I’m struggling to get the last 4 notes of the 4th bar sounding right (where it goes below D)
DFAF GFEF|D2 FA dABG|F2 AF GFGB|AGFD ABCE|
I’ve tried going up to ABCe but it does’nt sound right to me so I’ve settled with AGFD EFGE which sort of works or AGFD AGEF or AGFD EEEF (rolling the 3E’s).
I can’t figure out what Matt is doing here with all those noisy muscians sitting in 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLBFaqZM2Bc
What do you think - any suggestions?
John
looks like gary hastings might be playing ABCE first time through. at first it might seem counter intuitive [on flute] to play it that way, but i think it flows pretty good musically.
You could forget all about that fiddle doo dah and just play the old piping setting: Internet Archive: Free Download: The Fairy Reel (The One-Horned Cow, The Limestone Rock)
A few ideas from other fluters and fiddlers:
Matt Molloy (Contentment Is Wealth): AGFD AB (3cBA
Seamus Egan (Solas, Words that Remain): AGGA GFE2
Seamus Tansey (Easter Snow): Af~f2 eac’e
Liz Carroll (Friend Indeed): AGFD EDDE
Martin Hayes (Live in Seattle): AGFD (3EGE CE
Eileen Ivers (Whelan, Come to Dance): AGFD EDCE
The last 2 need a C foot for C#. I usually play (on whistle) EFGE as you suggested.
Seems that I’ve heard box/fiddle players play that bar
AGF#D A’B’C#‘A’
the last four notes being below the flute/whistle/pipes range
but I’ve heard wind players play that bar
AGF#D EF#GE
which sounds nice and smooth and makes musical sense.
What are the tune names in the youtube clip?
I think 3 tunes in all can be heard in the video
B
.
.
something=?? / Dowd’s #9 / Hunter’s House
Sullivan John’s maybe?
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/4345
played fast and not completely as per setting? (see the comments section)
Yep, that’s it. The YouTube audio matches exactly the Water from the Well Track 5: Dusty Miller, The Ketch Called “Sullivan John”, Dowd’s No. 9, Hunter’s House. But the thesession.org transcription doesn’t match either the CD or vid, even though the transcriber said he took it from the CD track. Ah, thesession.org. I’d rely on your ears for this one.
Thanks for the suggestions I played this tune a lot last night trying the different phrases and prefer the sound of
AGFD EEEF (rolling the 3E’s)
or AGFD EFGE
I think the E roll F leads quite well into the next bar.
John
I generally play it AGFD E ~A3. If I’m feeling frisky I’ll pop the E up to a middle e, ala:
AGFD e ~A3.
[edited to fix pencil-player error]
That’s interesting, Cathy. I hear the implied harmony underlying those notes as an A Major chord, as outlined by EA,CE which is an A Major triad. So playing a B would clash with that to my ear. Or it’s an A9 chord, which makes you a cool and funky hep cat. 
I betcha I meant A. Our funky Cape Breton-jazz guitar major pal Ian was famous for ending lots of tunes on 7ths or 9ths so we’d toss them in at the tail but naah, I’m too square to do it in the middle.
In light of my cubicle residence I try to figure these things out on a pencil but dang, it just doesn’t sound the same. 
I think we go for an A maj there too as I also do the AG#A thing previously discussed. So I would say AGFD E ~A3 or AGFD e~A3 or AGFD EAGA. DOH!
Now you’ve gone and spoiled my fantasy of you as a cool hep cat. Just like your avatar. 
Dangit, why do I have to be so honest? Ah well, if you ever met me you’d have been disappointed soon enough.
Meanwhile, I bet Mrs. Doyle would go for the diminished intervals since she’s always falling off things. 