10 Best Fiddle Tunes

Subject: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST,Dom Gittings
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 03:51 AM

I'm trying to put together a learning pack for my kids to keep them practicing over the summer holidays.

We are off for 8 weeks this year but I'd like to offer them a choice so I'm looking for 10 tunes.

Would anyone care to suggest their favourites?

'Obscure' would be good but not-too-difficult and "beautiful".

Tune suggestions from all traditions (including English) would be very welcome.

All the best
Dom

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: G-Force
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 04:36 AM

It rather depends on what standard your children are at. Are we talking 'Ashokan Farewell' or 'Mason's Apron'?

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Stanron
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 04:46 AM

Something by Turlough O'Carolan, Planxty Irwin perhaps?

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST,Dom Gittings
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 05:08 AM

G-Force,

Right now, I'm just looking for suggestions. I can weed out any that I think are too difficult.

I certainly wouldn't ask any of them to play Mason's Apron although I have one student who I'm hoping will one day master it.

An inspirational short cut is what I'm looking for: simple tunes hidden away in tunebooks that rarely see the light of day but will keep me entertained as much as the kids.

The ubiquity of Ashokan Farewell has rendered it, to my ears, a little boring.

An example? On Sam Sweeney's album, Unearth Repeat, what he calls Winter 350 but William Winter called "A Country Dance"; so simple and yet (under Sweeney's bow) so beautiful.

Dom

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Helen
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 05:39 AM

Darn-it, I thought I could escape from this thread without having to make suggestions, not being a fiddle player myself, but now someone has gone and mentioned Turlough O'Carolan.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but:

(Note: the numbers are those used in Donal O'Sullivan's comprehensive book Carolan: ) The Life Times and Music of an Irish Harper

039 - Luke Dillon
068 - Mrs Judge
087 - Miss MacDermott- The Princess Royal
121 - Michael O'Connor - 2ndSet (one of my favourite O'Carolan tunes)
150 - Eleanor Plunkett
171 - O'Carolan's 1st Untitled aka O'Carolan's Welcome
182 - Blind Mary
188- O'Carolan's Farewell to Music
202 -Sibeg And Simohr (lots of spelling variations for this title, e.g. Si Bheag Si Mhor etc)

Some of those tunes are less well known.

There is an excellent resource at The Old Music Project The Complete O'Carolan Collection with MIDI files, ABC files, and GIF files of music notation.

Then the first fiddle tune which sprang to my mind was Hector the Hero
performed by Jenna Reid with Aly Bain in this video.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Helen
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 05:41 AM

Typo: that should read Carolan: The Life Times and Music of an Irish Harper. The ) belonged at the end of the sentence.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: G-Force
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 05:42 AM

OK then, something on the slow side, but presumably something which will make sense when played on unaccompanied fiddle. How about 'The Barbers Pole' (James Hill).

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 06:54 AM

A really nice, user-friendly tuition book that has advice on all aspects of learning the fiddle (including bowing and ornamentation), as well a collection of tunes carefully graded from beginner right up to experienced, with lots of hints and tips about how to get the best out of them, is "How To Play The Folk Fiddle" by Geoff Bowen. The tunes he uses range across English, Scottish, Shetland and Irish. It's published by Yorkshire Dales Workshops in Folk Arts. Dunno whether you can still get a copy, but I've seen at least one second-hand one on Amazon. Very recommendable. There was a cassette with it, but that could be a stretch these days!

I know what my favourites are but I'm not a fiddle player, and what are easy for me might not be ideal on the fiddle (vice versa definitely applies to harmonica playing!)

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 08:16 AM

Re "The Gael" - Theme from Last of the Mohicans - composed by Dougie MacLean, I'm sure I've heard a very similar trad tune..?

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 08:17 AM

I don't know if they're the best but here are a few fun and not too difficult ones that you can probably find the abc notations for at
The Fiddler's Companion -

Angeline the Baker
Boys From Bluehill
Liza Jane
Kesh Jig
Eighth of January
Ashokhan Farewell
Campbell's Farewell to Red Gap
Sail Away Ladies
Red Haired Boy
Harvest Home

Slowplayers.org is another good online source for Irish tunes, most with abc's and sound samples.

