Come West Along The Road (reel) on The Session

This is one of those reels that sounds best played at a fairly fast session speed.

I find the first phrase quite tricky to play on the banjo/bouzouki (and presumably, fiddle) which leads me to think that maybe it would be easier on an instrument like the tin whistle. Perhaps it was originally a pipe tune?

Martin Hayes does a great job of making this tune sound effortless on his "Under The Moon" LP.

Come West

Nice tune Jeremy. Another possible version of the first phrase, which I find a little easier on fiddle, goes as follies:

|d2 BG dGBG|(3GGG Bd efge|

You still have to rock that ring finger across the first and second strings to get the notes, but this version eliminates the second dG combination, which is what usually trips me up.

Can be played slow as well

On "As Long as You’re Enjoying Yourself," a nice little recording from John Brennan (guitar) and John McGillian (box), two of the main staples in Irish music in Philly, McGillian plays a lovely version of this tune in Amajor (or one of the minor equivalencies w/ 3 sharps— not sure), but he plays it very slowly. Worth checking out if you get the chance b/c it gives you a different perspective on the tune.

I’ve been playing a slightly different version:

K: Gmaj
d2BG dGBG|G2Bd ef (3gfe|d2BG dGBG|1 ABcd edBc:|2 ABcd edBd||
g2bg egdg|(3efg dg edBd|g2bg egdB|ABcd edBd|
g2bg egdg|(3efg dg edBd|gabg efge|dega bage||

The Grada recording

There is an absolutely beautiful version of this tune, played as a slow reel, on Grada’s Endeavour. It’s the second tune in the Anto’s Gambit set.

Second tune on this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMO9Br_2BcI&feature=related

play video

Played in A major

the reel posted here has everything to gain by being played fast,
‘no speed limit’ even!
So I was surprised to hear someone had come up with a beautiful slow version of it.. Is that the one there ChrisLaughlin?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gyBUnjPLgE (from 2’00", in D)