Hi everyone! I'm looking for some really good sets of tunes- if you know of any that are really exciting, or ones that you just like, could you list the names? That would be great!!! Thanx
The first thing that pops into my head is the combination of "The Boys of Malin" with "The Gravel Walks". I can't remember where I first heard that set but I love the change from A major to A minor.
I'm sure I'll think of more but that one is straight off the top of my head.
ooo - a question I've been waiting to see - I like Red-Haired Boy/Rights of Man/Delahunty's Hornpipe - all in the tunes section (RHB is under The Red Haired Boy)
What a good idea, I'd never have thought of putting "boys of malin" with "gravel walks," Jeremy, I shall have to try that tomorrow. We do Castle Kelly/Da New Rigged Ship/Gravel Walk.
What else has worked? AMF has been working on a set of Banshee/Swallowtail/Sean Reid's that I quite like. I like the combo of common and not so common tunes.
Well, that may not necessarily be the case, but The Banks of The Ilen into The Scartaglen (reels), is one of those standard sets which hasn't lost any of its intensity over the years. They are both in the same key (D), but the opening phrase of The Scartaglen is enough to gift the lift it needs.
Wow. There so many, really. Well, a couple current favorites include: The Trip To Parliment/The Torn Jacket/ Primrose Lass; Foxy Mary/ O' Keefe's/ Scartaglen (this is a jig set by a group that played together as 'How To Change A Flat Tire'); Foxhunter's reel (in G)/Tam Linn's (in Dm)/Tam Linn's (in Am). Hope this helps.
Arbo
I think it is great when sets build up and take off. Not adverse to mixing airs and jiggy things and reels etc. I've got a set that goes from Marbhna Luimni (A lament for Limerick) to My Cape Breton Home (a waltz) to The Old Torn Petticoat Slide, and I just love the way it goes from sad to happy to absolutely wild. The changes just boggle, and by the end you can't help but to have the spirit flyin'. Fabulous. Of course there are heaps of others more conventional like the grand old session standards like the two copperplates (great!); Nine Points to Rogary/The Jolly Tinker (mindblowing) and a simple one that goes from Whelan's to the Clare jig then The Munster Cloak. The Munster Cloak goes into another dimension. Unbelievable. I hope these and all the wonderful suggestions above give you some ideas for your sets, 290 (who ever you are).
Cheers
Once again time to dig in the older threads ..... found "aping vs. influence" by brad maloney ....
... ( http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display.php/400), where by others I told how I built my set "bucks of oranmore-in memory of coleman" ..... I still like the step from Dmaj to Gmin and lately added a Gmaj-version of "barnes mór" - so the whole thing comes back to major mood again. sounds nice, has a bit of a story about styles and regions and puts Reavey vs. Doherty (what definitely not ends up in a fight but in a friendly dance)...
... another set built up recently by practising the two tunes Edorian "morrison´s jig" and Adorian "dusty windowsill" ... had them in this order on a handwritten list which I got from a leader of a session I´ve joined not long ago. One day I happened to play windowsill first and went into morrison´s next ..... and well, that is going great and now I´m looking for a third one to complete the set (but who says a set has to be three???).
both examples show, how important it might be to get some benefit from the set order: lifting it up, changing the mood, gaining back the audiences attention, accelerate not by playing faster but simply by stepping down a few keys ..... and a lot more stuff to try out. Most important to me is, how much fun is it or how natural is it to go from a tune to another.
There are a couple of threads on this topic, but I think it's a copperbottomed topic that can't be worn out. I can't think of too many tunes that don't really go after each other. I tend to stay away from sets that are all in the same key & kind of sound the same - variety is the spice of Irish music. The only sets that I don't like are ones I've heard too many times - it's a love/hate relationship. I'm often guilty of partaking in bothy/coleman/solas/lunasa etc sets. Their good for a reason. As of late some sets that I'm fond of are:
Boyne Hunt/Pigeon on the Gate/Wise Maid
Man of the House/Providence (Frankie Gavin set)
O'Rourkes/Sporting Paddy (end phrases lead into each other well)
Morning Dew/Hunter's House (instead of the Woman of the House)
Tobin's Fancy/Tar Road to Sligo (coleman set)
Paddy Kiloran's/Wild Irishman (the Amix one, on Within a mile of Dublin by Paul McGrattan/Paul O'Shaughnessey)
My all time standbys have always been
Bonnie Kate/Jennie's Chickens
Lads of Laois/First Month of Summer (change from the Em to Amajor is the balls)
Garret Barry's/Brian O'Lynn (clare set, slow down, flat the F's & swing the F' out of it)
Enchanted Lady/Holy Land (Paddy Killoran invented it & the Bothy Band made it pure gold)
Maid Behind the Bar/Glass of Beer (step-dancers fav, can sub Castlebar races for MBtB)
Temperance/St Anne's (Quebecois/New England standard)
I can go on - It's best to diddle around with all the tunes you know & find out what sounds best for you & don't be afraid to pay credence to the greats.