In print, the Fiddler's Fakebook is a good source. It contains about 250 arrangements of mostly well-known tunes from both sides of the Atlantic.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 08:18 AM

That was me.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 08:47 AM

I see that the dreaded Ashokan Farewell keeps on rearing up its dreary head. It's very short, all you can do is keep repeating it with the same boring old harmonising and you've heard it a million times. If I hear that one striking up I regard it as time to go for a wee...

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 09:44 AM

A few more favorites which were among the first that I learned-

My Own House
Midnight on the Water
The Kitchen Girl

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 01:01 PM

I would second “Hector the Hero” for a slow air: originally in A but a lot of people play it in D to accommodate any whistle players. But if played in A, you can play it on fiddle first in the lower register and repeat an octave up.

For another slow beautiful air, avoiding Ashokan, Da Slockit Light by Tom Anderson.

A couple of nice English jigs:
The Oyster Girl and
Seven Stars (aka the Moon and Seven Stars)

Some Waltzes:
Margaret’s Waltz by Pat Shuldham Shaw
Midnight on the Water (another vote) Luke Thomason
My Cape Breton Home by Jerry Holland

A couple of Shetland reels:
Lay Dee at Dee and
Da Ferrie

Some easy polkas:
Eagan’s
Rattling Bog
John Ryan’s

Ok, that’s 12, not 10.
Ask me tomorrow and I’d probably choose a different selection!

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Stringsinger
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 01:12 PM

Don, one nice easy charming tune from Cape Breton is "Da Slockit Light".
Another form Ireland is "Give Me Your Hand" and "Road to Lisdoonvarna".
Another from New England dance is "Shoes and Stockings".
Another tune from Ireland, "Brian Baru".
These are in the scope of a beginning fiddler.
I am a fumbling intermediate fiddler so I speak from experience.

All tunes can be boiled down to fewer notes until the tune is learned.

It's best to try to get a teacher who will help get a good tone with the right bow hold
and bow placement. Then go from there as you like.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 01:16 PM

Sorry Stringsinger, but Da Slockit Light is not from Cape Breton, but Shetland - Tom Anderson, as I said in my post.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 02:14 PM

Cabris Waltz. Beautiful tune. Not too many notes! A favourite Carolan of mine, which I used to play with a fiddle player, is Morgan Magan.

Hector the Hero played straight is a bit dull. If you can, listen to how the great Tommy Peoples did it on The Quiet Glen. Not a beginners' approach, maybe! For another Scott Skinner tune, try Spey In Spate. A cracker!

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 02:21 PM

The new land

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 02:25 PM

Some of my favourites:

Neil Gow’s Lament For His Second Wife
Statten Island
Seneca Square Dance

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Helen
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 04:00 PM

I second gillymor's suggestions for Boys of Bluehill and Harvest Home, and also they work well in a set with Off to California.

We have a brilliant fiddle player in our session group (which has been going for over 40 years) so we have a lot of great fiddle tunes on our list.

Some of the more unusual tunes are Clean Pease Strae, Sandy River Belle, Dick's Pig, Saint Anne's Reel, Jump at the Sun (which always makes me think of another out-there tune called Puddleglum's Misery, which is also composed by John Kirkpatrick), Crested Hens, Ookpik Waltz, The Snowy Path, The Butterfly, Horse's Bransle, (Branle des Chevaux)

two Welsh tunes called Ffarwell I'r Marion and Bladau'r Drain, Archibald McDonald of Keppoch,

two pages of marches: Brian Boru's March, O'Neill's March, After the Battle of Aughrim, Lord Mayo, Return from Fingal,

some rollicking fast tunes: The Volunteer, Old Concertina Reel, Tamlin Reel, The Boy in the Gap, Drowsy Maggie.

That's only some of the more unusual tunes on our list. There are heaps more that we play.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: gillymor
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 04:34 PM

We usually pair Harvest Home with Over the Waterfall, Helen but I can hear BFBH and Off to California in there as well.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 04:40 PM

Steve Shaw: The Spey in a Spate even defeats us more experienced players: not one for Dom's post-beginners, methinks!

