Preface
I came to Irish session music only quite recently in my musical lifetime. It became clear to me very quickly that it can be very difficult for beginning players to bootstrap themselves into becoming participating members of a session. So often the tunes go by so quickly, and it seems that nobody knows the names.
What I felt was needed was a book of the tunes played in our session, in the order that they are commonly played. Many times I have watched beginners, (myself included) desperately flipping through books trying to find a tune being played, only to have the group move on to another tune just when its been found in the book, or worse, never finding it at all so that there isn't a chance that they will be able to play it the following week.
Using this book and some practice, new players should be able to become participating members of the session in just a few weeks.
These are the tunes we most often play at the pub, in the order that they are usually played.
Thank you to Masato "Nishi" Nishimura, Steve Glass, and Declan for giving me the list of songs that made this possible!
The tunebook in Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0 format may be downloaded by clicking below:
tunebook.pdf (4.0 Megabyte, Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0 format)
Here's a few more tunes:
tunebook2.pdf (400 kilobyte, Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0 format)
If you have trouble downloading the tunebook files:
Microsoft Windows running Microsoft Internet Explorer: Click the link above and hold down the button until the popup menu comes up, then select "Save Target As...", and then select a destination for the saved file.
Macintosh running Netscape Navigator: Click the link above and hold down the button until the popup menu comes up, then select "Save this Link as...", and then select a destination for the saved file.
Macintosh running Microsoft Internet Explorer: Click the link above and hold down the button until the popup menu comes up, then select "Download Link to Disk", and then select a destination for the saved file.
To read or print the file you will need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click below to download your free copy:
Tunebook tune sources in .abc format (50 Kilobyte, text file)
Please send me an email if you want be notified whenever there is a new version of the tunebook available for download.
Click here for the Tunebook Revision History
For more information on the .abc file format used to exchange traditional tunes on the internet, click below:
Click here for the ABC Home Page
Click here for information on downloading backup MIDI files for the tunes.
Reels
Martin Wynne's #1 - Martin Wynne's #2
Lucy Campbell - Jolly Tinker
Lads of Laoise - Sailing into Walpole's Marsh - Hunter's Hut
Cameronian - Rakish Paddy
Merry Blacksmith - Cooley's - Mountain Road
Salamanca - Peter Street
Pigeon on the Gate - Earl's Chair - Woman of the House
Cup of Tea - Dunmore Lasses
Ashplant - Jackie Coleman's - Bag of Spuds - Bird on a Tree
Musical Priest - Jenny's Chicken
Wise Maid - Morning Dew
Bucks of Oranmore - Wind that Shakes Barley
Scholar - Teetotalor - St. Anne's
Mason's Apron - Farewell to Ireland
Sligo Maid - Pigeon on the Gate - Cooley's
Ships are Sailing - Morning Star
Jolly Tinker - Lady Montgomery
Maid of Mt. Cisco - Down the Broom - Star of Munster
Chicago - Sally Garden's - Man of the House
Tam Lin - Hand Me Down the Tackle
Pinch of Snuff
Maudabawn Chapel - The Wild Irishman - Abbey Reel
Jigs
Cathleen Hehir's - Lark in the Morning
Mooncoin - Langstrom's Pony
Caliope House - Banks of Lough Gowna - Orphan
Tobin's Favorite - Smash the Windows
Trip to Athlone - Tripping Up the Stairs - Connaughtman's Rambles
Market Town - Scatter the Mud - Arthur Darley's Jig
Old Favorite - Cliffs of Moher - Bill Hart's Jig
Swallowtail Jig - Road to Lisdoonvarna
Kesh Jig - Morrison's - Trip to Sligo
When Sick is it Tea - Haste to the Wedding - Off She Goes
Jig of Slurs - Athol Highlanders
Blarney Pilgrim - The Rambling Pitchfork - The Black Rogue
Banish Misfortune
Tell Her I Am - Queen of the Rushes
Slip Jigs
The Boys of Ballysadare - Butterfly
Rocky Road to Dublin - Another Jig Will Do - Deirde's Fancy
Hornpipes
Home Rule
Rights of Man
King of the Fairies
Boys of Bluehill - Harvest Home
Madame Bonaparte
Polkas
Unknown Title - Dennis Murphy's - John Ryan's
Slow Airs / Waltzes
Ashokan Farewell
Southwind
Sheebeg Sheemore
Trip to Skye
Tunes Transcribed by Steve Glass:
Jug of Punch - Maids of Mitchelstown
Cold, Haily, Windy Night - Docherty's Reel
An Suisin Ban
First Flight of Geese
Rolling Wave - Star Above the Garter
Humours of Ballyloughlin
Garrett Barry - Bryan O'Lynn - Snug in a Blanket - Calliope House
O'Farrell's Welcome to Limerick
Comb Your Hair and Curl It
Elizabeth Kelly's - Fraher's - Dinny Delaney's
Humours of Whiskey - Hardiman the Fiddler
Sock in the Hole - Hole in the Sock
My Rovin' Eye - Blackwell Court
Mrs. Carroll's Strathspey
Rogues in a Nation - Cam Ye O'er Frae France
Morgan Magan
Lord Mayo's March
The Hunt
Suil Ghorm
The Trees They Do Grow High
The Trowie Burn
The Sound of Sleet
8 July 1999 - Major update
Added Steve Glass transcribed tunes
Changed Pinch of Snuff to version closer to what I've heard Peter Damachek play.
Changed Madame Bonaparte to key of A
3 July 1999
Added Maudabawn Chapel set
7 June 1999 - Major update
Reformatted most songs for easier readability.
Fixed harmonies on several tunes.
Replaced Smash the Windows reel with jig.
Replaced Battering Ram with Black Rogue.
Replaced Yellow Tinker with Drunken Tinker as per Nishi's suggestion.
Replaced Farewell to Ireland with correct version.
Repaginated for proper left/right orientation for bound tune books.
Added hornpipes: Home Rule, Rights of Man, King of the Fairies, Boys of Bluehill, Harvest Home
Added Ashokan Farewell, Southwind, Sheebeg Sheemore, Tell Her I Am.
5 June 1999
Added Tam Lin, Hand Me Down the Tackle, Queen of the Rushes, Pinch of Snuff
Also added Preface page.
Fixed problem with The Battering Ram formatting.
3 June 1999
Fixed problems with Lucy Campbell and Teetotaller's. Both had extra parts.
31 May 1999
First release for review
My next project is to take the current tunebook, figure out all the chords, and using Band-in-a-Box 7.0, build MIDI files that everyone can use to practice the tunes in context complete with piano backup.
Click here to download the latest MIDI backup files as a 60K .zip file.
After unzipping the file, you should be able to open the individual MIDI files simply by double clicking on them.
If you don't have a high-end sound card or external synthesizer and want extremely high quality software-based wavetable General MIDI playback, considering downloading and installing Quicktime 4.0 from the Apple website (its for both Mac and Windows) at:
Here is the list of tunes in the current MIDI collection:
Tunebook page 7
Martin Wynne's #1 / Martin Wynne's #2 - Three times each
Tempos: 90, 120, 150, 170, 190, and 210
Tunebook page 12
The Cameronian Reel / Rakish Paddy - Three times each
Tempos: 90, 120, 150, 170, 190, and 210
Tunebook page 36
Maid of Mt. Cisco / Down the Broom / The Star of Munster - Two times each
Tempos: 90, 120, 150, 170, 190, and 210
Tunebook page 40
Tam Lin (D minor) / Tam Lin (A minor) / Hand Me Down the Tackle - Two times each
Tempos: 90, 120, 150, 170, 190, and 210