Irish Flute Tunes

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.

 

 

 

The Day We Paid the Rent (reel)

I play this tune by direct debit.

 

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.

 

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| ABcA Bcde|
fd d2 ~d3f| edef edcB|ABde faea|1fd d2 ~d3:|2fddc d/2d/2c dB||
A3A B2AG| FAAF G/2F/2E F/2E/2D| ~E3F GFEG| Agec dBAF|
D2FD EDFE| DEFD EG ~G2| ABce dBAG| FAEG FDAF||

 

Here's the uncut version: https://thesession.org/tunes/1665

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

Here are some notes: https://thesession.org/tunes/4026

 

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 dearer. This tune was mentioned (not by me) but nobody knew it well enough to play it. I've given myself a crash course in playing the tune today in my teeny weeny apartment in this nice little country. I think the first half of the term 'crash course' might be the most relevant here. I'll blame that on my fear of annoying the residents near my little Luxembourgish lodging.

 

I think Tommy Peoples made this tune up. Best to find a recording of him playing it, or any other tune for that matter.

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 feature:http://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/mullach.

 

Here are some dots: https://thesession.org/tunes/2243

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 the intervening 26 years; unless 1930s Waterford had a population of bovine unicorns - possibly only visible to Uilleann Pipers.  Maybe it still does.

(There's a baby battering a table in the background of this recording - more in time than many percussionists). 

Here are the cow's dots.

https://thesession.org/tunes/2825

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 limbs it has, if any, or whether it has fur or just skin or scales.  The details I could find are here:

http://tunepal.org/tunepal/show_tune.php?tunepalid=1290-12.abc-1-Mama~s~Pet

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 flute with Michael Gaffney (I think) on the banjo.  The notes at http://tunepal.org/tunepal/show_tune.php?tunepalid=266-hnr2.abc-2-Walls~of~Limerick%2C~The look very like it.  I'm sure all will be revealed and explained when 'Imminent' becomes 'Recent' in a while ... http://www.johnmckenna.ie/irish-time/.

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).

http://thesession.org/tunes/12577

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:  http://tunepal.org/tunepal/search_titles_new.php?q=last+night%27s+joy

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.

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 in Ballymote) I'll call the tune after Mr. R.   Mr. B. gave the reel the rather appealing number 142 in his book.

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

Paddy Fahey’s reel

Here's a reel I was reminded of today by listening to a recording of Brendan McGlinchey, the great fiddle player from Armagh.  He plays it in C on the recording but I'm all at sea without a paddle in that key for this tune so I'll wear my hat with a 'D' on it for now.

Ownie Davey’s Reel

Here's another effort on my Rudall and Lazarus flute.  The version of the tune here is decidedly dodgy.  I half learned it lots of moons ago before I ever heard a recording of it.  A more reliable version can be got here: http://tinyurl.com/auc5x3n .  I was reminded of the tune today about 10 minutes after the postman kindly delivered a copy of this lovely recording: http://claddaghrecords.com/WWW/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3521 (the packaging was quite hard to open otherwise I'd have heard it a bit sooner).

John Dwyer’s Reel

Here's my latest attempt to play my old Rudall flute.  I've been using a combination of insulating tape, knives, scissors, super glue, our child's skin moisturiser and kettle steam as tools of resuscitation; maybe I should be trying them on the flute. http://tunepal.org/tunepal/show_tune.php?tunepalid=2708-25.abc-1-John~Dwyer~s

Up Sligo

Here's a jig which comes from up Sligo.  Dots can be found up here: http://tunepal.org/tunepal/show_tune.php?tunepalid=2272-21.abc-1-Up~Sligo

Lavin’s Favourite (reel)

This also goes under the name of 'Lavan's Favorite' in 'Ryan's Mammoth Collection'.   I've tried to play it fairly close to the dotty version here: http://www.oldmusicproject.com/AA3Sheet/1201-1800/Sheet-1501-1600/1551-LarryChoice.gif (Larry Lavin's Choice). A combination of warm weather and a bit of recent, regular playing has allowed me to get through this tune on my boxwood flute without it falling apart (that's the flute I'm talking about - not so sure about poor Larry's reel).

Dillon Brown (aka Laington’s reel)

Here's a fairly straightforward version of a popular reel in A.  I avoided any G sharps in the slow version lest I may sustain a cut finger.  There may be one or two (sharps and / or damaged digits) lurking around the quicker version.

