Category Archives: KGB and Local Session (Seisiún) Tunes

Tunes played by the local Irish group, King Golden Banshee, as well as tunes played locally in various sessions and ceili band tunes.

A few Originals

Well, there’s only so much woodshedding one can do, so I thought I’d post a couple of original tunes I’ve written recently. The first one, the Praha Polka (Prague Polka) goes nicely with Ned Kelly’s that I learned from the Crawford/Farrell/Doocey CD – Music and Mischief (highly recommended). I have yet to make it to the session in Prague, but hope to one day to join in with my friends Tomas and Veronika. Here’s the notation along with a short video clip of it.



The second tune is a single reel that was inspired by a composting project. Hence the strange name. But it also works well both visually and musically with Eels in the Sink. I think it has a bit of an old time feel to it as well (kind of appropriate given the title).



The third tune is an aptly named jig called Flatten the Curve. I’m sure lots of folks are writing tunes around this topic and I’m thinking this one might go well with Scatter the Mud (use your imagination). Note in the B part the visual of the coronavirus curves being flattened. Let me know what you think of any of these and if you have any suggestions (or corrections).


Trip to Sligo by Bernard Flaherty

When I first joined King Golden Banshee, the guys in the band were kind enough to give me a copy of an out of print book they used as a source of many of their tunes called, Trip to Sligo. Just learned that it has been reissued and is available from Custy’s in Ennis.

Trip to Sligo

Really nice resource (though quite a few tunes are marked “unknown” – then again, tune names don’t seem to be as important in Ireland as in the States). However, found a link to a list of all the corrections / additions thanks to the hard work of Philippe Varlet back in 1999.

Philippe Varlet filling in the gaps

Session II Class – Spring 2016

Week 4

Greetings from the left coast. In my mad rush to get projects finished before leaving the house, I forgot that I hadn’t recorded Doyle’s Castle, but remembered literally 20 minutes before walking out the door to catch my plane. So here is me playing it (I believe) pretty much as written with the music I passed out last class.

Doyle’s Castle (2 part jig in G major or Ionian mode)

For those of you on whistle and/or flute, here are two alternatives for the A part where it goes below D. The first one is fairly simple, just play it an octave higher in the first phrase and then switch for the second phrase. The second alternative is to harmonize on several notes in the first phrase (basically playing the 3rd above the melody note). Try out both and see which you prefer.

Doyle’s Castle (1st Alternative for A phrase)
Doyle’s Castle (2nd Alternative for A phrase)

Remember to also practice the G scale exercises! A little trickier than the first set, but also a little more interesting to play!

I’m not sure we’ll have time to do the next tune, but here’s the one I’m considering – Have a Drink with Me. Another G jig. I think it is also known as the first of the Harry Potter Jigs from one of the movies. The version below is part of a set with several other common jigs that would make sense to learn if you don’t yet know them as they are played locally fairly often.

Extra credit – if you search the youtube videos, you may find Joe Basconi who used to live in Charlottesville playing the full “Harry Potter Set”. You’ll note his version is slightly different from what I posted. Actually, if you listen to several of the videos of the tune, you’ll find quite a few variations on how to play it. The way I’ve heard it is more similar to the first set, but good to listen to all the versions! Folk music, not set in stone!

Week 3

We seem to have a revolving student list – which keeps things interesting! So, over this weekend work on the following:

  • Practice Cup of Tea – Play it before and after some of your favorite reels and work on smooth transitions.
  • Learn Virginia Reel – We’ll focus on this one next week and perhaps I won’t get it confused with the tune that shall not be named!
  • Work on the D scale exercise I passed out in class. Keep it smooth and when you feel confident, increase the speed by 10% or so. Repeat, but always make sure you are confident in your playing. When it starts to break down, take note of where and perhaps practice that part a bit more. Try playing the same exercise in a D mixolydian scale if you are feeling really confident!
  • As I mentioned in class, next up will be a jig in G major (ionian). I was lucky enough to see Sheila and Elaine in Ennis last November at their CD release of Shores of Lough Breda. Loved their playing as well. As it turned out, almost all the tunes were written by Paddy O’Donoghue from Tulla in East Clare and Sheila and Elaine have made it their mission to spread these tunes “all over the world”. I promised to do my part and teach one of the tunes in my next session class. So here it is – Doyle’s Castle. Flutes and whistles will need to play one of the phrases in the A part high (or, perhaps create a nice 3rd note harmony with the melody). Anyway, for now, just listen and get the tune in your head (stage 1 of learning a tune!!).

