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The Crossing reel

By Tim O’Brien

There are 6 recordings of this tune.

The Crossing has been added to 23 tunebooks.

Download ABC

One setting

1
X: 1
T: The Crossing
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
EG|ABAG E3 G|Acdc ecAG|ABAG ECA,C|D=GED CDE^G|
ABAG E3 G|Acdc ecAc|egab agec|d=ged cA B^G|
A3 B AGEG|Acdc ecAG|ABAG ECA,C|D=GED CA,E^G|
ABAG E3 G|Acdc ecAc|egab agec|d=ged cABc||
BAFG AEGA||F3 G FEFG|AGFB, CA,A,C|DB,ED CB,A,C|DB,FD EAGA|
F3 G FEFG|AGFE CDEC|DB,FD EAGF|EDCB, A,CEA|
F3 G FEFG|AGFE CDEC|DB,ED CB,A,C|DEFD EAGA|
F3 G FEFG|AGFE CDEC|DB,FD EAGF|EDCB, A,C||
# Added .

Five comments

I learned this off American bluegrass player Tim O’Brien’s CD of the same name-cracking tune and the extra bar in the middle really gives it a lift. Sure I’ve heard it played on some other records though- anyone know who wrote it?

Posted .

The Crossing

Tim O’Brien explains he composed this tune on the fiddle while he was touring, just after a night spent on a ferry crossing the stormy sea between Wales and Ireland.
It sounds bluegrass, but I’ve heard it sometimes in Irish sessions.

Good man…..

Now this is more like it. This is a great piece of music which I heard on Radio Scotland’s “Travelling Folk” programme some years ago. It featured Seamus Egan doing some great work on uilleann pipes. I could well see it fitting in in an Irish session, no problem. Tim O’Brien dropped into the Willie Clancy Week a few years back, and had such a great time, he even wrote and recorded a song about it. I think his ancestors were from Co.Cavan.
Thanks for posting this.

Posted by .

Thanks! I’m glad you enjoy it. I think the tune definitely has a lot of Irish in its DNA.

Posted .

Backing the tune on cittern or bouzouki?

Does anyone have any nice backing arrangement written out for this tune?

I think the chords are mostly A, E, and B (in the B section)…

There is a nice Transatlantic session version, I haven’t tried transcribing it though.