The High reel

The High Reel starts, aptly enough, with a high A note. You can turn it into a triplet, slide up to it from G-sharp, or drone the open A string with it.

After that comes the string-hopping phrase. If you can play this kind of thing fluidly, it’ll come in handy for a lot of other tunes. The same phrase shows up in O’ Rourke’s Reel.

In the second part, watch out for that quick jump to the high A again.

Thanks for posting this one.

Does anyone play this tune with C naturals instead of C#? When I was working this up for a hammer dulcimer arrangement, the C# wasn’t convenient, so I tried the C natural and it sounds great, a bit moody.

Workes best at moderate speed on dulcimer. –tom guay

I’ve already talked about this in the Discussion Page but on hearing about the competition thought it deserved another telling.
My friend and I have been working on expanding our list of tunes since we started playing ITM about six months ago. He plays fiddle and I play guitar accompaniment. We decided to go to the Port Fairy Folk Festival last weekend and join in the sessions that we know occur in a couple of the local pubs in the evenings. We were welcomed on the first night by the seven or eight players already there (partly because four of them were bodhraneers, and none were guitarists!!) The melody players were very good, particularly the accordian player. My friend took advantage of a longer-than-usual pause between sets to start playing his latest “conquest”, the High Reel. The accordian player leant across to me and asked if I knew the tune he was playing. I told her and she joined in. When the tune was done, she said to my friend “That was great. It sounds so ‘different’ at that speed!” In response to my mate’s puzzled look she then did the reel once thru at lightening speed! My friend took it all very well. He must have snuck off somewhere to practise next day (tho I didn’t hear him). The next night we went back to the session - more players, lower bodhran ratio, diferent pub (still the only guitar!!) and my mate says to accordian woman “Hows about we try the High Reel again at sub-light speed?” She laughed and they then belted out a terrific version at a pretty cracking pace, which was answered by much appause and cheers (particularly those of us who had witnessed the previous evening!). My friend then turned to me with an elated smile and announced “Mate, I’ve never played it so fast in my life.”
A nice aside to the story is that the accordian player also lives in Melbourne and invited us to come along to a ‘closed’ session run by an ITM group in a small hall in the inner city, who work on improving their skills with a huge collection of tunes. Actually more like a living library of trad tunes and the ‘members’ who play, showcase, and teach them. Seems she thought we had enough “grip” to be invited!!!

Gerry.

A rather strange setting.

Courtesy of Josephine Keegan from her collection, “A Drop In The Ocean”.

X:1
T:High Reel No. 1, The
M:4/4
R:Reel
K:AMix
|:a2fa eA (3AAA|cAeA cAAg|a2fa eA (3AAA|Bcdc BGGg|
a2fa eA (3AAA|Bdef g2fg|afge fdec|1dfed cA A2:|2dfed cA A||
|:B|(3cBA eA fAeA|cAef e2ed|(3cBA eA fAeA|Bdgd BGGB|
(3cBA eA fAeA|Bdef g2fg|afge fdec|1dfed cA A:|2dfed cA A2||

Anyone know the names of the tunes that Horslips plays in “The High Reel”–besides the High Reel? Thanks!

The second tune is Sligo Maid, then it segues into a third one I’ll have to search the ABCs for.

P.S. Thanks for the memory jog - I’ve been looking for something to tag on the end of High Reel for a few weeks…

Eno

At our local, this usually ends up as the last tune in a set, and the fingers fly, as everyone likes to play at a blistering pace.

X:1
T:High Reel
C:Traditional
M:2/2
K:D
|: {ag}a2 ga ec{g}AB | {g}cd{g}ed {g}cA {d}A2 | {ag}a2 ga ec{g}Ac | {g}Bc{g}dc {g}BG {d}G2 |
%
| {ag}a2 ga ec{g}AB | {g}cd{g}ef {gf}g2 {a}fg | af {a}(3gfe {g}fd{g}ec | {g}Bc{g}dc {g}BG [1{d}G2 :| [2{d}GB |
%
|: {g}(3cBA {g}eA {g}fA{g}eA | {g}(3cBA af {g}ec{g}AB | {g}(3cBA {g}eA {g}fA{g}eA | {g}Bc{g}dc {g}BG{d}GB |
%
| {g}(3cBA {g}eA {g}fA{g}eA | {g}cd{g}ef {gf}g2 {a}fg | af {a}(3gfe {g}fd{g}ec | {g}Bc{g}dc {g}BG [1{d}GB :| [2 {d}G2 |

This tune is often associated with Barney Mckenna and called Barney McKenna’s High Reel.

Just to confirm the relationship between “The High Reel” and the Scottish pipe reel “Sandy Duff”. The following setting is from ’Scots Guards, Standard Settings Vol.1“ (1954), minus gracenotes:

X:609
T:Sandy Duff
B:Scots Guards, Standard Settings
Z:Nigel Gatherer
L:1/8
M:4/4
K:A
e | a2 e<a c>AA>a | c<Ae>A c>AA>e |
a2 e<a c>AA>a | B<=Gd>G B>GG>e |
a2 e<a c>AA>a | c<Ae>A c>AA>c |
=g2 f<g a>ef>d | B<=Gd>G B>GG ||
a | c<Ae>A f>Ae>d | c<Ae>A c>AA>a |
c<Ae>A f>Ae>d | B<=Gd>G B>GG>a |
c<Ae>A f>Ae>d | c<Ae>A c>AA>c |
=g2 f<g a>ef>d | B<=Gd>G B>GG |]

The tune can be found earlier in the Gesto Collection of 1893 as “Dr MacKinnon’s Reel” with a note reading, “Almost the same tune as ‘Alexander Duff’ by the late D Campbell.”

Hi
Does anyone know what are the tunes the horslips play in the high reel. i know the last one also features in a thin lizzy song (black rose)
I would realy appreciate any replies.
Thanks in advance

Well, of course there is this tune called the High Reel:

https://thesession.org/tunes/44

but you probably would have figured that out yourself, wouldn’t you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H9aIrs3ZsI

play video

Oh, I love this tune but I can hear it’s quite different from this notation. Could anyone try to write notes to this version, pleeease?=)

https://thesession.org/tunes/1584

2 different tunes entirely, but both good ’uns.

Thanks a lot!!! I hadn’t found it. Thanks=)

Phil and Johnny Cunningham…..at about 2.05

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1gRDQEIiSM&feature=related

play video

This tune is also known as Nigela Lawson’s Favourite…..

arghhhh … Danny! You beat me to it! Snort 🙂

Slight alteration of the A part, as heard on a Fir Bolg recording.

Added our local setting

I know this tune under the name: Duffy the Dancer! I founded this one in a O’Neill’s volume published by Waltons Manufacturing Ltd (1986)! The partition is write with F sharp, natural C and natural G! For me the best version!… The same tune is published in another book from RockChapel Press (Shanachie Records) (1979) with C sharp and G sharp, I found this one less good! That just my modest opinion! Friendly!