The Thrush in the Storm

I hope the title of this reel refers to matters ornithological and meteorological and not medical. I was reminded of this tune today when I heard a recording of Sheila O'Dowd playing it (http://www.colemanirishmusic.com/shop/product.php?id=13 track 16).  It is in Breathnach's Ceol Rince na hÉireann vol. 1  and someone has kindly made the notes available at http://tunepal.org/tunepal/showdots.php?id=11667.  That's about all I have to say on the matter just now.

The Ballina Lasses

I've been trying to learn to play a C#D accordion and was reminded of this tune while playing through a few books as a way of telling my fingers that there's more than one melody in the world.  The box playing may be a sort of insurance against tooth loss which would make the flute sound a bit gummy; cleaning and flossing might be an easier approach. This tune is in the book 'Trip to Sligo' under the title 'Come up in the room I want you'.  I played it (on the flute) into the tunepal.org machine and was given the title I've used here.  The person in the 'up in the room' name may even have been addressing the Ballina Lasses at the time of utterance.  I don't know what Tunepal will think it's called if I try playing it on the squeezebox.

The Collier’s Reel

Here's a tune which as was correctly pointed out to me, I had forgotten to post up to now. I've played it on a poor, old and sick Rudall flute. I had even taken a picture of the flute but it's been so long since I've posted a tune here that I've forgotten how to include a photo (or else this site has forgotten how to have photos posted on it). The flute can't remember how to play bottom Ds yet. I'll be leaving it into a flute hospital in Galway shortly - maybe a bit of hypnosis from beyond the Pale will remind it of this particular alphabetic bark.

Tonn Teine (reel)

Here's the one that goes with the other two (Paddy O'Brien tunes I posted a while ago).  I've just been reminded that I missed this one.  I hope late is better than never.

The Trip to Nenagh (reel)

Here's a reel I've just been asked to play.  It was composed by Sean Ryan.  I found a couple of written versions on the web and this effort is sort of a cross between both and neither of them.  Sorry if some (or most) of the notes are a bit on the fuzzy side.  I found some ready salted crisps just before I found the notes for the tune.

The Cow that ate the Blanket (reel)

I think there's also a jig with this name - or is that 'the milker that masticated the mattress' ?

Shamrock Hill (reel)

Here's a tune I never knew the name of until the arrival of the magic tune finding machine http://tunepal.org/tunepal/index.php. I see that people now even have telephones with this facility on them.  If someone sneezes at a session these days there's likely to be an iphonophile who will be try to identify the sneeze as some polka or other.  Any extraneous noises in this recording have passed without being interpreted as anything other than normal noise - any other noises are supposed to be the tune.

The Glenside Cottage (reel)

Here's a tune I think I learned from a recording of Jackie Daly.  It is also in Breathnach's Ceol Rince na hÉireann (vol 2) where the version is the same but for one note in the second part (answsers on a postcard to ...)

Iniscealtra (reel)

Here's another Paddy O'Brien reel which goes with the previous one though usually before it and another one rather than after it and before another one which isn't the same 'another one' I referred to on another part of this sentence just before now - I hope that all makes sense. All these tunes and information about them and Paddy O'Brien are to be found in an excellent compilation which is available from this site:  http://www.paddyobrienbook.com/

Ormond Sound (reel)

Here's a reel composed by Paddy O'Brien.  It is often played after two others in a set.  I don't know the other ones either.

Ambrose Moloney’s

Here's a great reel for the flute.  I'm sure I stole it from somewhere but the scene of that particular theft is now out of reach of my memory.

The Sailor’s Cravat (reel)

I've been at around 3 sessions in as many months and this tune was played at 2 of them (albeit by the same person).  According to my statistical analysis this tune is therefore played at 66.66666% of all sessions. I'm afraid that the flute here sounds a bit like it has a cravat stuck up it somewhere; possibly with a maritime person attached.

Jenny Picking Cockles (2) - Reel

Sorry for the lack of tunes in the last while.  I gave up playing for a while - as I sometimes do - and have only played the flute 4 times this year. The perenthesised '2' in the title here doesn't doesn't refer to the modesty of Jenny's shellflsh harvest target but just to the fact that there's already another tune with this name on the site.

