The Chicken reel

There are 3 recordings of a tune by this name.

The Chicken has been added to 13 tunebooks.

Download ABC

Four settings

X: 1
T: The Chicken
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
|:FA~A2 BAAG|FAAd (3Bcd AG|FA~A2 BAdB|1 AF~F2 EDCE:|2 AF~F2 EDde||
fd~d2 BdAd|fded (3Bcd Ae|fd~d2 BcdB|AF~F2 EFDe|
fd~d2 BdAd|fded (3Bcd Ae|fd~d2 BcdB|AFEF D2 (3G^GA||
X: 2
T: The Chicken
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
|:~B2BA BAGA|BABc (3BdB Ad|~B2BA BAGB|1 AF~F2 EFDA:|2 AF~F2 EFDe||
X: 3
T: The Chicken
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
||:A,DFB A2FB|A2FD EDB,D|A,DFB A2FB| 1 AFEF D2C,B,:|| 2 AFEF
||:FA (3A^AA BA (3A^AA|FAAd B2AG|FA (3A^AA BAdB| 1 AFDF E2DE:|| 2 AFDF E2De||
||:fd (3dcd BdAd|fded B2Ad|fded BcdB| 1 AFDF E2de:|| 2 AFDF E2 (3DFA||
||:B3^B BA (3FGA|B3^B BAFA|B3^B BcdB| 1 AFDF E2 (3DFA:|| 2 AFDF e2de||
||:faag fede|fded B2Ad|faag fedB| 1 AFDF E2de:|| 2 AFDF E2D2||
||:g/ 3z f3e|dfed (3Bcd ef|g/ 3z fedB|1 AFDF E2 (3DFA:||2 AFDF E2D2||
X: 4
T: The Chicken
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
||:g/z/ (3GBg f3e| |g/z/ (3GBg fedB|

Six comments

De Dannan

Leant this tune by ear from a De Dannan Cd called "how the west was won". It’s the first tune on track 2 on cd 2 I think. Anyone know the name of the reel they play after it. Goes something Like

R:reel
M:C|
L:1/8
K:A
|:~B2BA BAGA|BABc (3BdB Ad|~B2BA BAGB|1 AF~F2 EFDA:|2 AF~F2 EFDe||
fa~a2 fede|~f2ed (3Bcd

Then Miss McClouds in the key of " A" and the the "Chicken reel" with was composed by frankie gavin and alec finn…not the old Chicken reel. Anybody have the cd

Gan Ainm

Hi Paul,
This is called the Chicken Reel composed by Martin O Conor and Frankie Gavin after school one day (cd notes) it is followed by Mrs McCloud’s and then Jimmy Kelly’s Reel.
I will put up the CD’s in the recordings shortly. A fantastic album!

The Chicken Reel

The six-part version of this tune played by De Danann on "Song For Ireland" goes more or less as follows (The sheet music gives parts 2 and 3 of the extended tune):

||:A,DFB A2FB|A2FD EDB,D|A,DFB A2FB| 1 AFEF D2C,B,:|| 2 AFEF
D2DE||

||:FA (3A^AA BA (3A^AA|FAAd B2AG|FA (3A^AA BAdB| 1 AFDF E2DE:|| 2 AFDF E2De||

||:fd (3dcd BdAd|fded B2Ad|fded BcdB| 1 AFDF E2de:|| 2 AFDF E2 (3DFA||

||:B3^B BA (3FGA|B3^B BAFA|B3^B BcdB| 1 AFDF E2 (3DFA:|| 2 AFDF e2de||

||:faag fede|fded B2Ad|faag fedB| 1 AFDF E2de:|| 2 AFDF E2D2||

||:g/ 3z f3e|dfed (3Bcd ef|g/ 3z fedB|1 AFDF E2 (3DFA:||2 AFDF E2D2||

Played fast, it’s a belter of a tune, as on De Danann’s "Song For Ireland".

The bars with rests in them in the sixth part could be snazzed up with an extra ornament, something like:

||:g/z/ (3GBg f3e| |g/z/ (3GBg fedB|

-And I got the numbers and letters of the rests the wrong way round in part 6 - they should read z3, not 3z.

And I meant flat A and B where I’ve indicated sharps - what a carry-on…