The Rainy Day

reel

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on July 8th 2003 by Mikea.

This tune has been added to 246 tunebooks.

Also known as A Rainy Day, Rainy Day.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• 1975 The First by The Bothy Band
• A Compilation Of Young Uilleann Pipers by The Pipers Rock
• All Ireland Champions by The Leitrim Ceili Band
• An Crann Carraige (Concertina Melodies From Tuamgraney, East Clare) by Martin O'Brien
• Ar An Bhfidil by Oisin MacDiarmada
• Castle Ceili Band by Castle Ceili Band
• Clare Accordion by Seamus Walshe
• Doorways And Windowsills by Antoin Mac Gabhann And Mick O'Connor
• Down From Bell Harbour by Chris Droney
• East Of The Tracks by Brigetown
• Feadoga Stain by Mary Bergin
• Flute Tunes by Peter Woodley
• Forty Years Of Irish Piping by Seamus Ennis
• Hives Of Honeyed Sound by Padraic Mac Mathuna
• In The Footsteps Of Coleman by Various Artists
• Jigs, Reels And Airs by Seamus Tansey
• Kathleen Keane by Kathleen Keane
• Matt Molloy, Paul Brady, Tommy Peoples by Matt Molloy, Paul Brady, Tommy Peoples
• Music Of Dreams by Tony Mac Mahon, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Noel Hill
• Music Of Dreams by Noel Hill And Tony MacMahon With Iarla O Lionaird
• Notes From The Heart by Mick, Louise And Michelle Mulcahy
• Outside The Box by Billy McComiskey
• Piper's Rock by Various Artists
• Piping Hot by Various Artists
• Raise The Rafters by Molly's Revenge
• Rian by Liam O'Maonlai
• Sean Potts by Sean Potts And Paddy Moloney
• Seisiun Ceol Neachtains by DinoTrad
• Set Dancing Downunder by The Coast Ceili Band
• Set On Stone by The Kilfenora Ceili Band
• Sets In The City by Tipsy House
• Side By Side by Liz And Yvonne Kane
• Suantrai by John Canny, Kevin Carey And Terence O'Reilly
• The Banks Of The Shannon by Paddy O'Brien, Seamus Connolly And Charlie Lennon
• The Best Of Irish Piping by Seamus Ennis
• The Bridge Céilí Band by The Bridge Céilí Band
• The Green Fields Of Ireland by Comhaltas Tour Group 1979
• The Hop Down by Breda Keville
• The Mighty Box by Luke Daniels
• The Morning Mist by Joe Burke
• The Phantom Shadows Of A Connaught Fire (2 Of 3) by Seamus Tansey
• The Raineys by The Raineys
• The Sligo Champion (CD 2) by Michael Gorman
• The Twentieth Anniversary Collection by Various Artists
• Tiomnacht / Handed On by Eoin O Riabhaigh
• Traditional Irish Music Played On The Uilleann Pipes by Robbie Hannan
• Tree by Gaelic Storm
• Uilleann Piping, Another Generation by A New Dawn
• When The World Was Wide by Trouble In The Kitchen
• Wooden Flute Obsession: Volume 3, Disc 1 by Various Artists

X: 1
T: Rainy Day, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Gmaj
|:EAAG AGAB|cedB {d}c2Ac|BGGF GFGA|Bdef gdBG|
EAAG AGAB|{d}c2AB cdef|gbaf gedB|GBdB BAA2:|
|:ea~a2 ea{b}ag|edef gabg|egfa gfga|bgaf gfed|
ea~a2 ea{b}ag|edef gbaf|gedB GABd|gedB{d} BAA2:|

Request for Rainy Day

This setting of The Rainy Day comes from the flute player Michael Harty who was with Paddy O'Brien, and I think it was Paddy himself who originaly wrote this setting out for his band to play. I now play with Michael Harty who has brought some fine settings of tunes to our weekly session in Cahir, South Tipperary.

# Posted on July 8th 2003 by Mikea

cheers mike

# Posted on July 9th 2003 by timo

It may have a G key signature, but the tonal centre is A, the second degree of the G major scale, making this a modal tune.

It's in A dorian, not G major!

Enough nit picking.

This was one of Seamus Ennis's best tunes .

# Posted on July 24th 2003 by Hanley

Key Signitures

Most of the older traditional musicians I know around where I live
(South Tipperary) would use key signitures to save writing lots of sharps or flats in the music,so if a tune is in Am with all F,s sharp they would put it in G. I know this is not correct notation but is still gets the point across.
Good luck
Mikea

# Posted on August 3rd 2003 by Mikea

Dez Donnelly and Michael McGoldrick

Here's a transcription of Dez Donnelly's fiddling on the first go round on this great reel, from the Ceili House radio program.

X: 1
T: Rainy Day, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
S:Ceili House, May 7, 2005
K: A Dorian
G|:EAAG A3 B|c2 ed cBAc|B~G3 D~G3|B/c/d gd edB/A/G|
EAAG A3 B|c2 AB cdef|~g2 af gedB|1 GBdB BAAG:|2 GBdB BA (3Bcd||
eaag eaag|edef ~g3e|d~g3 b~g3|bgaf gf e2 |
a3 g eaag|edef gbaf|gedB GA (3Bcd|1 gedB BA (3Bcd:|2 gedB BAAG||

# Posted on May 10th 2005 by Will Harmon

Bothy Band Version

The Bothy Band play a rather different version of this tune, which makes me wonder if this is actually a different tune that the Bothy Band simply misnamed on their CD.

