The Tenpenny Bit

jig

Key signature: Adorian

Submitted on May 25th 2001 by Jeremy.

This tune has been added to 355 tunebooks.

Also known as Cock O The North, Jan Koop Mij Kermis (Dutch), The Ten Franc Piece, Ten Penney Bit, Ten Penny Bit, The Ten Penny Bit, Tenpenny Bit, Three Little Drummer Boys, The Three Little Drummer Boys, Three Little Drummers, The Three Little Drummers.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• A Flick Of The Wrist by Brendan Larrissey
• A North Country Barn Dance by The Morpeth Ranters
• An Tris Is A Rian by Claire Keville, John Weir And Eithne Ni Dhonaile
• Bad Turns And Horse-Shoe Bends by Harry Bradley
• Banish Misfortune by Malcolm Dalglish And Grey Larsen
• Bosca Bideach by Micheal Darby O Fatharta
• CastleBayMusic.com by Paul MacNeil And Tracey Dares
• Ceilidh by Bun' Ber E
• Celtic Blessings by Celeste Howard
• Champions Of Ireland: Mandolin by Marina Meyler
• Come To Dance: A Celtic Tradition by John Whelan
• Dance Album by The Bushwhackers Band
• Early Recordings Of Irish Traditional Dance Music by John Kimmel
• Flower Of The Red Mill by Sarah Blair
• From Galway To Dublin: Early Recordings Of Traditional Irish Music by Various Artists
• Green Fields by Robin Bullock
• Hidden Fermanagh Vol.2 by Various Artists
• In Season by Wild Asparagus
• Ireland's Best Session Tunes CD 2 by Waltons Recording
• Irish Dance Music by Chris Droney
• Jefferson And Liberty by The Itinerant Band
• Kilkenny Road by Kilkenny Road
• Live At West Mabou Hall by Howie MacDonald, Dave MacIsaac And Mac Morin
• Macalla Na HÓige by Hugh Healy And Colm Healy
• Midsummer's Night by Dervish
• Music At Matt Molloy's by Matt Molloy
• Music From Sliabh Luachra by Denis Murphy
• Music Of Sligo by Peter Horan And Fred Finn
• Paddy On The Railway by Ten Penny Bit
• Ranting And Reeling: Dance Music Of The North Of England by Various Artists
• Rogha Órdha by Various Artists
• Setting Free by Tola Custy And Cyril O'Donoghue
• Sligo Fiddle (Disk 1) by John Vesey
• The Apple In Winter by Brian Conway And Tony DeMarco
• The Fertile Rock by Chris Droney
• The Final Fling Part One by NE66
• The Flowing Tide by Chris Droney
• The Galway Rambler by John G. Walsh
• The Ladies From Hell by The Black Watch
• The Mountain Road by Various Artists
• The Natural Bridge by Ben Lennon And Friends
• The Pure Box by Colin Nea
• The Rough Guide To Irish Music by Various Artists
• The Story So Far by John Creavan
• The Wheels Of The World, Early Irish American Music, Vol 2 by Various Artists
• Traditional Music On The Hammer Dulcimer by John Rea
• Turning by Knot Fibb'n
• Twenty by Boys Of The Lough
• Within A Mile Of Kilty by Various Artists

X: 1
T: Tenpenny Bit, The
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Ador
|:eAA eAA|BAB GBd|eAA eAA|def gfg|
eAA eAA|BAB GAB|def ged|BAG A3:|
eaa aga|bag ged|eaa aga|bag a3|
eaa aga|bag ged|def ged|BAG A3:|

I like to play the opening phrase of this tune with plenty of attack to give it some "bite;". For variation, this phrase can be played with one long E and a short A note instead of EAA.

The second part of the tune has plenty of opportunities for triplets and rolls, the most obvious one being that long G note. When that second part works it sounds delightful. It has a great cascading sound to it.

# Posted on June 2nd 2001 by Jeremy

Here is a variation I learnt at a workshop in Listowel in 2001 under the name Three Little Drummers. This tune is one of the first jigs taught to beginners at the Hibernia Centre in Bristol (UK) because it is technically not too difficult, it is easy to remember, and most important of all it's a good tune.

K:Ador
g|eAA eAA|BAB GBd|eAA eAA|def gfg|
eAA eAA|BAB GBd|ede gdB|BAG A2:|
|:d|eaa eaa|egg egg|eaa eaa|def gfg|
eaa eaa|egg egg|def gdB|BAG A2:||

# Posted on March 17th 2003 by lazyhound

for some reason - maybe I'm leaving some notes out subconciously, or something - this tune always tends to bunch up on me, rythym-wise

# Posted on July 9th 2004 by tualha04

"The Three Little Drummers" - 3 parts:

K: Ador
|:g/f/|eAA eAA|BAB GBd|eAA eAA|def gag|
eAA eAA|BAB GBd|def gdB|BAG A2:|
|:d|eaa eaa|egg egg|eaa eaa|def gag|
eaa eaa|egg egg|def gdB|BAG A2:|
|:d|eaa a^ga|bab ged|eaa a^ga|bab g2 d|
eaa a^ga|bab ged|def gdB|BAA A2:|

This is as picked up in a session in the vicinity of Dublin, but I also have some memory, not always to be trusted, of coming across this as a three-parter in one of the O'Neill collections, none of which I have on hand at this moment, sadly...

# Posted on October 26th 2004 by ceolachan

3 little drummers

this is O'Neills version (No 969)

# Posted on October 26th 2004 by swisspiper

O'Neill's has a nice third part for this tune, I believe.

# Posted on November 16th 2004 by wbajzek

Both this one and Dervish's version (the one in O'Neills) are good tunes. I learnt this from a banjo player in my local session but I'm gonna give the other one a try because I've taken a real shine to it.

# Posted on April 8th 2006 by PaddyCmusic

Closely related tune

Ingonish: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/780

# Posted on April 9th 2006 by slainte

On the fiddle

For the E's in the opening phrase it's fun to double up with the open A string. Gives more power.

# Posted on October 12th 2006 by crazy_fingerz

A New England version

It's interesting that because the tune has no C's (natural or sharp) one cannot say for sure whether it is in Dorian or Mixolydian mode. I should do the necessary research to find out the name of this ambiguous hexatonic scale.

Here's a version that I used to hear (and play) at New England contradances. The last two measures are different, and the B part has the same harmony but is more arpeggiated.

|:e|eAA eAA|BAB GBd|eAA eAA|def gfg|
eAA eAA|BAB GBd|edB gBB|ABA A2:|
B|A2a aga|bge dBG|A2a aga|bge g2d|
e2a aga|bge dBd|edB gBB|ABA A2:|

I really like "biting" the high g with an up-bow in the second-to-last measure.

# Posted on December 22nd 2007 by ACW