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Irish Flute Tunes

by Michael Clarkson

Traditional Irish Flute Tunes ([email protected])

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Episodes

  1. Introduction

    If you get any playback errors, please let me know ([email protected]) and I'll fix them. Some of the older recordings seem to have gone a bit rusty. I know how they feel. Hello. This site contains recordings I have made as a source of tunes for people who play the flute, or other instruments...

  2. Sean McCusker's Reel

    Here's a tune from flute and accordion player Sean McCusker from the Pride of Erin Céilí Band. More about the tune and the band here and here. (I hope the photo really is of the correct céilí brigade. Google says it is, so it must(n't) be them.)

  3. Wellington's Advance

    Here's a jig I first heard on the record Ceol Aduaidh by Frankie Kennedy and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh. Didn't realise it was in O'Neill's Dance Muisc Ireland (DMI), where it lives at No.84. I wonder what other things about the world I haven't realised yet. The DMI version is more or less what I hear...

  4. The Pride of Cluinte

    This version is pretty close to flddle player Fred Finn's version in the more than excellent book Trip to Sligo, apart from a few variations caused by whatever eye-failures and brain-wobbles occured across the 8 inch chasm between the book and my head. The session.org has an entry for it here…

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  5. Hughie Travers' Reel

    Here's another great tune for the flute. It's been popular enough to have been included on 20 commercial recordings to date (see here for details).

  6. The Merry Harriers

    Here's a great old reel for the flute. You can see what thesession.org has to say about it here.

  7. Jack Coughlan's Reel

    Here's a good flute tune from Co. Galway. I first heard it played on this record by flute player Gabriel O'Sullivan. There are a couple of versions of it and some background info. here.

  8. Paddy the Cooper's Highland

    This is a tune from the Glencolmcille area of Donegal, named after the fiddle player Patrick "Paddy the Cooper" Breslin. You can find information about Patrick Breslin here.

  9. The Teelin Highland (Tommy Taylor's Highland)

    Here's a tune I first learned from the book The Northern Fiddler which includes a version from John Doherty. The Tommy Taylor in the alternative title was a dancer from Teelin in Donegal.

  10. The Coillte Feannaid reel

    Here's a reel I heard from the playing of James Byrne from Glemcolmcille. It's the first tune on an album of his music that can be got here. Some other information about it can be found here.

  11. The Maid of the House - reel

    Here's the first tune on a recording of the same name of Johnnie Maguire, the Co. Cavan, and then Belfast, whistle player, who was Seán Maguire's father. He decribes it as "an old traditional reel I used to hear my father play". So it's Seán's granda's tune, or maybe he inherited it from the...

  12. Eddie Duffy's Hornpipe

    Here's a nice tune from a nice county (you can probably work out which county from the sentence below). It's named after the Fermanagh flute player on the right in the photo below (you can probably work out his name from the title above) and was popularised by Cathal McConnell, who is also in the...

  13. The Harlequin Hornpipe

    The way I'm playing this tune here is probabably about as reliable as the average Harlequin. Nice tune though. More info here And a more competent rendition here

  14. Jimmy O'Reilly's Reel

    I don't know anything about this tune apart from how it goes, or sort of how it goes. I do know some Jimmies and have met an O'Reilly or two, but that probably doesn't give me much to base a tune blurb on here. So there'll be no blurb. Enough to say that I like this tune because it never quite…

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  15. The Parcel of Land (reel)

    Here's a reel composed by Charlie Lennon, who made up lots of great tunes. He had the ability to make a new tune sound like it had been there for years, thanks to his imagination combined with having heard thousands of traditional tunes thousands of times each over tens of years. Unlike Charlie...

  16. The Drunraney Lass (jig)

    Here's a tune written by the concertina player William Mullaly (1884 - ca.1955) from Mullingar. I was reminded of it by a recording of the recently departed fantastic musician Charlie Harris. That recording, along with a recording of William Mullaly himself playing it in the extreme olden days…

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  17. Jimmy Neary's Jig

    Here's a tune I learned from a recording of the Chicago fiddle player Johnny McGreevy. The session.org call it "By Golly". I was surrprised to see "By Golly" written on the "session" site without an exclamation mark. So surprised that I nearly said "OMG!!!!!!!!!!". There's more information about...

