Seanamhac Tube Station jig

I learned this tune from a county Sligo fiddler, named Phillip Cullen. He told me that he learned it from the composer, back in Sligo.
The tune is unique in that it takes only 2 fingers to play it. It uses a gapped scale (pentatonic) which makes it difficult to determine the precise tonality of the tune. Is it G-major, G-Dorian, or G-Aeolian? Impossible to tell with only five notes of the scale used in the tune. It definitely sounds modal to me.

The title, as given here is incomplete. The tune was named after a small village, with an Irish name, which I have yet to learn to spell. The reference to the tube station in the title is a little of the composer’s humour, due to the fact that such a small village would not have a subway station.

Cool tune! Hmm, since it’s based on the F Major pentatonic scale, which is basically in C Major, but it starts on G, it could theoretically be - G-Lydian? Then again, being based on F Major would make it G-Dorian, which is much more commonly used. Too much theory for me!

Are there really tube stations in Irish villages?

It sounds more like D-Dorian or D-Mixolydian to me, although the G at the end of each part makes it questionable.
What the heck? - It’s a good tune.

I do beg your pardon. It couldn’t possibly be D-Mixolydian, as it has a C-natural (DMix would have a C#). Incidentally, JEFFK627, for the very same reason it couldn’t be G-Lydian.

I could go on - but I won’t.

Phillip, the fiddler who showed the tune to me, said that there aren’t any subways in all of Ireland, but I am not sure if was teasing me, or simply sharing a fact. The title is just a little tongue-in- cheek humour.

Irish Tunes.net has the name of the village as Seanamhac and the composer a chap called John Carty.
You can find pots of gold and little people wearing funny hats at almost any subway station in Ireland-I thought everyone knew that!
I can tell you that there are n’t any trains in Donegal though.There used to be.But not anymore.
Dave

This tune, and many other great ones, can be found on John Carty’s CD "Yeah! That’s All It Is."

David, you’re absolutely right - G-lydian WOULD have a F#. Personally, I think it’s either G-dorian or Q-latvian. :-P

i think it’s just pentatonic

Yes, that is the title…. thanks, Violadave!! How did you find it?

It is funny how a few pints can scramble things. This tune was passed to me in a pub. I wrote Zina and told her the village name was pronounced something like "Nack-a-Wash.
A few days later, I saw Phillip again, and came out with Shon-a-Wok. He couldn’t spell the name for me, so I consulted maps on the web, but couldn’t find anything that might be pronounced anything like the scrambled phonetics rolling around in my noggin. Thanks for completing the title, and finding the composer. Although, I had the title scrambled, the tune itself isn’t.

It’s all the fault of the ancient Celts. They used to go out on raids to steal all the consonants from their neighbors. That’s why "Siobhan" is pronounced "Bill". The Hawaiians did the same thing, except they stole vowels.

This tune is on Cathal Hayden’s self intitled cd and he acredits it to John Carty.

David, just came across your comments here. You could always ask Bart Carty at the White Lion in Streatham - he’s John’s uncle!

Con

I have heard this tune played by a good few people but Cathal Hayden playing it on the banjo is by far the best. What a great tune.

David, whaddya mean D mixolydian has a C#??? :-)

Never mind the chords, bars 13 and 14 are missing their conjoining barline. (posh word)

Allan Henderson plays this really well on the blazin fiddles magnificant seven album, really sound arrangement but i think he plays a different version?

Celtic1234, I’m sure Cathal Hayden plays it magnificently, but there is nothing like hearing it straight from the composer, of which I have had the pleasure, I think, on three occasions and each time: wonderful.

You can listen to the composer play this tune: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/thelatesession/rams/26december.ram (starts around 26:50)
From The Late Session programme listings 2004: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/thelatesession/1014033.html

Anyone have Altan’s setting in ABC?

Button, the first of Slainte’s links above is worth a listen! I haven’t heard the Altan version yet, but will look for it. You can also hear it on Johnny B. Connolly’s Bridgetown CD.

I listened to the composer playing it and transcribed it as best I could, but there are a lot of variations. I have the Bridgetown CD, and it’s interesting to hear what he got out of it, but I’m wondering now how Altan treated it.

A bloke called Tam, a Banjo player from Knoydart, taught me a third part to this tune. I’ve gone and lost it from my brain. Anyone else know it? It goes up on the E string for a little while before ending pretty much the same. I would very much like to reinstill it into my noodle if anyone could oblige?!

X: 1
T: The Seanamhac Tube Station
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Amin
|: AGE EDE | ABd e3 | edB dBG | AGE D3 |
AGE EDE | ABd e3 | edB dBG |1 A3 AGE :||2 A3 ABd ||
|: e3 edB | d3 dBd | edB dBG | AGE D3 |
e3 edB | d3 age | edB dBG | A3 ABd |
e3 edB | d3 dBd | edB dBG | AGE DE/F/G |
AGE AGE | AGE AGE | edB edB | A3 AB/c/d ||
|: e3 a3 | g2a b2a | age dBe | dBG AB/c/d |
e3 aba | g2a b3 | age dBG | A3 AB/c/d |
e3 a3 | g2a b2a | age dBe | dBG A3 |
AGE EDE | ABd e2a | gea gea | gdB A3 ||

I heard this tune played beautifully by Kevin Burke on `Across the Black River´ and by Johnny O´Connolly + Brian McGrath in an impressive banjo/box duet on `Dreaming Up the Tunes´, an aptly named CD. How do you pronounce the name of the tube station and where is it ?

