BB's Basic Irish Session Tune List

updated: 1/5/11


This list contains a "basic vocabulary" of tunes that would be played at any Irish traditional session in the world. It is not meant to be exhaustive in the sense that these and only these tunes will be played - you'll discover that each session has its own idea of what constitutes a tune that all players at that session are expected to know.

But based on my experience of 35+ years of participating in sessions, I think the following list should provide a pretty good point of departure for anyone just coming into the music and interested in session participation. Certainly I would hope that you would add to this list at your own speed and level of interest, but it is a place to start.

Click here to go right to the tune list.

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Some Preliminary Thoughts (in no particular order)
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= You don't have to learn all of these tunes at the same time. Whatever your learning pace has been heretofore, continue with it. Sometimes trying to cram too much new material into your cranium is counter-productive. Some of these tunes have been around for 300 years so you don't have to rush into learning them - they're not going anywhere!

= Some folks find it easier to learn tunes in groups or "sets". That's perfectly acceptable, but the danger is that your idea of a tuneset may not be shared by other folks at your session. Comparing notes with your session buddies - so that you're all on the same wave-length as to what might get played when - is highly recommended. (Of course everything might change when you visit a session somewhere else, so a certain degree of flexibility is good to develop.)

= Tune names exist for a reason. Try to become familiar with as many names as you can so that you'll have an idea what to expect if someone mentions "Trip to the Cottage" or "Green Mountain". You don't have to be able to play them yet, but being able to recognize them will be a big help. (I personally find tunes easier to remember and play if I know their names - don't ask me why. On the other hand, some really great players never know names of the tunes they play!)

= If for whatever reason you don't like a tune, don't bother learning it. Chances are you'll never play it correctly. You may however want to re-visit it after you've learned a few others and see if your opinion of it has changed.

= A session is not ordinarily an opportunity for learning or for practicing - it's for playing. The learning/practicing happens at home. If you're at a session and someone starts a tune you're not confident about,  back off - time to let your fingers relax and put your ears to work. A very quick way to lose the respect of other players is to try faking your way through a tune you don't really know. We've all done it and we feel really lousy about it afterwards. (NOTE: Irish traditional music is never played with a "harmony" part or counter-melody like some American music customarily is. If  you're not prepared to play what everyone else is playing, stay out. Anything that's not melody or backup chords is unwelcome.)

= Speed comes with practice and experience but is not an end in itself. If it's my session, I'll try to keep the session tempo reasonable but if it gets out of control, OK to remind me to slow down a little. (This isn't recommended procedure at ALL sessions!)

= The old-timers used to remind us constantly that you can always start slow and speed up. The opposite is nearly impossible. Keep that ancient wisdom always before you as you progress in your playing abilities!

= VERY IMPORTANT
I can't recommend it strongly enough to any novice traditional musician: learn ABC. This is a plain-text program for moving and storing music on the Internet; there are tens of thousands of ABC tune files out there that you can eventually take advantage of. You don't have to know how to read music to use ABC (in fact, if you don't know and would like to learn, it's a great help). A good ABC program will enable you to open the ABC file, view the notation, and play the tune back (and once you've downloaded the file, you can even adjust the playback speed - what could be better for learning?)

The source for all good ABC info is Chris Walshaw's website   staffweb.cms.gre.ac.uk/~c.walshaw/abc/
All of the tunes listed can be found on John Chambers' TuneFinder website. Type in the name of the tune you want, click the button, and you'll get a listing of the matches to your request in a few seconds. The tunes are given in various formats which are explained on the TuneFinder home page: for example, PDF and PNG files are for the notation, MIDI files are sound files, and so forth.





