Chiff and Fipple Forums

Right now, I seem to be finding Green Sleeves [ Jig from O'Neill's ] to be pretty damn fun to play, especially when it's preceded by Green Sleeves [The not-so-jig-ful-tune].

Anywho, what are some ideal starting jigs/reels/hornpipes/marches/polkas/slides/etc that you started to learn back way when?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Armand

Do you have Heather Clarke's tutor? Or the Mad4Trad UP CD-ROM? Both have lots of good tunes to start from.

djm

The first polka I learned to play (imagine my Polish wife's glee when learning Irish pipe tunes included polkas!) was "Maggie In The Woods".

It's a fun tune, and easy to learn, too.

Maggie in the Woods is a good one, also Britches full of Stitches, Ward's Jig, and Garrett Barry's Jig.

Merrily Kissed the Quaker - good for learning to lift the chanter, good for rolled Cnats (2nd bar)using cut on thumb D then down to A, good for staccatto triplets (4th bar), good for cuts on G (B part, 1st bar), good for getting to 2nd Octave (C part) - all techniques that you learn pretty early on in the piece, esp if you follow H.CLarkes tutor.

Cheers,

DavidG

Rolls on c?! Brilliant!!!

Anywho, that's good, I already know Britches and my teacher is actually having me practice that with graces with the B. Garrett Barry's is all good since I recent learned it on the whistle. W00t! As well as Maggie in the Woods, bwahahahaha~!

cheers,
Armand

Merrily Kiss the quaker is good but the third part is not easy for new players. It goes up to B' and most new players have difficulty with the second octave (or have you forgotten).

The Master's Touch is probably the best of all the tutors I've come across, followed closely by Heather Clarke's New Approach. Don't touch Davy Spillane's tutor Volume I - by the way, what ever happened to volume II.

Regarding specific tunes, try "Dunmore Lasses" - the Chieftains play a slow version of it on the Long Black Veil. Also, try some hornpipes, Kiss the maid behind the bar, Harvest Home, Boys of Bluehill - some of them can be speeded up and played like reels (check out what Bothy Band does with the Blackbird - slow air, hornpipe and reel).

Sean Bui may be a good tune for beginners to learn their cranning skills with.

Joseph E. Smith wrote:Sean Bui may be a good tune for beginners to learn their cranning skills with.

Agreed - that's a great tune for that ... if you've got the hard D going, it's even better!

Ward's Jig in G is the one i started with, good for rolls and stays in the first ocatve.

PJ wrote:Merrily Kiss the quaker is good but the third part is not easy for new players. It goes up to B' and most new players have difficulty with the second octave (or have you forgotten).

Depends on how 'new' or 'beginner' we're talking. All tunes are difficult for beginners, especially if they're only a day into it. Don't shy away from trying to play high B just because you're a 'beginner'. You might surprise yourself. Only a couple of days ago I was chatting to a piper in the chat room who had his pipes only a day and already was able to play up into the 2nd octave as far as G, so no reason why he wouldn't be able to extend that to high B on the 2nd day. So no, I haven't forgotten.

Or should the advice be - 'Hey beginners, whatever you do, don't try tunes that play into the 2nd octave, especially up to B!'

Or should the advice be - 'Hey beginners, whatever you do, don't try tunes that play into the 2nd octave, especially up to B!'

No but a good grounding of fingering in the first octave will aid the 2nd octave, plus you have a lot to think about anyways, keep the octave down low until you have the bellows/bag thing worked out. Trying to use the 2nd octave too early could lead to a bellows driven octave jumping type thing. Which isnt good, trust me.

Edited for lack of concentration

All valid points and don't think I don't remember my frustrations with it all, but we're after good 'beginner' tunes, and even after 6 months of learning, which is still 'beginner' stage, one should have a good grasp of 2nd octave, bellows technique and should be able to get up to high B.

Merrily Kissed is a good 'beginner/starter' tune because it's not complicated, has a range of notes - if you're have trouble with 2nd 8ve, play A and B parts only for a while, and provides a bit of extension. And Liam O'Flynn plays a very nice, uncluttered version of it on the black 'Planxty' album.

Cheers,

DavidG

True, but as we are answering a question by a specific person, fiddlinviolinin, who if i gather correctly, has only recently started, then he may be better at the moment to stay in the first octave. Thats all i was meaning.

An excellent tune for learning bag, bellows and finger control without the need to worry about gaining and holding the second octave ('cos it doesn't require it) is "Fraher's jig". Cuts & crans feature strongly though.
Another one and simpler tune which again stays in the first octave but doesn't require a cran but does use hard 'D' is "The chanters song".
I think that both can be found in the Armagh Uillean pipe tutor.
If you are relatively new to the pipes, learning bag and bellows technique on the first octave is paramount as well as good finger covering of the note holes. Next concentrate on good tone and steady pitch. It will be hard work initially but this early ground work is essential.
I learned too many bad habits when I started out and these can be difficult to eradicate later on so put in the hard work to begin with and make life easier for yourself later on. However, once you have the technique less effort will be required to achieve the same results
Good luck
Joseph.