Bell Table waltz

One I have not played for ages, resurrected itself while practising at home. It is the start of a set I was introduced to years ago, a simple set consisiting of the waltz then into the Girls of Banbridge jig and back to the waltz again.
By the way it is not the “girls of banbridge” that is on this site. I will submit the jig that goes with the waltz later if you are interested.

Composed by Kieran Hanrahan and Maurice Lennon of Stockton’s Wing, I believe. At least they are the copyright holders noted on SW’s album, “American Special”. A lovely waltz, and a favorite among our dancers here in Maine.

I have very fond memories of that Stockton’s Wing track. I love both of those tunes. Nobody ever played them around here so it was a lot of fun to introduce them to the local sessioneers.

Can anybody tell me how fast these waltzes have to be played (usually).

Rufsen, it depends on what you’re playing them for. If it’s just for your own pleasure play them at whatever tempo you like. If it’s for set dances or céilís you’ll want to play them at a good clip. If it’s for ballroom type or contra dances they like them a little slower. I get my cues from listening to Irish players.

K: D Major
|: A B>c |
d3 e d2 | d2 c2 B2 | A3 B A2 | A2 G2 F2 |
G3 A B>G | A2 A>B A>F | G2 G>A B>G | A2 B2 c2 |
d2 de d2 | d2 (3cdc B2 | A2 AB A2 | (3ABA (3GAG (3FGF |
G2 GA B>G | A2 A>B A>F | G2 (3FGF E2 | D3 :|
|: A d>f |
a3 b a2 | a2 ^g2 =g2 | f3 g f2 | f2 e2 f2 |
g3 a g2 | g2 f2 g2 | a3 b a2 | a2 f2 g2 |
a2 a>b a2 | a2 ^g2 =g2 | f2 fg f2 | f2 e2 d2 |
B4 g2 | f<a- a2 c2 | e<d- d2 c2 | d3 :|

Here is the abc of the jig that goes well as a break in the middle of the waltz. I got it from Tom Barrett (RIP) many years ago. He called the jig The Girls of Banbridge, similar to but not the dame as the one posted already on this site.
X: 1
T: The Girls of Banbridge
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: Double Jig
K: D
Q: 190
S: Tom Barrett
N: Played as a break in the middle of the Bell Table Waltz
|: A | Add dcB | BAG FED | FGF FED | EFE E2 A | Add dcB | BAG FED | faf gec | edd d2 :||: B | AFA dfa | agf efg | fef ged | cBc dcB | AFA dfa | agf efg | fef gfc | edd d2 :|

Sorry no pun intended!

Hi Daithic, I am also a huge fan of this waltz, and the jig that goes with it. I am not familiar with ABC notation yet - could you direct me to sheet music for this version of the Girls of Banbridge?

Can’t help you with the jig but you can listen to the waltz at http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/belltable_waltz/

http://youtu.be/geAviSAxbks

play video

….followed by “The Girls Of Banbridge”, as discussed above.

I believe this waltz was named for the Bell Table Arts Centre in Limerick. The Centre had closed - whether for
good or just for a while I can’t say? Tune well liked in Orkney and indeed it is a lovely waltz.

Setting with chords.

For the chords I always depend on finding them somewhere in Internet. I found these ones in folk tune finder.

For sure this tune is well introduced in the repertoire of many sessions, it is already included in collections of standard session tunes:

https://youtu.be/qwNkqOZ6tHY

play video

Setting for mouth whistling.

This is in the higher octave of A Major. It is in the range of mouth whistling and it is also in one of the standard sessions keys, A Major. It has G#s, but as it is a slow tune maybe it is not too bad to play on the keyless pipes and flutes.