What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessions?

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an seanduine
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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by an seanduine »

We like to play the two 'Peacocks Feathers' together. I usually am playing whistle in that session, so throw down my 'C' whistle for my 'D'. Our primary flutist uses his eight-key. Another would be Sgt. Early's dream.
edit: Curiously, I was at a fiddle-centric session of tuneheads that cycled through A, G, and D versions of 'Frank's'! Sort of an answer to 'Music for a found Harmonium' or 'Tam Lynn' with the 'trucker's gearshift'. :D

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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by paddler »

Loren wrote:I’m not familiar Lament for Limerick, but I see it listed as a waltz, is that correct?
Its a slow air. Jean-Michell Veillon does a lovely version of it, which he calls "Limerick's Lamentation" on his Pont Gwenn Ha Pont Stang album. He plays it on a low Bb flute. I have been trying to learn it recently on a low Bb flute I made. My flute is keyless, and the missing key has not gone unnoticed.

I can't find a flute version I like on line, but this UP one is quite nice: Lament for Limerick.
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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by Conical bore »

The two that come up most often that I *can* play with half-holing on a keyless D flute, mainly because the tempo is slow enough:

Maids of Michelstown (Fnats)
Da Slockit Light (G#)

Although, one session likes to follow Maids of Mitchelstown with "Tuttle's" (reel) where I can't really handle those Fnats at speed. Same for a few other common tunes in Ddor like Julia Delaney, Porthole of the Kelp, one of the Paddy Fahey's.

There are a few Scottish/Cape Breton tunes like "Prince Charlie" (reel, often played after Bog an Lochan) that sound great played by fiddlers with an Eb in a couple of places. But if you're playing with smallpipes you're going to flat that note to D anyway, because they can't hit it either.
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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by busterbill »

Aaron's Key, All the Handsome Young Maidens, Catharsis, Foxhunter's Reel in A, Music for a Found Harmonium, Julia Delaney's seem to spring to mind. The first five play pretty easily on the fiddle. Except for Foxhunters and Julia Delaney's these are modern tunes, composed in the last 50 years or less.
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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by colomon »

Loren wrote:Ah yes, not owning any E whistles, I hadn’t thought of that approach.
I don't want to stop people from getting keys on their flutes, but IMO a good low E whistle is absolutely fantastic for dealing with tunes in A major or E major. It has that great mellow low whistle sound, but it's noticeably easier to play than a low D.

I suppose a keyless E flute would also be a lovely solution.
Instruments in transit, ultimately frustrating :tantrum:
But there was a very sensible reason to have it away. The upper left part of the pad of my right index finger was all messed up, making it painful to play accordion. So I sent it off to have the low F/Bb key converted to even lower D/G. So when I get it back I will have my first ever ITM instrument which can actually play all the notes in tunes like "Michael Reilly's" or "Maudabawn Chapel". And then next week the stitches will come out of my finger...

Meant to ask this earlier and forgot...
tstermitz wrote:Some tunes I really like have accidentals, and here is where I need the Eb Key: Poor but Happy at 53, Tarbolton, King of the Fairies, White Petticoat, Crested Hens, Mr O'Connor
I can imagine where you might put a Eb/D# in the "Tarbolton", but I certainly wouldn't consider it an essential/basic/standard part of the tune. Ditto for "King of the Fairies", though I'm much less certain there as it's not really a tune I play.
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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by an seanduine »

busterbill wrote:Aaron's Key, All the Handsome Young Maidens, Catharsis, Foxhunter's Reel in A, Music for a Found Harmonium, Julia Delaney's seem to spring to mind. The first five play pretty easily on the fiddle. Except for Foxhunters and Julia Delaney's these are modern tunes, composed in the last 50 years or less.
Julia DeLaney is number 1401 in O'Neill's. Julia was Francis O'Neill's sister. Wife to Dinny DeLaney, piper. So, a little over 125 yrs old. How time flies! And strange what is considered 'moder' vs. 'ancient'. :D

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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by Mr.Gumby »

Julia DeLaney is number 1401 in O'Neill's. Julia was Francis O'Neill's sister. Wife to Dinny DeLaney, piper. So, a little over 125 yrs old.
Although it could be argued the version everybody seems to play as 'Julia Delaney's', lifted from the Bothy Band's recording, is a development by Tommy Potts. Still at least half a century on the go but more 'modern' in it's stylings than most tunes. :poke:
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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by NicoMoreno »

an seanduine wrote:
busterbill wrote:Aaron's Key, All the Handsome Young Maidens, Catharsis, Foxhunter's Reel in A, Music for a Found Harmonium, Julia Delaney's seem to spring to mind. The first five play pretty easily on the fiddle. Except for Foxhunters and Julia Delaney's these are modern tunes, composed in the last 50 years or less.
Julia DeLaney is number 1401 in O'Neill's. Julia was Francis O'Neill's sister. Wife to Dinny DeLaney, piper. So, a little over 125 yrs old. How time flies! And strange what is considered 'moder' vs. 'ancient'. :D

Bob
Julia Delaney (I've never seen it spelled with the capital L), was O'Neill's sister-in-law (not sister, she was sister to his wife), married to Bernard Delaney (not Dinny, who's a different piper altogether), and O'Neill's Music of Ireland (1850 edition) was published in 1903, so just over 115 (not 125) years old. But as Mr.G mentions, it's not in Dminor therein.
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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by Mr.Gumby »

Breandán Breathnach always used to chuckle about Dinny Delaney's wife that the 'official' sources had it she owned a dance hall, while local wisdom had it she ran a brothel.
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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by an seanduine »

Thank you Mr. 'G'. Too true about the reworking of some of the old tunes. Compare Mayor Harrison's Fedora with more modern renditions. With regards to 'shop-keeping', Chicago was very much a 'wide-open town', and it always helps to have a relatively lenient Captain/Superintendant of police. :D :D

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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by Mr.Gumby »

an seanduine wrote: With regards to 'shop-keeping', Chicago was very much a 'wide-open town', and it always helps to have a relatively lenient Captain/Superintendant of police. :D :D

Bob
Yes, but in the case of Dinnv Delaney (and his wife) the dancehall was in Ballinasloe.
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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by NicoMoreno »

Yeah, Dinny and Bernard still aren't the same piper :lol:
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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by an seanduine »

o
Oops! :oops:
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Re: What tunes requiring keys are played at your local sessi

Post by AaronFW »

I'll buy boots for Maggie. It has some F naturals where keys would be nice.
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