Irish Flute Tunes

Here's a reel called Eileen Curran. I think I'd rather call these "people reels" -  "Eileen Curran's Reel" and so on. The personification of tunes always made me feel a bit uneasy for some reason. Anyway, the good news is that there ate no G sharps in this tune. Shame about the high C naturals. (I half cover them here.)

Here's a version of the Beare Island Reel with no G sharps.  I lay no claims to it being any good.  It's just an idea to be playing with.

Here's a good tune for flute players.  It's also very popular in sessions (as far as I remember).

Here's a melodic jig which is I don't hear played all that much (I wonder if that could be because I almost never go to sessions these days).  I think it deserves a bit of an airing from time to time.

Here's a very popular reel which isn't too cruel to flute players.  I'm sorry if I've been cruel to it. If anyone has any requests (maybe even to stop) please get in touch iflute@googlemail.com.  I appreciate any feedback.  I've put my shoes back on for this tune as I know the tapping was of use to at least one person.  I'm sorry for not having had it in the last few sets. I'll make sure I'm shod...

The first tune is a reliable old standard. The second one is sometimes played a key below the present one but is handier on the flute in A minor. You can get the dogs to yelp a bit louder in the higher key. * Thanks to William for pointing out that the first tune is not The Reel of Mullinavat. I think it is Gerry Commane's Reel. I'll put the tune which belongs to the "Reel of Mullinavat" on when I...

Here's a great tune for the flute.  It's melodic, easy to play, easy to remember and other people know it (and it's in 'G', which always helps).

Here's a 3 part E minor reel which is popular in sessions.

Here's a very popular reel.  Sorry about the abrupt ending.  I just remembered I was supposed to be doing something else and ...

More Geese

Here are 2 reels. The first one is very common and I used to hear the second one a lot but haven't heard it for years.  I'm not sure why it cropped up in my mind.  I've played G sharps in the first part but F sharps would do fine.  They might even sound better.

While I'm on an ornithological theme I might as well play this tune. It has high C naturals in the second part. They're probably easiest to get here by half covering the top finger hole. (16th May 2012 - the original cuckoo seems to have flown off so I've recorded another one).

Here's a piping jig which suite the flute OK.  I don't know much about it but I always liked its name.

Here's "The Bucks of Oranmore" again. This time it's played at a slightly more aggressive rate.

Here's a standard reel of any instrument.  It goes well on the flute.  I've played it as a fairly gentle pace here.  Hopefull this should make it easier to pick up.

Here's a reel named after a goat.  I suppose it's as good a think as any to name a reel after.  It's a popular tune and nice to play on the flute.  There are plenty of recordings of this.  As far as I remember Frankie Gavin has it on his flute record "Up and away" / "Croch Suas é".  The same goat is also to be found in lots of other places too.  It might even be a "Coat" in some of them.

Hello, I'm not sure where I picked this tune up but I recently noticed that a version very like this one os in Ceol Rince na hÉireann Vol2,  number 313.  It's attributed to a musician called Alex Kerr.

Here's a very popular reel. (PS.  I don't know much about the internet.  Does having so many tunes on one page make it very slow to load if you don't have broadband?  I could change the settings to only have 50 tunes per page if that would help.)

Here's a well known 3 part reel which works well on the flute.  I think I only played the bits once each first time round when I was playing it slowly.  It should be more or less OK after that.

Here's a very common jig.  I think it was made popular by being on a Planxty record at some stage.

Here's a reel which John Doherty from Donegal used to play on the fiddle. As with the previous tune, it has been lying about on the server for a while. I can't remember why I didn't post it. I'll listen to it when I get home and replace it if it sounds too dodgy. (I've just listened to this one too and know why I didn't put it on before.  Bad and all as it sounds, you should still be able to learn...

Here's a fairly straightforward reel. I think it comes from Fermanagh. I recorded it a while ago and can't really listen to it from where I am now. I'll give it a listen when I get home and if it sounds too embarrassing then I'll replace it. (I've now listened back to this.  It sounds pretty bad.  I played it on a flute that had fairly horrible things lurking in its foot joint.  The tune's still O...

Here's the third tune of "The Tarbolton Set".  As I said, hunt around for other recordings of these tunes as well. I'd imagine there are lots of them, all based on Michael Coleman's effort.  It's always good to hear more than one version of a tune or tunes.

Here's reel 2 of the 3.  I think the title refers to a rent / tax collector from Longford rather than someone who hoards Irish midland counties.

Here's a good reel for the flute. Playing it without playing "The Longford Collector" and "The Sailor's Bonnet" is a bit like putting a fruit pastille in your mouth without chewing it, so I've recorded the other 2 reels as well. (Hope the fruit pastille reference isn't too parochial). This tune, plus the next two, were immortalised (were they ever alive in the first place?) by a recording of Micha...