Galway Girl (Steve Earle) Questions

[Alex Orr]

Anyone got the sheet music or tabs? I've figured a version out by ear (in D), but it would be nice to compare it with something more "official". Also, is he lifting a traditional Irish tune for the lead melody lines on this song or is it original?

[Steve Ostrander]

I play this tune with my band. I don't have tab but the chord progression goes like this:

D-G-D-G-D-Bm-D-A-D

I believe there is a YouTube video of Steve Earle playing this tune solo mandolin.

[Jim Broyles]

Yeah, I knew this song was requested before. Here's a tab I found on a tab request thread at Mudcat.org. NOTE: The forum (Mandolin Cafe) does not format the tab right even if you use Courier New font. The original poster's instruction (bolded) to copy it to Notepad and use Courier or Courier New, does work when you copy it from the linked location.

Subject: Tune Add: GALWAY GIRL (Steve Earle)
From: DaveP
Date: 05 May 08 - 05:43 PM

I converted the ABC into Mandolin TAB using a program I wrote a few years ago. The TAB looks wrong here because of the proportionally spaced font.
Copy the section between the @@@@@@ lines into notepad and change the font to "Courier" or "courier new" it should then look OK.
If it works for you see thread
Tech: FREE ABC to TAB software
where you get guided to a totally free copy of the converter.

Any queries PM me
DaveP

@@@@@@@@@

Galway Girl
Time signature = 4/4 DefaultNoteLengh = 1/8 Key = D

E 4 |-----|---------------|-------------|-------------|-----------|---------|
A |-----|---------------|-----------0-|-2-2-2-4-5-4-|-2-0-0---0-|-2-2-0---|
D 4 |-0-2-|-4-2-4-2-0-0-2-|-4-4-4-2-0---|-------------|-------4---|-------4-|
G |-----|---------------|-------------|-------------|-----------|---------|
e e q _____ q e e q q e e e e q q e e e e q q q e e q q q q
=2*e

E 4 |-----------|-------------|---------|-----------|---------|
A |-----------|-------------|-------0-|-2-0-2-0-2-|-4-5-2-0-|
D 4 |-5-4-5-4-0-|-2-2-2-4-5-4-|-2-0-0---|-----------|---------|
G |-----------|-------------|---------|-----------|---------|
e e q q q q q e e e e q q q q . e . e q q q q q
q q

E 4 |-------------|---------|-----------|-----------|-------------|--- |
A |-0-2-0-------|---0-2-2-|-0-----0---|-----------|-------------|---:|
D 4 |-------5-4-2-|-2-------|---4-5---5-|-4-0-2-2-0-|-2-4-5-4-2-0-|-0- |
G |-------------|---------|-----------|-----------|-------------|--- |
e e e e q h q q q q q q e e q q q q e e e e e e q q h
@@@@@@@@@

[Alex Orr]

Thanks. I'd already figured the chord changes out but the tabbed melody line is cool too see. I already have a passable version, but I wasn't teribly pleased with a few bars and wanted to see what others had come up with. I'm looking forward to playing it when I get home.

So, I'm curious did he lift the lead melody line from an existing Irish reel or did he make it up himself?

[Jim MacDaniel]

Found this great version on youtube, with Sharon Shannon sharing the stage with Steve at the Kennedy Center Gala for Irish Music:

[Jim MacDaniel]

That's Donal Lunney on the bouzouki...

Wow, you're right; I don't know how I missed him or his upside down zouk.

[baileboy]

Ok, I'm going crazy trying to play, I can't figure out what D chord he's playing, I don't think it's the "standard" D



Can anyone tell me what D chord he is playing?

I think the G is:




Thanks to the previous posters for getting me started on this song!

[Earl Gamage]

Just food for thought, Earle does use that D chord but he reaches for the B note on the G string for a G chord sometimes (at least that's what I think goes on on Copperhead Road). I have not listened to Galway Girl but that may be why it does not sound normal to you. This is just a wag but it might help you think it out.

[M.Marmot]

That song became the bane of my life whenever i have returned home... every second jack or nancy, on seeing the mandolin presumed that i'd know it... i did not.

That youtube video is my first time hearing it in full... another fine bootstomper from Mr Earle, i suppose theres worse things to be hassled for

[david blair]

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/8942

Maybe this is what you're after?

[Greg Wilson]

Working on this talk now and almost have it licked but having problems on the line "On a fine soft day ay ay".

I have tried playing it:
......G...........D
On a fine soft day -I-ay

and

......D...........G
On a fine soft day -I-ay

Neither way sounds right. What is Steve doing there? Any help appreciated!

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

Working on this talk now and almost have it licked but having problems on the line "On a fine soft day ay ay".

I played the song with a band before and we tried about A -> D and G -> D (as you did) and we eventually settled on G->D since it sounds better.

[michaelpthompson]

Now you've got me going on this song. Perfect for singing in the pub, which is what I usually do. I only knew it by the Elders before this though:



That's a live version, where you can see them playing, but the sound is not too great. Here's a link to a recorded version with better sound.



Great song. Gotta go practice. Gotta stop finding new songs to learn until I catch up some.

[Mandoviol]

We recently recorded a version of it in D just for ourselves. Sounded pretty good. Fun song to sing.

