The Star Of Munster reel

A lovely reel, this. I’ve shown it here with a little variation on how you might play that opening phrase.

The second part can be varied by lengthening those A and G notes, e.g. turning gfg into one long g.

Yes, a really pretty tune, with a lovely minor sound to it, reminds me of Greensleeves (for no special reason). I just discovered this not long ago in John Walsh’s "Session Tunes" collection (it’s written slightly different there).

I love to give just the slightest little bit of vibrato on the first c note, then doing a triplet (abc) instead of the Ac that follows. Because of the way you have to cross-finger the c on the flute, this sounds nice (imho).

Oops, i meant ABc, not abc (but you already knew that).

What a great suggestion glauber!!

An alternative melody, key and ornamental version of the star of munster, which is similar to this Ador version, is in G minor, taught to me by a great Scottish fiddler, Mike Ward (formerly of the Tannahill Weevers and Alba), in his Dundee ‘Vintage Strings’ shop. He thinks he learnt the tune from the Glasgow session scene many years ago.

I recently discovered that his version is almost identical to Kevin Burke’s on ‘If the Cap Fits’. I’m unsure of the origin of this tune, but it may be a Tommy Potts rejig (?), which might explain why, when played in sessions, it can be almost unrecognisable from the original.

Here’s the ABC:

K:Gmin
|:GA|((3Bcd B)G ((3ABc A)F|GFDG FDCF|(3DD(G {A}GF G)ABc|(3ddd {e}dd cAFA|
BG[BG]G [A3F3] G|D ~G3 FD[DC]F|(3DD(G {A}GF G)ABc|1((3dcB (3cBA B) ~G2 A:|2(3dd(B {d}BA) ~G3 =B:|
dgg^f gd (3ddd|gdad gdd(=e|=f2) =eg f ~c3|fgag fdcA|
dgg^f gd (3ddd|gdad gdd=e|({=fg}f=e fa) (f ~g3)|ga{b}ag fdcA:|

Mike Ward has since told me he remembers he actually learnt it directly off Kevin Burke while on tour with him all those years ago!

can anyone recommend a tune to go before the start of Munster? I ve tried the recordings of other groups but I’d like someones elses ideas or preferences. I play the tune on a banjo in A minor. Hoping someone can give me a bit of inspriation.

Try Ships are Sailing.

I do Star of Munster then Hunter’s Purse, but try Hunter’s Purse THEN Star of Munster =]

Cheers,
Armand

We play it in a set consisting of
Jackie Coleman’s/Bag of Spuds/Knotted Cord/Star of Munster

A really fun set. 🙂

For me, Starving Monster is one of those useful tunes (like The Congress) that you can fall back on when you’re stumped for a tune and need one that everyone knows and that you can end the set on a high note with.

Rakish Paddy before the Starving Monster *LOL Zina* makes for a seamless change.

We usually do Mason’s Apron before Star of Munster.

We usually do Father’s Kelly Reel before Star of Munster. Works well.

T:The Star of Munster
M:4/4
L:1/8
S:Mike & Mary rafferty . thge old fireside music
R:reel
Z:gian marco pietrasanta
K:ADor
AB|c3A BAGE|A2BA GEDG|EAAB c2B/c/d|eaae gedB|
c3A BAGE|A2BA GEDG|EAAB c2B/c/d|egdB A2AB||
c3A BAGE|A2BA GEDG|EAAB c2B/c/d|eaae gedB|
cA~A2 BG~G2|AE~E2 GEDG|EAAB c2B/c/d|egdB A2Bd||:
eaab agea|~a2ba gede|~g3a gede|geae gedg|
eaab agea|~a2ba gede|~g3e ~a3g|1abba gedg:|~b3a gedB||

T:The Star of Munster
M:4/4
L:1/8
S:Tommy Peoples - trad. irish music played on thr fiddle
R:reel
Z:gian marco pietrasanta
K:ADor
~c3A BAGB|AdBA GEDG|EA~A2 cBcd|eaae gedB|
~c3A BAGB|AdBA GEDG|EA~A2 cBcd|eddB A3B:|:
ea~a2 ageg|a2ba agef|g2fa gd~d2|gaba gedg|
ea~a2 ageg|a2ba agef|~g3e a2ga|1bgaf gedg:|2bgaf gedg|

liam and anthony bradley play belgian reel before this one.. comes out pretty cool

We (my band) play "Temperance Reel" (aka "Teetotaller") (G/e), then "Silver Spear" (D) and finally "Star of Munster)!
Great change of chords from A to a! Sounds awesome!

I’ve been playing a set of "Hand Me Down the Tackling / Matt People’s / Star of Munster" works nicely.

