Key signature: Amixolydian
Submitted on November 3rd 2005 by domnull.
This tune has been added to 54 tunebooks.
Also known as An Drochaid Chiiùiteach, An Drochaid Chii�iteach, An Drochaid Chliùteach, An Drochaid Chliuteach, An Drochaid Cliuiteach, An Drochaid Cluideachd, An Drochaid Luideach, The Famous Bridge, The Twisted Fox.
Recordings of a tune by this name:
X: 1
T: Twisted Bridge, The
M: 3/2
L: 1/8
R: three-two
K: Amix
ce (3(eee) feef ec a2 | ce (3(eee) feef ec B2 |
ce (3(eee) feef ec a2 | A2 AB c2 ec BG A2 :|
ae (3(eee) feef ec a2 | ae (3(eee) feef ec B2 |
ae (3(eee) feef ec a2 | A2 AB c2 ec BG A2 :|
Great tune - thanks to Bonnanza for requesting it and to JohnJ for identifying it. John got it from Nigel Gatherer's site
http://www.nigelgatherer.com/tunes/tab/tab8/twstb.html
NB it is a 6/4 pipe tune - maybe 3/2 is the closest option here??
# Posted on November 3rd 2005 by domnull
You can assign meter on site when making your contribution, say under either 3/2 or 6/8 but with a 'proviso' ~ all you do is add
M: 6/4
before the ABCs...
# Posted on November 3rd 2005 by ceolachan
Cool tune. It sounds so familiar but I can't remember where I heard it.
# Posted on November 28th 2005 by Unseen122
Gaelic Storm. How could I forget.
# Posted on November 28th 2005 by Unseen122
I have it on good authority that the name 'The Twisted Bridge' is a bad translation from the Gaelic. The name should actually be 'The Famous Bridge'
# Posted on September 11th 2006 by No Cause For Alarm
A reel and a half
What an interesting little tune! I think you were right to choose 3/2 anyway, domnull. Anything with a 6 on top of the time signature (6/2, 6/4, 6/8 etc) is "compound duple", i.e. there are 2 beats in the bar, so you'd tap your foot twice, and there'd be 3 crotchets' worth on each tap. With 3/2 the bar length is the same, but the subdivision is different and there are 3 beats in the bar. Clearly in this tune there are 3 beats.
Apparently this is a type of reel from the Hebrides. The whole feel of this kind of 3/2 is different from the normal 3/2. If the normal 3/2 is like a "slip march", then this would be a "slip reel", and I've heard it described as such. I think it's very descriptive to have terms such as slip reel and slip polka. Those terms imply that the general feel of the rhythm is the same but the bar length is different.
I've come across other tunes like this online. One was a French Canadian tune I heard in a session a few years ago. I'd have to do a bit of research to find out the name of that tune again, but I remember it was called "Reel" something-or-other.
# Posted on May 13th 2007 by Dow
I beg your pardon, it's actually "gigue". The name is La Grande Gigue Simple, but the Fiddler's Companion has this to say about it: "This melody is probably the most popular and famous solo step-dance tune for virtuostic stepping in French-Canadian tradition, though it is in actuality not a jig ('gigue') but a reel".
# Posted on May 13th 2007 by Dow
I just posted it here http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/7194.
# Posted on May 13th 2007 by Dow
Twisted Bridge is on track 8 of the Tannahill Weavers' "Capernaum", as the last in the Log Splitter Set entitled An Drochaid Luideach.
# Posted on May 14th 2007 by Dow
There's a discussion on slip reels here http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/13704.
# Posted on May 14th 2007 by Dow
The band Beolach does a great version of this on uilleann pipes
# Posted on February 25th 2008 by ElliotI