The Turnpike Gate (reel)

I'm not sure I've ever seen a turnpike gate so I'm not sure what qualities one might have to get a reel named after it. Anyway, here's a tune called after such a gate.

The Mills are Grinding (reel)

I was asked back in August to play this tune.  I've at least managed it before October ended.  The flute hasn't forgiven me for spending a lot of the last hour playing a miniature version of itself (I think baby flutes have a special name but I'm always getting the 'cc's and 'll's confused in the spelling) and blowing into a big flute has proved difficcullt - (it's happenned again only worse). Anyway, thanks Mary for telling me about this tune on 2nd August, and I hope it sounds OK.

Charlie Lennon’s Number 4 (reel)

I was asked to record this tune so here it is, only a few days late.  I've always just known this tune from afar so if it sounds like I'm a bit unfamiliar with its finer points (like the notes and stuff like that) then that's probably just because I am. Like most of CL's tunes, it's a fine piece of music and might be strong enough to emerge intact from my mangling.

The Hunter’s Purse (reel)

Here's a popular reel - so popular that it has taken me 3 years to think of it.

The Torn Jacket (reel)

I've finally got around to looking at a couple of requests to record tunes.  This is the only one I've got around to playing though.  It's also the only torn jacket I've given any attention to although I seem to have several, the holes in which heavily outnumber the arms I can find to put through them.

Lad O’Beirne’s reel

Here's a tune I was asked to play.  It is named after the great Sligo fiddle player whose name escapes me just now.

Mary O’ the Wisp (reel)

This isn't really a flute tune.  It comes from the fiddle playing of Francie Byrne from Kilcar, Co. Donegal.

The Castlemahon Lasses (reel)

All I know about this tune is what I read about it in Ceol Rince na hÉireann vol 5.  It says there that the fiddler James McEnery composed it.  I hope I'm not decomposing it too much here.

The Lads of Laois (reel)

I'm a bit behind on recording tunes at the moment.  I'm even behind with being behind with things.  I think that's what's behind the delays. Anyway.  I was asked for "The Lads of Laois", so here it is / they are, unleashed.  I think I was asked for a nice version.  I never really had a nice version so I had to record a nasty one. I listened back to the start of this recording through my computer's speakers and it sounded as if the tune was being played underwater on a trombone but maybe once it has been hung out on the web for a while it'll dry out a bit.  I'll record the other tunes on my list once I find the list.

Bill Malley’s Reel

I was asked a while ago to play this.  I think I've already played it under a different name but I'm happy enough to post it with this name and look like I know more tunes than I really do.  I can't remember what the other name I called it was so this is probably the one I'll use in future.

The Bantry Lasses (reel)

I had to look this one up in "The Book" when asked tp post it.  I found it in O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland, 1001 Gems (No. 469).  I had just previously found "The Book" on the sideboard by the door into the kitchen.  There is some audible dissent in the background but O'Neill was from Bantry so I'd trust this version OK despite the critical opinion which is to the fore in parts of this recording.

The Jolly Seven (reel)

Here's a Paddy O'Brien reel (I think). Instead of a jolly seven here I think I have a fairly happy seven and a mildly miffed number 8.  The overall recording quality is a bit dodgy here and the sound of the sean nós shouting infant in the background maybe doesn't help things too much (no infants were harmed in the making of this post).

The Pigeon on the Gate (reel)

I just got an email from a pigeon fancier, or at least someone who wanted me to post this tune.  So here's my pigeon-post, or maybe pigeon on the gatepost.  I'm surprised not to have recorded a pigeon on the gate to date, but better late than never at any rate.

The Small Hills of Offaly (reel)

Here's a reel which I think Paddy O'Brien (from Smallhillsville) composed. The hills may be small but they seemed to take an age to upload onto this site.  They must be the wrong shape for internet pipes.  I know little of hills and tend not to go anywhere more topographically elevated than upstairs in a not too tall house in a low down town.  I hope the tune's shape hasn't been too distorted, either by its journey to the web, or by its time spent in my mildly mangled music head.

Aggie Whyte’s Reel

I've finally got round to playing another tune.  I stole my wife's flute to play it as I can't remember where I left my own.  The fact that this recording sounds like it was made in a sewer is no reflection on the flute.  The recording wasn't made in a sewer; I'd never bring someone else's instrument into such an environment.  Now I come to think of it, the same flute was once found in a wheelie bin after a burglary.

