I’m trying to get a little group together to play for our Celtic Night next March. Since we’re all new at this…I’m looking for suggestions of what tunes we might put together for St Paddy’s Day…that wouldn’t be too difficult for beginners??? I don’t mean beginning as in musicians… but as a group playing this type of music.. I’m not sure where to start…kinda scary. Gm
Love one another…
[ This Message was edited by: Grannymouse on 2001-10-26 00:05 ]
Hi Gm. I think a selection of Irish polkas would be pretty easy. They have simple 2/4 timing and no fancy ornamentation to master.
Try these:
Maggie in the Wood
Soldier’s Joy
Davvy Nic Nac
42 Pound Float
Tripping to the Well
Easy Hornnpipes:
Off to California
Staten Island
fisher’s hornpipe
Easy Jigs:
Tripping up Stairs
Saddle the pony
Tenpenny Bit
You can find them all in Henrik Norbeck’s ABC tune files.
They are some of the first tunes I ever learned. I found them pretty easy.
I hate to be obvious but the set dance St Patrick’s day seems a fairly appropriate choice. It’s the only time in the year we get to play it here. It’s in O’Neill’s.
And although not traditionally associated with the day like the above (except by name), there’s a nice reel called St Patrick’s night. It was composed by Paddy O Brien and recently recorded by Dympna O Sullivan, Brid Long and Joan Hanrahan with Geraldine Cotter on the piano on their track on the Ceol na mBan: Clare women of music in support of Clare Haven House. Worthy cause too if you should want to get it.
The tune was also recorded recently by Kitty Hayes of the concertina. No whistles on it but great music from a wonderful lady.
[ This Message was edited by: Peter Laban on 2001-10-26 09:27 ]
Gee I posted this request and went to bed. It’s almost like the Tooth Fairy came in the night with two great answers aready. Thanks a bunch! Gm
I’m partial to Blarney Pilgrim. Nice little three part jig that I found easy to learn.
(for what it’s worth, I find Tripping up the Stairs TOUGH!) Oh, and My Darling Asleep. I like this jig at any pace.
OOoh, GM, if you’re in Texas, you better do some Green Beer Irish stuff, 'cause I hear they shoot if you don’t! Considering these are the folks that decided that Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming are only suburbs of Texas, maybe you better…
You might try some of the St. Paddy’s standards:
The Wearing of the Green
Danny Boy (Derry Aire)
The Irish Washerwoman
Of course I’d have to agree with the earlier post about Blarney Pilgrim 
-Steve
Hello Betty. You may want to consider some O’Carolan stuff as well. Tunes like:
Sheebeg Sheemor
Planxty Irwin
Planxty Fanny Power
Cheers,
David (always a sucker for slow pretty tunes) de la Barre
Thanks to nick for the list of easy tunes…as a beginner I really appreciate having this. I listened in on my first session this week and they were playing Tripping Up the Stairs and I liked it a lot.
Just what is Henrik Norbeck’s ABC tune files? TIA
Just what is Henrik Norbeck’s ABC tune files? TIA
You can find Henrik’s collection at
http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-11382/abc.htm
Henrik is a whistle & flute player (mostly) as well as being a computer programmer. He wrote his own ABC software (ABCMus) that uses soundcard playback rather than PC speaker (like ABC2Win). His ABC collection is pretty vast and it is a great thing that he has made it available to the masses. One thing I don’t like though is when I bring up one of his reels in ABC2Win the music shows as all quarter notes instead of the usual eighth notes that most printed sources use. Just means that if I want to print it out the way I like I have to edit the note value in the ABC code to display eighth notes as the base unit.
Cheers,
David
[ This Message was edited by: Feadan on 2001-10-26 13:07 ]
These aren’t too tough on pennywhistle, and I expect most Texans would be familiar with them:
The Rakes of Mallow ( ‘The Quiet Man,’ with John Wayne )
St. Patrick’s Day in the Morning ( ‘Ft. Apache,’ with John Wayne )
Garryowen ( Any number of films about the 7th Cavalry and/or the Custer Fight )
The last two were in ‘Little Big Man’ also, but you might not want to emphasize that. 
As a former Cav type I am learning Gary Owen first. Hot Dang!!
Is there music for it in “whistle”?
Many versions of “Garry Owen” can be found at Jc’s ABC Tunefinder website, bothe the whistle notation and the midi versions
Hi GM! - Port Lairge and Spanish Lady are a couple of polkas that are fairly easy and go well together. The Parting Glass lays out fairly well on a D whistle too, and can be used to move into Give Me Your Hand - the change from Em to D is a nice twist in a medley. Southwind - esp. on Low whistle or flute is very pretty.
These tunes may almost qualify as Green Beer Irish considering how often they’ve been recorded, but they are pretty tunes, fun to play, and recognizably Irish.
At least you’re not waiting 'til the last minute!
On 2001-10-26 14:35 Bravo6 wrote:
As a former Cav type I am learning Gary Owen first. Hot Dang!!
It’s a favorite among fifers, though it is difficult to play on that instrument. It’s much easier on the pennywhistle.
Is there music for it in “whistle”? >
Here’s the URL to JC’s TuneWeb:
http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/findtune.html
Most of us are regular patrons of his site.
Be sure to remember that there are variant spellings of many titles, so if you don’t find what you are looking for try spelling it differently. Wildcards work, but only according to Perl scripting rules. That is …
Gar.*en
… will match on “Garryowen,” “Garry Owen,” and “Garden.” The dot ( . ) stands for “any character” and the asterisk ( * ) indicates an indefinite repeat of the dot. Because of the Perl rules, searching for “Gar*en” won’t give you the results you are looking for.
I had to be gone for awhile today and wow!..my mailbox was jammed when I got back. You “guys” are terrific. I’m making a list to see what works and I’m quite proud of the fact that I’m not waiting til the last minute…definitely a first. Thanks Feadan for your reply…thot I’d lost you for good. Again, my thanks to all. Gm
GrannyM,
These are pretty easy and fairly common that haven’t been mentioned yet. I mean if I can learn them anyone can.
Red Haired Boy (Irish Beggarman)
Banshee
Sailor’s Hornpipe (remember Popeye?)
Road to Lisdoonvarna
Songs Airs:
Star of County Down
Whiskey in the Jar
Gentle Breeze
Ned of the Hills
Fair Maid of Wicklow
These last two make a fine set.
Hope this helps, and …
On 2001-10-26 17:48, ndjr wrote:
On 2001-10-26 14:35 Bravo6 wrote:As a former Cav type I am learning Gary Owen first. Hot Dang!!
It’s a favorite among fifers, though it is difficult to play on that instrument. It’s much easier on the pennywhistle.
Being new at both fife and whistle, I think anything would be easier to play on a whistle. Also the beagles and I are much less likely to be sent out side with while whistling. It’s amazing how much more sound comes out of a flute, than a whistle
[ This Message was edited by: Spot Beagle on 2001-10-31 02:43 ]