Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#162 (Blackbird)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording JnKlly (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hornpipe | 32 | AABB | D Mixolydian |
Blackbird, The / An Lon Dubh (2nd in set The Blackbird on JnKlly; 3rd in set The Blackbird on BB 3 and BB 5; 1st in set An Londubh on KLO) (also 1st part singled) (also described as barn dance, set dance, or reel) (quite similar to The Stranger #1842; also compare set dance #164)
Discography
Here are all recordings of this tune considering only the indexed recordings. I have discovered by careful listening that these sources are in fact musically the same tune, regardless of the tune titles they use, key changes, retuning, etc.
Click 
to hear the first 12 seconds.
to hear the first 12 seconds.| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Performers (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 19#2 | [JnKlly] John Kelly. Irish Traditional Concertina and Fiddle Music. John Kelly (concertina, fiddle). For this tune: (fiddle). |
| 1977 | 7#3 | [BB 3] The Bothy Band. Out of the Wind into the Sun. Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle), Matt Molloy (flute, whistle), Kevin Burke (fiddle), Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (vocals, keyboards), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitar, bodhrán, synthesizer), Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (guitar). For this tune: 1st time Kevin Burke (fiddle). |
| 1977 | 3#3 | [BB 5] The Bothy Band. The Best of the Bothy Band. |
| ~1995 | 7#2 | [Whr] Paddy Glackin and Robbie Hannan. The Whirlwind. Paddy Glackin (fiddle), Robbie Hannan (pipes). For this tune: Paddy Glackin (fiddle). |
| ~2001 | 1#2 | [Beg 2] Beginish. Stormy Weather. Brendan Begley (accordion, vocals), Noel O'Grady (bouzouki), Paul McGrattan (flute, whistle), Gavin Ralston (guitar, keyboards), Paul O'Shaughnessy (fiddle). |
| ~2003 | 11#1 | [KLO] Mick O'Brien agus Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh. Kitty Lie Over. Mick O'Brien (pipes, whistle), Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh (fiddle, whistle). For this tune: (Bb pipes), (fiddle). |
Bibliography
Here are all transcriptions of this tune considering only the indexed books, listed in chronological order. I have discovered by careful comparison that these are very similar to this tune as played on the recordings listed above.
| As reel #15 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
If you are considering using the above transcriptions to help you learn this tune, I invite you to check these practical Tips for Learning Irish Traditional Music. See also: So why do you bother indexing books and abc?
Year of the oldest source for this tune, considering the recordings and transcriptions listed above (note that I concentrate on sources after 1900): 1975