The Merry Blacksmith reel

This popular reel can be found in O’Neill’s (number 728), and is a popular session tune. I like to play this one together with "The Mountain Road".

In this setting of the tune I’ve included a tie between the A’s at the end of one bar and the A’s at the beginning of the next, so it becomes one longer note instead of two separate shorter notes. If it’s played this way, the tune has nice, almost American "swing" to it. Try this out, and if you don’t like it, then just ignore the ties.

Apart from that, try rolling the D at the very start of the tune, or the A and F at the start of the second part.

We names our band after this Reel. It’s one of my favorite tunes.

named, not names.

I finally learned this popular session tune by myself yesterday. Actually, I was trying to reconstruct the version I heard and played along with others in sessions from the memory, and hit upon the nice one on flute. It’s interestingly different from any version available on the net. Here it is:

K:D
d3 A BAFB|A2 dA BAFB|ABde fded|Beed egfe|
d3 A BAFB|A2 dA BAFB|ABde fedB|1 AFEF D3 z:|2 AFEF D3 e||
faag ~f3 e|d2 fd efdB|ABde fded|Beed egfg|
~a3 g ~f3 e|d2 fd efdB|ABde fedB|1 AFEF D3 e:|2 AFEF D3 z||

I’m not sure whether it’s a truly original version of mine or just the corruption of the local session version. I need to try playing it in the session.

I played this tune with others last night and found my version is different from what they play. I really love the version posted above, but it seems more sensible to learn the "correct" one.

I’ve just notice some phrases in my version come from the version of Boys of the Lough I learned in Co. Clare some months ago.

This works very, very good as a hornpipe.

It does work as a hornpipe. But it’s such a lovely reel. You might have difficulty getting others to play it with you as a reel if they begin playing it as a hornpipe. I did.

The Michael Coleman version of this is here:
https://thesession.org/tunes/538

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0-g3vFvcy8

play video

Here it is played by Liam O’Flynn and Paddy Glackin, the second tune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RARC_oShpCI&feature=rec-fresh+div

play video

bogman isn’t that second tune in the clip Speed the Plough (Cronin’s Fancy)?

You’re absolutely right, sorry, that was careless of me.

No relative to handel’s The Harmonious Blacksmith then?

i play guitar and have no idea how to look up for the chords. Help!!

X: 3
T: Merry Blacksmith, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
|: A |\
d2 dA BAFG | ABdA BAFA | ABde f2 ed | B/c/d e^d egfe |
d/e/d dA BAFG | ABdA BAFA | ABde fdec | dBAF D3 :|
|: f |\
a2 ag f2 fe | d2 dA BAFG | ABde f2 ed | Beed e/f/g fg |
abag fgfe | dcdA BAFA | ABde f2 ec | dBAF D3 :|

Added X:4
Source: Joyce, Patrick Weston: Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (Dublin, 1909)

The version of this popular tune I just posted is worth a try through because of its nice turn at the end of each part of the tune. I got it from the excellent mandolin playing of Brendan Malone of Dundalk. Some other differences might be mine. I usually play the "turn" on the b tune for first time around only, just to vary it.

This was the first reel I ever learned. Good memories.

Setting as played at the Golden Guinea pub session, Bristol, UK.

Source: Seamus Ennis
Transcription: gian marco pietrasanta
http://youtu.be/0lmBZaq-gSs

play video

One must not forget the forceful recording of this tune by Joe Derrane. It is on his first album recorded in the late 40s or early 50s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ADQcW7Rn8c

play video

From the playing of Beltaine.

I feel that these D reels are all related "Merry Blacksmith", "Maid Behind the Bar", "Silver Spear", "Wind that Shakes the Barley". Many same notes and similar feels, first cousins. "In there the beginning, there was one tune." I’m sure Paddy on the Railroad has variations off the tune brought over to Americay.
The bluegrass/old-time tunes in the US: "Soldier’s Joy", "Whiskey Before Breakfast", and "Over the Waterfall" feel like second cousins from the mentioned tunes above. There is that Irish expression, "Everyone in Ireland has a cousin in the US".

the Celtic Camerata has a great version of this tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V96I3ehouLA&list=PLQQ6AdarbwrtllulOiHTHR3m8AWZrW7lz&index=4&t=0s

play video

I learned this tune from a friend and there is a version here almost identical, but there were some ties across the bar line that I wanted to try to show in the version I posted (version 10). I also added a trill in the B section.

there are several mistakes in X:10 (only seven eighth per bar). This is just a correction.
Nice version!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNzkOSzC6Nw

play video

Score:
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/b190f5_aeb696f3ec464cbfb52884f01a3f9901.pdf

Henrik Norbeck’s ABS Tunes:
http://www.norbeck.nu/abc/display.asp?rhythm=reel&ref=17

The Session:
https://thesession.org/tunes/72

Support the work on Patreon! Thank You!
https://www.patreon.com/join/3100802/checkout

List of all the tunes:
https://jonantonsson.wixsite.com/jonantonsson/tunes

This is a collection of traditional tunes that I have learned over the years and because I also teach these tunes I want to make them available to everyone else. It is very educational for me and handy in teaching situations. The pictures in each tune are from my photo albums and represents all those moments of musical joy.

Website:
https://jonantonsson.wixsite.com/jonantonsson/nytt

Thank you for your vigilance, heh. I’m counting the beats in version 10 and there are four beats per measure, perhaps you caught it when I was in the middle of it, trying to figure out the ABC notation? This was my first attempt to notate using ABC shorthand. But there are a few nagging things that I’d like to fix. The trills that I play (which I assume are convention) perhaps I can let them slide, but the pickup measure to the A and B section…I’d like to add those.

So why not add them?

For the trill(s) put T before the note(s) in the abc, if I remember correctly.