    Hope to see some of you at tonight’s Dervish / Kevin Burke concert. How lucky can we be??

    P.S. For extra credit, see if you can figure out the root / tonic and the mode / modes for the 2nd tune in the set.

    Week 2

    Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Great to play with everyone this week. Fun to have some new faces and thanks to Augie for sitting in and offering some flutish hints (like how to play Bb on the flute!)

    So, our tune for next week will be the Virginia Reel. Here’s a group playing it – how can one resist a group named “Ferrets of the Mall”. Anyway, some very nice guitar chords and a little old timey, especially with the clawhammer banjo, but a nice rendition and enjoyable to listen to in order to get the tune in your head.

    Here’s me playing the Virginia Reel more slowly. It’s not quite the same as the notation in the session.org, but closer to how I’ve heard it played in our group over the years.

    Virginia Reel (2 part reel in D major or Ionian mode)

    Speaking of modes, here is a recording of the D Scale in the 4 modes used in Irish music (Ionian, Mixolydian, Dorian, and Aeolian). For now, practice the two major scales – Ionian and Mixolydian, but understand how the 4 scales are created for a key (major scale, then drop the 7th for Mixolydian, then drop the 3rd for Dorian, then drop the 6th for Aeolian). We’ll keep building on this theory stuff each week so you’ll be confused at a higher level by the end of 6 weeks!

    D Scales – 4 Modes

    Week 1

    We had a small, but dedicated, group last night and I look forward to working with all of you for these 6 weeks. We’ll continue to learn new tunes in Session II, but we’ll also explore some additional topics each week.

    Top Tunes (and count) from the Tuesday Tin Whistle Session in Charlottesville
    Top 200 Session Tunes from thesession.org as of March 2016

    New tune for next week – Cup of Tea (not to be confused with Ladies Cup of Tea which is a completely different tune). Here are a few recordings to listen to. First one is me. Second one (youtube video) is quite a bit zippier. I’ve added in a few triplets that you may use or ignore as you wish.

    Cup of Tea (3 part reel in Em/D)

    Just for fun reading

    Session I Class – Spring 2013

    Tunes

    Cliffs of Moher (jig in Am)
    Tobin’s Favorite (jig in D)
    Wise Maid (reel in D)
    Wise Maid (slower version from Alex – note that she only plays 1 A part and 1 B part even though they do repeat)
    Maid Behind the Bar (reel in D)
    Maid Behind the Bar (slower version from Alex – note that she only plays 1 A part and 1 B part even though they do repeat)
    Kid on the Mountain (5 part slip jig in Em/G/Em/Em/G – pretty close to notation)
    Kid on the Mountain (Erin’s version – missing 4th part, but lovely variation!)
    Musical Priest (3 part reel in Bm/D/Bm)
    Lilting Banshee for Emily (2 part jig in Am)
    Galway Hornpipe (2 part hornpipe in D)
    Kitty’s Wedding (2 part hornpipe in D)
    Kitty’s Wedding played by Pio Ryan (banjo – some nice variations)
    Spootiskerry fiddle version on Youtube (Reel in G)
    Spootiskerry in a set with Flowers of Edinburgh (2nd tune)

    Resources

    Comhaltas Archive   THIS IS AN AMAZING COLLECTION!!!
    How to Talk Like an Irish Musician
    Playing in Sessions
    The Session.org a great way to lose 3 or 4 hours.

    Here are the two tune compilations from O’Flaherty’s Retreat in Texas.
    O’Flaherty’s Retreat Tune List #1
    O’Flaherty’s Retreat Tune List #2

    9th Class

    Heard lots compliments on our group’s playing after the recital – great job everyone. Thank you for being there! So on to our last tune for this Spring – Spootiskerry which is a Scottish tune and a rollicking reel. Here’s the sheet music and I’ve linked to a couple of youtube videos that should give you a good sense of the tune.

    Spootiskerry

    Did you all wonder where the name came from? Me too… here’s what I found (gotta love google).

    From the Introduction to “Spootiskerry. Music from Shetland” by Ian Burns
    “Spootiskerry – the croft belonging to my late great aunts Bella and Joan Nicholson, situated between the village of Sullom and the new town of Brae. Originally spelt Spootskerry, but as the years have passed, an “i” or an “a”, and sometimes an “o” have been added. The croft took its name from the skerry that lies offshore. Usually the house on a croft has the same name, but in this case the house is named Southness.” He adds that it was his first composition. and, it dates from 1980, and is a reel.

