Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 342 (I Will If I Can)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Double jig32AABBG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of I Will If I Can
 about these two bars

These two bars are the start of my transcription of how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording MOB (details in the Discography below).

Where do you get the tune titles?
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
I Will If I Can / The Boys from the West / Land of the West / Up and Away / Up and Awa / Judes Farewell / Clogher Cross / Port Jack Durcan (4th in set The Kilfenora Set on JCt 5; 2nd in set Crags of the Burren on TCB 4) (compare When the Cock Crows It Is Day #882)
What do the "track#tune" codes mean?

cd 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. They are listed in order of when they were recorded.

Year
Recorded		 Track
#Tune		 [Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). Album details
and contents
~19588#2[KCB 1] The Kilfenora Ceili Band. The Fabulous Kilfenora Ceili Band. P.J. Lynch (fiddle), Gus Tierney (fiddle), Jim McCormack (flute), Gerry Lynch (accordion), P. Mullins, T. Eustace, P. Madigan, Kitty Linnane (piano), G. O'Loughlin (drums).View album details
~19961#2[MOB] Mick O' Brien. May Morning Dew. Mick O' Brien (pipes, whistle).View album details
~19992#2[Trc] Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin and Patrick Ourceau. Tracin'. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin (concertina), Patrick Ourceau (fiddle).View album details
~20052#4[JCt 5] John Carty. I Will If I Can. John Carty (banjo, guitar, fiddle).View album details
200614#2[TCB 4] The Tulla Céilí Band. 60th Anniversary Celebration. Mark Donnellan (fiddle), Martin Hayes (fiddle), Jim Corry (piano), Sean Donnelly (accordion), Michael McKee (accordion), J.J. Conway (flute), Jennifer Lenihan (flute), Martin Glynn (flute), Mick Flanagan (drums).View album details
~20065#1[JOSe] Jimmí Ó Sé. Malairt Poirt ó Fionntrá. Jimmí Ó Sé (accordion, vocals).View album details

Bibliography

Here are all transcriptions of this tune under any title whatsoever – 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 tune #992 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #207 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #114 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
On page 50 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As jig #195 in [HN] Henrik Norbeck. Henrik Norbeck's Abc Tunes. [available]
As jig #56 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]

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): 1903
Please cite your source when you use information from this document.
© 2000–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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