YOUR favorite tune sets

Greetings Sessioneers-

Taking your recent advice to heart, I’ve come over to the “the genesis of great tunes sets are fun sessions” way of thinking. So last night, these new sets materialized at our session, which have become my favorite tune sets of the day:

Hare’s Paw/Crooked Rd to Dublin/Dublin Porter
Tobin’s Fancy/Leitrim Fancy/Jimmy Ward’s

So, what are your current favorite tune sets?

BTW,I understand this topic comes up frequently on this site. I assume that, like me, your tastes and sets change over time and I’m wondering what y’all are particularly enjoying playing today…

https://thesession.org/index.php/search?q=%22tune+sets%22&start=0&scope=The+Session

I don’t like to get too stuck on a set but I do like

Faroe Rum/Aandowin at da Bow/Forfeit o da Ship

as done by Tom Anderson, Aly Bain and especially Willie Hunter

Fermoy Lasses / Dunmore Lasses / Limerick Lasses

What’s that Jusa Nutter, the “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” set?

My little brother calls it the Wilt Chamberlin set (American Basketball legend who claims to have slept with 20,000 women)
Apparently ol’ Wilt has Dunmore lasses than anybody…

(rim-shot) 😉

The past two days i learned The Further the Deeper / I Was Born For Sport off Harry Bradley and Paul ’O Shaughnessy cd … Born for Sport, canny get them out ma heid and don’t want to.

When able, I’ve recently been trying out:
Whistling Postman
Boy on the Hill
Salamanca Sister

--all of them quite tricky. I’d recommend them (I am!)

Wilt obviously didn’t ! The cock of the north, as I was myself….. once!

Recently played The Curlew, Mason’s Apron, and Maid of the House (in G) as a set, and liked it, because all three tunes have a rising theme to high notes to begin, among other similarities. So it’s a nice consistent theme throughout, although all three tunes are very different.

But if you get too stuck on playing the same sets, you’re holding yourself back. As llig told me once, relax and let the tunes bubble to the surface. That way you get both variety, and some surprisingly wonderful sets.

(The problem for a lot of people is that often what bubbles to the surface when you’re playing a tune is something very similar, or in the same key. Which makes for some surprisingly boring sets!)

Whew. Oh man, it hurts. That’s painfully funny, Wilt.

Sometimes we play The Gander in the Praetie Hole with My Darling’s a Sheep (My Darling Asleep). Not sure what it means but we get a wicked chuckle out of it.

Reverend - I agree the spontaneous sets can often be the best. However, for somebody like me with only maybe 220 tunes to draw from, fluidity and spontaneity rarely cooperate. I find I need to have a few sets pre-planned in order to hit the transitions smoothly. I hope someday to be able to allow tunes to percolate to the top of my consciousness while playing at speed as Llig suggests, but I’m just not there yet.

Well, Eejit, you and I are in the same ballpark (little league) when it comes to tunes we play. But the problem is that to be able to allow the spontaneity to take over, you have to actually DO it. So if you’re waiting for it to happen on its own, while you’re happily playing all your tunes in pre-determined sets, it will never happen! It is really good for my playing to work on starting tunes on the fly, and if I don’t hit the transitions smoothly, so what?

We sometimes do what we call “schlock ’til you drop” sets at the end of the night. Usually reels. Always common tunes. And totally free form. You get in a groove, and then people just start calling out tunes to play next. It’s great practice for being able to start things spontaneously. And if you’re doing it in a group setting, where pretty much everybody knows the tunes, you can stop at the transitions and wait to pick the tune up from everybody else playing it. Our STYD set got a little out of control on Sunday, and ran for almost 50 minutes! (Which makes for good crack, but not necessarily great music, because about 20 minutes into it, people start to get tired, and things like ornaments start to go out the window)

Ya - I think we’re on the same page Rev - we do the “play continuously” sets too, going on and on for up to 30 minutes with various players talking the lead. It is indeed conducive to forcing yourself to pull tunes out of the air - and you have to listen and keep your head up to stay linked with those around you. I think I am only referring to sets that I start and carry through until their typical “3 and out” conclusion. I like to keep a sharp and familiar arsenal of sets at my ready disposal for those situations.

This week I am also fond of Langstrom Pony / Mooncoin Jig,
and Bank of Ireland / Bag of Spuds / Star of Munster

Our jam session has two favorite sets to warm up with: Jer The Rigger/John Ryan/Dennis Murphy and Over t

(Ha. Hitting Enter instead of Shift isn’t terribly bright.) Our second warm-up set is Over The Waterfall/March of Saint Timothy. We have all skill levels in the group and these two sets make it easy for everyone to get going.

The Sailor on the Rock / The Hare’s Paw / Master Crowely’s

My fav - set are these, use to be played in Belfast session’s
all the Time.. jim,,,,
X:1
T:The Piper on Horseback
R:Reel
Z:Bernie Stocks
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:D
+AE++A2F2+dcAAB| cAdB cAGE |+AE++A2F2+dcAAB| BAGE EDCE :|
defg afdf | efed cAEA | defg afdB |(3.A.A.AGEEDDA|
defg g-aaf | efedcA+AE+e| azag efed | cAGE EDCE ||

X:2
T:Scartaglen Reel, The
R:reel
M:C|
K:Dmix
DFEF D2dB|c2cG EFGE|DFEF D2AB|cAGE ED~D2|
DFEF D2dB|cAAG EFGE|Add^c dfed|=cAGE ED~D2:|
|:
~f3e fage|f2df ageg|~f3e fage|fde^c Adde|
~f3e fage|f2df ageg|fage dfed|cAAG EFGE:|

Oh, Love that scartaglen reel! Thanks for the reminder, haven’t heard it in years.