 
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REELS
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Bag of Spuds (Am)
Banshee (G)
Bird in the Bush (G)
Bonnie Kate (D)
Boyne Hunt (D)
Bucks of Oranmore (D)
Chicago (Am)
Congress (Am)
Cooley's (Em)
Cregg's Pipes (G)
Cup of Tea (Em - D)
Drowsy Maggie (Em - D)
Dunmore Lasses (Em)
Father Kelly's "#1" (G)
Foxhunter's (G)
Golden Keyboard (Em)
High Reel (A mix)
Humors of Tulla (D)
Jackie Coleman's #1 (D)
Kilmaley (Glen Allen) (G)
Lady Ann Montgomery (D)
Last Night's Fun (D)
Maid behind the Bar (D)
Mason's Apron (A)
Merry Blacksmith (D)
Miss McCloud's (McLeod's) (G)
Mountain Road (D)
Over the Moor to Maggie (G)
Pigeon on the Gate (Em)
Rolling in the Ryegrass (D)
Saint Anne's (D)
Salley Gardens (G)
Ships are Sailing (Em)
Silver Spear (D)
Star of Munster (Am)
Swallow's Tail (Am)
Teetotaller (Temperance) (G)
Wind that Shakes the Barley (D)
Wise Maid (D)

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 JIGS
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Banish Misfortune (D mix)
Battering Ram (G)
Blackthorn Stick (G)
Blarney Pilgrim (D mix)
Calliope House (D)
Cliffs of Moher (Am)
Connaughtman's Rambles (D)
Fasten the Legging (G)
Frost is All Over (D)
Geese in the Bog (Am)
Haste to the Wedding (D)
Haunted House (Em)
Humors of (East of) Glendart (D)
Kesh (G)
Langstrom's Pony (A mix)
Leg of the Duck (D)
Lilting Banshee (Am)
Morrison's (Em)
Munster Buttermilk (G)
My Darling Asleep (D)
Off She Goes (D)
Out in the Ocean (G)
Paddy in London (Clare Jig/Mug of Brown Ale) (Am)
Rose in the Heather (D)
Sackow's (Trip It Upstairs) (D)
Saddle the Pony (G)
Shandon Bells (D)
Smash the Windows (D)
Swallow Tail (Em)
Sweet Biddy Daly (Irishman's Heart/Health to the Ladies) (A)
Ship in Full Sail (G)
Tenpenny Bit (Am)
Tobin's (D)

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HORNPIPES
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Boys of Blue Hill (D)
Chief O'Neill's (D mix)
Cuckoo (G)
Cuckoo's Nest (G)
Delahunty's (Wicklow/Home Brew) (D mix)
Echo (D)
Fairhaired (Redhaired) Boy (A mix)
Fisher's (D)
Flowers of Edinburgh (Em)
Greencastle (G)
Harvest Home (D)
Home Ruler (D)
Jackie Tar ("Popeye") (G)
King of the Fairies (Em)
Kitty's Wedding (D)
Off to California (G)
Plains of Boyle (D mix)
Rights of Man (Em)
Soldier's Joy (D)
Stack of Barley (G)
Stack of Wheat (G)
Staten Island (D mix)
Sweep's (Belfast) (D)


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SLIP JIGS
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Barney Brallaghan
Boys of Ballisodare
Foxhunter's
Kid on the Mountain
Riding a Mile
Rocky Road to Dublin (A minor)

 
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POLKAS / SLIDES
Note: any polka can be played as a march (and vice-versa) - depends on the tempo.
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Britches Full of Stitches [P] (G, occasionally A)
Captain Byng [P] (G)
Denis Murphy's Polka (D)
Denis Murphy's Slide (D)
Dingle Regatta [S] (G)
Girl I Left behind Me [P] (G)
John Egan's ("Kerry #2") [P] (D)
Lakes of Sligo [P] (D)
Maggie in the Woods [P] (G)
Maids of Ardagh [P] (D - A)
Mairi's Wedding [P] (G)
Merrily Kiss the Quaker [S] (G)
Peg Ryan's ("Kerry #1") [P] (D)
Port Láirge (Rose Tree) [P] (D)
Rakes of Mallow [P] (G)
Red Wing [P] (G)
Scattery Island [S] (D)
Spanish Lady [P] (D)
Star Above the Garter [S] (G)
Worn Torn Petticoat [S] (Am)


FINAL NOTES:
= For those of you who look at the above list and find yourself fainting, console yourself with the thought that I could have included 5,669 MORE tunes but didn't. Also for consolation purposes: if I learned them, you can learn them!
= Don't forget ABC - easy to learn and genuinely helpful.

REALLY FINAL NOTE:
Email me at zouki@earthlink.net if you need more help.


Have fun and good luck!
BB