One of my favorite sets is the New Rigged Ship (played 3-4x) into Franks reel (with the B repeated 3x.)
Jigs are genearly the tunes I prefer, like Rose in the Heather into Banish Misfortune, or,
Rose in the Heather into I Buried My Wife and Danced on her Grave.
I'm usually pretty bad at putting tunes into sets that other people like, though.
Well, I'm a pretty new player, so some of these sets may be somewhat "kindergarten" to some of you, but here are a couple of the ones I play:
Fermoy Lasses/Salley Gardens/Dunmoor Lasses (reels)
Banish Misfortune/Cliffs of Moher (jigs)
Boys of Bluehill/Rights of Man (hornpipes)
Maggie in the Woods/Britches Full of Stitches (right name?)/Mickey Chewing Bubblegum (polkas)
I know some of these are on a previous thread as "least favorites" or "overplayed", but they work for me until I shove them out of my memory with better, or more difficult, or less common ones. Perhaps these will be fun for some of the other newer players out there.
Jeremy - You rang a bell for me right quick. I learned the "Boys of Malin" off that old fiddlesticks recording. Track 1 just happens to be Boy's of Malin and Gravel walk.
As for my tune sets I am trying to put together new ones that include a few of the tunes I picked up right here.
After a while it doesn't really matter what tunes are called. But, to put an error right, earlier post, I meant The Bucks of Oranmore/Jolly Tinker. Sorry.
A lot of people in this thread seem to extoll the virtues of brash changes (time or keys: slides to reels, major to minor etc)
Try tunes that have similar things going on in them for a change
The old Bush
Rakish Paddy
Sailing into Walpol's Marsh
Chicargo reel
Although these tunes are in different keys, they all have strong Cmaj chords in them somewhere. Strummers love that kind of thing.
It means you can create a kind of unity to a set
Aargh. I have to be careful, though -- if I take my mind off a tune for a minute, and the tune is TOO similar in one bit, I'll go right into the one I'm most used to playing. For some reason, if I try playing the Swallowtail and get distracted, the B part always ends up shunting me off into the Congress...
Am I missing something here? I just listened to the abc's for "The Boys of Malin" and "The Gravel Walks" and they are both minor tunes (Natural minor and Dorian) Where's the change from major to minor?
What are your favorite tune sets?
What are your favorite tune sets?
Hi everyone! I'm looking for some really good sets of tunes- if you know of any that are really exciting, or ones that you just like, could you list the names? That would be great!!! Thanx
# Posted on August 17th 2002 by Kallie
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Good question.
The first thing that pops into my head is the combination of "The Boys of Malin" with "The Gravel Walks". I can't remember where I first heard that set but I love the change from A major to A minor.
I'm sure I'll think of more but that one is straight off the top of my head.
# Posted on August 17th 2002 by Jeremy
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
ooo - a question I've been waiting to see - I like Red-Haired Boy/Rights of Man/Delahunty's Hornpipe - all in the tunes section (RHB is under The Red Haired Boy)
CJ
# Posted on August 17th 2002 by cj
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
What a good idea, I'd never have thought of putting "boys of malin" with "gravel walks," Jeremy, I shall have to try that tomorrow. We do Castle Kelly/Da New Rigged Ship/Gravel Walk.
What else has worked? AMF has been working on a set of Banshee/Swallowtail/Sean Reid's that I quite like. I like the combo of common and not so common tunes.
Zina
# Posted on August 17th 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Mc Kenna's Jigs, as played by Patrick Street on their no.2 and their live album.
# Posted on August 17th 2002 by Henk Bos
The old ones are the best
Well, that may not necessarily be the case, but The Banks of The Ilen into The Scartaglen (reels), is one of those standard sets which hasn't lost any of its intensity over the years. They are both in the same key (D), but the opening phrase of The Scartaglen is enough to gift the lift it needs.
# Posted on August 17th 2002 by granama
....While I'm still here, a jig set:
The two Pipes on their respective Hobs - D and A minor, followed by Tom Billy's (A mixolydian).
Sorry, for those not in the know, that's two tunes, both called the Pipe on the Hob, followed by a third one.
# Posted on August 17th 2002 by granama
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Saint Anne's reel and The Shetland Fiddler make a great set
# Posted on August 17th 2002 by Marc
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
the Roscomon Reel,Trip to Birmingham,Trip to Durrow.
