Monthly Archives: April 2014
SeisiĂșn Etiquette
A few words about . . . SeisiĂșn Etiquette per request of past Gaelic Roots students By Myron Bretholz At Gaelic Roots, students have the opportunity to meet and play with musicians of their own level and experience. So, Seamus has asked me to put down a few words as a guide for those of you who […]
The Wise Maid (D)
The reel known as “The Wise Maid” seems to date only from the 1970s, but is now in the top twenty most widely-known Irish reels in the world. The well-known whistle player Larry McCullough, in his The Complete Irish Tinwhistle Tutor (1987), attributes the tune to the Ardara, Co. Donegal, fiddler John Doherty (1900-1980), as does accordionist […]
Father Kellyâs (G)
“Father Kellyâs Reel” in G is yet another tune that is played in sessions around the globe. Father P. J. Kelly (1926 – March 25, 2006) named this tune âThe Rossmore Jettyâ after the pier on the river Shannon near his hometown of Woodford in East Galway. This tune is also called âFather Kellyâs #1.â […]
The Banshee (G)
The reel entitled “The Banshee” is a session favorite pretty much everywhere. It was composed by James McMahon (b. â1900 – Dec. 1980 RIP), a flute player originally from South Fermanagh, in Northern Ireland.  He married Rose Tally, eventually moved to Belfast, and became an influential flute player there in the 1960’s.  He composed several other […]
Maid Behind the Bar (D)
The reel “Maid Behind the Bar,” has a slightly different A part in OâNeillâs, Music of Ireland (1903) â a book commonly called âOâNeillâs 1850â because it has just over 1,850 tunes in it.  In that collection this tune (or a member of this tune family) is entitled âThe Green Mountainâ (pg. 227, #1205).  So, […]
Mountain Road (D)
“The Mountain Road” is a reel composed by Michael Gorman (1895-1970), an Irish fiddler from County Sligo.  When he was young, his foster parents sent him for fiddle lessons to James Gannon (who taught Michael Coleman). Willie Clancy used to tell a story about a nine year old Gorman: âGannon wrote out the tunes in his […]
The Wind that Shakes the Barley (D)
In addition to this reel, there is a song, a novel, and a movie with the same title title. None bear any close relation to the tune, save the name, the concept of which is itself a deeply ensconced in Irish consciousness. Thereâs also many-a CD that contains the tune. The song is an Irish […]
Silver Spear (D)
The reel “The Silver Spear” is a popular session tune, more so at one time, but still surely in the top ten worldwide session repertoire.  It is followed almost ineluctable by âHumours of Tullaâ around Kansas City, and is common also at slow sessions everywhere, such as the Musique Irlandaise slow session at the Quiet Man pub in […]
Congress Reel (Ador)
The previously unrecorded concertina player Gerard Commane (1917-2005) and often recorded Inagh fiddler Joe Ryan (1928-2008) â Co. Clare musicians who first met at harvest time in 1941 â recorded some tunes in 1999 at Gerdieâs house, and released a CD entitled Two Gentlemen from Clare (Ennis: ClachĂĄn Music, 1999 and 2002). The release was held […]