James Gannon's

barndance

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on August 23rd 2001 by Mad Baloney.

This tune has been added to 38 tunebooks.

Also known as The Chaffpool Post, The Merry Priest, Shannon Waves, The Shannon Waves.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• 1891-1945 Disc 1 by Michael Coleman
• Farewell To Ireland CD 4 (Of A Box Set Of 4) by Various Artists
• Gracenotes by Buttons And Bows
• Irish Dance Music by Various Artists
• Passing Time by Mary And Jim Coogan
• Seoda Ceoil 2 by Various Artists
• Teada by Teada
• The Cat That Ate The Candle by John Carty And Brian McGrath
• The Cook In The Kitchen by John Brosnan
• The Mountain Road by Various Artists
• The One-Horned Cow by The Suffering Gaels
• The Seventh Veil by Theresa Kavanagh
• Through The Round Window by Eamonn Coyne

X: 1
T: James Gannon's
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: barndance
K: Gmaj
(3BcB AB e2 dB|d2cA E3E|F=F^FG AFDF |GABG (3EGE D2 |!
(3BcB AB e2 dB|d2cA E3E|F=F^FG AFDF | G2g2 g4||!
edef gfga | b2d2 d3B | cBAB cdef | (3gag fa g3f |!
edef gfga | b2d2 d3B | cBAB cdef | (3gag fa g2g2 ||

James Gannon's Barndance

I noticed there weren't too many barndances on thesession.org, this is a nice one that everyone might like as well.

# Posted on August 23rd 2001 by Mad Baloney

- - - & CAPE BRETON ISLAND, NOVA SCOTIA - - -

For sheet music and a couple of MP3s of this tune, by Michael Coleman, 'Sligo fiddler', and by Kinnon Beaton, a Cape Breton fiddler, check out the following link:

http://www.cranfordpub.com/tunes/Irish/JamesGannon.htm

And from that webpage:

"First recorded on 78 disc by Michael Coleman, it has long been popular in Cape Breton (Angus Chishom, Mike MacDougall, Howie MacDonald, Kinnon Beaton etc). It was recently published in The Music of Corktown a book of traditional Irish music as played by Ed Reavy. In that book the tune is called The Merry Priest."

# Posted on July 25th 2004 by ceolachan

What's a barndance?

# Posted on July 25th 2004 by Dow

- ? - BARNDANCE - ? -

Well, let's be loose about this. It is a tune in 4/4 time with a hornpipe skip throughout, and that lending itself well to triplets:

|(3BcB A>B e2 d>B|

It actually shares something with Varsoviennes, having a preponderance of longer notes, especially marking the end of phrases, defining the sort of dancing and steps that went along with the tune, usually couple dances:

|d2 c>A E3 E| & |G2 g2 g4||

|b2 d2 d3B| & |(3gag f>a g2 g2|

These things tend to get swallowed up once they are divorced from the dance that also shares that name and category. Within this term and form are the also close relatives of the Schottische and German, here mainly a distinction of the steps/dance, and really, you could, since there's no category for it, include the 'Highland Fling'(also known merely as 'Highlands' or 'Flings'), which also share the skip of the hornpipe - all in the family... The Highlands are usually 16 bars, again defining the dances that they accompanied. So, barndances, schottisches, Germans are hornpipes with a pronounced bounce and strong phrase definition, usually two parts and 32 bars. As the dance was lost they tended to be molded to fit more of a hornpipe feel, or to even be called hornpipes because, well, they are damned close really, especially missing the clear distinction of dance forms once inseperable. Highlands suffered a worse fate, becoming a single reel. Well, some do a damned nice job of both. Try "Rolling in the Ryegrass" as a Fling, with that skip and bounce.

Another fate of these tunes without the dance was to become a party piece, losing the bounce and going all over the place in order to draw attention to technique and what the musician was capable of doing with the melody, usually a matter of quantity rather than quality, or as a few have been known to put it, smarmy. Yeah, I admit, a subjective statement. I'm not against concert pieces, but I like that 'lift' that so clearly marks these things as dance music, as opposed to the steam rolled result of speed without rhythm. For me rhythm is the life of dance music, not something to be lightly thrown away or neglected. Better slow than without that heartbeat.

I think the more 'barndances' you play, including those other things in that category, the more aware you are of the difference. I love hornpipes too, but I like those subtle, well, really for me not so subtle, differences between the various members of this family, 3/4 or 4/4. When you consider that skip, hey, it includes Mazurkas and Varsoviennes too.

# Posted on July 26th 2004 by ceolachan

Thanks! I'm now getting tantalizingly close to vaguely understanding all this barndance/schottische/highland stuff...ish...

# Posted on July 26th 2004 by Dow