I’m on and off the tube all the time and never come across it.
I assume it must be in north London somewhere.

I think the tube station name is a joke, if I remember the sleeve notes correctly.

http://xrl.us/bhf4e

Seanamhac is in Ireland, and the title is a bit of a joke. The tune was composed by John Carty, who played it beautifully a few weeks ago on one of the Clare FM "Kitchen Sessions."

As Carty explained it, Seanamhac (pronounce the "mh" sort of like a "v") was a small rural center of turf cutting. Every working day morning, trucks would pull into the area and discharge loads of young men to do the work, reminding some wags of an English tube station.

I think ‘sean a mhac’ is an attempt to translate into Irish the old London phrase ‘My Old Son’ as in ‘Gao on moy owl san’

Wasn’t Knock International Airport a joke at one time?

its pronounced ‘SHANNAWOCK’

I like Cathal Hayden’s version and periodically try to immitate it.

It’s in the back of beyond past the middle of nowhere toward the back of Conamara. It seems a lot of lads living in London are from there.

I love the tune.

Here’s John Carty playing it:

]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlLUEaBANNw

play video

Given Mr. Carty’s comments in Zina’s post above, and the versions of John himself playing his tune (on Yeah, That’s All It Is and the youtube clip above), seemed worthwhile to transcribe this anew. Clearly in Gdor.

X: 1
T: Seanamhac Tube Station, The
C: John Carty
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Gdor
GFD D2 F|GAc ~d3|dcA cAF|GFD CDF|
~G3 GFD|GAc dce|dce dcA|~G3 G2 A|
GFD D2 F|GAc [d3D3]|dcA ABc|AFD CDF|
~G3 GFD|GAc dce|dce dcA|~G3 GAc||
ded dcA|~c3 A2 c|dcA cAF|GFD C2 A|
[d3D3] dcA|~c3 gfd|dcA cAF|~G3 GAc|
ded dcA|~c3 A2 c|dcA cAF|GFD C3|
GFD GFD|GAc d2 e|dcA cAF|~G3 G2 A||

Optional 3rd part
d3 g3|f2 g a2 f|gfd ~c3|dcA GAc|
~g3 gfd|~f3 fga|gfd cAF|G3 GAc|
d3 g3|f2 g a2 f|gfd ~c3|dcA GFD|
GFD GFD|GAc dce|dce dcA|G2 A B{c}BA||

Gotta correct the "Scales and Modes" comment above (from 2001) — D mixolydian does indeed have a C natural in it, not C#.

Thank you so much "will harmon" for the third part. was looking for a transcription for ages. Just a note on the tittle. Seanamhac is a small village in County Galway. John Carty is From London. There used to be a small bus service that took people to and from the bog in Seanamhac and so thats sort of where the tube station comes from.

Carty’s the Man for it! Thanks for the link ‘Anew’.

A jig obviously inspired by The Limerick Rake: https://thesession.org/tunes/6643)

1st part: F# anyone?

this is definitely in G dorian…

Awesome (1st tune) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k95iXfZ7O0A

play video

I know, ANOTHER VERSION? I transcribed this VERY closely to the way he played the tune at a fiddle class I attended with Mr. Carty, himself. I included the variations he played as he repeated each section. He only played the third part after having gone around again with the first and second sections. I thought it interesting that he didn’t get to that repetitive phrase the tune is known for until the third part.

The way the tune is written and the way he played it that day is very evocative of another tune of his I transcribed, "The Queen Meadbh Suite Reel" (https://thesession.org/tunes/13851) — check it out!

As for the tune’s title. He gave what I thought was a very plausible explanation. He used to session with some musicians from Seanamhac (name means "son of Sean") back when he lived in London. Seanamhac is a tiny village. When those musicians would play a good tune, people would shout "up Seanamhac!" It got to be fun that so much was being made about this tiny little village. John Carty said that some Connemara people jokingly referred to a "Seanamhac tube station" — knowing that their could never be one in so small a place. He went on to say that other people have come up with their own explanations for the origin of the tune’s name, but, being the composer, that’s how he came up with the title.

So, I hope that puts to rest any speculation about the tune’s curious name!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWO-LDJWXN0

play video

Transcribed from the fantastic playing of Michael McGoldrick and Tim Edey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k95iXfZ7O0A

play video

After Kieran Fahey, but transposed to Ador to fit a D whistle! They play it in Gdor (which I suppose is the original key of the tune). He plays it with the group "Valerio" on https://thesession.org/recordings/3259, and everything they play enchant me.