8/13/07 The Promenade/The Boys of Ballysadare

[TonyHiggins]

08/13/07 Tony Higgins posts a couple of tunes of unknown name or classification. I'll edit this as soon as someone clues me in. (saved in misc)

Edited to add:

slip jigs, as BoneQuint says.

The Promenade, aka (incorrectly) Coleman's
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/409

The Boys of Ballysadare / Ballysodare (per MT Guru)

[BoneQuint]

08/13/07 Tony Higgins posts a couple of tunes of unknown name or classification. I'll edit this as soon as someone clues me in. (saved in misc)

Slip jigs, but I don't know the names.

[MTGuru]

Yes, slip jigs, as BoneQuint says.

The Promenade, aka (incorrectly) Coleman's
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/409

The Boys of Ballysadare / Ballysodare
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1340

Cheers!

[TonyHiggins]

Thanks, guys. I actually wanted to call them slip jigs, believe it or not. (I know Azalin doesn't believe it.) But I was thrown off by an alternative way of counting in my head ('one and two and three and') due to the quarter notes that are so prevalent. Yes, I also considered 123, 123, 123, but figured, you know... what do I know? (dunce hat, not party hat)
Tony

[Fergmaun]

The second tune is called Comb Your Hair And Curl It (slip jig) not The Boys Of Ballisodare.

The Chieftains 1 CD track 4 has Comb Your Hair And Curl It/The Boys Of Ballisodare.
http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/509

Cheers

Ferg

[NicoMoreno]

The second tune is called Comb Your Hair And Curl It (slip jig) not The Boys Of Ballisodare.

The Chieftains 1 CD track 4 has Comb Your Hair And Curl It/The Boys Of Ballisodare.
http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/509

Cheers

Ferg

Nope, you're definitely wrong.

And MTGuru, according to thesession.org, the name "The Promenade" is as incorrect as "Coleman's". The comments suggest it was the promenade to a dance, and hence that was used as the name.

[MTGuru]

The Chieftains 1 CD track 4 has Comb Your Hair And Curl It/The Boys Of Ballisodare.

Yes indeed. And the second tune in that Chieftains set, The Boys of Ballysodare, is the one that Tony plays here.

And MTGuru, according to thesession.org, the name "The Promenade" is as incorrect as "Coleman's". The comments suggest it was the promenade to a dance, and hence that was used as the name.

You're right, Nico, that's what it says. The name Promenade does seem to be sticking, though, as attested by the multiple recordings of the tune under that name. And the Fiddler's Companion also lists it with that title. I guess two "wrong" names are better than Gan Ainm! Ain't folk music wonderful?

[BoneQuint]

I was thrown off by an alternative way of counting in my head ('one and two and three and') due to the quarter notes that are so prevalent.

Looks like you have subtle and incisive instincts, Tony:

Some slip jigs employ primarily heavy-light pairs instead of the jig patterns, similar to single jigs, and one could justifiably define these as another species of slip jig.

Now, is it spelled Ballisodare, Ballysodare, Ballysadare, or maybe even Ballisadare? A song title search on Amazon.com finds Ballisodare by far the most common, but several recordings under each name exist.

[MTGuru]

Yah, I checked Wikipedia before posting, for what it's worth. Says Ballysadare is the official English name for Baile Easa Dara, and Ballisodare the common local spelling. My Collins Handy Map says Ballysodare. Multimap lists Ballysadare. The Irish Government Tourist Board Fáilte Ireland says Ballisodare. Go figure.

[Markus]

I'll briefly slip (or hop) in into the mighty jungle of tune type definitions. There are a number of people well versed within the Irish tradition (and with enviable credentials) who make a distinction between tunes with the type of rhythm heard here and your regular slip jigs (Kid on the mountain and so on).

They call these more bouncily-rhythmed tunes hop jigs and let yer ol' regular slip jigs be slip jigs.

In all honesty, I must also say that I know of equally well-versed musicians who don't recognise this distinction. And some play these with an even rhythm and still call them slip jigs (see Matt Molloy's "slip jig" after Parting of Friends on his Stony Steps album).

Most just mightn't give a fiddler's f*rt.

To illustrate this ramble a bit, I managed to slip through what I've learned to call a hop jig, played in both an even and bouncier manner. I'm afraid my take on the more even rhythm doesn't do justice to that style.. The computer fan is acting as a drone.
http://www.box.net/shared/0rkuq2x4oe

Hoppity-hop,

Markus

[Nanohedron]

Yeah, Markus, that's what I know as a hop jig, too. I believe The Dusty Miller would fall under that category, I'm thinking.

Nice playing!