Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 833 (High Reel)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBA Mixolydian
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 PitS (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 / An Ríl Ard / High Reel / The High Reel No. 1 / Duffy the Dancer / The Gauger (3rd in set The Ritz on KCB 6)
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
192920#2[BFair] various. Ballinasloe Fair. Early Recordings of Irish Music in America. View album details
196718#2[PitS] various. Paddy in the Smoke. Martin Byrnes (fiddle), Danny Meehan (fiddle), Bobby Casey (fiddle), Tony McMahon (accordion), Andy Boyle (fiddle), Jimmy Power (fiddle), Jimmy Dunleavy (fiddle), Sean O'Shea (fiddle), Con Curtin (fiddle), Denis McMahon (fiddle), Julia Clifford (fiddle), Tommy Maguire (accordion), Father O'Keeffe (mandolin), Lucy Farr (fiddle), Edmond Murphy (fiddle).View album details
19701.12#2[MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals).View album details
~199216#2[MMM] various. Music at Matt Molloy's. View album details
199313#2[MoD] Tony Mac Mahon, Noel Hill, Iarla Ó Lionáird. Music of Dreams. Tony Mac Mahon (accordion), Noel Hill (concertina), Iarla Ó Lionáird (vocals).View album details
~199511#2[MMR 1] Mike and Mary Rafferty. The Dangerous Reel. Mike Rafferty (flute, whistle, pipes), Mary Rafferty (accordion, flute, whistle).View album details
~200214#3[KCB 6] The Kilfenora Céilí Band. Live in Lisdoonvarna. Anne Rynne (fiddle), Conor McCarthy (accordion), Garry Shannon (flute), Tim Collins (concertina), Sheila Garry (fiddle), Fintan McMahon (piano), Anne Marie McCormack (fiddle), John Lynch (banjo), Sean Griffin (drums), Anthony Quigney (flute).View album details
~20077#2[PHGH 2] Peter Horan and Gerry Harrington. The Merry Love to Play. Peter Horan (flute), Gerry Harrington (fiddle).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 #1497 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #721 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #7 in volume 1 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols.
On page 150 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As tune #57 in [DM 1] Dave Mallinson. 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes. [available]
On page 29 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition.
In [FMH] Tom Hastings. The Feis Musicians Handbook [sic].
On page 47 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
As reel #131 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #151 in [FT] Randy Miller. The Fiddler's Throne. [available]
As reel #25 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. [available]
As tune #18 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. [available]
In [LM] L[arry]. E. McCullough. ? [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): 1903