    8th Class

    What happened to the 7th class? Must have been really good (thanks again for covering, Erin!). Everyone sounded lovely on Tuesday. You may not realize it, but the progress you’ve made this semester has been fabulous. And it isn’t like we’re playing easy tunes – really impressive, everyone! In particular, we’re doing a much better job playing together and steadily. Way to go guitars for keeping a solid rhythm section going, but guitars can’t do it without melody players listening well to each other too.

    Remember that Sunday, April 28th at 2pm will be the recital. Please let me know if you will NOT be able to come. We decided that the two sets to consider will be the jigs (Tobin’s and Cliffs) and the Maids (Wise and Behind the Bar). We’ll make the final call on Tuesday, but I thought both sounded good this week. I’ve requested to Lori that we play right before Brock’s class, so that we can get a circle set-up for the two classes.

    Here’s the notation for Kitty’s Wedding for Emily and others! Julie and Jim, take a listen to Pio’s version of Kitty’s from our class last summer – some excellent examples of triplets and variations, especially the F natural lead-in to the 2nd phrase in the A part.

    kittys-wedding

    6th Class

    Remember, BRIMS isn’t having classes this week b/c of Spring break.

    Here’s the notation for Galway Hornpipe – our tune for next class.

    Galway_hornpipe

    5th Class

    Thanks to Alex and Joe for sitting in on Kid on the Mountain, especially since we were missing Erin and Scott. That’s a really fabulous slip jig – and sounded pretty darn good that last time through. So, those of you who know a couple of slip jigs, be thinking about what you might want to pair with the Kid. Too bad there’s not a slip jig called Cassidy’s.

    This week’s tune is a 3 part reel called Musical Priest. Seems like an appropriate tune to learn the week of St. Paddy’s, yes? It’s also in Bm (two parts anyway), so it is good to get the patterns for a Bm tune in your fingers if you haven’t learned any before. They are somewhat rare, but very nice to put with D tunes – such as, haha, the Maids! As I mentioned in class, this was the most popular tune in the Claire sessions I listened to a few years back – played at 6 of the 7 sessions. The most difficult part of Musical Priest, especially for banjo players, is the reach on the 3rd part from the high B coming down. That will take a bit of practice to master. Note that I played it on mandolin – perhaps for Jim – or perhaps because the stretch is just so darn difficult on octave mandolin. Anyway, my apologies for the dishes clanking in the background. Sounds almost like we’re at a pub… we’re not, really… I swear. Speaking of recordings in pubs, a really fine CD that captures the feel of a session is “Live at Mona’s” featuring Patrick Ourceau on Fiddle and Eamon O’Leary on guitar. Lots of great tunes as well. Speaking of Patrick, he’s been the Irish fiddle teacher at Alex’s summer fiddle camp. For you fiddle players in class, that is an amazing opportunity to take some classes (and be treated to some fabulous playing) over a weekend in August. Yes, a blatant plug.

    musicalpriest

    4th Class

    Okay, enough of the dark, rainy evenings. Hope everyone made it back from the concert without any incidents. Started snowing quite a bit earlier here than expected. Just a couple of quick comments for this week as we lost power yesterday and I’m behind something awful. First, the Maids sounded quite good – you all are to be commended on your practice. 2nd, as I mentioned in class, I won’t be here this coming week, but the classroom is available, so I’m encouraging you to meet and play this week as well (I mean, come on, it is St. Paddy’s week). 3rd, our tune for the following week will be Kid on the Mountain, a 5 part slip jig. Though I knew the tune well, I hadn’t learned it. But was able to get it down reasonably well in a couple of days. So, even though it is a 5 part tune which sounds rather daunting, it isn’t as technically difficult as say, The Maids! Anyway, best to get the tough ones out of the way first so we’ll have the opportunity to practice them more in class. Here’s the notation:

    Kid on the Mountain (the) 2

    3rd Class

    It was a dark, rainy evening – perfect for Irish tunes – but we were missing a few folks. I’m counting on the fact that it was the weather (or other commitments) and not the difficulty of the tune that kept people away. Those who were there all agreed that Wise Maid was a challenging tune, but we decided to work on Maid Behind the Bar this week and we reassured ourselves that we’d have 8 weeks to work on the Maid Set. As I mentioned in class – I first “learned” these tunes a year or more ago, and I still don’t have them down solidly. I can play them at home 50/50 on my own, but in a group setting I rarely make it through without an error. My point being not to be hard on yourself with the Maids. They are very popular tunes, but also of a higher order of challenge. Those who kind of know them will benefit from working more on them, and those who are new to them will begin the process. No worries. Tobin’s sounded solid, but I think we could all stand a bit more work on the Cliffs, especially as part of a set.

