Tripping Up The Stairs (jig)
Here's a very popular jig which I was asked to play. It's especially popular among people who are learning to play the flute or the tin whistle. Stair carpets have a lesser regard for it.
Jul 06, 2008•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Irish Flute Tunes
Traditional Irish Tunes Played on the Flute (iflute@googlemail.com)
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Episodes
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.
Jul 05, 2008•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1
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.
Jun 25, 2008•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1
The Stack of Barley (hornpipe)
Here's a very common hornpipe. I'm sorry about the sound. I listened back to it (I normally don't) and it sounds as if I recorded it in a particularly cavernous public lavatory. May it was the same one in which some 1970s record companies used to record their traditional music LPs.
Jun 23, 2008•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1
The Stage Hornpipe
I've been asked to try this one. Well, at least I tried. I sort of learned it once off a Michael Coleman record but I don't have that record any more so I'm relying on memory; never a wise move in my case.
Jun 20, 2008•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1
The Monaghan Jig
Maybe safer with the twig if time is an issue.
Jun 16, 2008•4 min
The Antrim Rose (reel)
Here's yet another reel. It differs from the others which I've posted in that it is called "The Antrim Rose" while they are not. I am currently sitting in said county with a thorny, fragrant flower of the genus rosa within 8 feet of me. I don't think that has anything to do with this choice of tune though. There are plenty of other things even closer to hand than roses but I'm not about to play "The Dirty Mug".
Jun 14, 2008•2 min
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.
Jun 08, 2008•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1
The Tempest (reel)
Here's a slightly dry-mouthed and dry-fluted go at "The Tempest". My mouth is now so dry after playing it that I can't even type any more nonsense about it.
Jun 01, 2008•2 min
The Flowing Bowl (reel)
Here's one I was asked for. For some reason (maybe because I almost never go out playing) I haven't heard this tune for a while so this version mightn't be very up to date. It may have a chance of being recognised as at least a relative of the "Flowing Bowl" which does get played by people who do go out.
May 30, 2008•2 min
Hanley's Tweed (reel)
I've recently been reminded of this one. I never knew its name until about ten minutes ago. Maybe in another ten minutes' time I'll know the notes as well. I think Paddy O'Brien wrote it. It was probably a lovely tune when it left his fingers first ... like they say in Belfast about the Titanic - "it was all right when it left here".
May 22, 2008•3 min
The Sailor's Hornpipe
I don't know that I've ever played this tune before but I've been asked for it so here is an attempt. I'm more of a terra firma person myself but I hope this maritime melody has survived my mal de mer. I've put the apostrophe before the last "s" thinking that this tune was the property of a single salt.
May 17, 2008•3 min
The High Level Hornpipe
Here's a tune which I think is named after a bridge. Talking of bridges, I think I learned this on the fiddle in B flat. My fingers seem unwilling to coax this tune out of a 2 keyed flute in that key so here it is in C. I'm not sure whether C belongs to it but that's how it came out this time.
May 09, 2008•3 min
Molly on the Shore (reel)
Here's one I've been asked to record. I had to look it up and I'm a bit uncertain of ho it goes. This version is probably sufficiently washed-up to at least have some shore connections anyway.
May 04, 2008•2 min
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.
May 01, 2008•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1
The Independent Hornpipe
This is one I was asked to play. I don't know whether the version of the first part that goes up to a high 'C' is the normal one or whether the more land-based one rules the waves or waves at those who rule the land. I think I heard this tune from a recording of Leo Rowsome who as Rí na bPíobairí ruled over something himself. If anyone listening is fussy about tune versions then this particular one will probably send them straight to www.vexed.com. Hopefully most other people will either like or...
Apr 30, 2008•3 min
Mullingar Lea
As usual the playing here is a bit vague. The tune just occurred to me so I thought I'd play it while the sausages were cooking. They're done now - probably about as half-baked as this recording.
Apr 26, 2008•2 min
The Ivy Leaf (reel)
Here's a reel which I was asked to play. I'm not writing a disclaimer with the "Iwas asked to play" bit. It's just that I'm so glad to have been asked that I can't help but mention the asking in the posting. I used to think this was a new fangled sort of a tune but the likes of Willie Clancy played it and Francis O'Neill has it in his collection from 1907 (I missed the centenary balloons anuraidh). Here's my Friday evening go at it anyway. (The name makes me think of taking leaves intravenously....