The Game of Love (reel)

Here's a tune I was asked to play.  Some people associate this time of year with Yule logs.  I appear just to have a backlog but this will hopefully have removed at least a sawtooth's fill from it. One reason I'm so slow about posting tunes these days is that I can't remember the names of any more of them.  I got this one by asking  Mr.Google about the name I was given.  He seems to call it 'The Girls of Farranfore'.

Tory Island (reel)

Here's a reel which is also called "Murphy's Hound".  I'm not sure how it got these two names or what the connection may be between them.  Something to do with the Isle of Dogs maybe, though as one island is in the Thames and the other in the Atlantic, I may well be barking up the wrong tree entirely.

Anything for John-Joe? (reel)

The question mark is part of the title, not an indication of doubt about what the title is.  Having said (or typed) that, I'm not sure whether said question mark should be in the title.  Maybe I should have typed (or written) 'Anything for John-Joe??'.  I'm not too sure about the hyphen either. Hopefully the tune is more straightforward???

Snow on the Hills (reel)

The recent weather which, according to the radio person, is the worst and snowiest since the last time we were told it was the worst since bad weather started to be bad and to be recorded as such, has reminded me that I was asked to post this tune. I didn't know it so here's just a rough guess as to what the dots at www.snowonthehills.org (http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/8535) say it goes like.

Dinny O’Brien’s Reel

I dinny play this before 'cause I dinny know it right.  Chance I still donny but here's a try. (See CRÉ 3 uimh.145 for more reliable version.)

The Four Courts (reel)

I was asked to play this one so long ago that I nearly forgot but here it is; caught just in time. I used to think the title of this tune has something to do with petrol stations.  I then learned a bit (a very little bit) about spelling.  Any quasi-judicial activitles that used to occur round here tended to be located at the back of petrol stations rather than in front of them in any case.

Laddy Redican’s (reel)

I think this is also called the "Forget-me-not".  Any notion of a sieve-for brains like playing a tune with a name like that doesn't seem right somehow so I'll just keep calling it Redican's.

Follow me Down (reel)

I haven't had many chances to post tunes lately and this one was a bit of a rushed job.  Any sound of a screaming baby in the background is hopefully a reflection on his distaste for bedtime rather than for my playing.  Sorry;  who am I trying to kid?  I've stopped playing now and the baby is now dreaming sweet dreams (of daddies who don't play flutes perhaps).

The Star of Munster (reel)

Here's one I forgot about.  Maybe I forgot too much about.

Sonny’s Return (Paddy Lynn’s Delight) - reel

Here's a tune which has the same number of names as it has parts. It may also have other names I don't know about.

Love at the Endings (reel)

Here's a reel composed by Edward V Reavy.  I hope I haven't decomposed it too much here.

The Glen Road To Carrick (reel)

Here's a version of a popular reel from South West Donegal.  There's at least one other version of this tune and once I've got over the trauma of trying to remember this one I'll try to remember it too. I've put 2 tunes on today as it being the twelfth of July, there are lots of other flute players and their friends clogging the streets of Belfast and causing businesses and places of entertainment to close. This gives me a lot of time to spend in the house this sunny Saturday.

The Morning Thrush (reel)

I was asked to play this reel and here's my attempt to oblige. Séamus Ennis's father wrote the tune and there's a great rendition of Séamus playing available on a CD. I think youtube even has a video of the same performance. My attempt at picking through the tune is far from what the real thing is but at least it's in 'D'. (I had to find some good point to refer to).

Colonel Frazer’s Reel

I've been asked to play this one so here it is.  There are lots of versions of it and I'm never sure which one is closest to a standard one.  I'll not guarantee than this effort will make people any the wiser as to the answer to that question.

The Beauty Spot (reel)

As with a lot of apparently simple tunes, there are lots of variations of this reel.  This is in danger of not being any of them.

Colonel Rodney’s Reel

I'm sorry about the clicky G# key in this one.  I think my fingers may need a drop oil too.

Paddy Kelly’s Reel

Here's one for flutes with flats.  It's a bit vague here as per usual but it's a nice wee tune.

Paddy Fahy’s Reel (1)

I'm not really the right person to be playing this great composer's tunes but as I'm the one who happens to be nearest this computer, I'll have to do.  I've just called this No.1 to mark it out from any subsequent PF reels which I might play in future.

pigtown