    One last thing that I don’t want to forget. We will have class this coming week (March 5th), but March 12th I will be out of town, so that will give all of us a solid 2 weeks of practice time before we meet again after St. Paddy’s Day. Hopefully, I shall be fully recovered by Tuesday 🙂

    Here’s the notation for Maid Behind the Bar:
    maidbehindthebar

    2nd Class

    So we’re taking on the Maid Set – or at least Wise Maid. Both of the Maids are challenging tunes, so we’ll see how you all feel about it next week. But Wise Maid was at top of the “want to learn” list. For those of us who kind of know the tune, we’ll no doubt benefit from working on it some more. Guitars, Wise Maid can either be done very simply or you can have a blast with backing variations. We’ll start simply (single finger) but then will show you a few fun variations. Here’s the notation (and chords) from O’Flaherty’s. But again, I encourage you to learn primarily by ear and refer to the notation only for guidance or when you are stuck on a part. There are two recordings of the tune provided, one by Erin that moves along at a pretty good clip and slow version from Alex that I had recorded back when I learned the tune. Melody instruments may find Alex’s easier to learn from at first while guitars may find it easier to play along with Erin.

    wisemaidof

    You all sounded very solid on the two jigs. Frankly, I was planning on working on Tobin’s for this week, but you eager beavers all were ready to move on. We will play the two jigs again next week, so keep practicing them, especially as a set.

    Generally, we will follow a similar format for the coming weeks. First thing we’ll do is play the “tune of the week” (Wise Maid for this week) together at a measured pace. Then we’ll review any tricky parts or variations of interest and play it as part of a set. After that, we’ll do other tunes and we’ll mix in tunes that a majority of the class knows, or tunes that some people know and others have mentioned they’d like to learn. That way, even if one of those tunes isn’t chosen as “tune of the week”, you’ll still have a chance to hear it and possibly pick up a few bars (and notice who does know it, so you can accost them later!) At the end of class, presuming there is time, we’ll play the tune of the week once more as part of a set, but this time as the 2nd tune, which is generally more difficult for a new tune. Hopefully, this sounds like a good approach and will help you get mentally prepared for the format of the class! I do reserve the right to throw in a surprise or two along the way 🙂

    First Class
    Welcome everyone! Great to be starting up our class and to have both familiar and new faces. Based on the first class, I think everyone is in the right place, but if you have any concerns about that or anything else, please let me know. Our goal will be to learn one tune each week. I will pass out sheet music for the tune each week and we’ll have a recording on this site for reference. We won’t be learning the tune in a note by note, phrase by phrase way in class, but we will play the tune slowly in class together multiple times. If you can learn it that way, great, but I expect most of us to spend some time during the week to learn the tune on our own either from the sheet music or the recording. Also, if you have one of those weeks, and you can’t find the time to learn the tune, no worries. We’ll be playing most of the tunes we learn every week (yes, that means 10 weeks of Cliffs of Moher!), so there will be ample opportunity to catch up if you’d like.

    This weeks’ tune is Cliffs of Moher, but I’ve also given you Tobin’s Favorite (next week’s tune) to work on if you already knew the Cliffs. The tune recordings will always be at the top of this post and each week I’ll post a few notes / thoughts about what we covered in class.

    We will spend most of our time in class playing tunes rather than chatting and I promise not to have quite so much coffee next class 🙂 Thanks for being willing to introduce yourselves and try out a few tunes. I hope to have a better sense of people’s repertoire as time goes on, and we’ll try to find some common tunes that people already know to try out each class, but if not, we’ll work on the tunes that we cover in class in more detail.

