Favorite Hornpipe?

[whistler]

There are too many tunes out there for me to have a favourite. But, among the hornpipes I enjoy playing the most (in addition ot some of those malready mentioned) are:
Byrne's

The Acrobat

The Humours of Tullycrine


Re: Sailor's Hornpipe at warp speed - No, I can't play it that fast and nor would I want to. It's impressive, right enough, to be able to co-ordinate your left and right hands at that speed but, to my ear, there's not a lot of music in that clip, just a lot of notes.

[neil argonaut]

Re: Sailor's Hornpipe at warp speed - No, I can't play it that fast and nor would I want to. It's impressive, right enough, to be able to co-ordinate your left and right hands at that speed but, to my ear, there's not a lot of music in that clip, just a lot of notes.

Couldn't agree more, to me it's a nice party trick and nothing more.

[kmmando]

Sandy Bell's Hornpipe by Rob Smith of Lerwick is a cracker!

[Loretta Callahan]

That was awesome, Bertram! I love your up the neck double stop boogie on the B part. Makes me happy to listen to it. Love the vids, Whistler ... and all the hornpipes folks listed I've never heard of. Inspires me to go on a hornpipe quest.

If you can't play a tune fast and slow, well .... that seems like a there's an issue with that person and music in general. I'm no expert; just know what I like. At a certain speed, the music simply goes away for me and it sounds like a hammer pounding nails, or a buzz saw at a construction site. Woodpeckers have a rhythmic charm; just sayin'.

[allenhopkins]

Rights of Man. No contest.

However, I always play it on the concertina. On mandolin, could well be Ricketts'.

[citeog]

Tuamgraney Castle. A close second is Chief O'Neill's because I'm so impressed with his biography and it's a nice tune. There's another I play that I know as "The Gorey" but it has another, more popular name that escapes me now.

Paul

[Avi Ziv]

Tuamgraney Castle. .

Paul

Oh yeah. Nice one!

[Bertram Henze]

double stop boogie

Thanks Loretta, it never occurred to me to call it that (had to look up what boogie style consists of), but there is certainly some truth to it - Paddy on the cotton fields?

[Bertram Henze]

Rights of Man.

...followed by Pride of Petravore, of course.

[Goodin]

My favorite is the Galtee Hunt. Weve been playing that into Kitty's Wedding. I also just learned a very nice G minor tune called The Princess Royal, which I think is a hornpipe but Im not sure. It's an O'Carolan tune.

[Jim Nollman]

some of my favorites:

Walsh's
Garfields
Bouchard's
Rights of Man
Minnie Foster

[Vigee]

I must admit to loving a hornpipe Mr. MacLeod recorded: Sandy Bell's. Too bad no one else seems to know it.

[Jacob]

Alla Hornpipe

[Jim Bevan]

Dukie's, off Cían's Three Shouts From a Hill -- makes a nice intro to a set of better-known hornpipes.

[Loretta Callahan]

This thread just keeps getting better ~ I love looking up new tunes.

Well, as an American lass who doesn't possess much of a proper musical vocabulary, nor having been across the pond ... I tend to make up adjectives based on my own empirical observations ... and try to convey a feeling. I was going to call the up the neck action "who bee doos", but boogie seemed more descriptive (even tho' you ain't playin' the blues). I'm delighted you got it ... kind of .. If there's a proper term, I'd be delighted to expand my vocabulary

Thanks Loretta, it never occurred to me to call it that (had to look up what boogie style consists of), but there is certainly some truth to it - Paddy on the cotton fields?

[Sandy Beckler]

Belfast Hornpipe is another good one, and yes Ms. Loretta....new tunes are good.

Sandy

[MikeyG]

At the moment, my favorite is O'Mahony's. Music/tab for it & another great
hornpipe (Cronin's) can be found here

http://mandolinsessions.com/?p=469

Mike

[JP07]

Hornpipes are maybe the tunes I prefer paying. Nice thread that showing me beautiful tunes I did not know. For example Eleanor Neary's, that I learned from John Carty version.

I like playing The Smell of The Bog.

[AlanN]

Not titled as such, but been messing with Miller's Reel, has that hornpipe-y thing going on.

[Trevor Thomas]

'A little dotted' – Hornpipes should always be ‘dotted’ or ‘swung’ if you’re playing for dancing. The rhythm is to go with the type of dance, which is a step-hop dance. If you speed it up and smooth it out, it stops sounding like a hornpipe. It’s the rhythm that’s the essential hornpipe ingredient. That’s how we play them in the UK, and in Ireland. There are tunes that work equally well as both, and sometimes people will play a tune as a hornpipe, then as a reel afterwards.

I don’t think the Princess Royal is an O’Carolan tune, but I understand there’s some different opinions on this matter.

There are loads of good hornpipes – they don’t get played as often as jigs and reels, but they’re still pretty common. My current favourite is the version of the Galway by the great Orkney band Hom Bru, which features two mandolins doing a harmony part. I also like the Liverpool, the Manchester, and the Sheffield.

[Gelsenbury]

'A little dotted' – Hornpipes should always be ‘dotted’ or ‘swung’ if you’re playing for dancing. The rhythm is to go with the type of dance, which is a step-hop dance. If you speed it up and smooth it out, it stops sounding like a hornpipe. It’s the rhythm that’s the essential hornpipe ingredient.

That's how I had always understood it too. I love hornpipes for that bouncy quality.

My favourites? Currently the Galway (which I can play), Bobby Casey's/Humours of Tullycrine (which I'm learning) and Downfall of Paris (which I can't do).

[Randi Gormley]

Hmmm. Here's a question -- I thought Downfall of Paris was a set dance. And I've seen Madame Bonaparte listed as both a set dance and a hornpipe (in different books). When in doubt, I usually give a set dance a bit of a hornpipe bounce. Should I stop doing that?

[JeffD]

If you speed it up and smooth it out, it stops sounding like a hornpipe. It’s the rhythm that’s the essential hornpipe ingredient..

This is exactly right, and very important.

It changes the character of the tune to play it too fast and ignore the swing.

[AnneFlies]

I only know two hornpipes so far: Off to California, and Harvest Home. I love their rhythm and would like to learn a couple more (King of the Faeries and Chief O'Neill's Favorite are on the short list).

I play them dotted, but for some reason I get hand cramps (right hand) when I do that. I never get hand cramps playing them like a reel, or whenever I play a jig. Does anyone else have this problem? I'm not playing particularly fast, so that's not my issue.

Anne.

[Jim Nollman]

I second the opinion that Downfall of Paris is a set dance. Too slow for a reel, not bouncy enough for a hornpipe. It would work OK as a foxtrot. Speeding it up for a contra dance makes it lose all integrity. My favorite version is by Kevin Burke.