Week #42 ~ Rocky Road to Dublin

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
  1. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    This week's tune is Rocky Road to Dublin. This tune actually has lyrics, for those of you who like to sing! This is a slip jig (9/8 time signature) in A dorian.

    Here's a link to the lyrics & a midi song file

    Here is a link to this tune on www.thesession.org

    Here's the ABC from that site:

    X: 1
    T: Rocky Road To Dublin, The
    M: 9/8
    L: 1/8
    R: slip jig
    K: Ador
    efe d2B ~A3|E2A A2A Bcd|efe d2B A2c|B2G G2A Bcd:|
    e2a a2f ~g3|e2a a2f g2d|e2a a2f g2e|d2B G2A Bcd|
    e2a a2f ~g3|e2a a2A Bcd|efg fga g2e|d2B G2A Bcd||

    For those not familiar with this tune, when you play it the final time, you end with the first measure of the tune. In Fiddler's Fakebook, it is noted that in that first measure (and later in the tune, when a measure like that comes around again) it is optional to play the F# as an F natural. That's the way I play it, and the way I most often hear it played.
  2. Eddie Sheehy
    It helps if you have a voice like the mating-call of a rusty file...

  3. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    Hunt the hare and turn her down the rocky road and all the ways to dub a lin,
    Whack for all de dah.h.h.h.h.h.h!!!!
  4. Jill McAuley
    Jill McAuley
    Up the Dubs!
  5. David Hansen
    David Hansen
    Here's mine on my Fletcher tenor guitar with some backup on guitar, bass and concertina.

  6. Eddie Sheehy
    Jill, I guess you went the opposite way... The Rocky Road to Tuam... Great Craic David...
  7. OldSausage
    OldSausage
    Great job, David
  8. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    try again
  9. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    Here's mine on my Collings MT2O mandolin & Petersen cittern

  10. Jill McAuley
    Jill McAuley
    Lovely versions from both David and Barbara - well done the pair of you!

    And it is indeed a very rocky road to Tuam, Eddie!
  11. Manfred Hacker
    Manfred Hacker
    Barbara and David, very nice Saturday after-breakfast concert for me. You guys make 125 bpm look so easy.
  12. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    I love playing slip jigs, really, all jigs & slides! Anyway, for those who aren't used to this type of rhythm, I am an advocate of DUD picking. Here I am playing this just on my cittern, slowly. The first two times through, I'm picking all eighth notes, DUD (meaning as written, there are lots of quarter & dotted quarter notes, but I'm picking them as the appropriate number of eighth notes). The third time through, I'm picking it as written. I think I spaced out (I looked spaced out, don't I?) and played too many A parts a time or two.... but the point of this video is the picking!

    I believe that if you firmly get DUD in your right hand, and in your head, it makes these MUCH easier to play fast.

    I'm off to go watch Iowa State Women's basketball with a friend! Let's hope the snow stays away till we get home!

  13. Jill McAuley
    Jill McAuley
    The cittern really suits this tune!
  14. Eddie Sheehy
    Played on an Eastman 815MDA Mandola.

  15. Jill McAuley
    Jill McAuley
    Nice one, Eddie!
  16. KeithMcIsaac
    KeithMcIsaac
    Nice playing, all. Eddie, I like the way you fill out the melody. I might have to borrow that approach.
  17. Manfred Hacker
    Manfred Hacker
    Great job, Eddie,
    Here is my version from the Fiddler's Fakebook.

