Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#633 (First Month of Summer)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 16 | AB | A Major |
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 TMC (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
First Month of Summer, The (also in G) (compare The First Month of Spring #2165)
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.
| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1966 | 2#2 | [TMC] Joe Burke, Andy McGann, and Felix Dolan. A Tribute to Michael Coleman. Joe Burke (accordion), Andy McGann (fiddle), Felix Dolan (piano). |
| 1987 | 3#1 | [BBow 2] Buttons and Bows. The First Month of Summer. Séamus McGuire (fiddle, viola), Manus McGuire (fiddle), Jackie Daly (accordion, concertina, whistle). |
| 1990 | 11#3 | [MLIIA] various. The Boston College Irish Fiddle Festival - My Love Is in America. |
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 #1214 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #491 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| On page 71 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. |
| On page 98 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As reel #156 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music. |
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