The Wheels Of The World

reel

Key signature: Dmixolydian

Submitted on October 4th 2002 by Will CPT.

This tune has been added to 73 tunebooks.

Also known as Wheels Of The World.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• All Ireland Champion Musicians Singers And Dancers On Tour Of Australia by Na Ridiri
• Best Of Finbarr Dwyer by Finbarr Dwyer
• Bridgetown by Johnny B. Connolly
• Bruscar Bán by The Culchies
• Celtic Celebration by Dirk Freymuth
• Ceol Agus Foinn : Music And Songs From The Willie Clancy Summer School by Various Artists
• Ceol An Clair by Various Artists
• Crossroads by Joe Ryan, Eddie Clark
• Draw The Bow by Malachy Bourke
• Evening Comes Early by John Doyle
• Feadoga Stain by Mary Bergin
• Fierce Traditional by Frankie Gavin
• Finnegan's AWake by Finnegan's AWake
• For The Love Of Tara by Denis Lanctot
• From The Archives by Sean McGuire And Josephine Keegan
• Gusty's Frolicks by Sean Keane
• If The Cap Fits by Kevin Burke
• Lifescapes Celtic Fiddle by Various Artists
• Live At Johnny Fox's by Dervish
• Man Of Achievement by Sean Maguire
• Milestone At The Garden by Irish Fiddle Masters From The 78 RPM Era
• P.J. Hernon by P.J. And Marcus Hernon
• Playing With Fire by Dervish
• Raven by John Williams
• Show The Lady: Music For The Sets Volume 5 by Various Artists
• Sligo Fiddle (Disk 2) by John Vesey
• Sweeter As The Years Roll By by James Keane
• The Blue CD by Irish Session Tunes
• The Factory Turn by Damian O'Brien And Oliver Loughlin With Arty McGlynn And Kevin Brehony
• The Fire Aflame by Keane, Molloy, O'Flynn
• The High Part Of The Road by Tommy Peoples And Paul Brady
• The Leg Of The Duck by Joe Burke, Michael Cooney And Noreen Donoghue
• The Little Country by Charles De Lint
• The Morning Mist by Joe Burke
• The Sligo Indians by Tony DeMarco
• The Sligo Indians by Tony DeMarco
• The Wheels Of The World, Early Irish American Music, Vol. 1 by Various Artists
• Traditional Music Of Ireland, Vol. 1 by Sean Ryan
• Trip Over The Mountain by Watkin Lees
• Under The Diamond by Liz And Yvonne Kane

X: 1
T: Wheels Of The World, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmix
FA|:dD (3FED FAGF|EC (3CCC EFGA|dD (3FED FAGF|EDCE D2 FA|
dD (3FED FAGF|EDCD EFGc|AddB cBAG|1 ECGE D2 FA:|2 ECGE D2 AB||
|:dAdf afdf|ecgc acge|dAdf afdf|edce d2 AB|(3ddd df afdf|
ecgc acge|abag efge|1 fage d2 AB:|2 fage d2 FA||

Wheels of the World

I learned this setting from Breathnach's Volume 1, and I've kept the notes basically the same here, I like this reel played at a slower tempo, "stately" as the old boys liked to say, and it follows nicely after one of the Paddy Fahy's reels posted here by Zina recently. Sounds great on banjo, too.

# Posted on October 4th 2002 by Will CPT

The Wheels of the World

This tune is also on a recording called The Wheels of the World: Early Irish American Music, Volume One. It is a various artists cd of old recordings. The Wheels of the World is played after Rakish Paddy in a set done by James Morrison.

# Posted on October 8th 2002 by aliceflynn

The fiddler I accompany uses a third part to this tune that drops from D mix. to C. Does anyone know it who can transcribe to ABC?

# Posted on October 10th 2002 by vonnieestes

Even before I posted this version, I knew a variant that I now prefer playing as the "basic melody" line, as follows.

X: 1
T: Wheels Of The World, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmix
dc|:AD (DDD FAGF|EC (3CCC G,CEG|AD (3DDD FAde|=fedc Addc|
|AD (3DDD FAGF|EDCD EFGc|AddB cBAG|1 ECGE D2 dc:|2 ECGE D2 AB||
|:dAdf afdf|ecgc acgc|dAdf afdf|edce d2 A(3BBc|
|dAdf afdf|ecgc acge|abag efge|1 fage d2 AB:|2 fage d2 dc||

# Posted on September 9th 2004 by Will CPT

Kevin Burke's version

Here's generally what I play, based on Kevin Burke's version from 'If the Cap Fits':

X:1
T: The Wheels Of The World
S:Based on Kevin Burke's version from 'If The Cap Fits'. Transcribed by Mark MacDiarmid.
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmix
B|ADED FAGF|E ~C3 G,CEG|A ~D3 FAde|=fedc Addc|
ADED FAGF|E~C3 G,CEG|A2dB cBAG|1 EDD E{G}ED d:|2 EDD E{G}ED AB||
c3 egecA|d2 adbdad|~c3 ded^cd|e~a3edAB|
c3 egecA|d2 adbdad|abag efge|1 (3fgage d2 AB:|2 ~f3e d3 ||

# Posted on August 17th 2006 by Ger the Rigger

Frankie Gavin

On "Fierce Traditional", Frankie Gavin plays this tune and the B part is a nice hybrid between the version given here and the Kevin Burke version. Each time Franki goes to the B section of the song, he plays the first repeat the normal way, and the second repeat the "Kevin" way (more or less, given that he has all of his own stylistic stuff jammed in there too). It is a nice variation. For some reason I find it very satisfying when the B part starts with a D -> C chord progression, and then when it repeats it flips to C -> D.

# Posted on January 7th 2007 by crazy_fingerz

Im 3 years late...

Nice take on that Will.

# Posted on February 21st 2007 by The Merry Highlander

Wheels of the World

Does anyone know the version of this tune Frankie Gavin does on " Fierce Traditional", ie. seen a transcript. It
is a cracker. Its fairly different from the standard version you see (or hear) about the place. Its also got a extra part I expect.
Does anyone know anything about the history of the tune?

# Posted on August 23rd 2007 by chuneboi slim

Re: Wheels of the World

I don't recall Frankie Gavin playing anything other than the standard version of this tune on "Fierce", although I'll go back and have a listen again. He also recorded it on viola on an obscure Irish Tour of Germany CD, which I had to take back to the shop because that particular track "stuck" on the CD. Shame, cause he was playing with Liam O'Flynn and Desi Wilkinson, and I've never come across the recording again.

# Posted on August 23rd 2007 by Kenny