the longer (standard) scale length of the Paramount was an easy adjustment.  Until today, this Paramount had never been set up in the "Irish" GDAE tuning.  It really pops!  The owner who is only temporarily letting me play it as a lefty in this tuning says it sounds like a totally different banjo.  He also says it is NOT FOR SALE!  He's had it for several decades and during that time has refurbished it twice.

I made a recording comparing the sound of the Paramount to my 2013 custom made Jason Romero banjo.  The Romero is an open back 17-fret, 21" short scale with a Belle Rose tone ring (Jason's own design).  Jason mostly makes clawhammer banjos and banjo ukes, but does also make the occasional tenor banjo on request. Mine is a work of art and I was impressed by the way it held its own against the vintage instrument.

The tune is supposed to be Egan's Polka.  To give a full range of the sound, I played it in both a higher and lower octave on each banjo. The Paramount is 1st and the Romero 2nd. 

Whaddaya think!!??

Single Jig Hag at the Churn on Baritone Ukulele

I hadn't played the Irish jig Hag At the Churn in quite some time, but it came back to me tonight. I did glance at the music to clear up some fuzzy parts. After playing it a few times on tenor banjo I got out the baritone uke to see if I could find those same notes on that rarely played instrument and there they were!

Hag At the Churn is one of the few tunes I've played so far that feels good under the fingers in the DGBE tuning.  Since I couldn't believe that I was playing it quite effortlessly on the baritone uke, I had to make a recording.  Here it is with the music below.

The music/tab comes from Don Julin's Mandolin for Dummies book.  I'm basically playing those exact notes on the baritone uke, as far as I can tell.  Very basic, but what a cool sounding single jig!

Irish Session CDs and Recordings

Even if I wasn't trying to learn how to be a participant, I still think my preferred way to experience Irish music would be in the session setting. It seems as though this traditional music is best understood not on a stage but by a loose assortment of musicians gathered around a table in the corner of a pub for some tunes and a few pints.

I only know of a handful of officially released Irish session recordings.  The first one that comes to mind is Maiden Voyage, recorded in 1991 at Pepper’s Bar in Feakle in the Eastern part of County Clare.  It features Tommy Peoples: fiddle, Kevin Crawford: concert flute, Joe Bane: tin whistle, and several others.  Maiden Voyage is well captured from deep in the heart of East Clare.

Another session recording I have which I like a lot is The Sanctuary Sessions, from Cruises Pub in Ennis, County Clare.  It was recorded in May 1994 and features many of the musicians who played regularly at Cruises at that time, with some overlap of names from the Maiden Voyage CD. The tunes on The Sanctuary Sessions often sound familiar to me even if I don’t always recognize the titles. The crowd is really receptive on this one!

One of the better known session recordings is Live At Mona’s, recorded over a period of several weeks in spring/fall 2003 at a now defunct Monday night session in the lower east side of Manhattan.  Out of all the session recordings, Live At Mona’s probably best captures the magic that can be created in that unscripted environment.  Musicians include Patrick Ourceau, Eamon O’Leary, Mick Moloney, Cillian Vallely and Brian Holleran.

Late in the Night is a live recording by Christy Barry (flute, whistle, spoons), Conor McCarthy (accordion) and Cyril O’Donoghue (bouzouki, guitar) from O’connors Bar in Doolin in the Western part of County Clare.  It was recorded in 2002 during the height of the Celtic Tiger, of which the small town of Doolin felt a major impact – being marketed as an epicenter of traditional music just down the road from the popular Cliffs of Moher tourist attraction.  Even if this was more of a gig rather than a session, Late in the Night is still a prime example of lively Clare session tunes.  The sparse instrumentation allows for an appreciation of Cyril O’Donoghue’s exceptional guitar/bouzouki backup.

Another live traditional music album I am fond of is The best of Andrew Mac Namara and The Lahawns, which is a compilation culled from recordings made at Winkles Hotel in Kinvara - just north of Clare in South Galway - in 1995 and Lena's Bar in Feakle in 2001.  Of all the releases on this list, this Lahawns album probably has the highest percentage of common tunes on it, so it's a great source for those looking to hear some of the standards, including Tatter Jack Walsh, the Boys of Bluehill, Lark in the Morning, Cooley's Reel, Rakish Paddy, Castle Kelly and Humours of Tulla.  This album has a boisterous, ceili-band feel

Lastly, I'd like to include a CD called Live at the Burren Centre, Kilfenora, recorded during a 2009 lunch-time performance by Kevin Griffin, Eoin O'Neill and Quentin Cooper. Although this was part of a concert series, Eoin and Quentin are long-time veterans of the Ennis session scene and Kevin Griffin plays in the pubs around Doolin, so the tunes come directly from the session repertoire and retain that loose, unrehearsed feel.

I see that there is also a CD called Music at Matt Molloy's.  I do not have that one yet.  If you know of any Irish session recordings that I've omitted please leave a comment or send me a message.  I'd love to hear more!

Leaning Toward Irish Trad Exclusivity

In the 8 years that I’ve been playing music, only about a third of that time has been devoted to playing Irish music.  Within that third of the time little to none of it has been spent learning Irish trad the proper way – by ear.  More recently I’ve been getting the urge to let go of ancillary musical distractions and focus on Irish almost exclusively. Here are some reasons why.

My primary instrument – the 4-string tenor banjo tuned GDAE – is affiliated with Irish music.  In fact, some people refer to it as “Irish Tenor Banjo”. 

Irish music is purely melodic.  Therefore it’s a genre where my philosophical preference toward melody over harmony is welcome.

There are a variety of instruments that take the lead in Irish music.  It’s not just about the fiddle.  There’s also accordion, flute, whistle, concertina, pipes.  Even banjo and mandolin can have lead roles.

Irish music has a variety of tonal centers (D, G, A, E, B) and modes (Ionian, Dorian, Mixolydian, Aeolian), and you can experiment with even more.

Irish trad offers a variety of time signatures (4/4, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8) and tune types (jigs, reels, barndances, slipjigs, polkas, slides, marches).

The session scene and culture.  Irish music is played in pubs and having a pint while you play is a built-in aspect of it.  Most major US cities are going to have an Irish session.

In the session environment tunes are spontaneously segued together into sets, often with key/mode modulations from tune to tune.  This adds a sense of excitement and the unknown.

Irish music comes across as slightly exotic and foreign sounding, giving it an air of mystery.  However, it is actually quite tidy from a music theory perspective.

There’s a disassociation with bluegrass and quasi-hillbilly music.  It’s less easily confused with bluegrass.

Irish music is mostly instrumental and secular.  There is a vocal tradition but for the most part that is separate from the tunes. 

No matter how commercialized or polished Irish music gets at the recorded or performance level, as a musical hobby it is quite safely removed from any trends.  

List of Tunes to Learn - From 3 Years of Attending Sessions and Jams

I started regularly attending Irish sessions and Oldtime jams about three years ago, in January 2012.  Ever since then I've been keeping a running list of tunes on my phone.  If something someone played at a jam or session peaked my interest and I happened to catch its title, I would jot it down in the notes app.  Here is that digital list almost 3 years later - unedited and in its entirety.  It might be time to go through and clean this up!


