The Concertina reel

This tune is very straightforward, easy to learn and a lot of fun to play. The entire tune is in the range of just one octave.

The series of phrases with the long B notes (beginning in the thrird bar) can be spruced up a bit by sliding up to each B from B flat.

In the second part, the only change is the first phrase. Apart from that, all the other bits are "recycled" from the first part. This means that there isn’t all that much for you to remember and you’ll have learned the whole tune in no time.

Just for fun, once you’ve learned the tune, try playing it over and over, speeding it up each time to see how fast you can go. Don’t do it at a session, though!

Been learning this one too…Shannon Heaton (flute) plays it in the third & fourth measures (of both parts) as B CA B CA | B CA BAFG…and the p/u and last measure of each phrase she plays DB | AFEF D. I think she mentioned learning it from a Tulla Ceili Band recording, but I could be wrong.

haha…Brad Maloney and myself often refer to this as the "two-note reel."

Yeah, there isn’t much to it; it’s like a malignant polka that sprouted extra measures. It’s good if your too hammered to pull of a real tune though.

is the high level of this available please

anyone know the name of the reel that comes after this on their album - ‘igcnoc na graí’ ?

Seamus Egan plays this on pipes on his first recording: https://thesession.org/recordings/546 He associates it with Micho Russell.

timmy_ie - go through the "link" to the recording, and look at the comments. All the tunes on the recording have been listed there.

X: 1
T: Concertina, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
|:A2FA BAFA|A2FA BAFA|B2cA B2cA|B2cA BAFA|
A2FA BAFA|A2FA BAFA|FABc d2dB|AFEF D4:|
|:Ad d2 Ad d2|AddA BAFA|B2cA B2cA|B2cA BAFA|
Ad d2 Ad d2|AddA BAFA|FABc d2dB|AFEF D4:|

This is the easiest tune I know of. I’m making good use of it in my semi-fruitful efforts to learn the fiddle.

T:Concertina Reel, The
M:4/4
S:Patrick Street
R:reel
Z:gian marco pietrasanta
K:D
|:A2FA BAFG|A2FA BAFA|B2cA BAcA|BAcA BAFG|
A2FA BAFG|A2FA BAFE|FABc dedB|AFEF D4:|
|:Ad ~d2 Ad ~d2|AddA BAFA|B2cA BAcA|BAcA BAFG|
Ad ~d2 Ad ~d2|Addc d3B|A2FA BcdB|AFEF D4:|

% Output from ABC2Win 2.2 12/01/2009

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

@slainte: here’s a great recording of micho playing it with noel hill, et al. on the pure drop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__4rG5foyGg

play video

Usually played really fast because it makes it sound flawless! 🙂

A2 FA BAFA A2 FA BAFA B2 cA BAcA BAcA BAFA
A2 FA BAFA A2 FA BAFE FABc d2 d2 BAFE F D2 D2

B Addd fddd addd ABAF A B2 cA BAcA BAcA BAFA
Addd fddd addc d2 BAF (3ABc) dd BAFE F D2 D2

Hi folks, I love the catchy tune, it’s a great tune for my fiddle students to learn! Anyone know the chords? they must be simple enough, eh?
thanks for the help. 🙂

There are a few other sources giving chords.

One here:

http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/scottish-guitar-tab/the_concertina_reel.htm

Not necessarily the chords I would choose, but try a few out.

Some Ideas I had about the tune

Just learned this snazzy little tune and got to scratching my head about it’s history. After checking a book or two I found out some info from "The Dance Music of Willie Clancy" by Pat Mitchell (thanks Chris). Willie was born in 1918 and his mother played the tune on, yes, the concertina. In theory, that would put it’s composition to the late 1800s. It does not appear under this name in either of O’Neill’s books.

It’s interesting to note that Willie Clancy played this tune in the key of G, and he learned the tune (as dancarney84 implied above) from his concertina-playing mother Ellen Killeen (Enistymon). His father Gilbert (Islandbawn, near Milton Malbay) also played concertina in addition to his main instrument flute. (All this info from the aforementioned "The Dance Music of Willie Clancy" (Cork 1976).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEGZRwIQH6k

play video

Boston version I suppose? For those playing the B/C box, try using your outside pull E for those d-e-d triplets. Goes well after Father Kelly’s.

"Also known as The Farting Badger" any context for this?

Hi Shane - as far as I know, this title comes from North of Ireland musicians, very likely the Belfast players in the 1970s. I think fiddle player Bernie Stocks was the first person I heard using that alternative title when he was working in Aberdeen. It refers to the repeated "d" triplets in the second part, where if they are "cranned", someone reckoned it sounded like a flatulent badger. How he / she knew what this sounded like in the first place, I have no idea, but that’s your answer.

That’s understandable, thank you Kenny 🙂