Slow jig?

**MikeB** · Feb-01-2007, 7:25pm

One of my very favorite jigs, or tunes, for that matter, is "Calliope House Jig." I find that no matter at what speed I play it (meaning, no matter how slow. Speed is not my forte...), it still sounds great to me.

I actually looked up versions of CHJ on iTunes and there were a couple that were even slower than I play it. Beautiful...

Does anyone know any other jigs that sound so good played slowly?

**Clyde Clevenger** · Feb-01-2007, 7:40pm

I play for step-dancers fairly often, my daughter is a step-dance teacher. I'm often asked to play treble jigs, which are jigs at one third of regular speed and it seems to me that most of the jigs I know work okay at very slow speed. Slow jig, fast feet.

**allenhopkins** · Feb-01-2007, 7:51pm

Our band Innisfree starts out a medley of Off She Goes and Smash the Windows by playing Off She Goes once through A-B in waltz time. Sounds pretty good.

**JeffD** · Feb-01-2007, 11:15pm

I quite agree with you about Calliope House, it works great slow or fast.

**PseudoCelt** · Feb-02-2007, 5:06am

My favourite slow jig set is Fisherman's/Ship in Full Sail/Out on the Ocean, as played by Matt Molloy on "Heathery Breeze".

Many slip jigs also suit being played more steadily, IMO.

Patrick

**Chadmills** · Feb-02-2007, 6:19am

Martin Hayes has made a good thing of having sussed this out!
Tom

**nigelgatherer** · Feb-02-2007, 7:01am

Allen said "Our band ... starts out a medley of Off She Goes and Smash the Windows by playing Off She Goes once through A-B in waltz time. "

I had a 78rpm record of Roaring Jelly (a.k.a. Smash the Windows) played in waltz time, with the new name Jelly Well Spread

**Bob DeVellis** · Feb-02-2007, 7:46am

I've always found Coleraine to be very evocative and moody when played slowly.

**mikeyes** · Feb-02-2007, 9:31am

Tobin's Favorite (or Tobin's Jig) sounds great played slowly and with feeling. In fact, most jigs sound good slower than warp 9 especially if you pulse them in a jig timing. It is a good way to work on the DUD DUD or DDU DDU styles of jig playing.

**MikeB** · Feb-02-2007, 9:51am

Thanks, Folks, for all the input. I'll have to agree with all of the suggestions, until I try them myself. I did try it with a few other jigs I know, and they do work at 'slower' speeds. To me, though, CHJ has an all together different quality than most jigs. There is something very 'plaintive' about it, for lack of a better word, especially when played slowly--I'm talking maybe around 60-80 bpm (three notes per beat), or even slower--at least to my ear. I'll try some other jigs, but I'm looking for that particular quality.

Aren't--or weren't--jigs, by definition, dance tunes? I never thought of anyone dancing a jig looking anything like a waltz. CHJ doesn't even feel like a dance tune to me. But, then maybe I play it all wrong!

Nothing argumentative intended here. I'm just pipiing in with a minor discovery about a kind of music I know relatively little about.

**Chadmills** · Feb-02-2007, 11:28am

Garret Barrys, Tatter Jack Walsh (or Shaw) and even Old Rosin the Beau slow down with some quality to my mind.
Tom

**zoukboy** · Feb-02-2007, 1:04pm

It's become fairly typical to play "Calliope House" in D but Dave Richardson (of Boys of the Lough) wrote the tune in E. Just wondering how many of us here play it in E?

**EdSherry** · Feb-02-2007, 1:21pm

Roger -- I play it in both D and E, depending on what session I'm at. I confess I like it in E better, but YMMV.

**zoukboy** · Feb-02-2007, 1:56pm

Originally Posted by (EdSherry @ Feb. 02 2007, 14:21)

Roger -- I play it in both D and E, depending on what session I'm at. I confess I like it in E better, but YMMV.

I like E better, too. Dave also wrote a nice E major reel called MacArthur Road:

T:MacArthur Road
M:C|
L:1/8
C:Dave Richardson
R:Reel
K:E
ec|BG G/G/G Bcef|g/g/gga gfeg|f/f/ffg fecf|aege fece|!
BG G/G/G Bcef|g/g/gga gfeg|f/f/ffg fece|Bcef e3:||!
ga|be e/e/e bec'e|be e/e/e fece|f/f/ffg fece|aege fece!
|1 be e/e/e bec'e|be e/e/e fece|f/f/ffg fece|Bcef e2ga:|!
|2 BG G/G/G Bcef|g/g/gga gfeg|fege fece|Bcef e2||!