  18. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    Nice, Manfred! Great tremolos, I'm going to have to start putting those in this tune!
  19. CelticDude
    CelticDude
    Here is my take on Rocky Road:



    I learned this in E-Dorian on the whistle, but played this in A-dorian the last time thru, as it works even better on the mando.
  20. Jill McAuley
    Jill McAuley
    Great stuff Dana!
  21. Kyle Baker
    Kyle Baker
    Here is a try from me on the zouk. I played it with another tune because I learned them together like that.
    I got the two tunes from an album by a group called Dual featuring bouzouki player Eamonn Doorley, and his wife Julie Fowlis as well as the singer from the group Danu, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh.
    I wish I could sing like Luke Kelly... haha (but I don't, so I don't sing! ) It would take me a lifetime of whiskey drinking to sound like that


  22. CelticDude
    CelticDude
    Kyle, Very nicely played! I don't usually like the octaves on the lower courses (at least when I play them), but you make it work well.
  23. CelticDude
    CelticDude
    Mandfred, I agree about the tremolos. You have the timing perfect for jigs.

    BTW, are you multi-tracking the backup? What are you using? I see a Zoom H2 in the foreground; which track/tracks are you using that for?
  24. Jill McAuley
    Jill McAuley
    well played there, Kyle!
  25. Manfred Hacker
    Manfred Hacker
    CelticDude,
    Thanks for your kind words regarding my tremolo.
    Before I started playing the mandolin about 3 1/2 years ago I didn't know anything about ITM, jigs, reels, etc. I only had a Dubliners CD and had seen them live.
    I first encountered these fast tremolos in Dan Gelo's book/CD 'Fiddle Tunes & Irish Music for Mandolin' and have practiced some of the tunes in this book.

    No, I am not multi-tracking the back-up. I use Band-in-a-Box to play the back-up through my PC speakers.
    I use the Zoom H2 as a microphone (through USB) for my webcam (Logitech) recording software, which enhances the sound considerably as compared to the webcam's microphone.
    I often use BIAB as a practice tool instead of a metronome. I just enter the chords of the tune (2-3 minutes) and select a style. However, there are only very few 9/8 and other 'odd' styles available.
    Manfred
  26. Dukaine
    Dukaine
    Barb,
    Could you elaborate more on the DUD picking? I assume that means Down,Up, Down.
    Thanks in advance.
    Dave
  27. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    Dave, you should go on the regular message board and do a search on DUD pick direction for jigs, and you'll have DAYS of reading material!

    Yes, it means down up down. Those who advocate it believe that this picking pattern gives jigs the lilt that a 6/8 (jig) 9/8 (slip jig) or 12/8 (slide) time signature indicate.

    It helps to visualize this, if you can read standard notation.

    Let's say you are playing a jig (6/8) and we're dealing with a section that the measure contains 6 eighth notes; you'd pick that measure DUD DUD. If you are counting, then the down strokes are one counts 1, 3, 4 & 6. The up strokes are on counts 2 & 5. Most tunes aren't straight eighth note jigs, many measures will have a quarter note, then an eighth note, then three eighth notes. Those measures the count is 1 (2) 3 4 5 6. But, keep your hand going in the DUD DUD pattern, just don't pick that 2nd count, which means you pick that measure D D DUD.

    The most important part of this, is that the jig has two major down beats, on count 1 & 4. So, it's important that those beats are down strokes. Many people play jigs DDU DDU, which, once it gets going, is hard to tell a difference... you still have 2 downstrokes in a row, and count 1 & 4 are still down strokes.

    The main thing is that if you are used to picking 4/4 time in alternate picking DU DU DU DU, and you pick a jig DUD UDU, well, it's still doable (and a lot of people do it that way), BUT, you are picking count 4 as an upstroke, and it really does make a difference.

    Hope this makes sense!
  28. Dukaine
    Dukaine
    Thanks Barb,
    When I get home today I'll start practicing. I've been playing these tunes DU DU DU etc so I can see where DUD DUD would make a difference.
  29. mculliton123
    mculliton123
    Rocky Road to Dublin TEF file.

    http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/at...1&d=1266499588

    Michael
  30. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    We obviously don't have a limit on the number of videos you can submit of the same tune! Here this tune is again, played something like 5 times through (someone commented on YouTube my video was too short!), this time played on my Collings MT2O mandolin, with my Petersen octave mandolin also playing some melody, and the rhythm track. I think I'm getting a little better with the rhythm playing....