At the moment, you can listen to Gerry O’Connor’s tasteful rendition of this well-known reel on his MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/gerryfiddleoconnor

found this lovely version in G major on youtube, anybody can post abc’s to it? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGxqLjic0p4

play video

I’ve a recording of two violins using this as a duet - they turn it into more of an air and it turns out really nice. Do people use it generally as more of an actual full-speed reel?

I found a jig version of "The star of Munster" in "The best of Irish jigs and reels, vol.1" by Various Artists, track 5, tune 2. It’s played by Stockton’s Wing and they title all the set of 4 jigs as "Lasagne".

X:1
T:The star of Munster
M:6/8
L:1/8
R:jig
K:Am
cBA c/B/AG|AEF GED|EAA ABd|eaa ged|
cBA c/B/AG|AEF GED|EAA ABd|edB AAA:|
eaa age|a/a/aa age|g/g/gg ged|bag a/g/ed|
eaa age|a/a/aa age|g/g/gg g/a/aa|aba ged|
eaa aee|c’ba aee|g/g/gg ged|bag {a}ged|
eaa aee|c’ba aee|g/g/gg g/a/aa|aba ged||

What key is it in on "if the cap fits"?
everywhere i look its different…

G minor, as I recall.

you may use this transposer to get that Gm version, steve…r:
Transpose: http://www.8ung.at/abctransposer/

X:2
T:The Star of Munster
Z:Edgar Bolton
R:Reel
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:ADor
ed |: c2 Ac B2 GB | AGEF GEDD | EAAB cBcd |eaaf gedB |
cBAc BAGB | AGEF GEDG | EAAB cded |1 cABG A2 ed :|2 cABG A2 Bd ||
|: eaab ageg | agbg agef | [g2B2] ga gedg |geaf gedg |
eaab ageg | agbg agef | [g2B2] gg [a2A2] aa | b3 a gedB :|

As a jig:

X: 1
T: Star Of Munster, The
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Ador
|:~c3 BAG|AGE GED|EAA ABd|eaa ged|
c3 BAG|AGE GED|EAA cde|1dcA A3:|2 dcA Acd|
|:eaa bag|aba age|deg ~g3|gaa age|
eaa bag|aba age|deg age|1dBG Acd:|2dBG A3|]

Here it is as a jig. I heard it in Geantrai the other night.

And in Ddor, how I’ve played it as a jig for the last few months.

X:1
T:Star Of Munster, The
M:6/8
L:1/8
R:jig
K:Ddor
|:~F3 EDC|DCA, CA,G,|A,DD DEG|Add cAG|
F3 EDC|DCA, CA,G,|A,DD FGA|1GFD D3:|2 GFD DFG|
|:Add edc|ded dcA|GAc ~c3|cdd dcA|
Add edc|ded dcA|GAc dcA|1GEC DFG:|2GEC D3|]

This is probably a duplication tbh, I might have made a mistake in submitting it.
# Posted on March 29th 2012 by SmashTheWindows

https://thesession.org/tunes/11867
for the dots of the jig submitted by SmashTheWindows

is taken from O’Neill’s 1850. I’ve added this setting because of the interesting fluctuation between F sharp and F natural… apart from that it’s quite similar to Jeremy’s original setting though.

Strong influence of the melodic minor scale in this. Quite enjoyable!

It seems reasonable to suppose that they just didn’t know how to transcribe certain modes and tried to force everything into the classical major or minor (with heavy use of accidentals). Sometimes this results in rather weird settings, like Old Man Dillon’s in A major (!)… but as in this case, sometimes the result is quite nice. 🙂

From an old 78 of Hughie Gillespie, which may be heard on the recording Milestone at the Garden. Gillespie was Michael Coleman’s student and this of course is the setting Kevin Burke plays which was submitted here by Jamie years ago. Coleman’s playing sounds closer to G minor than Hughie’s, but this may be due to the lower fidelity recording (made in the purely acoustic era, before electric microphones were introduced in the mid 1920s) and the piano player behind him definitely playing minor chords. While the tenor guitar behind Gillespie plays major chords Hughie still slid into the B and F notes at every turn, creating a mournful and bluesy sort of sound.

From an old 78 of Sligo fiddler Paddy Killoran. Contrast this with Hughie Gillespie’s setting at X:10. Michael Coleman’s sat somewhat between these two. Michael Gorman, another Sligo fiddler, recorded it, first in A and then in G; students of yet another Sligo man, James Morrison, recorded it in A in the 50s. This G setting seems largely forgotten today.

Here are chords for The Star Of Munster.

Bobby Casey version.

Sean Ryan version

I was going through Sean Ryan’s CD that is a solo recording done mostly from his kitchen and came upon a version of Star of Munster. This lead me to Tommy Pott’s and Bobby Casey’s version. I think all three are more interesting than the standardized version I’ve heard at sessions and have grown a little tired of. The first couple of bars of the Tommy Potts is amazing once you get used to the strange harmony.