[michaelpthompson]

We recently recorded a version of it in D just for ourselves. Sounded pretty good. Fun song to sing.

I do like the Elders version I posted (well, I AM Irish) and tried to play along with it, using the chords posted here. Apparently, they don't play it in D like Steve does, so I went back to Steve's version. The Elders do the lyrics a bit different too. Really nice song though.

[barney 59]

Steve is selling that Jimmy Moon mandolin ( from the Kennedy Center video) by the way. I don't know where it is now, probably Matty has it in the Village-- Steve likes to hang at Umanov Guitars so that is who would be handling it .Steve is not interested in selling the Gil..

[Jim MacDaniel]

Anyone ever see him play his Vox/Hammertone/Phantom-inspired Spicer eMando as below? (I've never seen him play it live or in a vid, and wonder if he still even has it.)

[Jim Broyles]

Didn't work.

[barney 59]

Steve is a hound for sure when it comes to instruments. He's pretty knowledgeable about them I've found. Did you ever see the Kopple interview? He's sitting in a room with a 20 foot row of guitars hanging on hooks and in the space between the next 20 foot row of guitars is a set of drums set up and the logo on the base drum says "The Beatles". He shared that studio with someone so maybe they weren't ALL his. He was still in Nashville when that interview took place. Mostly I see that he is using his Gilchrist and his Martin "Steve Earle" signature model that he designed with Matt Umanov. He lives in New York now so I wonder if he has the space for all of that.

[Brick Top Blagger]

Working on this talk now and almost have it licked but having problems on the line "On a fine soft day ay ay".

I have tried playing it:
......G...........D
On a fine soft day -I-ay

and

......D...........G
On a fine soft day -I-ay

Neither way sounds right. What is Steve doing there? Any help appreciated!

I think A to D sounds best, personally. I don't actually know what everyone else in the group is playing...

[Brick Top Blagger]

I played the song with a band before and we tried about A -> D and G -> D (as you did) and we eventually settled on G->D since it sounds better.

But if that's Clement (if so, hey man), then apparently I'm supposed to be playing G to D!

[Mark Robertson-Tessi]

I know it's an old thread, but some more details based on the original recording:

Working on this talk now and almost have it licked but having problems on the line "On a fine soft day ay ay".

On the same parts of the verse later in the song, it's
D A | D. That's D on "fine", A on "day", and D on "ay".
On the intro, he's a bit loose with the chords there. 2002 for the D... The 'chord' on "day" is pretty much just the E on the second fret D string, though he's holding down the 2nd fret E cause that's still ringing throughout. Then a quick 0002 on the "I" syllable, and back to 2002 for D on "ay".

The opening D chord is 7000.

The Bm always walks down to the G, going through a D chord with A in the bass: Bm D/A | G D
On the mando he's playing things like: 4000 , 2000 , 0023 , 2002 for that part.

Sometimes during the song he's strumming D chords over some of the other chords. Sometimes he's letting that top E string act as a drone.

Always been one of my favorite songs to play. If you play it with straight chords it can sound a little too clean, so think of simpler shapes using 1 and 2 fingers, even if it leaves some drones in there that aren't part of the strict chord.

CHeers
Mark R-T

[citeog]

Not to shabby! That's Donal Lunney on the bouzouki...

And Arty McGlynn on acoustic guitar and Nollaig Casey on fiddle. A backup crew like that would make Foster and Allen sound good:o).

Paul

[Bernie Daniel]

Anyone got the sheet music or tabs? I've figured a version out by ear (in D), but it would be nice to compare it with something more "official". Also, is he lifting a traditional Irish tune for the lead melody lines on this song or is it original?

Alex, try this tab -- its a .tef file that I used when I was first working out the basic melody. It is not how I play it now as I've added a lot of pickup and grace notes since. Also you might not like all the drones I put in there and actually I don't use all of them anymore myself. Just another viewpoint. I think I got the shell of this tab from someplace but it was a few years ago...........

[Daniel Nestlerode]

I have a student learning this tune. It's a great one, and I have been told that I will need to know it when my Bluegrass band does its stint hosting a Bluegrass festival outside of Dublin in August.

Here's what I told my student about the first half of the verse...

This is a really loose song. After watching Steve Earle play various versions of it on YouTube I have decided, like a few of you, that the first half of the verse is nearly ad-libbed. Lots of D and G. Start on the D and then just end the first line with the G and the second line with the D. Anything you do in between that's in the D scale and rhythmically appropriate will work.

In the second half of the verse there is a descending bit you can play either straight as Bm(Hair), A(Black), G(Eyes), D(Blue) or you can play the Bm as 400x the A as 200x (I guess that might be considered an A5) and hit the G nd the d as normal for 2 fingered chords. Others have also noted this.

The point is...Whether you play it straight or as Earle does it, doesn't really matter. What matters is enjoying the song! If you can play it more smoothly and convincingly using full chords, do it. If you can play it better with Earle's loose-y goose-y style, do that. Whatever works for you and makes the song fun to play is the right way. Earle changes it up a lot from performance to performance, there's no reason for anyone else to focus on one version as the right way to do it.

Hope this helps!
Daniel