Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#386 (Controversial Reel)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording LCTM (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | G Major |
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Controversial Reel, The / Billy McComiskey's (3rd in set Jim Coleman's on Drv 4) (also in D) (composed by Billy McComiskey)
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 10 seconds.
to hear the first 10 seconds.| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Performers (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1978 | 3#1 | [LCTM] Liz Carroll & Tommy Maguire. Kiss Me Kate. Liz Carroll (fiddle), Tommy Maguire (accordion). |
| ~1981 | 1#2 | [BMc] Billy McComiskey. Makin' the Rounds. Irish Traditional Music. Billy McComiskey (accordion). For this tune: with Pat Keogh (fiddle), Donny Golden (dance). |
| ~1984 | 8#1 | [Crsl] Séamus McGuire, Manus McGuire, Dáithí Sproule. Carousel. Séamus McGuire (fiddle, viola), Manus McGuire (fiddle), Dáithí Sproule (guitars, vocals). |
| 1997 | 2.16#3 | [Drv 4] Dervish. Live in Palma. Cathy Jordan (vocals), Liam Kelly (flute), Shane McAleer (fiddle), Shane Mitchell (accordion), Brian McDonagh (mandola, guitar), Micheal Holmes (bouzouki). |
| ~1997 | 13#1 | [KCB 5] The Kilfenora Céili Band. Set on Stone. Aidan McMahon (fiddle), Anne Marie McCormack (fiddle), Anne Rynne (fiddle), Garry Shannon (flute), Anthony Quigney (flute), Conor McCarthy (accordion), John Lynch (banjo), Tim Collins (concertina), Fintan McMahon (piano), Sean Griffin (drums), Paul O'Driscoll (double bass). |
| 2009 | 1#2 | [DPss 2] Dan Possumato. Pulling Out the Stops. Traditional Music and Song of Ireland. Dan Possumato (accordion). |
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 #45 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #139 in [FT] Randy Miller. The Fiddler's Throne. |
| As reel #204 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. |
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): 1978