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Each week we're releasing a tune of the week on the Milwaukee Irish Fest School of Music YouTube channel! Catch up on past weeks below, and subscribe to our channel to get updates when we release new videos.
This week's tune is a fun single reel in the key of G. The Edenderry appears in O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland as tune 770 and has appeared in recordings by Matt Molloy and John Carty, Conal Ó Gráda, and Caitlín Nic Gabhann (among others). Download sheet music for the Edenderry here.
This week's tune is a slip jig in G. The Hawthorn appears in O'Neill's Music of Ireland as "A Bunch of Haws" (tune #1156) and is attributed to James Early. A couple recorded version exist, including a setting on Michael Tubridy's album The Eagle's Whistle.
Download sheet music for the Hawthorn here.
This week's tune is a lovely slip jig in D. The Whinny Hills of Leitrim has been recorded a number of times, among the earliest is flutist John McKenna's 1928 recording (where the tune is called Leitrim Town). Download sheet music for the Whinny Hills of Leitrim here.
Here's a nice reel in A Dorian that's apropos to today's weather in Milwaukee. The Rainy Day appears in O'Neill's Music of Ireland (tune 1196), and has been recorded a number of times, including versions by Seamus Ennis, the Bothy Band, and Paul Brady (again on the album by Matt Molloy and Tommy Peoples).
Download sheet music here.
This week's tune is also commonly known as Drag Her 'Round the Road, and has been recorded under a number of other titles. Like last week's tune, this one makes an appearance on the album recorded by Matt Molly, Tommy Peoples, and Paul Brady in 1977.
Download the sheet music here.
This jig's known by a number of other names, the Basket of Turf and Up Sligo! among them. This version is close to the setting that Matt Molloy and Tommy Peoples play on their 1978 album with Paul Brady. Michael Coleman recorded a version in the early 1920s.
In honor of St. Patrick's Day this week, here a jig mostly known as the Knights of St. Patrick. Leo Rowsome recorded the tune as the King of the Pipers. There's a lovley version by fiddler Paddy Killoran that was recorded in the 1950s that you can listen to online here, courtesy of the Ward Irish Music Archives.
Here's the barebones version of Hare in the Corn (aka Hair in the Corn or The Cat in the Corner) on tin whistle, recorded at 100bpm. Use the YouTube video settings to slow it down to help learn the tune. This slide has been recorded a number of times, this version being an approximation of Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford's version from their album, The Star Above the Garter.
This is another tuned sourced from the Ward Irish Music Archives, originally through this piece of sheet music: Paddy Carey: A Cotillion. A bit of digging revealed it was included in Francis O'Neill's Music of Ireland (tune 1820) as this three part jig. Originally composed as a song for the theatre, the melody was popular as a dance tune in England, Ireland, and the Americas.
You can download the sheetmusic here.
A bit of deja vu for the tune name this week! Here's the more common, G major tune know as Touch Me If You Dare. It also appears in O'Neill's Music of Ireland, tune no. 1387.
You can download the sheet music here.
This week's tune of the week comes from another manuscript in the Dunn Family Collection at the Ward Irish Music Archives. The more well-known version of Touch Me If You Dare is in G major; this setting is closer to a simplified version of the Old Torn Petticoat. The manuscript in the Dunn Collection notes the name as Smiling Susan or Touch Me If You Dare, and seems to attribute it to James Early (https://archives.irishfest.com/Dunn-Family-Collection/Manuscripts/Manuscript-03/DunnMS00-003-22.jpg). This manuscript differs slightly from the version in O'Neills Music of Ireland (tune #1388).
You can download a pdf of the sheet music here.
We sourced this tune from a manuscript found in the Dunn Family Collection at the Ward Irish Music Archives! Check out the manuscript here: https://archives.irishfest.com/Dunn-Family-Collection/Manuscripts/Manuscript-01/DUNNMS00-001-16.jpg
Download sheet music for Billy McCormack's Jig