  31. Eddie Sheehy
    Played on a 1924 Bacon B tenor banjo - 17 fret. My first TB tune in a long while - I had a hit-and-miss experience with a Gretsch TB about a year ago...

  32. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    Lovely TB you've got there! I do love them!
  33. Martin Whitehead
    Martin Whitehead
    I love how "clean" you pick this one Barbara. I'm still working on cleaning it up. I actually got three tunes recorded last evening . . . this, Morrison's Jig and John Ryan's Polka (which I haven't had time to post yet). That's a record for me!

  34. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Martin those hammer-ons are so cool you can make a salmon keep a month outside the fridge with them.

    Nice doublestops on the B part, too. Way to go.
  35. Martin Whitehead
    Martin Whitehead
    Thanks Bertram. I use HO's a lot because my pickin' hand is too freakin' slow.
  36. Martin Whitehead
    Martin Whitehead
    On my new tenor banjo!

  37. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Still on the theme of trips, here’s another one.
    The Rocky Road To Dublin

    https://youtu.be/R0Oa2g2DM6M
  38. Robert Balch
    Robert Balch
    Very nice atsunrise. You are really making that OM sing.
  39. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    I am always amazed at Sunrise's proficiency on this octave. I've played Rocky Road and I'm never sure quite how to end it.
  40. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Thanks Robert and Ginny you guys really are kind.
    But hey, I don’t think you’re as amazed as I am! I’ve had so many tunes in the past with some small technical problem and I’d just leave it and start another (real bad habit), for example I still can’t do a bluegrass slides. But now with each little detail that I learn it seems to be suddenly coming together.

    With the endings, have you tried the exercise where you have to slow down steadily and end with a double stop in 2-3 measures? I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a metronome or Youtube accompaniment vid for this exercise. (I’d be interested)
    Or a slowing descending bass line to a stop? Lot of fun. Good luck.
  41. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Nice take, atsunrise.
    Don’t know how it feels for you … for me your performance seems to be calm and unagitated.
  42. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Thanks Frithjof, yup that’s me walking up a rocky road.
    -now in a car, that’s the downstroke-only version.
  43. bbcee
    bbcee
    I'll add my compliments @atsunrise - nice, relaxed feel, and that OM sounds great.
  44. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Nice fluid playing there, atsunrise!
  45. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Thanks Bbcee and John, did I mention the rain?
  46. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Just a quick run-through of this old favourite Irish slip jig, as an excuse to get my 9-string waldzither out after Frithjof showed his off on "Hut On Staffin Island". I've used the transcription in Paul Hardy's Session Tunebook:

    https://pghardy.net/concertina/tuneb...n_tunebook.pdf

    Played on waldzither (tuned GDAEB), doubled in unison on tenor guitar, with a mandocello bass line.

    1925 Joh. Zimmermann waldzither
    Vintage Viaten tenor guitar
    Suzuki MC-815 mandocello



    Martin
  47. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    See what I mean? There you've added another song I really want to learn now. A relatively local group called Larkspur (and I recommend them) sang a good version of this. It works well as an instrumental, too!
  48. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Thanks, Martin.
    Of course I would be happy to see some pictures of your waldzither.
  49. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Frithjof -- here is a photo I've posted before, showing (left to right) my 10-string no-name waldzither, my Gibson A-jr and my 9-string Zimmermann waldzither.



    For "Rocky Road to Dublin", I have used the Zimmermann in GDAEB tuning. The Gibson is the mandolin you hear on the other two tunes I uploaded yesterday (Cadair Idris and Brafferton Village).

    Martin
  50. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Thanks for the service, Martin.
    I like vintage instrument. In the first half of the last century Thuringian Waldzithers were build in very different corpus shapes. Not to mention the differences to the Hamburg Waldzither.
Results 1 to 50 of 69
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast