The recent thread about common session tunes has come up before, but does anyone have any favorite tunes in mind that are a bit off the beaten path? You know, tunes that have something funky going on with the rhythm or the key, yet still firmly within ITM.
I'm currently liking Maggie's Pancakes for funky accents. I've also enjoyed The Wedding Reel and Spootiskerry for the same reason.
For accidentals I also like Strop the Razor, but the version posted on The Session is different; the Fs in the C (final) section are F#s, where at the sessions here in Toronto, it's more commonly F naturals.
I am fond of Trip to Herve's by Mike McGoldrick for that little bit of syncopation. Also the marches Lord Mayo and Pikemen's March, which get played at the Dover DE session just about every time I go.
What about that one - what's it called again?...... Ah yes! "Ril Gan Ainm"... that's a favourite of mine.
...sorry, I'm in one of those moods.
Seriously now, what about those two Lietrim-man John McKenna's Reels: Col. Rogers /The Happy Days of Youth...
For something(s) so completely different that they would be well off-subject, for which I apologise in advance, (my name is not Ricky Gervaise incidentally) but you are free to steer the discussion back to the named topic, two things:
1. this should have been in the "Fave sesh" thread but that's past its sell-by date, so it's here in the 'something different' one, and it sure is different. During the 1999 All-Ireland Fleadh, Enniscorthy, I blundered into a pub and joined a 'smallish' sesh with a couple of Northern flute players, good lads, Belfast, I recall. But waiting in the wings were a host of local people of the older generation, and I'm talking Old - this gang were probably mostly octogenarians.
At a suitable hiatus in the tunes, firstly one, then another, launched into song after song...old, old songs... mostly local to the area, many of them about the 1798 rebellion.
But the most touching aspect of this phenomenon was closeness they felt and displayed to each other and their music. One lad in particular was the main performer. Several (maybe 6 or 7 or more) of the other people there would be holding his hands (both), or 'laying on' their hands to his back, head, shoulders, (quite an evangelical performance) with frequent words of encouragement, like, "c'mon now Johnny" "that's it, Johnny" to the extent that it was difficult to follow the song.
But that wasn't important. The whole deal was there. Pure folk song. Those people lived with those songs all their lives, and myself and the other lads were priveleged to witness to be part of it. It's a memory I will always cherish, and still gives me goosepimples.
Needless to say, no more tunes were played by us whippersnappers, and I just hope we showed enough respect.
2. Does anyone remember the name of the unusually talented and very young flute player who is Christie Moore's nephew, and who has just brought out a CD? Who, incidentally, plays a fair few tunes which may be considered as something different (thus fits into this thread after all!)
Ridee, a breton tune recorded by Michael McGoldrick in his album "Fused." It's a quite simple tune using a scale as it is, but sounds really nice. I sometimes play it to warm up.
Mike McGoldrick seems to be popular in this thread.! Another tune from the Fused Album "Watermans" in 7/8 time has a great jazzy feel.
On Flooks "Flatfish" Sarah Allens "Bruno and A Quiet Autumn" are a nice couple of tunes...as are all of them on that CD.
Oh yes the Thunderhead, if you really want to give 'em fits play it normal a few times and then on signal, change to the 7/8 version where you just double the last note the SECOND triplet of each pair (a la Malcolm Daglish.) Then just when they think they've caught on to that, give out another signal and double the last note of the FIRST triplet of each pair. Hee hee hee.
Great suggestions; I'll be adding some of those tunes to my tunebook. Trip to Pakistan sounds really cool. I wonder what tunes would go well with it in a set?
My three favorite bizarre tunes are "Gorbachev's Farewell to Lithuania", "Jean's Reel", (both posted here by me) and "Pachelbel's Frolics" (posted by the illustrious Will Harmon). Ooh, there's another wacky one Will put up called Tommy's Tarbuka's in G minor or something ridiculous like that.
I play these tunes all the time to challenge myself - they all have something technically difficult that helps broaden the fiddling skills (with the exception of Pachelbel's, perhaps). Gorbachev's is loaded with incidentals / accidentals - whatever the heck those things are called. Jean's is all syncopated and crazy with lotsa triplets etc. Tommy's is just impossible.
If you want to find your own wacky tune here, try leaving the "name" field blank in the Tune Search on this site and search for tunes in a lesser known key signatures like, say F Major or something, and have a look at what comes up.
P.S. I missed the part where you said "firmly within ITM". I don't know what that means, but you probably won't like these tunes cuz they're mostly new. Still, they're worth knowing and practicing to build up your technical skill.
I've been hiding. hee hee. Hiding like a gremlin under an old stone bridge. Haven't been wired up, dontcha know. A little birdy by the name of Greg told me I'm supposed to get my heiny back in here and start mouthing off again, according to you, so here I am!
Got to wait and see if I can get another temp job with a lot of daisy pickin' time. The one I have now involves beaucoup de travail vrai. (a lot of real work, en francais) and I've gone and made myself indespensible so I can't seem to get myself fired no matter what I wear or how late I saunter in. Sigh.
yep. maybe we should retire from this convo and send each other an email if we're going to have all this personal chit chat... I'm going in there right this minute.
Something Different
Something Different
The recent thread about common session tunes has come up before, but does anyone have any favorite tunes in mind that are a bit off the beaten path? You know, tunes that have something funky going on with the rhythm or the key, yet still firmly within ITM.
# Posted on February 1st 2003 by jmmana
Re: Something Different
I'm currently liking Maggie's Pancakes for funky accents. I've also enjoyed The Wedding Reel and Spootiskerry for the same reason.
For accidentals I also like Strop the Razor, but the version posted on The Session is different; the Fs in the C (final) section are F#s, where at the sessions here in Toronto, it's more commonly F naturals.
---Michael B.
# Posted on February 1st 2003 by MichaelBolton
Re: Something Different
I am fond of Trip to Herve's by Mike McGoldrick for that little bit of syncopation. Also the marches Lord Mayo and Pikemen's March, which get played at the Dover DE session just about every time I go.
# Posted on February 1st 2003 by Fsnockhart
Re: Something Different
What about that one - what's it called again?...... Ah yes! "Ril Gan Ainm"... that's a favourite of mine.
...sorry, I'm in one of those moods.
Seriously now, what about those two Lietrim-man John McKenna's Reels: Col. Rogers /The Happy Days of Youth...
For something(s) so completely different that they would be well off-subject, for which I apologise in advance, (my name is not Ricky Gervaise incidentally) but you are free to steer the discussion back to the named topic, two things:
1. this should have been in the "Fave sesh" thread but that's past its sell-by date, so it's here in the 'something different' one, and it sure is different. During the 1999 All-Ireland Fleadh, Enniscorthy, I blundered into a pub and joined a 'smallish' sesh with a couple of Northern flute players, good lads, Belfast, I recall. But waiting in the wings were a host of local people of the older generation, and I'm talking Old - this gang were probably mostly octogenarians.
At a suitable hiatus in the tunes, firstly one, then another, launched into song after song...old, old songs... mostly local to the area, many of them about the 1798 rebellion.
But the most touching aspect of this phenomenon was closeness they felt and displayed to each other and their music. One lad in particular was the main performer. Several (maybe 6 or 7 or more) of the other people there would be holding his hands (both), or 'laying on' their hands to his back, head, shoulders, (quite an evangelical performance) with frequent words of encouragement, like, "c'mon now Johnny" "that's it, Johnny" to the extent that it was difficult to follow the song.
But that wasn't important. The whole deal was there. Pure folk song. Those people lived with those songs all their lives, and myself and the other lads were priveleged to witness to be part of it. It's a memory I will always cherish, and still gives me goosepimples.
Needless to say, no more tunes were played by us whippersnappers, and I just hope we showed enough respect.
2. Does anyone remember the name of the unusually talented and very young flute player who is Christie Moore's nephew, and who has just brought out a CD? Who, incidentally, plays a fair few tunes which may be considered as something different (thus fits into this thread after all!)
Danny.
# Posted on February 1st 2003 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Something Different
I like the syncopation in Trip to Pakistan, and the Thunderhead Jig has a bit of that as well.....
# Posted on February 1st 2003 by aoife
Re: Something Different
Ridee, a breton tune recorded by Michael McGoldrick in his album "Fused." It's a quite simple tune using a scale as it is, but sounds really nice. I sometimes play it to warm up.
# Posted on February 1st 2003 by slainte
Re: Something Different
Mike McGoldrick seems to be popular in this thread.! Another tune from the Fused Album "Watermans" in 7/8 time has a great jazzy feel.
On Flooks "Flatfish" Sarah Allens "Bruno and A Quiet Autumn" are a nice couple of tunes...as are all of them on that CD.
Dave.
# Posted on February 2nd 2003 by Twiz
Re: Thunderhead
Oh yes the Thunderhead, if you really want to give 'em fits play it normal a few times and then on signal, change to the 7/8 version where you just double the last note the SECOND triplet of each pair (a la Malcolm Daglish.) Then just when they think they've caught on to that, give out another signal and double the last note of the FIRST triplet of each pair. Hee hee hee.
# Posted on February 2nd 2003 by marathoner
Re: Something Different
"The Roaring Barmaid" by Tony Sullivan- sounds croocked, but it's not.
# Posted on February 2nd 2003 by Murph
Re: Something Different
Christy Moore's flute-playing nephew is CONOR BYRNE.
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by Kenny
Re: Something Different
The Snowy Path slip jig posted here. Sounds just like that.
Susie
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by Susie-Lee
Re: Something Different
Thanks for that, kenny.
# Posted on February 4th 2003 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Something Different
Great suggestions; I'll be adding some of those tunes to my tunebook. Trip to Pakistan sounds really cool. I wonder what tunes would go well with it in a set?
# Posted on February 4th 2003 by jmmana
Re: Something Different
My three favorite bizarre tunes are "Gorbachev's Farewell to Lithuania", "Jean's Reel", (both posted here by me) and "Pachelbel's Frolics" (posted by the illustrious Will Harmon). Ooh, there's another wacky one Will put up called Tommy's Tarbuka's in G minor or something ridiculous like that.
I play these tunes all the time to challenge myself - they all have something technically difficult that helps broaden the fiddling skills (with the exception of Pachelbel's, perhaps). Gorbachev's is loaded with incidentals / accidentals - whatever the heck those things are called. Jean's is all syncopated and crazy with lotsa triplets etc. Tommy's is just impossible.
If you want to find your own wacky tune here, try leaving the "name" field blank in the Tune Search on this site and search for tunes in a lesser known key signatures like, say F Major or something, and have a look at what comes up.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/487
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/254
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/255
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/140
Hugs and kisses to everyone who thought I was dead,
Kerri
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by Kerri Brown
Re: Something Different
OMIGOD. Kerri! Kerri! WHAT are you doing and where have you been!?
As soon as I saw those three tunes, I knew it was you.
Zina
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by Zina Lee
P.S. I missed the part where you said "firmly within ITM". I don't know what that means, but you probably won't like these tunes cuz they're mostly new. Still, they're worth knowing and practicing to build up your technical skill.
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by Kerri Brown
Listen, chickeen, we're getting together in Montana in August at Will's. Be there. *grin*
zls
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by Zina Lee
I've been hiding. hee hee. Hiding like a gremlin under an old stone bridge. Haven't been wired up, dontcha know. A little birdy by the name of Greg told me I'm supposed to get my heiny back in here and start mouthing off again, according to you, so here I am!
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by Kerri Brown
Re: Something Different
Hail, hail, the gang's all here! Are you going to stick around?
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by Zina Lee
Montana, eh? August, eh? That's a strong possibility. Quite strong...
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by Kerri Brown
Same e-mail address?
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by Zina Lee
And bring Greg! I owe him a big fat sloppy kiss for getting you back in here.
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by Zina Lee
Got to wait and see if I can get another temp job with a lot of daisy pickin' time. The one I have now involves beaucoup de travail vrai. (a lot of real work, en francais) and I've gone and made myself indespensible so I can't seem to get myself fired no matter what I wear or how late I saunter in. Sigh.
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by Kerri Brown
yep. maybe we should retire from this convo and send each other an email if we're going to have all this personal chit chat... I'm going in there right this minute.
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by Kerri Brown
In that case, tell them that you have to go somewhere for a week in August. Lunasa in Butte, then Will's in Helena.
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by Zina Lee