I generate my sets using a computer program.

Green Mountain/John Stenson’s No 2

“I generate sets using a computer program”

’sfunny - I knew who had posted that even before I looked …

SWFL Fiddler
‘’The Gander in the Praetie Hole‘’
I was told That Praetie was another name for Spuds-
{Potatoes},,By our Banjo player who taught me th tune,,
jim,,

What’s my favourite set?

When I hear that question, I don’t think of tunes that go well together. When I’m contentedly diddling away down the boozer I’ll think of tunes that go well together … tunes that will be fun to play together. I tend to think of this differently to what “sets” are.

I think of sets as performance things. Sets are crafted works of art, they are arrangements. Nothing wrong with that, I love it. The best set ever is without a doubt the jig and five reels thing from Out of The Wind Into the Sun.

You can still play sets down the boozer if you want, but instead of playing them as performance pieces, try and treat them exactly as you would a “composed” tune that has worked it’s way into the tradition. Though as with any single tune, your traditional set can get jaded through over use … think of the classic Tarbolton, The Longford Collector, The Sailor’s Bonnet. It always will be a classic, but don’t over do it.

The fantastic jig and five reels thing from the Bothy Band is assimilated into the tradition as an entity in itself. It really is an astonishingly clever concoction, I love it to bits (Played it the other night actually, haven’t played it for a year or so, thoroughly enjoyed it. We had such fun with the tight unison of the jig and first two reels, then everyone exploding into any harmony you can come up with on the fly for the third reel. And back to tight unison for the last two single reels. Great)

Thanks Jim! I meant more of in context with the other tune, sorry for the bad syntax. Americans for sure always go “WHAT?!?” when they hear the name of that one so I’m used to explaining. Ma used to play an ol’ Jim McCann album with a song medley he did on it: “The Praeties They Grow Small/Skibberreen”

My da used to play me one that went something like:
“He met her in the garden where the praeties grow.”

That’s much cheerier than my source, llig!

…or actually, he probably lost her in some horribly, tragic way, right?

Ouch…

"Have you ever been in love, me boys?
Oh! have you felt the pain?
I’d rather be in jail, me boys,
Than be in love again."

The Garden Where the Praeties Grow:

http://ingeb.org/songs/haveyoue.html

“The Garden WhereThe Praties Grow” is a Count John McCormack classic. My God, tears are running down me bloody cheeks as I think of it…

She was just the kind of creature, boys, that nature did intend…

Here’s a link to Johnny Patterson - who wrote “The Garden Where the Praties Grow” Very interesting life story.

http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/johnny_patterson.htm

“And a boy the image o’ me”…just listen to John McCormack sing that line with just a hint of a chuckle - priceless.

Jack Riordan’s/McGreevy’s (I think it is Johnny McGreevy’s)

First tune is one of Brendan Mulvihill’s own
Second written by Chicago box player

fabulous set for dancers -- can be heard on Kennedy Center Millenium Site and I will add a link for that later.

Linda

Jack Riordan’s by Brendan Mulvihill/Johnny McGreevy’s by the Chicago box player J McG
SEE link below

GO TO THE DECEMBER 2003 PERFORMANCE on the page that comes up. This is the first set of tunes, and dancing by the Culkin dancers to second tune.

To get REAL TIME window, right click on your mouse and click on the menu that comes up -- Real Time Player.

Happy Listening.
Linda

http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=MULVIHILLB#

" and it’s goodbye Mursheen Durkin,
I’m sick and tired of working
I’ll no more dig the praties, I’ll no more be a fool
As sure’s me name is Carney
I’m bound for Californey
Instead of digging praties, I’ll be diggin lumps of gold."

Kesh jig in G followed by the Kesh jig in A (gradually picking up speed until terminal velocity is exceeded)

This is one of the set’s I’ve played about 25 Years, and I love it still-

Tom Billy’s (jig) / Sean Ryans (jig) / Flowers of Redhill (reel) / High Reel

My brother and I have one we like to do where we start out with Gan Ainm in…Dm I think, then to Tam Lynn’s in Dm, then Tam Lynn’s in Am (up a fifth), after that, it goes to Cooley’s (in the usual key, it’s modal, and I can’t remember it 🙂 ) and ends with that one. We have a lot of fun with it, and it usually gets faster as it goes along… :D

Kesh in G then Kesh in A?
Tam Lin in Dm then Tam Lin in Am (up a 5th)?

There was a thread about this kind of thing a while back 🙂

(I’m hoping these were jokes)

Nothing beats The Foxhuter and The Bucks of Oranmore as a set. Its mighty.

benhall:
“I generate sets using a computer program”
’sfunny - I knew who had posted that even before I looked …

Oh, I’m disappointed. I come back here after a few days and nobody took me seriously or wanted to tell me how poor my appreciation of the tradition is!