Try this version out at a slow pace, holding on to the a's in the B-part, going for an East Clare style.

X: 1
T: Rainy Day, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
S: The Bothy Band
K: A Dorian
D|:EAAG A3G|B/c/d ed gedc|BGGF G2dG|G2dG eGdG|
EAAG ~A3G|BAAA B/c/d ef|~g3e dBGA|B2dB A3:|
d|eaag ~a3g|ba~a2 baag|eggf g3a|bg~g2 bgag|
ea~a2 aged|B/c/d ef g2ag|eaag egdG|B2dB A3:|

# Posted on May 25th 2005 by Bleedin' Heart

Doesnt Mary Bergin credit the same tune on her cd....when I play either of these tunes i usually say - I dont know - when asked for the name - too confusing

# Posted on May 25th 2005 by Hugo Chavez

Mary Bergin

Stefanpaz, I don't have the CD, but according to Henrik Norbeck they both (Mary Bergin and the Bothy Band) play the same version.

(As a reference, look here: http://www.norbeck.nu/abc/i/hnr3.abc and scroll to X:325)

Does anyone else have more insight on these two versions?

# Posted on May 30th 2005 by Bleedin' Heart

The Rainy Day - 2 versions

I'm not convinced that the tune recorded by the Bothy Band and Mary Bergin isn't just a version of Paddy On The Turnpike. If you transpose Paddy On The Turnpike up to Ador for the flute and then compare, the similarities are really noticeable, especially in the B-part:

X: 1
T: Paddy On The Turnpike
T: The Bunch Of Keys
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Ador
EAAG ~A3B|cA~A2 eAcA|EGGF ~G3A|BGdG eGdG|
EAAG ~A3B|cBAB cdef|~g3e dBGB|1 cABG A3G:|2 cABG A3d||
|:eaag ~a3b|ca~a2 cabg|eggf ~g3a|bg~g2 bgag|
eaag ~a3b|cbag edef|~g3e dBGB|1 cABG A3d:|2 cABG A3G||

X: 1
T: The Rainy Day
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
S: Based on Bothy Band tune, but a couple of tweaks here and there to add much-needed strength to my argument
K: Ador
EAAG ~A3B|cded gedc|BGGF ~G2dG|~G2dG eGdG|
EAAG ~A3B|cBAB cdef|~g3e dBGA|1 B2dB A3G:|2 B2dB A3d||
|:eaag ~a3g|ba~a2 bgag|eggf ~g3a|bg~g2 bgag|
eaag aged|(3Bcd ef g2ag|eaag egdG|1 B2dB A3d:|2 B2dB A3G||

There are lots of tunes that are similar to this – Corner House, Down The Broom and all its variants... Not sure, but isn’t it possible that someone has got them mixed up?

# Posted on August 10th 2006 by Dr. Dow

The B-part of the other version that's *not* the Bothy Band one is almost identical to the Concert Reel http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1474. Now I wish I hadn't realised that because now I'm having a major headache trying to keep them separate...

# Posted on August 10th 2006 by Dr. Dow

Listen to Dezi Donnelly and Mike McGoldrick's purest drop playing of this tune: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/ceilihouse/rams/7may.ram (starts around 20:30, from Ceili House Archive 2005: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/ceilihouse/1034199.html)

# Posted on May 17th 2007 by slainte

P.S. Thanks Mr. Harmon for having transcribed their version above.

# Posted on May 17th 2007 by slainte

Slainte, are you learning this tune at the moment? You can hear a nice clip of Tim Collins playing it in Gdor here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7qLCr9GBeM.

Here's my setting.

X: 1
T: Rainy Day, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Ador
EAAG ~A3B|cded cBAc|BG~G2 dG~G2|Bdgd edBG|
EAAG ~A3B|cBAB cdef|gbaf gedB|1 GBdB BAAG:|2 GBdB BAAd||
|:eaag eaag|edef gabg|dg~g2 a2ga|bgaf gedg|
eaag eaag|edef gaba|gedB GABd|1 gedB BAAd:|2 gedB BAAG||

# Posted on May 17th 2007 by Dr. Dow

I've heard a great piping friend play the tune many times in sessions, so it's already in my head. I think I can play it anytime I want, if not too fast. But I don't feel like playing any Ador reel at the moment.

# Posted on May 17th 2007 by slainte

Related Tune in G

Mills are Grinding: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/5779

# Posted on May 17th 2007 by slainte

I eventually learned this yesterday, and found there's another similar tune: Peter Flanagan's: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3871

And here's the link to the less common setting of The Rainy Day posted by Dow: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/7228

# Posted on May 19th 2007 by slainte

FWIW

This version (as opposed to the other one on this site) is the one played by Billy McComiskey on his "Outside the Box" CD. This presumably would also then be the version which gets a fair amount of play around Baltimore (USA).

# Posted on July 29th 2008 by Jason G

Dow, I agree with you. This is very similar to Paddy On The Turnpike. I find Paddy... to be a much better tune for fiddling than Rainy Day. It definitely suits the flute or whistle much better.

# Posted on August 19th 2009 by h.e. porter

I think this is the version that Will Harmon posted. This one is done by Dezi Donnelly and Mike McGoldrick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h_hnvJle2E

# Posted on July 21st 2010 by pipersgrip