Jigs in open D?

Subject: Jigs in open D?
From: GUEST,Scorpio
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 10:33 PM

Could anyone suggest some 'easier' Irish tunes to play in open D?

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 10:58 PM

The Fox Chase (a slip jig, not to be confused with the Foxhunters reel); Bill Harte's; also you could take a look at slides rather than double jigs because - although the tempo is pretty fast - often there are less notes per bar (e.g. crotchet-quaver instead of three quavers / quarter note - eighth note instead of three eighth notes). This gives it a more "rolling" feel. Also certain slip jigs fit this category - Comb Your Hair & Curl It, A Fig For A Kiss, possibly Hardiman The Fiddler. O'Keeffe's slide is nice musically but not too hard, ditto the Road To Lisdoonvarna. You could also try your hand at some of Carolan's pieces, Fanny Power, Planxty Irwin, Eleanor Plunkett - his list is endless.

Some of the above are in minor keys so you'd be talking D minor as well as major. There are thirty zillion slides in The People's Key, I just can't put names to any of them at the moment! Sliabh Luachra (west Cork/Kerry/south Limerick) and Clare abound in slides and polkas. See if you can get ahold of some records/books/whatever of that area. Best of luck -

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 02:49 AM

In O'Neills 1001 Gems, 365 double jigs, 45 single jigs and 45 hop or slip jigs, mostly in D, G, A and C

eric

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: The Sandman
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 05:12 AM

The Frost Is all Over,ShandonBells[number1,in Oneills]Donal na Greine,aka Leg Of the Duck.

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 06:35 AM

Never tried it in open D, but 'The Blarney Pilgrim' can be played in open C :

1st to 6th, as follows : E, C, G , C , G, E or low C, at your preference.

The Morris tunes 'Orange in Bloom' (Sherborne) and 'Ladies of Pleasure' (Bledington) can be played in open C, although certain purists in the past told me "you can't play Morris tunes on a guitar !"

Guess what ?

Carolan's 'Morgan M'Gann' (sp. ?) can be played in open G.

Bryn Pugh ( I think my cookie has gone tits-up).

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 06:41 AM

If you can read Tab and don't mind using DADGAD, then this site has some fairly straightforward tunes (including a few mentioned above).

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 07:13 AM

Wow Sminky, brill site, thanks!

Looking at the list on that page (only have time for a brief glance right now) Pride of Petravore is probably not too hard because it's a song air that's been made into a hornpipe and doesn't have a lot of fast notes. Also most of the tunes under "Other" - there's some Carolan there, and barndances are usually quite user-friendly (I played the odd time with Lucy Farr in London years ago, informally - she had some great tunes). Drops of Brandy is another possibility, and take a look at Johnny Leary's - he was a Sliabh Luachra man and had a world of slides. Gander In The Pratie Hole ought to work well on guitar tho I never tried it. Three Sea Captains is actually a set dance so it's not meant to go too fast, worth a having a go. It's probably best to hang fire on the reels for a while, because their speed means you have to be pretty nifty with the fingerwork.

Stefan Grossman has some very good open-tuning guitar books out, and there's also one by Sarah McQuaid that I like, and I think John Renbourn has a Celtic one. Also there's the good old aforementioned O'Neill's collection (a Cork man, just thought I'd mention it) which was my first Irish tune book, bought decades ago, and I STILL dive into it all the time. That alone should be enough to keep you pickin' until the next century or two -

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 07:15 AM

Actually, Pride of Petravore was probably a hornpipe that got made into a song...   but... you get the idea...

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 07:40 AM

Open D tuning means that if you play an open chord without any fretting what you hear is D major, i.e. that you have tuned D A D F# A D.
So giving the OP tunes in D minor, A G & C or that can be played in open C or G or DADGAD tuning is not exactly answering the question.
Just saying.