Fortune D
Sarah Armstrong
Rock the Cradle Joe
Dry and Dusty
Old Mother Flanagan
Rush and Pepper
Waiting For Nancy - D
Julianne Johnson - D
Indian Ate A Woodchuck
Miss Monaghan's
Old Mother Flanagan
Little Dutch Girl - G
Barlow Knife - G
Magpie - G
Shucking' the Brush - D$$$$
Twin Sisters - D
Sadie at the Backdoor - D
Waiting For Nancy - D
Washington's March - D
Green Willis - D
Cowhide Blues - G
Sandy River Belle - G
Stony Point -G$$$$$$
Old-time Blackberry Blossom- G
Lost Girl - G digital Appalachian library
New Cut Road - D
Billy Wilson - A
Grubb Sprungs - A
Fermoy Lasses
High Reel
Dublin Reel
Calum Road
Snowy Path
Snow on the Hills
monaghan's
Boys of Malin
Jig of Slurs
Moon coin
Antholl Highlanders
Kid on the Mt
Most Covered Mt.
Ships in Full Saolh
She beg Shemore
O Carolan's
Southwindg
Josie O - G
Sarah Armstrong's - D
Big Sandy River - A
Rachel/Texas Quickstep - D
Glory Reel D
The Hearhery Cruach D
Morning Dew D
Leitrim Fancy Em
Black Rogue D
Paddy Gallaghers
High Reel A
Calliope House
Woman of the House
Kelly's Cow
Top of thenMaol
O connor's Polka
Old Bunch of Keys A
Elville (Snake Hunt) A
Road to Malvern (Light and Hitch) A
Tater Patch A
John Brown's March A
Devil in the Haysdack A
Humors of Lissobel
Dr. Gilbert's (the Kennedy Sessions)
Limerick Lasses
Trip to Durrow
Congress
Swinging on a Gate
Tripping Up the Stairs
Glasgow Reel
O'Carolan's Concerto
Battle of Aughtim
Lost Everything
Old Piss D
Molly Put the Kettle On D
Sandy River Belle G
Cowhide Blues G
Flying Indian G
West Fork Gals D
Katie Bar the Door D
Spotted Pony D
Needle case D
Southwind D
Sugar Hill D
Cricket in the Hearth D
Leitrim Fancy
Shoes and Stockings G
Cowhide Blues G
Wild Horses G
Spider Bit the Baby C
Monkey in the Dogcart C
Fun's All Over C
Grub Springs A
Greasy Coat A
Little Egypt C
Half Past Four A
Girl that Broke that My Heart
Tom Billy's Jig - trad lessons
Morning Dew
High Reel
Five Miles from Town D
Snake Hunt A
Half Past Four A
Greasy Coat A
Morning Dew
Waynesboro G
Johnny Come Along G
Folding Down the Sheets D
Logan County Blues D
Sailor's Bonnet Bothy Band
Leitrim Fancy
Black Rogue
Langstrom's Pony
Top of Cork Rd./Father O Flynn's
Stool of Repentance
Tar Road to Sligo
Joy of My Life
Snowy Path
Up Sligo
Musical Priest
Otter's Holt
George White's Favorite
Lads of Dunse
Kerfunten Jign
Green Cockade
Camp Chase A
Jenny on the Railroad A
Bull At the Wagon A
Fortune D
Logan County Blues D
New Cut Road D*****
Morgan Magan D
Fanny Power D***
O'carolan's Concerto
Johnny Cope Am
Bottom of the Punchbowl
Ships Are Sailing
Golden Keyboard
Plains of Boyle
Flowing Tide
Coleraine Jig****
Charlie Hunter's (Scottish)
Double File? A
Tipping Back the Corn A
Folding Down the Sheets D
Home Ruler
Kitty's Wedding
Farewell to Ireland
Dublin Reel
Blarney Pilgrim
Jackie Coleman's D
Bag of Spuds Am
Hag at the Churn
Cup of Tea
Wise Maid
Sally Gardens
Martha Campbell D
 Needlecase D
Folding Down the Sheets D
My Love is But a Lassie
Crooked Stovepipe
Boyne Hunt
Shoes and Stockings
Lost Girl
Devil's Dream
Tarbolton >
Long ford Collector >
Sailor's Bonnet
Irishman's Heart to the Ladies
Saddle the Pony
Tar Road to Sligo>
Joy of My Life
Maid on the Green
Brosna>Dennis Murphy's>O'keefe's
Shoes and Stockings G
Flying Cloud Cotillion G
Hobb Dye G
Old Ant Jenny with a Bonnet on her head G
Squirrel Heads and Gravy G
Fun's All Over C
Rock Andy Ag
Bull at the Wagon A
Darby Gallaghers jig
Slieve Russell
Tar Road to Sligo
Dusty Windowdills