Apr 25, 2008•2 min
Bunker Hill (reel)
I've been asked to play this. Having tried to play it I think I know why it I never did before now (I think it might be awkward on the flute). I couldn't even work out what the first note ought to be. I don't think I have enough of a bunker mentality. Anyway, here's a sort of run at it. I hope there are only 3 parts in the tune. That's certainly all there are here. Maybe this rendition will offend someone out there into learning the tune properly. I'm away out now to get wet and educated....
Apr 24, 2008•3 min
Langstrom's Pony
Here's another tune I was asked to post. Posting ponies; is that like Pony Express are are they just post ponies? Anyway, I'm never too sure of the first part but that wasn't the focus of the query to which I'm trying to respond here. I hope I haven't forgotten about any parts either. It's a good job that the latter bits (another equine apparatus related term) hadn't too many low notes as on finishing the tune I noticed that my foot joint (hoof?) had fallen off. I hope that the tune is OK, thoug...
Apr 22, 2008•4 min
The Mooncoin
Here's a fiddle tune. The flute's only really a fiddle with more holes and fewer strings so it's probably acceptable to play fiddle tunes on it. It even starts with the same letter. I vaguely remember being in a group once, many years ago, and "Mooncoin" was the polite one of the two names it had. That's my only connection with Mooncoins.
Apr 20, 2008•3 min
The Eel in the Sink
I've just been asked to play this tune so here is an attempt at it. I'm about to go and do the washing up now and am feeling a bit uneasy about what may be lurking under last night's saucepans. A few wriggling elvers may actually be quite an effective dish dirt dislodger though.
Apr 13, 2008•1 min
The Merry Blacksmith
Here's a reel I was asked to play. My postings of late have been about as frequent as my blacksmith sightings, merry or otherwise, but being reminded of this tune at least stirred me into a brief flurry of activity. This particular tune is very suitable for the flute and provides ample opportunity for anvilesque hammering sounds on the D notes. On this occasion I seem to have let most of these opportunities slip by but at least it's nice to know that they will still be there the next time I try ...
Apr 06, 2008•2 min
Kiss me Kate (reel)
Here's a common reel. I thought I'd probably have played this one already but I didn't see it on the site. Maybe I called it by another name ("don't kiss me Kate" perhaps). I hope this version is OK. My recall facility for tunes has been a bit vague lately.
Mar 22, 2008•1 min
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.
Mar 14, 2008•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1
The Finnish Polka
This is yet another tardy response to a request to record a tune. I'm delighted to be asked to play specific tunes as it saves me having to think them up for myself. I had to look this one up on the internet as I didn't know it. I hope my dot to note transfer has allowed the tune to arrive without being too scathed. I think this tune is in B minor. My bad spelling allows me to think of digging in the ground for stripy, stingy things (stingy as in needle-arsed rather than tight arsed) but that's ...
Mar 08, 2008•2 min
The Enchanted Lady (reel)
Here's a fairly popular one, as are many enchanted things and persons.
Mar 03, 2008•2 min
The Graf Spee (reel)
Here's another tune I was asked for. I've tried to oblige but I haven't quite got my sea legs. I might have been better scuttling this attempt.
Mar 01, 2008•3 min
The Trip To Cullenstown (reel)
Here's another request. I'm afraid I didn't recognise the name of the tune so I looked it up in www land. It sort of sounds familiar; mouth organs spring to mind (if that's a thing they can do) and by the end of the tune I thought I maybe knew the start. The version is at the mercy of whoever put it on the internet and whether he or she has the use of a reliable set of ears.
Feb 27, 2008•2 min
The Rakes of Clonmel
Here's a tune I was asked to play. I'm sorry it took me so long getting round to it. There are a few other tune requests that I'm currently in the process of taking even longer over. I played a three part version at the end of this recording. I've heard three parts from a few people, one being Paddy Canny. My problem regerding part 3 may be that in fact Paddy can whereas I canny play it but I thought I'd try anyway.
Feb 24, 2008•2 min
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