    A couple of things about playing in Sessions that we were kind of covering:
    New folks If you’re part of an open session and someone new comes to join in, it is nice to ask them for what tunes they’d like to play or to ask them start a set of tunes. You may have noticed that I was asking 3 or 4 people in particular what tunes they knew or what they’d like to play – this was because they were new to the class / group.
    Starting tunes If you are asked (or want) to lead a set – meaning 2-4 tunes played in succession – it is helpful to play a few bars of each tune that you’re planning on playing. It’s also helpful to the guitarists if you happen to know the key of the tunes. Last, it is important to let folks in the group know when your planning on switching from one tune to the next by either sticking your leg out or saying “hup” or “here we go” or doing that Irish thing where you look around at everybody with that knowing glance that says, “we’re about to change to the next tune”. You can also say “one more time” to indicate that you’d really like another go at it. Personally, I’m a stick my leg out person, probably left over from old time playing days. I believe the tradition of sticking one’s leg out was actually due to one’s leg cramping uncontrollably after playing an old-time tune 15 times in a row, though I could be wrong.
    Tunes and Songs Not the same! Silly, I know, but a tune is a tune and a song has words and is sung.
    Craic Pronounced crack. Irish for having a really great time as in, “ah, the craic was mighty last night”. Not to be confused with any of the other ones.

    Sessions in the Valley

    If you are willing to explore beyond the confines of our local Charlottesville area, there are some great sessions to be found. Here are a couple of links to tempt you in a new direction.

    Jeff Willner, a fellow SwannyG regular, has a fabulous website that lists the on-going sessions (and some recordings) from the NRV – Irish in the New River Valley.

    Erin Murphy and Cheryl Tobler, both lovely players of the flute (and whistle and pipes) host this weekly Sunday session at Corgan’s Publick House in Harrisonburg. On the site it says 8-11pm, but I believe they’ve moved it up to 7-10pm.

    And remember BRIMS’ session on the 1st Thursday of each month at C’ville Coffee, led by Brock Napierkowski from 7-9pm. First hour is slow to moderate. Second hour is all out.

    Session Tunes

    In preparation for this Fall’s session class(es) at BRIMS, I’ve been giving some thought to the question, “to be a good session player, what tunes should I learn?”. The short, and perhaps best answer is to go to your local session and find out what tunes they play and learn those. But this avoids the broader question of what constitutes good session tunes. I’ve been intrigued by moments where within one group someone might say “oh I’m so sick of that tune – it is so overplayed” and when you go to a session an hour away and play the same tune they say “what a great tune, I’ve never heard it before”. A relatively obscure tune can all of a sudden become quite popular in sessions thanks to a new recording by a gifted player. Ultimately, I think we want to learn and play tunes that personally appeal to us, but it is important to remember that we don’t want to be playing a tune by ourselves at a session (unless requested), as a big part of what makes a session fun is playing tunes together.

    So here, without further ado, are some links to discussions and tune lists that may be helpful to you. I plan on making use of these in Session I class on Tuesday nights at BRIMS this Fall. Hope to see you there!

    From Comhaltas: Foinn Seisiún CD Set – Volume 1. 116 tunes with links to audio.
    From Comhaltas: Foinn Seisiún CD Set – Volume 2. 104 tunes with links to audio.

    Tune lists from O’Flaherty’s Retreat in Texas. John and Holly turned me on to this terrific resource. Along with notation, chords are also provided
    O’Flaherty’s Retreat Tune List #1
    O’Flaherty’s Retreat Tune List #2

    From thesession.org: Dow’s 50 List. Fun discussion about what tunes to learn when you’re getting started. The key post is about the 4th one down by Dr. Dow. If you want a longer list that includes lesser known tunes Will’s Much Longer Tune List should keep you busy for awhile. Dow’s list was filtered down from this one.

    A good resource for local tunes in the Charlottesville area is this practice list from King Golden Banshee. The recordings are from many years back now, so things have evolved.

    Foxhunter’s Reel / Bucks of Oranmore / High Reel

    One of the wonderful things about being in Charlottesville is that we’ve had some fabulous musicians come to town, both for concerts, and sometimes, when we’re lucky, to stay awhile. Our most recent example is Brock Napierkowski, who arrived here from Cincinnati with his wife who is pursuing an advanced degree at UVa. Brock was an instructor at The Riley School of Irish Music in Cincinnati. Brock will be joining BRIMS as an instructor this Fall and also leads the BRIMS monthly sessions at C’ville Coffee.

    After last week’s session, Brock sent me an email requesting that I post some information on a few tunes. So here’s his email (with a few adjustments for viewing):

    The Foxhunter’s and the Bucks are two of the most well known high energy reels in the common repertoire. They always please the crowd and should generally not be played too early in the evening.