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: The Sandman
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 08:11 AM

for playing in dadf#ad,[which I wouldnt do],finding tunes that have arpeggios,of d,might be a good idea,I think PaddysReturn is one,Tobins Favourite,and Gerrys Old Beaver Hat,Off she Goes should all work.
I would use Dadgad,or Dadgbe,or Dadgbd.

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 09:20 AM

Ah (light bulb goes on over head) - arpeggios: The Derry Hornpipe (listed in O'Neill's as the Londonderry Hornpipe), Father O'Flynn (a.k.a. The Top Of Cork Road, goes well with Tobin's), the aforementioned Drops of Brandy, that-other-tune-I-can't-think-of-the-name-of...

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 09:31 AM

Here's another site with mainly DADGAD (which should tell you something), but there's an Open D tune in there. If we have introduced the OP to the delights of DADGAD then I reckon we have done him/her a service.

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 09:36 AM

I play some bluesy stuff in open D, but for key of D fiddle tunes I much prefer open C tuning capoed at the 2nd fret. I like it because it puts that pesky third on the high string where it's easier for my brain to deal with. It's easy to play many tunes in higher and lower octaves using almost the same patterns, just starting on different strings.

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: Grab
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 11:04 AM

I play Smash the Windows in drop-D (DADGBE), if that's any help. I suspect it'll also be possible in open-D, but I've never tried.

Graham.

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 11:10 AM

To get between DADGAD, open D major, & open D minor only means tuning one string by a semitone (a full tone if you're going from Dm to DADGAD) which can be very quickly done. Otherwise you have to leave out all the minor-key tunes, which is a shame because the tradition is full of them. I just sort of took this as read when I was making my Dm suggestions above.

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 11:34 AM

I was thinking more on the lines of a 3rd string that's detuned itself by a semitone and the peg's jammed so open D is the only tuning option.
I have a 2nd string that's done that so I'm stuck in open A. It's either that or the repair shop and times are hard.
I'm sure the OP will enlighten us on the reason why s/he wants to play only in open D.

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: The Sandman
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 12:47 PM

Bonnie,the minor tunes can be played also in double drop d,dadgbd or dadgbe,I find double drop d very useful.
Diane that shouldnt be your only option,what note is your second string stuck as ?if its a,youcan use dadgad cgcgad eadeae dadeae[irish tuning],or have I misunderstood you.

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: The Sandman
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 01:20 PM

Standard tuning is possible,even with a stuck A,tune everything down a tone,dgdfad.

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 01:31 PM

Dick, I've taken various implements to it and dropped it to A so, as you say, I've got DADGAD, Low C, Open A and Open A min.
Double dropped D (DGDGBE) is nice and I'll use it once I get this cheap heap of Czech firewood fixed.

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: GUEST,Scorpio
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 07:52 PM

Thanks for the suggestions - and a couple of great websites!

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 10:31 PM

Confusing thread when first read.

ANY JIG can be in "open D"

Transposition is slow at first (pains-taking rudiments on paper) and later....you should be able to convert to "the caller's key" without a thought.

Many work from C major/A minor and then drop down two halves (a whole step) to Bd for the brass and reeds....in your case, coming from C you are stepping UP two halves (a whole step) into D....

This is not Rocket-Science.

Take a night course at you local community college in theory

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

In other words ALL JIGS ARE IN OPEN D....if YOU want them to be.

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 29 Nov 07 - 06:45 AM

I think Scorpio is referring to open-D TUNING. I took that as read too -

Subject: RE: Jigs in open D?
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 29 Nov 07 - 07:08 AM

That's what the OP said, not the key of D major/minor or the relative minor or anything else and I hoped s/he was coming back to explain why. It is, of course, a jolly good idea to attempt tunes in many keys at will in order to practice counterpoint and test how well in tune your instrument is, as Bach realised in the early 18th century with the Well-Tempered Klavier. That, however, was not the question, which was about tuning not pitch

A different way of phrasing it might have been 'What tunes are best/most easily played in open D?'

Or (as I said earlier) 'Which tunings can you fall back on if a string gets stuck?'