The Old Bush reel

Source: Willy Clancy
Transcription: G.M.P.

I love this tune!

Me too. Sounds lovely and dark on the flute.

A real classic - surprised it hasn’t been posted before. A great favourite with pipers.

Kenny has it right. Its a classic.

The Old Copperplate and The Old Bush are two different tunes, both great reels

Hi all
I’m looking for backing chords for “the old bush”.

This tune goes between A mixolydian and A Dorian - the D is just the first note.

This title was given to the tune on a recording by Michael Coleman and Galway flute player Tom Morrison.

Nice tune. Below is a version quite similar to Martin Hayes’ open and spacious treatment on “The Lonesome Touch”.
X:1
T:The Old Bush [1]
T:The Long Hills of Mourne
N:printed settings include CRE I 105, O’Neill’s DMI 781
N:(“Captain Rock”) and Petrie’s “Complete Collection” no. 907
R: reel
M:4/4
Z:Transcribed by Paul de Grae
L:1/8
K:Dmix
A2 GA cA ~A2 | d^cde fdec | A2 GA cAGA | dfef cAdc |
A2 GA cAGB | Add^c defg | (3agf (3gfe fde^c | dfed cA A2 ||
eg ~g2 edcd | efge ~c3 d | eg ~g2 afge | dfed cA A2 |
eg ~g2 ag ~g2 | fgfe defg | (3agf (3gfe fde^c | dfed cA A2 ||

Watch M. Hayes play the tune with D. Cahill on the guitar: http://www.custysmusic.com/mall/CustysTraditionalMusicShop/martin_hayes_and_dennis_cahill.htm

when not paying attention (you know, someone throws it into a set in the middle of session and when the set is done you ask, “what was that third tune you played?” “Oh yeah, the Old Bush”), I tend to want to back this tune playing A modal or minor chords in the A part and E chords on the B part. But Ged Foley and Dennis Cahill (appears that is what Dennis is playing in slainte’s link above) both taught it to me playing D modal chords in the A part and A chords in the B part. it just seems one of those tunes that defies specific chordal logic - and is all the btter for it IMHO.

I too tend to hear the A part in A modal, going to a D major chord. As for the B, I start on a C major and move up to D major (it looks like Cahill is doing something similar in the video, I think--it looks like he moves up to a D shape on the 10th fret as the second chord in the B section).

The first two measures of the B spell out a C major chord all over the place. Just another example where conventional progressions don’t fit some of these tunes (whether those are harmonic or modal progressions).

On their album *Soulstice*, Todd Denman and Aniar play “The Old Bush” in Dmajor under the name “The New Bush.”

The C natural that comes out in the second part is so expressive. Love it every time.

what chords i have to play with my guitar?

In response to a request in discussions, here are some chords for this tune: For the version seen in the sheetmusic:

|:Am - - - | D - - - |Am - - - | D - - - |
Am - - - | D - - - | D - - - | D - Am - :|
|:C - - - |C - - - |C - Am - |D - Am - |
C - - - |A(m) - D - |D - - -|D - Am - :|

N.B. A(m) indicates that either a major or minor chord can be used, according to taste.

For the alternate setting posted by Drone above, the last line needs to be altered thus:
C - - - |D - - - |D - - -|D - Am - :|

For an alternative accompaniment to the A part, you can stay on a D5 (D, but omitting the 3rd) chord throughout.

On the descending ‘staircase’ run in the penultimate bars of the A and B parts, you could elaborate, thus:

D G D A |
or
D A D G |
or
D Em D/F#2 - |

As for the alternative A-part accompaniment, the final bar of the B-part could use D5 throughout.

These are just a few out of many possibilities. Perhaps others will offer their chord choices.

Taken from
https://thesession.org/discussions/22738
here are Tony O’Rourkes chords. They show perhaps less of the ear-twisting influence of classical, jazz, pop and funky modern trad backers than my convoluted effort above:


"I’m using zookman’s computer but it’s Tony O’Rourke here. I often play a D without the F or F# in it and refer to the chord as D Undefined.
My chords for Old Bush are something like this:

D C/ D / D C / D C / D C / D / D /D C //(1ST PART)
C / C G/ C /C Am/C /D /D /D C//(2ND PART)
I learnt the tune from a recording by banjo player Liam Farrell in a band called Le Cheile, with Raymond Roland on accordeon.
Regards
Tony O’Rourke"

The second tune here by Noel Carbery, Jimmy Flanagan, J McGrath.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpKX_SNevKM

play video

Third tune http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dH9832d7Rg

play video

(Sorry all for the recent Cormac binge…)

Tommy Potts playing on The Liffey Banks album is very expressive. In Breathnach it is shown as collected from his father piper Sean Potts. Called the Long Hills of Mourne. Great tune. I seem to remember the tune is like a song tune , possible the Hll of the Hawthorns in Irish

First tune: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS2H8HHM8HE

play video

Love this version of The Old Bush by Jarlath Henderson. This is pretty close to what Jarlath is doing.

What are the two tunes after it on The album?

Here’s Chris McMullan playing this tune on the pipes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SctI1v5NMVQ

play video

for me the best of these guitar vids of the Old Bush is the one where Arty McGlynn is picking
the melody -listen to John Doyle’s version of the tune with McCusker and McGoldrick, not sure if its on YouTube but well worth looking for

This tune appears under the heading ‘Captain Rock’ in O’Neill’s (No.781).
I was intrigued by the name (which sounds so appropriate for this tune!) but
never looked it up.
As it turned out, years later, the name turned up again, both in relation to the Irish National Museum collections and a history book published on the subject of the 1820’s rebellions and this Robin Hood of the Romantic era; Captain Rock!
Read for yourself;
https://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/captain-rock-the-irish-agrarian-rebellion-of-1821-1824-james-s-donnelly-jr-the-collins-press-19-96-isbn-9781848890107/

Bizarrely, if you enter ‘Captain Rock’ in the tunes search box on this website nothing comes up. And yet the name appears both as an alternative title to The reels The Old Bush & The humours of Ballyconell (An Captaen Roc)
https://thesession.org/tunes/1428

A contextual account of the publication of Moore’s Captain Rockin 1824;

https://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/memoirs-of-captain-rock/

《“Captain Rock” was originally a nickname given to one Paddy Dillane of Shanagolden,
Limerick, who with thrown rocks drove off labourers come to work on behalf of Alexander
Hoskins, a particularly cruel agent of the landlord William Courtenay (himself almost a
parody, it seems, of a feckless absentee landlord). Dillane was later behind the fatal shooting
of the agent’s son.
In the disturbed times, “Captain Rock” soon began appearing on threatening notices to
landlords, agents and others all across the south of Ireland. The Rockites wanted rents,
tithes and taxes down and no evictions.》
Quoted from;
https://www.theirishstory.com/2010/12/23/book-review-captain-rock-the-irish-agrarian-
rebellion-of-1821-1824/#.X0ASf8vjLqA

In Amix, nice for practising the middle hole for the G# in the tin whistle. For the ornamentation I added a few triplets and rolls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LMVjblp0DE

play video

This is a setting I got off a recording of boxplayer Eamon Flynn from Mountcollins, Co. Limerick. Eamon was recorded some time in the ’50s to my knowledge. Here’s hope I remembered it right -- haven’t listened to the source recording in ages. You can pick the key on this one. I enjoy playing it.

For the B/C box players out there, Eamon really leans into the B “grace note” as he transitions to the C natural to accentuate that the key has shifted in the second part of the tune. I find it particularly fun myself. Try using the push B on the outside row for added effect.

mighty tune!

As played by Liam Farrel on the album “Lord Mayo” by Le Cheile