Rock Candy A
Dusty Windowsills or Chicago Jig 3 parts
Morning Dew
Westphalia Waltz G
Squirrel Hunters D(ish)
Martha Campbell D
Humpback Mule D
Logan County Blues D
Rock Andy A
Frost is all Over
Down in Little Egypt C
Rocky Pallet C
Folding Down the Sheets D
Hog Skin C
Down in Little Egypt C
Possum on a Rail G
Jake's Got the Belly Ache A Eddon Hammons
Double File A
Three Thin Dimes A
Johnny Come Along G
Flying Indian G
Squirrel Hunters D
New Five Cents D
Logan County Blues D
Grubb Springs Amodal
Coleman's March D
Flying Cloud Cotillion G
Grand Picnic D.......
Home w/ Girls Morning D
Humpback Mule D
Johnny Come Along G
Lost Girl G
Pretty Little Widow A
Jenny on the Railroad A
Leitrim Fancy > Black Rogue
The Morning Star
Rolling Waves
Behind the Haystack
Waynesboro G
Johnny Come Along G
Grand Picnic D
Jenny Get Around G
Old French D
Humpback Mule D Illinois tune
Swinging On A Gate G
Magnolia One Step G
Muddy Creek G
Dixie Hoedown G
Rachel D
Old French D
Logan County Blues D
Man of the House
Padraig O'keefe's (Mary Bergen CD, reel?)
Dr. O'neil
Sheep in the Boat
Old Piss D
Campbell's Farewell to Redgap A
Muddy Creek G
Valley Forge D
Jake's Got the Bellyache Am
Yearling in the Canebrake A
Martha Campbell D
Lost Girl G John Salyer
Flying Indian G
Rakish Paddy
Moon coin Jig
Behind the Haystack/Munster Buttermilk
Glory Reel
John Stenson's #2
Plains of Boyle
Foxhunter's
Rakish Paddy
Alexander's Hornpipe
Glory Reel
Jessica's polka
O'connor's Polka
Providence Reel
The Commodore
Buck Mountain D
Sailing Over England A
Idle wood Chirps Smith D
Pretty Little Dog Amodal
Sally in the Garden Dm
Say Darling Say D
Platt River Waltz A
Stoney Point G
Walk that Pretty Girl Home G
Moon Behind the Hill G Melvin Wine
Kelly's Cow > Top of the Maol > O'Connor's Polka
Coleraine Jig
Osullivan's Polka > ??? > Jessica's (Sean's tunes)
The Curlew
Fine Times At Our House modal
BrushyRun G
Maid on the Green
Scotsman On the Border?
Nell Fee's
Padraigh O'keefe's
O'Carolan's Draught
Coleraine Jig
Little hills of Offally
Buck Mountain D
Kicking Up the Devil on a Holiday D
Three Thin Dimes A
Turkey Foot D
Tippin' Back the Corn A
Barren Rocks of Aden polka
Nell Fees
Father Kelly's
Can You Dance A Tobacco Hill D
Lady of the Lake D
Jay bird Died of a Whooping Cough G
Gate to Go Through G Clyde Davenport
Ladies On A Steamboat G
Chattanooga G Acuff
The Curlew D
Pumpkin Rock D
Kicking Up the Devil On A Holiday Dmodal
Jenny Get Around A
Rakish Paddy
Pipe on the Hob
Rakes of Kildare
Rolling Wave jig
Foxhunter's reel
Swallowtail Reel Am?
La Bastreague D
Morpeth Rant D
Double File A
Pretty Little Dog Am
Poor Johnny's Gone to War D
Peach Tree G
Lost Goose Bb oldtime music party Brian Vollmer
Sandy River Belle G
Tippin Back the Corn A
Home Ruler and Kitty's Wedding D
All Around the Ferry Fort barndance
Green Fields of America
Stenson's
Donegal Reel
Rakes of Kildare
Roaring River G
Magnolia One Step G
Jenny Get Around A
Irishman's Heart to the Ladies
Don't Love Nobody
Where's that Rabbi with the Preacher's Wife G
Calliope House
Glass of Beer
Calico Quickstep ? G
Yearling in the Canebreak A
Parnell's march
Humours of Ballyconnell
Cameron Highlander Danu
Kitty Lie Over > Munster Buttermilk jigs
Glory Reel
Hawks Got A Chicken G
Jimmie Allen G
Roscoe G
Wild Horses at Stony Pt. G (3 parts)
Sally Come Down the Middle D
Norman Edmunds fiddler
Hell on the Wabash G
Needlecase D
Dinah D
Yearling in the Canebreak A
Calico Corn D
Old Beech Leaves G ****good