Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 832 (High Reel)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of High Reel
 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 HMSP (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):
High Reel, The / The Old High Reel / The High Reel No. 2 / The Big Wheel (mislabeled as Flogging Reel on JWh)
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
197815#1[KKgn] Kevin Keegan. The Music of Kevin Keegan. Kevin Keegan (accordion).View album details
~198613#1[HMSP] Joe Burke, Michael Cooney, Terry Corcoran. Happy to Meet and Sorry to Part. Joe Burke (accordion), Michael Cooney (pipes, whistle), Terry Corcoran (guitar, vocals).View album details
~1989B.6#1[Bx] Boxty. Boxty. Christine Dowling (flute, vocals, concertina), Martin Dowling (fiddle), Bob Newton (mandocello).View album details
~199312#2[JMd] Joanie Madden. A Whistle on the Wind. Joanie Madden (flute, whistle).View album details
199813#3[JWh] John Whelan. Come to Dance. John Whelan (accordion).View album details
19991#1[JWh 2] John Whelan. Celtic Roots. John Whelan (accordion).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 #122 in [FT] Randy Miller. The Fiddler's Throne. [available]
As reel #115 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
On page 22 of [SK] Sean Keane. Fifty Fiddle Solos. [available]
As reel #26 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. [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): 1978