Chordal Assistance "The Choice wife" and Muireann's Jig

[Narayan Kersak]

Hi Folks:

I got a piper that plays these tunes a lot and I am looking for some chordal arrangements you may have, or would like to make up and share for:

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/879

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1902

Anything you got would be helpful. I'm looking for functional and yet interesting.

[foldedpath]

Here's one version of chords for the Choice Wife (a.k.a. O'Farrel's Welcome to Limerick and a bunch of other names that can't be printed in a family forum):

http://home.comcast.net/~saustin98/lark/vcpsm.htm?choicewife.jpg

That's from the Vashon Celtic Players (http://home.comcast.net/~saustin98/lark/) tune site. Standard disclaimer: like most Irish tunes, the choice of chords here, and their sequencing, is subjective. And that goes double for a tune like this with some tricky shifts in the rhythm emphasis. I play a slightly different sequence of these chords on guitar when I'm backing my S.O. on her fiddle playing the tune, but the chords on that sheet music are a reasonable starting point. After you get familiar enough with the tune, you might come up with a slightly different interpretation.

Aly Bain and Ale Möller recorded this tune (as O'Farrel's Welcome) on their "Beyond the Stacks" album, where you can hear an interesting backing approach on octave mandolin (Latmandola). More drones and melody/counter-melody than discrete chord shifts.

I don't have any info on the other tune, maybe someone else will step in here.

[Paul Kotapish]

I've played that first slip jig for years and recorded it with my old pal Kevin Carr on uillean pipes on the Hillbillies from Mars CD. Those chords from the Vashon Celtic Players look solid to me. As foldedpath notes, scholars differ on their preferences for accompaniment, but those will get you started.

And the translation for the Gaelic title, An Phis Fhliuch, is indeed a bit too earthy for this forum.

Accompanying slip jigs (9/8) can be a little tricky until you get the pulse of them under your skin. Plenty of nice examples of this tune to listen to for ideas.

About six minutes into this odd little travelogue, you can hear the classic Planxty rendition of the tune, with pipes, mando, and bouzouk:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVAtp1_0sw8

Here's another classic set from Planxty with some great mandolin/bouzouki accompaniment--and you can actually see the musicians in this one, including some closeups of Donal Lunny's strumming hand (left, in his case). The first two tunes are slip jigs, the third a double jig:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyE3Mye-eks

The second tune, Muireann's Jig, is more straightforward rhythmically, but a little more ambiguous harmonically. It slips back and forth between Bm and D in the first part, Em and A or D in the second part, and then jumps around on the third and fourth parts. Nice tune from concertina wizard Niall Vallely. Here's a performance with a guitar player that might get you going:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0LDTWfLMlc&feature=related

There are a bunch of other renditions of the tune available on YouTube--including a gorgeous solo guitar version by Tony McManus--so try a search there. Here's lovely melody-only setting featuring Niall Vallely himself playing with a fiddler and low-whistle player.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoEFJkMcDJQ

[Narayan Kersak]

Ok. Those chords on the web site provided work great.

Now, for Muireann's Jig, Here is what I came up with... Your thoughts are welcome.

A
Bm- BmEm BmEm BmEm B- BmEm Bm- BmEm

B
Em- F#m- G- Am Em- F#m- G- Am

C
Bm- D- D- DEm Bm- D- D- DEm

D
DBm DA D- DEm DBm DA BmA DEm

For the A part, I feel like there should be a D in there somewhere in the chords.

Thoughts are welcome. Chords

[steve V. johnson]

Wow, Paul, thanks! What a trove!

stv