# Posted on August 18th 2002 by westcoastfluter
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Wow. There so many, really. Well, a couple current favorites include: The Trip To Parliment/The Torn Jacket/ Primrose Lass; Foxy Mary/ O' Keefe's/ Scartaglen (this is a jig set by a group that played together as 'How To Change A Flat Tire'); Foxhunter's reel (in G)/Tam Linn's (in Dm)/Tam Linn's (in Am). Hope this helps.
Arbo
# Posted on August 18th 2002 by Imnotirish
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Any Bothy Band
Or try side two of Kevin Burke's "If The Cap Fits"
I think the best old classic is Michael Coleman's:
The Longford collector
Tarbolton
The sailors Bonnet
Does any one know? Did Michael Coleman invent the three reels thing
# Posted on August 18th 2002 by llig leahcim
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
I agree with michael - if nothing else the bothy band have some mighty sets, I really, really love paddy o'brien and vincent Broderick sets as well.
# Posted on August 18th 2002 by bb
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
I think it is great when sets build up and take off. Not adverse to mixing airs and jiggy things and reels etc. I've got a set that goes from Marbhna Luimni (A lament for Limerick) to My Cape Breton Home (a waltz) to The Old Torn Petticoat Slide, and I just love the way it goes from sad to happy to absolutely wild. The changes just boggle, and by the end you can't help but to have the spirit flyin'. Fabulous. Of course there are heaps of others more conventional like the grand old session standards like the two copperplates (great!); Nine Points to Rogary/The Jolly Tinker (mindblowing) and a simple one that goes from Whelan's to the Clare jig then The Munster Cloak. The Munster Cloak goes into another dimension. Unbelievable. I hope these and all the wonderful suggestions above give you some ideas for your sets, 290 (who ever you are).
Cheers
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by Jill
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Kevin Burke does a Walsh's hornpipe/Old Torn Petticoat Slide/ Old Torn Petticoat Reel/Bank of Ireland set that I recon is out of this world.
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by Jill
The slide to reel transition is magic.
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by Jill
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
How about The Broken Pledge into Jenny's Welcome to Charlie?
"Sevidge", as they say in Miltown :¬)
Conan
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by Conán McDonnell
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Once again time to dig in the older threads ..... found "aping vs. influence" by brad maloney ....
... ( http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display.php/400), where by others I told how I built my set "bucks of oranmore-in memory of coleman" ..... I still like the step from Dmaj to Gmin and lately added a Gmaj-version of "barnes mór" - so the whole thing comes back to major mood again. sounds nice, has a bit of a story about styles and regions and puts Reavey vs. Doherty (what definitely not ends up in a fight but in a friendly dance)...
... another set built up recently by practising the two tunes Edorian "morrison´s jig" and Adorian "dusty windowsill" ... had them in this order on a handwritten list which I got from a leader of a session I´ve joined not long ago. One day I happened to play windowsill first and went into morrison´s next ..... and well, that is going great and now I´m looking for a third one to complete the set (but who says a set has to be three???).
both examples show, how important it might be to get some benefit from the set order: lifting it up, changing the mood, gaining back the audiences attention, accelerate not by playing faster but simply by stepping down a few keys ..... and a lot more stuff to try out. Most important to me is, how much fun is it or how natural is it to go from a tune to another.
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by crannog
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
There are a couple of threads on this topic, but I think it's a copperbottomed topic that can't be worn out. I can't think of too many tunes that don't really go after each other. I tend to stay away from sets that are all in the same key & kind of sound the same - variety is the spice of Irish music. The only sets that I don't like are ones I've heard too many times - it's a love/hate relationship. I'm often guilty of partaking in bothy/coleman/solas/lunasa etc sets. Their good for a reason. As of late some sets that I'm fond of are:
Boyne Hunt/Pigeon on the Gate/Wise Maid
Man of the House/Providence (Frankie Gavin set)
O'Rourkes/Sporting Paddy (end phrases lead into each other well)
Morning Dew/Hunter's House (instead of the Woman of the House)
Tobin's Fancy/Tar Road to Sligo (coleman set)
Paddy Kiloran's/Wild Irishman (the Amix one, on Within a mile of Dublin by Paul McGrattan/Paul O'Shaughnessey)
My all time standbys have always been
Bonnie Kate/Jennie's Chickens
Lads of Laois/First Month of Summer (change from the Em to Amajor is the balls)
Garret Barry's/Brian O'Lynn (clare set, slow down, flat the F's & swing the F' out of it)
Enchanted Lady/Holy Land (Paddy Killoran invented it & the Bothy Band made it pure gold)
Maid Behind the Bar/Glass of Beer (step-dancers fav, can sub Castlebar races for MBtB)
Temperance/St Anne's (Quebecois/New England standard)
I can go on - It's best to diddle around with all the tunes you know & find out what sounds best for you & don't be afraid to pay credence to the greats.