  18. The Wexford Lasses

    I might have posted this tune under a different name in the days before AI, but here it is anyway, along with computer generated triplets in the picture below, to go with the flute generated ones in the recording. Sorry if the notation is a bit truncated and twisted. That's all my free Chatgpt...

  19. John Egan's Reel

    Here's a second post for this Olympic-length posting period. A sensible reel without much musical tautology. Rare enough in our times. My new (cheap) phone can't seem to handle anything louder than a sigh so the recording is a bit distorted. No harm: I can hide my dodgy tone behind the buzzing....

  20. The Crib of Perches (reel)

    I was just reminded yesterday of the existence of this Irish Flute Tunes site by getting my annual subscription receipt from Podbean. So, I thought I might as well put a tune on it to get my money's worth. I played this one on a very reliable Rob Forbes flute which I got off eBay a little while...

  21. The Wren Hornpipe

    Here's another tune from O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland. I hadn't noticed it before, despite its being there since 1907. I don't remember ever seeing a wren either. Maybe because they're so small.

  22. Clarkson’s reel

    Tune number 748 from O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland - 1001 gems There are 1000 tunes in this book with better names but only some of them are better tunes.

  23. The Cat in the Corner (jig)

    O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland tune number 129 I probably would have been better getting the cat to play it.

  24. The Day We Paid the Rent (reel)

    I play this tune by direct debit.

  25. The Tongs by the Fire (jig)

    Here's another tune from Francis O'Neill's 'Dance Music of Ireland - 1001 Gems'. My understanding of 'gem' in today's context is a tune without syncopation and notes keeping close company with other notes they don't get on with.

  26. Molly What Ails You? (reel)

    Here's tune number 652 in O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland. It's the best tune between tunes 651 and 653.

  27. Jackson’s censored Reel

    As requested, here's an attempt at a flute version of a steadfastly fiddle tune. X: 1 T:Jackson's Reel (sort of flute-friendly'ish) R: reel M: 4/4 L: 1/8 K: Dmaj |:F|D2FD EDFE| DEFD EAcE|GE ~E2 GABd| ceAc dBAF| D2FD EDFE| DEFD EFGE| ABce dBAG| F/2G/2F EG FDD:| |:g|fd d2 ~d3f| edef edcB|A2cA BAcB|...

  28. Money in Every Pocket but My Own

    Here's a tune high in vitamin C. Also called the 'Belfast March', named after a town low in every vitamin. https://thesession.org/tunes/5000

  29. The Church Street polka

    Here's a tune I was asked to post here. It's a great tune but I can't play polkas, so I never play them, so I can't play them, so I never play them, so ... The associated polka dots are here: https://thesession.org/tunes/1560

  30. The London Clog

    Here's a tune which Tom Morrison recorded i 1928. London clogs are probably mainly fatbergs in the sewers these days. Here it is played properly: https://archive.org/details/TomMorrisonTheLondonClog Here it is written out badly:

  31. The Milky Way (reel)

    This reel was made in space for the flute; sorry this effort isn't as out of this world as the title would suggest.

  32. Peg McGrath’s reel

    Here's a tune written by Josie McDermott in honour of Peg McGrath who made one of the nicest flute noises I've ever heard.

  33. The Whistling Postman - jig

    A short tune to fill a spare minute. I don't know how much postmen/postwomen (or even postmodernists) whistle now under the burden of Amazon boxes.

  34. Jack Rowe - reel

    Here's a tune I first heard from a recording of John McGuire - Seán's father. The guy in the photo was Jack Rowe - looks like he could blow a flute with the back of his neck. Some feat. Some neck.

  35. The Mount Collins Reel (The Girls of Farranfore)

    Here's a reel which you can hear Denis Murphy playing at: Mount Collins Reel / Doon Reel. There are special wobbles in the second tune which, according to the info at archive.org, are due to a hole being 'punched slightly off-center'. I'd imagine that could cause a wobble or two right enough.…

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  36. Black Pat’s Reel

    I've been living in a teeny weeny flat in Luxembourg for the last three weeks and have been afraid to play in case the people in the teeny weeny flats above and beside me objected. I finally got playing last night in a pub at a session with 4 flutes - just like home only the drink was a lot…

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  37. Sweet Biddy Daly (jig)

