Tunes that start in the 2nd octave

[Anglorfin]

Reading a recent topic about "bouncy" tunes got me to thinking about a tune that I'd classify as bouncy, Cliffs of Moher.

More interesting to me though is it is the first tune that I've learned where it starts in the 2nd octave. I love it. When I first heard it I thought, "How cool is that!" Going 2nd octave first I think gives it such a burst of energy right out of the gate.

Can anyone suggest other tunes that start with the 2nd octave. And exactly how common is it? I've been playing for almost a year now golly! and this is the first one I remember coming across.

[scoutcow]

Blackthorn Stick, Planxty Irwin, Glass of Beer and I'm sure there will be lots more

[Bothrops]

Banish Misfortune, Sailor's Hornpipe, Si Beag Si Mhor, The Dublin Reel...

[fancypiper]

Most old time tunes have the A part starting in the octave.

I have often wondered why Irish tunes mostly start in the low octave and the B part in the high and the old time tunes are reversed except for the cross over tunes such as Fisherman's Hornpipe and Hop High Ladies (Miss Mccloud's reel).

[fancypiper]

Blackthorn Stick

The Blackthorn Stick jig that I play starts in the low octave.

Are you talking about the reel?

[scoutcow]

I'm talking about this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AsiVNwDLLQ

[Guinness]

The B section in ITM is not only the musical contrast of the A but also the climax and denouement. As such it's easier to build "up" rather than build "down". Obviously there are plenty of exceptions to this formula.

[fancypiper]

I'm talking about this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AsiVNwDLLQ

Hmm.. a jig, but I don't think that I have heard it before.

I learned the jig that Tommy Reck plays on his Stone in the Field album.

[NicoMoreno]

I'm talking about this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AsiVNwDLLQ

Wow, that's really awful.

[PallasAthena]

The Blackthorn Stick that I know starts on middle D, so I guess that's second octive.
And if I remember correctly, at least one of the versions of St. Anne's Reel starts in the second octive.

[Lightheaded Mike]

I learned Calliope House with the B-part (high) first, so whenever we play it with people outside our two usual session crowds, we yell "Calliope B-first" during the set. Creates some confusion, but oh well.
Others that come to mind are The High Reel and The Skylark.
Mike

[Ceili_whistle_man]

One fairly obvious tune that springs to mind is the Belfast Hornpipe. It starts off with a really good run down, mostly in arpeggio(?), from the second octave A right down to bottom D and back up part of the way.
A great tune as a finger agility exercise!

[narrowdog]

Hi
I'm learning a reel 'The Skylark', it starts on an 'A' in the second octave,and like the Belfast Hornpipe goes right down to low d by the middle of the second bar.

Cheers

[slowair]

Dennis Murphy's Polka and The Rose Tree

[MTGuru]

Here are some numbers, culled from several collections, of tunes beginning in the 2nd whistle octave (ignoring pick-ups):

Mally's 100 Essential: 27/100 = 27%
Mally's 100 Enduring: 23/100 = 23%
Norbeck Reels: 201/822 = 25%
Norbeck Jigs: 103/386 = 27%
Norbeck Hornpipes: 16/105 = 15%

By these counts, that's roughly 25%, or 1 out of 4 tunes.

Here's another perspective. The basic range of ITM tunes (with fiddle tunes included) is 17 diatonic notes from G below the the treble staff to b above the staff. Of those, the whistle's 2nd octave comprises 6 [defgab] of those notes, or 6/17 = 35%.

So, in a random distribution you might expect that 35% of the tunes would begin in the second octave. The fact that it's actually 25% means that the tunes are only slightly weighted (by 10%) toward the 1st octave or below.

In any case, look through any general ITM tune collection and you'll find that 25%. If the tunes you know are all 1st octave starters, it just means that your repertoire isn't completely representative.

Tunes that begin on high g or above are rarer still - around 5% by my count. But there are a few well-known ones, including (some already mentioned):

The Blackthorn Stick
Tom Billy's Jig
The Coolea Jig
Maid on the Green
Gillian's Apples
Boys of the Town
Larry O'Gaff

The High Reel
Connemara Stocking
Dublin Reel
Reel of Mullinavat
The Skylark
Swinging on a Gate
The Primrose Lass
Fox on the Town
The Mason's Apron

Stack of Barley
Belfast (Sweep's) Hornpipe

FWIW, I think that the starting note isn't a very useful measure of a tune's character. The tensions created by the rise and fall of the melodic contour are more subtle than that. It's more entire phrases that go or stay high or low, or sweep dramatically between the two, that can give a tune its personality.

But sometimes it's fun to look at statistics like this anyway.