Tommy Peoples’ reel

A terrific reel, this version comes from Altan’s Island Angel cd. It kicks off the first track and a rousing set with The Windmill and Fintan McManus’. Play around with those long B notes in the A part—they sound just fine without any ornamentation (making this tune easier for beginners), but you can also toss in rolls (as notated) or triplets. I also play the B part an octave lower for variation, particularly if there’s another fiddler carrying the high end. The only difficult aspect of this tune is keeping straight whether you’re ending on a d or c each time round for each part—take it slow until that fine distinction is rooted in your head, then try to play it as fast as Altan romps on it.

There is a slight variation of this reel called Jenny Nettle’s Fancy,

~B3c dBAF|~B3c dfec|~B3c dcdB|ABde fdec:|
|:dfaf bfaf|dfaf g2fg|afge dcdB|ABde fdec:|

trevor

I’ve also heard this name for this tune.

I’ve been told that Tommy Peoples did not actually compose this tune, even though it’s named for him.

Cole (p. 50, 1st tune) printed a variation of the tune under the title Jenny Nettle’s Fancy:

|:BAAB dAFA|BAAB defd|BAAB dAFA|defd e2d2:|
dfaf bfaf|dfaf g2fe|dfaf bfaf|defd e2d2|
dfaf bfaf|dfaf g2fg|afef dBAB|fafd e2d2||

Fantastic video of Tiarnan Ó Duinnchinn playing this tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8blbyNHgpO8&playnext_from=TL&videos=1kzd_SfIPXA

play video

It starts at 02:55

On their debut album the group Raise the Rafters (Kevin Crawford, PJ King, Martin O’Malley) play this tune and call it "The Merry Bachelor".

X:955
T:The Merry Bachelor
T:Tommy Peoples’
S:CD, Raise the Rafters
Z:Nigel Gatherer
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:Bm
B3 c dBAF | B3 c dfed | B3 c d3 B| ABde fded |
B3 c dBAF | BABc dfed | BA A/A/A d2 Bd | ABde fded ||
dfaf bfaf | dfaf (3ggg fg | afef d2 Bd | ABde fdec |
dfaf bfaf | dfaf (3ggg fg | afef dFBF | ABde fded ||

at 2’10" https://youtu.be/VgiA71_WaR0?t=130

play video