March 21st, 2013 at 5:05 pm (traditional irish flute)
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
March 7th, 2013 at 4:37 pm (traditional irish flute)
Here's a close relative of the 'Lark in the Morning'. This one has fewer parts - from my playing it sounds as though it may be missing a wing and part of its voice.
http://tunepal.org/tunepal/show_tune.php?tunepalid=87-cces-tunes2.abc-20-Morning%7ELark
January 18th, 2013 at 9:36 pm (traditional irish flute)
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.
January 10th, 2013 at 9:00 pm (traditional irish flute)
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).
January 9th, 2013 at 2:41 pm (traditional irish flute)
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
January 8th, 2013 at 2:34 pm (traditional irish flute)
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
December 11th, 2012 at 7:00 pm (traditional irish flute)
Here's an old jig played on an old flute.

This poor flute is falling apart, maybe due to modern nasties like central heating which weren't about when it was young. It seems not to like being 'My Warmer Fife'.
August 29th, 2012 at 8:39 pm (traditional irish flute)

Here's a tune I've played for years. I never knew a name for it so I played it into the magic tunepal.org machine and that is where this title came out of. My first part for the tune is a bit different from the versions on the computer but I suppose there's no harm in that. It's worth taking note of the advice on the photo even if the tune is of no interest.
May 25th, 2012 at 10:21 am (traditional irish flute)
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).
May 20th, 2012 at 8:08 pm (traditional irish flute)
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.
May 16th, 2012 at 10:44 am (traditional irish flute)
Here's an approximation of O'Neill's version of a popular jig. The dots can be found at: http://www.oldmusicproject.com/AA3Sheet/0701-1200/Sheet-0801-0900/0812-GirlsBanbridge.gif
If you want to hear it played properly you could do worse than click on this link: http://archive.org/details/MichaelColemanGirlsofBainbridgeCherishtheLadies .
The name in Coleman's version is 'Bainbridge' - maybe a reference to characters in Beryl's very early work (she'd have been 8 at the time).
April 26th, 2012 at 7:48 pm (traditional irish flute)
Here's a different sort of tune by way of a change. I've just played each part singly the first time round. If I appear to be rushing a bit during the quicker version that's probably because I was being distracted by the smell of the 'Young's Chip Shop Fish Fillet in Crisp Bubbly Batter' which is in the process of being turned into my dinner in my oven. I bet Carolan never had that problem. If he did occasionally salivate over the notion of some 17th / 18th century convenience food it was probably not too much of an encumbrance on his harp playing anyway.
March 10th, 2012 at 8:27 pm (traditional irish flute)
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.
January 24th, 2012 at 7:57 pm (traditional irish flute)
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.
January 8th, 2012 at 6:46 pm (traditional irish flute)
Here's a tune with a funny name. I learned it from a flute player with a less peculiar appellation, i.e. Harry Bradley.
I recorded this on a mobile phone mp3 recording app (and a flute) and the end result seems to include some 78rpm type crackles. That may have been an option which I inadvertantly chose on the recording device.
November 4th, 2011 at 5:59 pm (traditional irish flute)

Here's a tune called Peter Wyper's hornpipe. It is named after one of the Brothers Wyper who is pictured above. I had intended posting a smaller brace of Wypers but couldn't find the shrink button to resize the photo. You could look at the photo on a smartphone screen to make it small but I think the text would go all exiguous at the same time.
August 13th, 2011 at 11:35 am (traditional irish flute)
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.
April 26th, 2011 at 1:05 pm (traditional irish flute)
Here's a tune I was asked a while ago to play. I've always been a bit allergic to this tune - I'm not sure why - I think something bad like the house falling down happened the last time I played it and that left a bit of an impression which didn't please me too much. It's a good tune all the same. I think it's really 2 jigs joined together. I'm away to stand outside for a while in case this house isn't up to the Knocknagow test.
February 6th, 2011 at 6:48 pm (traditional irish flute)
I think this is also called The Collier's Jig. There's a collier's reel too which has the same general selection if notes in it. I'll post it on the site if it's not already here.
I've been reminded a couple of times lately that some people are finding some use for some of the tunes on this site so I thought I'd try to add one or two more. It remains to be seen whether they'll fall into the useful category or otherwise. I have a couple of requested tunes still to post as well. I'm just being delayed by not knowing them and almost never having a flute closer that about 20 feet away. If I attended to the latter matter then my chance of sorting the former should increase accordingly.
November 20th, 2010 at 11:47 am (traditional irish flute)
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.
November 16th, 2010 at 7:08 pm (traditional irish flute)
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.
November 12th, 2010 at 3:43 pm (traditional irish flute)
I think there's also a jig with this name - or is that 'the milker that masticated the mattress' ?
October 5th, 2010 at 6:15 pm (traditional irish flute)
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.
August 21st, 2010 at 2:38 pm (traditional irish flute)
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 ...)
August 8th, 2010 at 12:39 pm (traditional irish flute)
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/
July 30th, 2010 at 1:46 pm (traditional irish flute)
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.
July 11th, 2010 at 9:14 am (traditional irish flute, irish flute)
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.
July 7th, 2010 at 4:37 pm (traditional irish flute)
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.
April 18th, 2010 at 6:52 pm (traditional irish flute)
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.
January 12th, 2010 at 8:22 pm (traditional irish flute)
Here's a new post after a very long gap. I couldn't remember where I left the internet. I was sent an mp3 file of someone playing this tune far better that it is played here. I know that Séan Keane recorded it at some stage and hear it from time to time in sessions but I can't remember exactly how it goes. I found a transcription in the bit of the internet referred to below. I'm afraid I've lost / mis-ordered a few notes during the eye to mouth process but here's an approximation - hopefully enough to get a more accurate and diciplined person started learning the tune.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/2748
« Older episodes · Newer episodes »