**MikeB** · Feb-02-2007, 2:13pm

I learned the CHJ in E, as well. I got some weird looks when I played it among other musicians. So, I learned it in D, too. Can't say I prefer one key over another, except that the fingering for each is somewhat different--the way I play it, anyway. I just love the tune in any key.

E is an usual key for almost any Irish tune, is it not? Why do you suppose Richardson chose E?

**MikeB** · Feb-02-2007, 2:17pm

Roger, I plugged that abc file into my trusty converter, but it says "there must be an error" in the file....

**John Goodin** · Feb-02-2007, 5:03pm

In the Contratopia band we always play Calliope in E and our fiddler insists on playing the B section first, I think because Patrick Street did it that way. It sounds great no matter which order the parts are in.

John G.

**zoukboy** · Feb-02-2007, 5:09pm

Originally Posted by (MikeB @ Feb. 02 2007, 15:13)

I learned the CHJ in E, as well. I got some weird looks when I played it among other musicians. So, I learned it in D, too. Can't say I prefer one key over another, except that the fingering for each is somewhat different--the way I play it, anyway. I just love the tune in any key.

E is an usual key for almost any Irish tune, is it not? Why do you suppose Richardson chose E?

Most of the folks I meet who know the tune play it in D and don't seem to know that the original key is E. But that probably goes along with not knowing who wrote it.

Dave Richardson is from the north of England, so I don't know if he was thinking that this was a particularly Irish tune, but yes, E major is an unusual key for Irish music. Most Irish tunes in E are Dorian but I do know of at least one that goes into E Mixolydian in one part.

I bet he just liked the way it sounded on his mando when he wrote it!

**zoukboy** · Feb-02-2007, 5:12pm

Originally Posted by (MikeB @ Feb. 02 2007, 15:17)

Roger, I plugged that abc file into my trusty converter, but it says "there must be an error" in the file....

Hmmm... ABC2Win likes it just fine. Don't know what to tell you. Feel free to email me and I'll send you a gif of it.

**zoukboy** · Feb-02-2007, 5:24pm

Originally Posted by (zoukboy @ Feb. 02 2007, 18:09)

I do know of at least one that goes into E Mixolydian in one part.

T:House Of Hamill, The
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Reel
K:EDorian
EBBA BFAF|E2 A/B/c dAFD|EBBA B/c/d ef|gfec dAFA:||!
BE~E2 BEdE|BE~E2 ADFA|BAGF GBef|gfec dAFA:||!
B2^GB eBGB|BA^GB ADFA|B2^GB eBGB|=gfec dAFA|!
B2^GB eBGB|BA^GB ADFA|BA=GF GBef|gfec dAFD||!

**Martin Jonas** · Feb-02-2007, 5:29pm

Originally Posted by (zoukboy @ Feb. 02 2007, 18:12)

Originally Posted by (MikeB @ Feb. 02 2007, 15:17)

Roger, I plugged that abc file into my trusty converter, but it says "there must be an error" in the file....

Hmmm... ABC2Win likes it just fine.

ABCNavigator is fine with it, too. What converter do you use, Mike?

Martin

**zoukboy** · Feb-02-2007, 5:31pm

Originally Posted by (jgoodin @ Feb. 02 2007, 18:03)

In the Contratopia band we always play Calliope in E and our fiddler insists on playing the B section first, I think because Patrick Street did it that way. It sounds great no matter which order the parts are in.

I think Alasdair Fraser may have recorded it that way.

**MikeB** · Feb-02-2007, 6:36pm

This one. Worked for me before...

**nigelgatherer** · Feb-03-2007, 5:00am

Originally Posted by

...I plugged that abc file into my trusty converter, but it says "there must be an error" in the file.... #

ABC files are supposed to have a number, so try adding X:1 as the first line and see if that works.

X:1
T:MacArthur Road
M:4/4
L:1/8
C:Dave Richardson
R:Reel
K:E
ec|BG G/G/G Bcef|g/g/gga gfeg|f/f/ffg fecf|aege fece|
BG G/G/G Bcef|g/g/gga gfeg|f/f/ffg fece|Bcef e3:||
ga|be e/e/e bec'e|be e/e/e fece|f/f/ffg fece|aege fece!
|1 be e/e/e bec'e|be e/e/e fece|f/f/ffg fece|Bcef e2ga:|
|2 BG G/G/G Bcef|g/g/gga gfeg|fege fece|Bcef e2||