    The Foxhunter’s we played in G and that is the preferred key for non-fiddle players, especially flute. Great examples:
    A great stately accordion version by Joe Cormican
    A version with real ‘swing’ by the Tulla Ceili Band with Martin Hayes @ 1:27
    I would also highly recommend Seamus Ennis, Peter Horan, David Power, Mikie Smyth, Michael Coleman, etc.

    Foxhunter’s Reel Notation and Discography:
    Foxhunter’s Key of G
    More discography from irishtune.info

    Fiddle players like it in A as it is easier to get around and show off due to all of the open strings.
    Great example of that kind of playing from Frankie Gavin
    A more stripped down version from Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh
    A version in A with box
    Another tasty fiddle version in A by Rob Zielinski

    The Bucks was made popular largely due to pipers and please listen to an early version of the tune before anything else. Unfortunately, the Seamus Ennis version on youtube is not his best and he seems to be really nervous or drunk or both. Here is a far superior version of his treatment. Also see his version on ‘return to fingal’

    Bucks of Oranmore Notation and Discography:
    Bucks of Oranmore Key of D
    More discography from irishtune.info

    Great session with two box players leading! version starts at 1:38 (note the crowd’s reaction)

    Also I highly recommend Joe Cooley on the ‘cooley’ recording for box

    Matt Molloy’s

    Fiddle version played tuned down in C with that ‘modern sound’ (alot of chords, syncopation, etc.)

    Paddy Keenan at 4:02
    Paddy Keenan at 1:32 – this performance is a reiteration of the famous bothy band live in Dublin performance that literally brought the house down, but I can’t find that right now.

    The High Reel is in A and another fairly easy high energy reel:
    A whole band of banjos including John Carty! @ 1:58
    The Cunninghams play it SUPER fast @ 2:05

    The High Reel Notation and Discography:
    High Reel (Key of A)
    More discography from irishtune.info

    My absolute favorite version of this tune is on the 1967 Paddy in the Smoke, which you can borrow from BRIMS.

    Hope this helps and have fun!

    Tarbolton / The Longford Collector / The Sailor’s Bonnet

    I have several posts in mind to enter before classes get underway again this Fall. Here is the first which I’ve been meaning to put on here for a long time and was recently reminded to do so at the local BRIMS session (first Thursdays at 7pm at C’ville Coffee). All you fiddle players should work toward having this classic Michael Coleman set of reels in your repertoire.

    Listen to the Set as Played by Michael Coleman

    Notation Links:
    Tarbolton Key of Em
    The Longford Collector Key of G
    The Sailor’s Bonnet Key of D

    Please note that at least on some browsers, pointing directly to the link of the tune doesn’t work too well, so I am now pointing to the general information on the tune on thesession.org which does have the added benefit of easily viewing the key signature, comments, etc., but you will have to click on the “sheetmusic” link at the top of the screen to see the notation.

    Jig Lyonnaise

    This is a little Em jig that I’ve been dabbling with over the last couple of months and finally decided it was finished just before I left for Lyon. All that remained was coming up with a name, so while I was in Lyon, I decided to name it after the city’s famous salad, Salad Lyonnaise, and the amazing lettuce we were able to get at the local market. It’s also kind of a slower jig, as life in France does seem flow along at a more relaxed pace (one of its many pleasures).

    Listen to Jig Lyonnaise.

    Katherine’s also been working on a delightful blog about her time in France. If you’re looking for a little escape from work, it’s a lovely diversion. But be forewarned, it should not be read on an empty stomach!

    Jerry’s Beaver Hat

    Happy Independence Day! It’s been a long break due to a bunch of back to back business trips and now, a couple of more pleasurable travels (but more on that in another post). However, while I’ve been hoofing it various places, I have been making some mental notes about tunes and posts to come. Here is the first one, Jerry’s Beaver Hat, a jig I’ve been working on over the last month or two and one that I’ve played with KGB and Katherine on guitar for quite awhile now. One of my favorite jigs – very major and lively – and fairly easy to remember. For me anyway, it is a tune I’m likely to find myself humming the morning after a good session. Always a good sign for a jig 🙂

    Jerry’s Beaver Hat (Jig)   Watch and Listen   View Notation   Key of D

    I’m off to SwannyG with John, Holly and Sue next week, so expect a log jam of posts in the coming weeks!