As others have mentioned O'Carolan (or Carolan, take your pick!), may I suggest Planxty Irwin and Fanny Power. Southwind also goes well with these, tho' not a Carolan tune.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Helen
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 04:55 PM

I just thought of two more, because I was reading the list of tracks on this CD which I bought recently:

Eugene O'Donnell With Mick Moloney – Slow Airs & Set Dances

Downfall of Paris, and Three Sea Captains.

And I agree, Tattie Bogle, about O'Carolan. We play Southwind, Fanny Power and Josephine's Waltz in a set.

In fact with O'Carolan, in my opinion, just pick a number between 1 and over 200 and play that one. Chances are you might like it or even love it. There are very few of his tunes that I don't like but there are some that I absolutely love.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 05:26 PM

I only said to try it, Tattie! I've oft heard it played way too fast, which could be part of the problem. But hey ho, I'm not a fiddle player!

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Helen
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 07:14 PM

gillymor, we have Seneca Square Dance, Sourwood Mountain and Over the Waterfall in the same set

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 07:48 PM

Steve, I’m not a fiddle player either, but it sure ties our band fiddlers in knots, as well as me on piano, and the rest on accordion, concertina and flute! I think JSS was having a laugh! And it’s supposed to be quite fast.
Quite like his””Iron Man” strathspey, but again, not easy for beginners!

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 08:01 PM

I know hundreds of tunes, but I'm a harmonica player and it would behove me ill to come out with a torrent of suggested tunes for developing fiddle players when I'm not one such meself. Sometimes, a tune that looks hard on paper (best not to look at tunes on paper anyway...) or sounds hard when listened to can lend itself surprisingly well to your instrument. As for speed, not long after I first started playing out we endured a plethora of teenage young-buck fiddle players at our pub (they'll all be middle-aged or worse by now). To them, breakneck speed seemed to be a priority (along with a lot of Dorian tunes...), so, as Joe Offer might say, I dunno...

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 09:12 PM

That's a grand tune, played by two grand lads, Peter. I've seen 'em both a few times. I did actually see Matt smile a few times... ;-) I seem to recall that Matt wrote a useful Irish fiddle book, but someone "borrowed" it from me decades ago and I can't remember who...

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST,Dom Gittings
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 04:20 AM

Thank you, everyone, for the suggestions.

Plenty of new, unfamiliar tunes for me to explore and some great suggestions for my kids.

Very much appreciated!

Dom

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Helen
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 05:23 AM

Dom, I forgot to say that the O'Carolan tune 068 - Mrs Judge is interesting because the time signature for most of the tune is 4/4 or Common time, but then it changes to 6/8 time in the last 12 bars. An interesting effect.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST,Modette
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 05:59 AM

The first tune I learned for the fiddle was 'Auntie Mary Had a Canary'.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 06:56 AM

Still do that one... :-)

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: gillymor
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 08:32 AM

A couple I've been wrestling with which are probably intermediate level:

Killiecrankie, aka Planxty Davis

Hamnataing

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Helen
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 10:28 AM

Dom, when you have decided which fiddle tunes you have chosen, please let us know. I would be interested in which tunes you chose and why.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Stringsinger
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 01:17 PM

Thanks Tatie I stand corrected. Tom Anderson. Shetland fiddler.

I heard the tune in Cape Breton and just thought it was from there.


The "not too difficult" part was why I suggested those I picked. I am a beginning to middle
fiddler and like to pick easier tunes.

I like the tune "Baidin Fhileme" which is pretty and not too difficult, Don.
(The little boat off the coast of Northern Ireland)

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 01:45 PM

Seeing Jackie Daly in Peters link reminded me of Inisheer and the aforementioned Margaret's Waltz. And that Sliabh Luachra slides and polkas must be a happy hunting ground too.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 02:45 PM

And I mentioned it for a reason. The OP asked for the best fiddle tunes. There's no reason at all to stick to tired overplayed and overly well own ones. There's a world of good tunes out there that are not overplayed.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 04:05 PM

Thread drift for a wee moment: Jackie Daly and Matt Cranitch are on the bill for Sidmouth Folk Festival this year: canna miss that!
And back on topic, that was a super tune, Peter Laban.
And yes, Inisheer ( or Inis Oir) is another lovely tune: credit to Tommy Walsh who wrote it. (And he is another box player, but it translates well to fiddle or almost any instrument.)

