Tune Lists: 1. High B 2. Irish Session

Tunes that take advantage of high B. Many of them must be transposed up from the keys the other traditions (e.g. Irish) play them in. ABC notation and the program EasyABC are your friend. Some of these tunes are available in the Irish Tune book linked in the Irish Session list below.

  1. Boys of Malin (if you ignore that the high Gs need to be sharps, G#)
  2. Brother’s (Jig)
  3. Child in the Manger (Bunessan)
  4. Cock and the Hen, The
  5. Come by the Hills
  6. Comin’ Thro’ The Rye
  7. Cumberland Waltz
  8. Delaney’s
  9. Dinky Dorian’s
  10. Donnie Nolan’s (turn off A drones as the tune is in G)
  11. Eel in the Sink
  12. Give Us a Drink of Water (has a high C but substitution should be easy enough)
  13. Hughie Traver’s
  14. Islay Rant
  15. Keelman Ower the Land (G# that can probably be played as G or left out entirely)
  16. Kennet’s Dream
  17. Loch Lomond
  18. MacArthur Road
  19. MacKinnon’s Other Rant
  20. McKenna’s reel
  21. Mo Ghile Mear
  22. Molly Rankin’s
  23. Mooncoin Jig (low E are easily made low A)
  24. O’Keeffe’s (slide)
  25. Paddy Cronin’s
  26. Pipemaker’s Hornpipe
  27. Pipe on the Hob
  28. Ravelled Hank of Yarn – reel
  29. Return Home, The
  30. Rookery, The
  31. Taim in Arrears
  32. Tenpenny Bit
  33. Tom Martin’s
  34. Uist Tramping Song

Tunes that can be played in Irish Sessions on A smallpipe chanters in the same key signature the Irish musicians will (likely) be playing the tune in. Many will require a note or two substitution (e.g. E or high G for high B, low A for low F#, etc.). Some tunes are in G requiring G drones or just turn your A drones off. Some tunes require C natural. These last two are noted in the list below. Copyrighted tunes are in bold italics and the non-copyrighted tunes are available on my Free Tune Books page:

  1. Air Tune – reel
  2. Bill Sullivan’s – polka
  3. Bo Mhin Na Toitean – march(ish)
  4. Britches Full of Stitches – polka
  5. Calliope House – jig
  6. Cock and the Hen – slip jig
  7. Condon’s Frolic’s (C natural) – jig
  8. Congress, The (C natural) – reel
  9. Continental, The – polka
  10. (Seumas/Joe) Cooley’s – jig
  11. Curragh, The (for the low note sequences, play up an octave) – jig
  12. Dick Gossip’s – reel
  13. Dinky Dorian’s – reel
  14. Donnie Nolan’s (high B, G drones) – reel/barndance
  15. Drummond Caste (C natural) – jig
  16. Eagle’s Whistle, The (G drones) – waltz
  17. Eel in the sink – reel
  18. Elizabeth Kelly’s Delight – slip jig
  19. Fasten the Leg in Her – jig
  20. Ger the Rigger – polka
  21. Gladstone, The (G drones, C natural)- reel
  22. Glass of Beer, The – reel
  23. Glenside (C natural) – polka
  24. Gravel Walks, The (C natural) – reel
  25. Halting (Pikeman’s) March, The – march
  26. High Reel, The – reel
  27. High Road to Cork, The – slip jig
  28. Hughie Traver’s – jig
  29. Humours of Derrycrossane (C natural) – slip jig
  30. Humours of Tulla – reel
  31. Humours Of Tullycrine (C natural) – hornpipe
  32. Humours of Whiskey, The – slip jig
  33. Humours of Whiskey, The – jig
  34. Irish Giant – jig
  35. Islay Rant – reel
  36. Jig of Slurs (pipe tune that’s popular in Irish sessions) – jig
  37. Jim Ryan’s (C natural, G drones) – polka
  38. Kerry Polka – polka
  39. Kesh, The (G drones) – jig
  40. Ladies of Carrick (The) – jig
  41. Lark in the Morning – jig
  42. MacArthur Road – reel
  43. Mayo Lasses (G drones, C natural) – reel
  44. McKenna’s – reel
  45. Melissa’s Met Her Match – reel
  46. Merry Blacksmith – reel
  47. Minstrel Boy / The Moreen (G drones, C natural) – march
  48. Miss McLeod’s (G drones, C natural) – reel
  49. Mooncoin – jig
  50. Mug of Brown Ale – jig
  51. Nellie Donovan (C natural) – reel
  52. Old Bush, The (requires both C natural and C#) – reel
  53. Old Copperplate, The – reel
  54. Old Favourite, The (G drones, C natural) – jig
  55. O’Keeffe’s (C natural) – slide
  56. Paddy Clancy’s – jig
  57. Paddy O’Rafferty – jig
  58. Patrick O’Connor’s – polka
  59. Pipe on the Hob – jig
  60. Priest in his Boots, The – jig
  61. Rainy Day (C natural) – reel
  62. Ravelled Hank of Yarn (C natural) – reel
  63. Return Home, The – jig
  64. Ride a Mile (C natural, high Bish) – slip jig
  65. Salmon Tails Up the Water/Cuil Aodha (needs substitution of low E and F#) – polka
  66. Scarce O’ Tatties – jig
  67. Scatter the Mud – jig
  68. Sean Coghlan’s – jig
  69. Silver Spear, The – reel
  70. Stack of Barley (G drones, C natural) – hornpipe
  71. Swallow’s Tail (C natural) – jig
  72. Swallow’s Tail (C natural) – reel
  73. Sweet Biddy Of Ballyvourney (G drones, C natural) – reel
  74. Tenpenny Bit – jig
  75. Tie the Bonnet (C natural) – reel
  76. This is my love, do you like her? (C natural) – jig/slide
  77. Tom Billy’s Polka – polka
  78. Tom Martin’s – reel
  79. Top of the Maol (has one high B) – polka
  80. Tralee Goal – polka
  81. Wild Irishman, The – reel
  82. Willie Clancy’s – reel