I have been enjoying learning ‘Cape Clear’. A lovely tune, and I found some good recordings on line to inspire me (one on our very own 'clips and snips iirc). I don’t claim to have learnt it - I feel that learning and improving are endless, even within one tune. But I have reached a small degree of competence. I am even getting to grips with the d#/eb, sort of.
However I, and probably my lady and my two dogs, have heard the tune enough of late. So I am on the hunt for another nice slow haunting tune. Any suggestions? Preferably with a reference to a recording to inspire me.
Two excellent suggestions. I had never heard Crested Hens before, definitely a contender. Thanks MTGuru. Especially for directing me straight to the abc. My quickest learning strategy is to learn the notes from the dots/midi, then ignore them and copy a recording.
Nick, I had seen Amhran a Leabhair in dots, transcribed it and listened to the midi. Your rendition is much more inspiring. I tried to download the mp3, but my browser just started playing it in WMP. Any clue as to what I have bloxed up?
More suggestions welcome, but I am off to try these two tunes for now…
Some really nice tunes and recordings there. I am enjoying the listening, but have not made my mind up yet.
I had already dreamed of being able to play Hector the Hero as beautifully as Jenna Reid and Aly Bain, but though I got the notes, I couldn’t bring it alive. Perhaps the simplicity of the tune requires more from the player than I can find as yet. Maybe one day…
My favourite slow air played on a whistle has to be Slieve Gallion Braes (sometimes written Slieve Gallon or even Slieve Gullion). There’s a YouTube clip of Dolores Keane singing the song. There’s something very bitter-sweet about the tune, probably helped by the way it mixes major and minor modes.
ack every couple of months, someone asks for tune ideas, and I read/listen to them all, and then try to learn most of them, annnd then just as i’m starting to know at least a few…another huge bunch comes
Neil Gow’s Lament On The Death Of His Second Wife
It’s typically done in D, which fits nicely on a low A whistle. I love to play this on my Burke composite low A.
Other slow tunes I love:
Blind Mary (a lovely Turlough O’Carolan tune; I think it’s Maire Dhall in Irish but I probably spelled it wrong)
Fanny Power (another O’Carolan)
Inisheer
Ooh yes, I was going to suggest that earlier but I thought the discussion had finished. I play it in G on a D whistle but bought a Dixon A in case I ever meet a friendly fiddler to play it with - and to play along with fiddle recordings.
Wow, lots more good suggestions… thanks folks (but don’t stop if you have another suggestion…).
I am working my way through all of thee listening and enjoying. Then I am going to have to prioritize. But not yet. It takes me a long time to ‘learn’ a tune (learning never ends), so I am going to be busy a while even if I only pick a few of the suggestions.
That’s what I do. I play it in G on the flute but have an A whistle for playing with fiddlers. A fiddler friend of mine was horrified when I said I played it in G, but I pointed out it fits the instrument and takes advantage of its characteristics. It certainly goes down well when I play it solo at my local folk club.
As for Hector the Hero, I agree that Jenna Reid and Aly Bain’s version is superb - they are after all the best.
I also play it on flute, but usually in G rather than the original key of A. This is because I first found it in a Northumbrian Pipers tune book where they had it in G to fit the pipes better.
I think when you are playing airs, you really need to feel them as you play and that way they come out right. Also, pay attention to your phrasing of the tune.
