Iníon Ní Scannláin waltz

This tune appears on Lunasa’s 2001 recording, Merry Sisters of Fate, and is written by Donogh Hennessy, who plays guitar and whistles with that band. It is, however, written in Eb major, not G major as is reported here.

Great tune!

This is the version I’ve transcribed from the book, it sounds a bit different:

G3 A- AG|BG~E2 (3DEF|G3 AAG|Bdd ABd|
e3 gfd|e2e dBG|A2A GAB|Bdd eBA|
G3 A- AG|BG~E2 (3DEF|G3 A- AG|Bdd ABd|
e3 gfd|e2e dBG|A2A GAB|Bdd ABd||
e3 a- ab|g3 fge|d3 efg|BAG ABd|
e3 aab|g3 dga|b6|bda dgd|
e2e gfd|e3 d (3BAG|A2A GAB|Bdd eBG|
A2A BAG|E3 D (3EFG|A2A GAB|Bdd eBA||

Christian

"In

Here’s an even closer transcription of what Kevin Crawford is actually playing on the first pass through the tune, transposed up to G here to work on a D flute.

I’ve indicated cuts by putting the note above in {brackets}.

X: 1
T: Inion Ni Scannlain
T: Miss Scanlan
C: Donogh Hennessy
D: Merry Sisters of Fate, Lunasa
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
K: G
G3 A{B}AG|BGE {F}E {F}E/D/E/F/|G2 G A{B}AG|Bd{e}d GB/c/d|
e3 gfd|e2e dB/A/G|A2{B}A GAB|1 {c}Bd{e}d eBA:|2 {c}Bd{e}d GB/c/d||
e3 a{b}ab|g2{a}g fge|d3 efg|BAG2 B/c/d|
e3 a{b}ab|g2{a}g de/f/g/a/|b6|bd ad gd|
e3 gfd|e2e dB/A/G|A2{B}A GAB|{c}Bd{e}d eB/A/G|
A2A BAG|{D}E2{F}E DE/F/G|A2{B}A GAB|{c}Bd{e}d eBA||

www.paulineanddonogh.com

http://www.paulinescanlon.com

Does anyone have the guitar cords for this lovely tune? If so - please post them 🙂 Thanks… /Brian

Hi, I was wondering if anybody has the guitar chords for Lunasa’s "Inion Ni Scannlain" (https://thesession.org/tunes/540/) or perhaps knows where to find them. What a lovely tune. Oh - or alternatively some guitar-guru should feel more than welcome to submit his/her own chords. Thanks - highly appreciated.

Best wishes,
Brian, Denmark

It’s in Eb, so maybe put capo on first fret and using D shapes
try to work out something for yourself.
Why not first start at home playing one bass note per bar to
pick out what you think might fit - and using that and the fact
that the D major can be harmonised with these chords - D,
Em, F#m, G, A, Bm, C#Dim select what chords sound right
(keep in mind that your ear should overrule theory ).

BegF is right. But if you have no joy I’ll give you a cheat sheet along the lines of what the man himself (Donogh Hennessy does).

Hi guys - I don’t play guitar myself (I play the flute) - but I was hoping to get a friend of mine (who plays guitar) to try to play it with me. And it would help a lot if he had the chords to start off with…

Was working them out today so post my take on them in case of interest. If you hear it different feel free to chime in:

Capo at 1st fret

D Asus4 D/B D Asus4 D
G Bm Em A
D Asus4 D/B D Asus4 D
G Bm Em A

Em G D D/A D
Em G Bm Bm/A Bm
G Bm Em A
Em G A

Bridge (not transcribed in ABC)
Bm A Bm A G D/F# Em A x3

If someone wrote this for me, I’d marry them. Period.

Cannot help but put the link to "Farewell to Uist" They are worth comparing. I think they have a lot in common although clearly different in many ways. I think they are both terrific tunes.
https://thesession.org/tunes/8085/comments

G / A | = a bar of 3/4 with the first two beats on G and the third beat on A.

G / / | Cmaj7 / / | G / /| G / / | C / / | Em / / | Am7 / / | D / / |
G / / | Cmaj7 / / | G / / | G / / | C / /| Em / / | Am7 / / | D / / |
Am / / |C / / | G / / | G / / |Am / / |C / / | Em / / | Em D G |
C / / | Em / / | Am7 / / | D / / | Am7 / / | C / / | D7sus4 / / | D / / ||

yep, hetty, I also find it redolent of The Dusty Miller (at least in a lose impressionistic way and in this version; https://thesession.org/tunes/4323 ). It perhaps is closer still to other modern walzurka(?) types, like Eoin Dillon’s Paddy’s Perambulation for instance.

This gets played a lot in our session and I’ve always liked the tune, but needed to spend a bit of time learning it properly. I noticed that the Merry Sisters of Fate record has an interlude in the middle which wasn’t on the other settings, so I’ve added it here. Plus some chords (I play these on the accordion; they aren’t quite the same as on the record and may not be so good on guitar).

Sounds really good on the record, but it’s one of those tricky tunes which sounds slower than it really is! It has a feeling half-way between 3/4 and 6/8 which is fun to play with.

Lovely flow to this tune.

I’ve been working up a solo guitar version of this tune in G recently.

https://www.facebook.com/daggergordon/videos/700046250794594/?t=40

This is the G major version of the original Eb major version by Donogh Hennessy from the Lúnasa album The Merry Sisters of Fate, with the ornamentation transcribed as faithfully as possible (identified via slowing the tune down to 50%). I’ve also added some harmonies. the grace notes without a cross line indicate a slide, the grace notes without a cross line indicate cuts, tape and bounces. I’ve also added in the staccato dot symbol where the flautist makes a break to both add emphasis and take a breath ! there is an additional slide up to the beginning G on the second time the A music is played, but the ABC notation system won’t allow an orphaned grace not at the ned of the first time bar. Does anyone know the flute that was used in this recording - was it one in Eb, but with additional low notes to get down to low Bb. If so, where does one buy such a beauty!