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Helen
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 05:18 PM

I suspect that even though the OP has cried "Enough!" we are all on a roll and still making suggestions. :-D

I have a Sileas CD with a beautiful harp duo version of Miss Gordon Of Gight on it but I am now listening to an
Alisdair Fraser & Tony McManus version on fiddle and guitar.

When I looked up info on the tune there was a commenter on The Session website who wondered why it was being played so "fast" by some musicians, so I gather it started it's musical life in a slower form.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: gillymor
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 05:43 PM

That was beautiful,Helen. Fraser and McManus are quite a pair.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 05:54 PM

Someone (Guest!) suggested Niel (sp) Gow's Lament for the Death of his Second Wife: it is a fabulous tune, but although a slow air, is definitely not for beginners.
It requires a certain maturity of playing to do it justice, and can be totally murdered when you get a mass of people in a session trying to all play it together. Strictly for advanced players with plenty of expression. dynamics, etc: not for beginners.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Helen
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 05:56 PM

I have an Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas CD called Fire and Grace. She plays cello. There are some beaut tunes on that!

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Helen
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 06:00 PM

Alasdair Fraser:
Niel Gow's Lament For The Death Of His Second Wife

It is spelled "Niel" on that track. and also on The Session, and Traditonal Tune Archive.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 06:03 PM

It is spelled Niel on his gravestone!!

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 06:12 PM

I'm reminded of a superb CD, one of my very favourites out of my hundreds, called Return to Kintail, by Alasdair Fraser and Tony McManus. It's not exactly tunes for beginners, but it's a beautiful thing and would inspire any aspiring fiddle player, or guitar accompanist for that matter!

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 06:19 PM

This, perhaps, has to be the definitive version for me: read the info under the video screen. Pete Clark runs the annual Niel Gow Festival in Dunkeld every March.
Niel Gow's Lament for the Death of his Second Wife

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST,Dom Gittings
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 04:14 AM

Helen,

I have "enough" ideas for my current project but I have an infinite capacity for interesting, new-to-me tunes. Long may this thread continue! :0)

Dom

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Helen
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 04:41 AM

I'm sure the thread will continue for a while.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: gillymor
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 08:05 AM

The Bonawe Highlanders, Old Blind Dogs also do a ripsnorting version on New Tricks.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 09:02 AM

Steve Shaw mentioned this :

https://youtu.be/DyQI9Xo6I_s

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: GUEST,Harry
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 09:50 AM

Fairly easy to learn but difficult to master, and one of my favourite's:

Andy Thorburn's Marni Swanson played by Jonny Hardy

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Lighter
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 10:48 AM

There are a number of outstanding and uncomplicated tunes in the great Robin Williamson's "English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish Fiddle Tunes" (1976).

Used to be there was a vinyl CD enclosed too!

(Oddly enough, W. seems to have given up the fiddle forty or more years ago. If so, does anybody know why? He was top-notch.)

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: StephenH
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 01:53 PM

Let me just put in a plug for Nigel Gatherer's Traditional Music Website.
A really nice collection of tunes for mandolin.
I have been learning some Shetland tunes on the fiddle, along with a
couple of Welsh ones, "Merch Megan" and "Dawns Y Pystyll", a few Morris
tunes and so forth.
Easily learned even for a slow player like me.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Helen
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 03:53 PM

Robin Williamson seems to be focusing on the harp, I think.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 24 Jun 22 - 02:09 PM

Yes, Harry, Marnie Swanson is a lovely tune: notes not difficult, but really needs good phrasing - which makes it difficult to play in a group, unless everyone is listening hard to, and going with, the lead player.

Subject: RE: 10 Best Fiddle Tunes
From: Piers Plowman
Date: 24 Jun 22 - 02:24 PM

No one mentioned the beautiful tune "The Girl I Left Behind Me" or its cousin "Country Gardens".