[Harp-L] Scottish/Irish Tunes

["eskeene@xxxxxxxx" <eskeene@xxxxxxxx>]

> From: brian.irving <brian.irving@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
> Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2013 4:40 AM
> Subject: [Harp-L] Scottish/Irish tunes
> 
> 
> A question for all you trad Celtic musicians!  Which are the commonest keys
> for Scottish/Irish traditional tunes?  So far, from my limited collection of
> recorded tunes I've identified D and A with some in C.  So harps in A, C and
> D would cover them.  Any other harps essential for a gig bag for celtic
> jams/open mics?
> 
> 
> 
> Brian (dyed in the wool blues man but looking to expand repertoire!) For Irish tunes I only play my D Hohner Super Chromonica. , partly because the tone is more like the more traditional sound of the various members of the accordion family such as the "box"  or concertina, and partly because of the flexibility in changing keys and tunes in the middle of a set of tunes. IMHO most Irish tunes were "composed" on either the Uillean  pipes or "simple system" flute. Through the years, they more or less ended up getting standardized in "D" ( but it was not always thus). The tin whistle also uses this type scale, which, in the key of "D" plays all the notes in the D major scale without "half-holing" as well as "A" mixolydian and "B" minor. Because you can easily get a "C" natural note by either using a "forked fingering" or a pretty easy half hole (not all of them are) the keys of "G" major, "E minor" , "A" minor, and "D" mixolydian  are available, even some stuff in "C" (such as the Chicago Reel). This covers the most common keys, although you still run into a D or G minor tune now and again (pipers will sometimes rearrange those tunes to skip the unavailable notes, and believe it or not, with a good player, you won't miss them). I'd recommend that anyone learning Irish music learn the tin whistle, as it will make all of this and the ornaments make sense as well. And they're really cheap (see the great website, "Chiff and Fipple). Aside from the obvious influence of the Highland Bagpipes, Scottish music is largely fiddle based, so A major, Bb and F show up too, so I sometimes take my "A"  and "Bb" Super Chromonicas. The Cape Breton style players I play with on occasion usually stick with one key in a set. For American fiddle tunes I really like the circular harps. Cheers, Emily  
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