Dowd's Favourite

reel

Key signature: Gdorian

Submitted on August 9th 2001 by martin t.

This tune has been added to 257 tunebooks.

Also known as Dowd's, Dowd's Favorite, O'Dowd's, O'Dowd's Favourite.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• A Tribute To Michael Coleman by Joe Burke, Andy McGann And Felix Dolan
• Best Of Irish Fiddle by Florie Brown
• Brian Kelly by Brian Kelly
• Cape Breton Live - Take 2 by Various Artists
• Celtic Dance by Various Artists
• Classic Recordings Of Irish Traditional Fiddle Music by Hugh Gillespie
• Come To Dance: A Celtic Tradition by John Whelan
• Cruinn by Academy Of Irish Music Chicago
• Dig With It by Randal Bays, Dave Marshall And Willie Bays
• Drimalost And Beyond CD2 by Danny Meehan
• Each Little Thing by Sharon Shannon
• Familiar Footsteps by Dezi Donnelly
• Farewell To Ireland CD 1 (of A Box Set Of 4) by Various Artists
• From Shetland by Trevor Hunter
• Hidden Ground by Paddy Glackin, Jolyon Jackson
• Hit The Bricks... by Waking Maggie
• In Safe Hands by Various Artists
• Inside Out by Mícheál O' Raghallaigh
• Irish Dance Music by Various Artists
• Irish Dance Music - Folkways LP by Various Artists
• Irish Traditional Music by Paddy Carty
• Leahy by Leahy
• Live At The Music Room by Troy MacGillivray
• Lonely Bird by Aly Bain
• My Roots Are Showing by Natalie MacMaster
• Overland by Randal Bays And Daithi Sproule
• Phoenix: Traditional Music From Cork And Beyond by Any Old Time
• Rattlin' Banjos (part 1) by Gerry O'Connor
• Rogha Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy 2008 by Various Artists
• Sean McGuire Plays by Sean Maguire
• Selection Box by Conor McCarthy And Alph Duggan
• Seven Evenings, Seven Mornings by Shantalla
• Seven Years After by Sirkus
• Sláinte by Sheevon
• Suite by Kevin Burke And Cal Scott
• Ten Man Mop Or Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again by Steeleye Span
• The Banks Of The Shannon by Paddy O'Brien, Seamus Connolly And Charlie Lennon
• The Celtic Viol by Jordi Savall
• The Dawn by Shaskeen
• The Iron Man by Tommy Peoples And Daithi Sproule
• The Judique Flyer by Buddy MacMaster
• The Lark In The Morning by Steeleye Span
• The Liffey Banks by Tommy Potts
• The Mad Skeleton by Fianna
• The Michael Sexton Ceili Band by The Michael Sexton Ceili Band
• The Words That Remain by Solas
• Traditional Irish Fiddle Music by Vincent Griffin
• Traditional Irish Music From Galway And Clare by Bobby Casey, Gabriel McKeon, Raymond Roland, Liam Farrell & John Roe
• Traditional Music Of Ireland by Kathleen Collins
• Waltz After Circus by Pularí

X: 1
T: Dowd's Favourite
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Gdor
F|DGGA BABF|DFF2 DFCF|DGGA BABd|cAfA AGG:|!
A|B2dB fBdB|B2dB cAFA|B2dB fBdB|cAFA BGGA|!
B2dB fBdB|B2dB cAFA|BAGF Ggge|fdcA BGG|]!
z|gdd2 g2ag|fcc2 fcAc|gdd2 g2ag|fdcA BGG2|!
gdd2 g2ag|fcc2 fcAF|GABc dgge|fdcA BGG|]!

This tune is also played by Tommy People's on his Iron Man album.

# Posted on April 18th 2003 by pchaffee

Good version also by Kathleen Collins who uses an unexpected ornament in the third part. At first I thought she was putting in triplets on the ds and cs, but slowing it down I realized she was adding a d grace note before two d quavers (likewise on the c), with the bow really digging in triplet style for the grace note. Reproducing it changes the expected bowing direction so is initially tricky to do (especially if like me you're all primed to put a triplet in at this spot). Here's the last bar of her b part and all of her c part:

fdcA BGBd|]!
|gd {d}dd gbag|fc {c}cc fgaf|gd {d}dd gbag|fdcA BGBd|!
gd {d}dd gbag|fc {c}cc fgaf|gafg efde|cAfc AGG|]!

# Posted on September 27th 2006 by Ger the Rigger

Using double stops

Peter Knight of Steeleye Span does a nice version with double stops on Ten Man Mop. The second note is usually higher or lower by a fifth, giving it a "fiddly" sound. Here's the a part:

DGGA B2GB|A~F3 CFA,F|DGGA [D3B3]B|{c}BAGA {c}BA[DA]F |!
DGGA B2GB|A~F3 CFA,F|DGGA [D3B3]d|cA[Af]c [Ae]GG2 |!

