Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#721 (Girl that Broke My Heart)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording HG (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | G Mixolydian |
Girl that Broke My Heart, The / Girl that Broke My Heart / The Girl Who Broke My Heart (2nd in set Three Days to Go on MSHtn 1) (also in Dorian or in A Mixolydian)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1939 | 8#1 | [HG] Hugh Gillespie. Classic Recordings of Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. Hugh Gillespie (fiddle). |
| 1965 | 6#1 | [TMC] Joe Burke, Andy McGann, and Felix Dolan. A Tribute to Michael Coleman. Joe Burke (accordion), Andy McGann (fiddle), Felix Dolan (piano). |
| 1973 | 10#2 | [KB SD] Kevin Burke. Sweeney's Dream. Fiddle Tunes from County Sligo, Ireland. Kevin Burke (fiddle). |
| 1978 | 1.22#2 | [SRyan C] Seán Ryan. A Collection of His Own Compositions and His Versions of Well Known Traditional Tunes. Seán Ryan (fiddle). |
| ~1978 | 8#6 (7:27) | [KB Cap] Kevin Burke. If the Cap Fits. Kevin Burke (fiddle). |
| 1996 | 12#2 | [TF] Martin Dowling, Christine Dowling, Daithi Sproule. A Thousand Farewells. Martin Dowling (fiddle), Christine Dowling (flute, vocals), Daithi Sproule (guitar). |
| ~1996 | 14#1 | [DD HR] De Dannan. Hibernian Rhapsody. Frankie Gavin (fiddle, flute), Alec Finn (bouzouki, guitar), Colm Murphy (bodhrán), Derek Hickey (accordion), Tommy Flemming (vocals). |
| ~1997 | 9#1 | [CKeane 2] Conor Keane. Oidhreacht. Conor Keane (accordion). |
| ~1998 | 10#1 | [KH] Kieran Hanrahan. Kieran Hanrahan Plays the Irish Tenor Banjo. Kieran Hanrahan (banjo). For this tune: with Sonny Murray (concertina). |
| ~2000 | 12#1 | [LLPQ 1] The London Lasses and Pete Quinn. The London Lasses and Pete Quinn. Bernie Conneely (banjo), Elaine Conwell (fiddle), Karen Ryan (fiddle, whistle), Sharon Whelton (flute, whistle). |
| 2002 | 3#2 | [EGrs 1] Eliot Grasso. Standing Room Only. Eliot Grasso (pipes). |
| ~2003 | 8#1 | [MatH] Brendan Bulger, Marty Fahey, Kathleen Gavin. Music at the House. Brendan Bulger (fiddle), Marty Fahey (accordion, piano), Kathleen Gavin (piano). For this tune: Brendan Bulger (fiddle). |
| ~2003 | 6#2 | [MSHtn 1] Matt and Shannon Heaton. Dearga. Shannon Heaton (flute, whistle, vocals), Matt Heaton (guitar, vocals, bodhrán, dobro, electric guitar). |
| ~2007 | 9#1 | [MH 5] Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill. Welcome Here Again. Martin Hayes (fiddle, viola), Dennis Cahill (guitar, mandolin, bass). |
| ~2008 | 14#1 | [HiBs 1] The HiBs. 40 Acre Notch. Jode Dowling (fiddle), Kate Dowling (whistle, flute). For this tune: Jode (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 tune #1176 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #456 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| On page 91 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| On page 120 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. |
| As reel #257 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| In [LM] L[arry]. E. McCullough. ? |
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