Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 4146 (Thunderhead)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Double jig32AABBB Dorian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Thunderhead
 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 NCrg 1 (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):
Thunderhead (3rd in set Feabhra on Lu 1 and Lu 7) (composed by Grey Larsen also misspelled as Grey Larson)
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
19972#3[Lu 1] Lúnasa. Lúnasa. Seán Smyth (fiddle, whistle), Mike McGoldrick (flute, whistle), John McSherry (pipes, whistle), Donagh Hennessy (guitar), Trevor Hutchinson (double bass).View album details
~19991#2[NCrg 1] North Cregg. . . . And They Danced All Night. Christy Leahy (accordion), Caoimhin Vallely (fiddle, keyboards), Ciarán Coughlan (piano, keyboards), John Neville (vocals, guitar), Martin Leahy (snare drum, percussion).View album details
~20089#3[Lu 7] Lúnasa. The Story So Far …. Kevin Crawford (flute, whistle, bodhran), Sean Smyth (fiddle, whistle), Cillian Vallely (pipes, whistle), Mike McGoldrick (flute, pipes), John McSherry (pipes), Donogh Hennessy (guitar), Trevor Hutchinson (double bass, cello), Paul Meehan (guitar).View album details

Bibliography

According to my research, there are zero transcriptions that sound very similar to this tune anywhere in the indexed books, regardless of tune title. Try my recommended links to other indexes if you need a transcription. To learn to play this tune, simply learn it from another musician or study the recording(s) listed above. See also: Tips for Learning Irish Traditional Music.

Year of the oldest source for this tune, considering the recordings and transcriptions listed above (note that I concentrate on sources after 1900): 1997