# Posted on October 8th 2006 by McBriss

Andy McGann's 3rd part

Andy McGann's setting of this is nice, too. Particularly the 3rd part. The 2nd part is also much more interesting than that posted here. You can hear it on the Tribute to Michael Coleman CD

http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/47

or find a printed transcription in Miller and Perron's Traditional Irish Fiddle Music. However, I'd advise ignoring the wierd 4th part there which was devised by Randy Miller.

# Posted on January 23rd 2007 by kris

haha dow...ds lol
sorry dow. we love you really. you are a legend

# Posted on February 19th 2008 by frafyduck

Into Am -- is this cheating? For flute or concertina...

X: 1
T:Dowd's Favourite
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:reel
K:Ador
G|EAAB cBcG|EGG2 EGDG|EAAB cBce|dBgB BAA:|!
B|c2ec gcec|c2ec dBGB|c2ec gcec|dBGB cAAB|!
c2ec gcec|c2ec dBGB|cBAG Aaaf|gedB cAA|]!
z|aee2 a2ba|gdd2 gdBd|aee2 a2ba|gedB cAA2|!
aee2 a2ba|gdd2 gdBG|ABcd eaaf|gedB cAA|]!

# Posted on April 7th 2009 by David Levine

Dowd's

And here's another version as played by this young chap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esAhsMR0kVg

X: 1
T: Gan Ainm
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Amin
|: G | DAAB cBcG | EG ~G2 DGAG | EGAB cABc | dBgd BAAG |
DAAB cBcG | EG ~G2 DGAG | EGAB cABc | dBgd BA A :|
|: B | c2 ec Gcec | Gcec dBGB | c2 ec Gcec | dBGB cAAB |
c2 ec Gcec | Gcec dBGB | AcBd ceae | [1gedB cA A :| [2gedB cA A2 :|
|: ae ~e2 aeba | gdBd gabg | ae ~e2 aeba | gedB cA A2 |
ae ~e2 aeba | gdBd gabg | abga eage | dBgd BA A2 :|

# Posted on April 13th 2009 by bogman

If I remember well, there is a track of a woman doing a bit of mouth music in "the Scottish Tradition Series vol 2 or 3" and one of her tunes sounds v similar to this reel's 1st part.

# Posted on April 19th 2010 by birlibirdie

Tommy and Siobhan Peoples

X: 1
T: Dowd's Favourite
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Gdor
|B3 A B2AF|DFF2 CFAF|DGGA BABd|cAfA AGG|!
F|DGGA BABF|DFF2 DFCF|DGGA B3d|cAfA AGG|!
A|B2dB FBdB|B2dB cAFA|B2dB FBdB|cAFA BGGA|!
B2dB fBdB|B2dB cAFA|DGGF Ggge|fdcA AGG|]!
z|gdd2 gbag|fcc2 fgaf|gdd2 gbag|fdcA BGG2|!
g2dg b2ag|f2cf a2AF|GABc dgge|fdcA ABAF|]!

# Posted on May 12th 2011 by Earl Cameron

@McBris

Hmm, that last e doublestopped with that A sounds a bit odd

# Posted on May 12th 2011 by Earl Cameron

Here is a link to the People's recording

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw0YYdll_rs&feature=player_embedded

# Posted on May 12th 2011 by Earl Cameron

Any more variations on Dowd's Favorite?

Hi, I'm still trying to come up with a setting that sounds more like the version played by Tommy and Siobhan Peoples in the Youtube link above. I guess I'm going to try and find a recording of them playing it, but in the meantime, can anybody help me figure out some of the more subtle variations other than the ones I already notated above?

# Posted on May 12th 2011 by Earl Cameron

Tommy and Siobhán Peoples

This is a rough transcription of the reel played the last time round. I can write it with a swing but it is a lot of work in abc, and can never capture the way these two play it.

X:1
T:Dowd's Favourite
S:Tommy and Siobhán Peoples
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:Reel
K:Gdor
F|D3G BABF|CF{G}F{E}F CFAF|DGGA B3/2{c}B/2{A}Bd|
cAfA AGGF|DG .G/2.G/2.G BABF|CF{G}F{E}F CFAF|
DGGA B3/2{c}B/2{A}Bd|cAfA AG G z||
B2dB FBdB|DFBd cAFA|.B/2.B/2.B dB fB{c}B{A}B|
(c/2=B/2c) Ac _BGGc|B3/2{c}B/2{A}Bd c3/2{d}c/2{B}cA|
.B/2.B/2.B dB cAFA|GBAc Bage|fdcA BG G z||
gd .d/2.d/2.d gbag|fc .c/2.c/2.c fgaf|
g2df (g/2f/2g) bg|fdcA BG G z|g2df (g/2f/2g) bg|
fcce fgcA|GBAc Bage|fdcA B2AF|G8|]

# Posted on May 13th 2011 by Weejie

Hey thanks so much!

I haven't even looked at this yet, but thanks for trying even if you can never "really" capture it. Swing is unnecessary to notate, I just can't hear all the notes enough to reproduce them.

# Posted on May 13th 2011 by Earl Cameron