    This jig is also known as 'Health to the Ladies'. It's a good tune for getting used to playing in A as it doesn't need any G sharps. As for the identity of Sweet Biddy Daly: I think she was the alter ego of Sour Suzie Knightly. https://thesession.org/tunes/327

  38. The Gates of Mullagh (reel)

    Here's a reel composed by Josephne Keegan. I can't tell you much about the title though I know that a gate is like a door with the outside on its inside and outside; a Mullagh (or mullach) is a hilltop and so lots of hilly places are named after this…

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  39. The One Horned Cow (reel)

    Here's a reel which was included in O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland in 1907 as 'An Bhó Mhaol / The Hornless Cow' but was recorded by Liam Walsh in 1933 as 'The One Horned Cow' https://archive.org/details/LiamWalshTheFairyReelTheOneHornedCowTheLimestoneRock. The beast must have sprouted a bit in...

  40. The Lonesome Jig

    Here's a Lonesome Jig. It only has 681 companions on this site so far - no wonder it feels a bit isolated.

  41. The Blarney Pilgrim (jig)

    Here's a tune I've managed to overlook during the years I've been putting tunes on this site. It refers to the Blarney Stone the kissing of which is reputed to leave a great facility for fine talk on the lips which were in contact with said stone. I was taken for my contact with the Blarney Stone...

  42. Mama’s Pet (3)

    I've just got my nice old flute back from a period in a flute hospital so felt inspired to post a tune on it before I break it again. This tune appears to be the third Mama's Pet I've posted here so she'll maybe able to open a small zoo. I'm not sure what species this pet is or even how many…

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  43. The Shamrock Barndance

    Here's a tune popular among some fiddle players in Donegal. I'm not sure whether it is unpopular among everyone else in that county but I'll maybe avoid playing it there just to be on the safe side. There is a version of it here: http://thesession.org/tunes/11250 taken down from the fiddle…

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  44. The Walls of Limerick (Reel)

    Just grabbing a rare moment in the house when not being entertained / attacked (it's a fine line) by children. The first 2 minutes of that moment have been used up by playing this reel. www.tunepal.org told me it is called the Walls of Limerick. I have it on a recording of John McKenna on the…

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  45. Down The Meadow - Reel

    Here's a tune which John McKenna recorded. To hear it played properly in digitised ex-shiny-shellac format you'll soon be able to buy the CD referred to here:http://www.johnmckenna.ie/irish-time/ The notation here isn't too far off the way McKenna had it (closer that I could manage in any case)....

  46. Last Night’s Joy (reel)

    Here's a reel I just heard on a recording of the Donegal fiddle maestro John Doherty. There are a few written versions here. As for the title - I think mine was finding half a packet of Kettle Chips and only being beaten 9:3 at Connect Four by my phone.

  47. Roger’s Jig

    Here's an old, neglected Sligo jig. There's a recording of Paddy Sweeney from Moylough in Sligo playing it on a fiddle in 1937: http://archive.org/details/PaddySweenyRogersJigVillageJig. I like listening to recordings like that of tunes played at a quick pace and then hearing people who extol the...

  48. The Southwest Wind (An Ghaoth Aniar Aneas) - jig

    Here's a jig from the South West - mar atá Co. Clare. I associate it with Willie Clancy. I'm not sure whether its title refers to the direction the air flowed through his pipes while he played it. I think my flute was more Mecca-wards when I was playing it on this occasion - that would just be a...

  49. Michael Ryan’s reel

    Here's a Gan Ainm - one of a host of Gans Ainm in Breandán Breathnach's Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2. At least the person BB got the tune from had an ainm - namely Michael Ryan, a flute player from Co. Sligo, so (that's 'so' the conjunction rather than the Sligo 'SO' that you may see on a numberplate...

  50. Lad O’Beirne’s Reel (2)

    Here's another Lad O'Beirne's reel. I don't know much about it. The notes in dotty form can be found here: http://tunepal.org/tunepal/show_tune.php?tunepalid=1209-misc-tunes2_A-M.abc-30-Lad~O~Beirne~s~Reel~%28a%29~%28key~D%29~%25~misc%3CBB

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

Traditional Irish Flute Tunes ([email protected])

HOSTED BY

Michael Clarkson

CATEGORIES

music

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