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by Mad Baloney
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
One of my favorite sets is the New Rigged Ship (played 3-4x) into Franks reel (with the B repeated 3x.)
Jigs are genearly the tunes I prefer, like Rose in the Heather into Banish Misfortune, or,
Rose in the Heather into I Buried My Wife and Danced on her Grave.
I'm usually pretty bad at putting tunes into sets that other people like, though.
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by Redbird
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Well, I'm a pretty new player, so some of these sets may be somewhat "kindergarten" to some of you, but here are a couple of the ones I play:
Fermoy Lasses/Salley Gardens/Dunmoor Lasses (reels)
Banish Misfortune/Cliffs of Moher (jigs)
Boys of Bluehill/Rights of Man (hornpipes)
Maggie in the Woods/Britches Full of Stitches (right name?)/Mickey Chewing Bubblegum (polkas)
I know some of these are on a previous thread as "least favorites" or "overplayed", but they work for me until I shove them out of my memory with better, or more difficult, or less common ones. Perhaps these will be fun for some of the other newer players out there.
Colleen
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by cdavick
Malin and Walks
Jeremy - You rang a bell for me right quick. I learned the "Boys of Malin" off that old fiddlesticks recording. Track 1 just happens to be Boy's of Malin and Gravel walk.
As for my tune sets I am trying to put together new ones that include a few of the tunes I picked up right here.
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by Mark Cordova
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Merry Blacksmith/Silver Spear
Spootiskerry/Reel Montreal
Brenda Stubbert's/Bus Stop Reel
Kitty's Wedding/Boys of Bluehill/Harvest Home
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by SPeak
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Speck do u know where i can find the music to the bus stop reel? -290
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by Kallie
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
290 -- Try JC's Tune Finder. http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/findtune.html
It returns 24 versions of the Bus Stop.
Zina
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
thanks zina!
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by Kallie
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
After a while it doesn't really matter what tunes are called. But, to put an error right, earlier post, I meant The Bucks of Oranmore/Jolly Tinker. Sorry.
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by Jill
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
A lot of people in this thread seem to extoll the virtues of brash changes (time or keys: slides to reels, major to minor etc)
Try tunes that have similar things going on in them for a change
The old Bush
Rakish Paddy
Sailing into Walpol's Marsh
Chicargo reel
Although these tunes are in different keys, they all have strong Cmaj chords in them somewhere. Strummers love that kind of thing.
It means you can create a kind of unity to a set
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by llig leahcim
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Strummers! Who are they?
# Posted on August 20th 2002 by Jill
Strummers
Gueetar players.
# Posted on August 20th 2002 by glauber
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Aargh. I have to be careful, though -- if I take my mind off a tune for a minute, and the tune is TOO similar in one bit, I'll go right into the one I'm most used to playing. For some reason, if I try playing the Swallowtail and get distracted, the B part always ends up shunting me off into the Congress...
Sometimes I HATE being a beginner....hehehe
Zina
# Posted on August 20th 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Play the firts part of the Swallow Tail followed by the whole of the Congress, then finish up with the last part of the congress. Then repeat.
Makes the whole thing into a bigger reel. It's a great way to play tunes.
But warn the geetar strummers
# Posted on August 20th 2002 by llig leahcim
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Omigod, Michael. I'd have to warn the whole damned session. *grin* Talk about a way to confuse people. But it'd be fun as a band stunt once, maybe.
zls
# Posted on August 20th 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
By the way, Michael, welcome back. Have a good holiday?
Zina
# Posted on August 20th 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
I like the Michael Coleman Tarbolton set, but I also like to play it in The Salamance/TheTarbolton/The Witches
# Posted on August 22nd 2002 by 5StringMike
Tony Furtado plays a good medly of Roscommon/ O'Rourkes and the Famous Ballymote.
Does anyone play O'Rourkes? I can find the music for it.
Mike
# Posted on August 22nd 2002 by 5StringMike
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
It's in the archives here, Mike.
Zina
# Posted on August 22nd 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Am I missing something here? I just listened to the abc's for "The Boys of Malin" and "The Gravel Walks" and they are both minor tunes (Natural minor and Dorian) Where's the change from major to minor?
# Posted on March 17th 2005 by Cammy
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
"Am I missing something here? "
I think so. Malin is in A mixolydian, with a big fat major 3rd (from A to c#).
# Posted on March 17th 2005 by Jeeves Tones
Make that A major
Sorry, not mix.
# Posted on March 17th 2005 by Jeeves Tones
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
Scully Casey's/Apples in Winter/Sporting Pitchfork
# Posted on March 17th 2005 by joesmith
Re: What are your favorite tune sets?
"Does any one know? Did Michael Coleman invent the three reels thing"
No, it has to do with the Holy Trinity.
# Posted on March 17th 2005 by Phantom Button