Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#833 (High Reel)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording PitS (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | A Mixolydian |
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)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1929 | 20#2 | [BFair] Ballinasloe Fair. Early Recordings of Irish Music in America. Neil Nolan (banjo). |
| 1967 | 18#2 | [PitS] Paddy in the Smoke. Jimmy Power (fiddle), Lucy Farr (fiddle), Andy Boyle (fiddle). |
| 1970 | 1.12#2 | [MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals). For this tune: a nephew of Michael Gorman's named Michael Gorman (flute). |
| ~1973 | 5#3 | [BIABH 3] Bringing It All Back Home. Volume 3. Green Cross Ceili Band. |
| ~1992 | 16#2 | [MMM] Music at Matt Molloy's. |
| 1993 | 13#2 | [MoD] Tony Mac Mahon, Noel Hill, Iarla Ó Lionáird. Music of Dreams. Tony Mac Mahon (accordion), Noel Hill (concertina), Iarla Ó Lionáird (vocals). |
| ~1995 | 11#2 | [MMR 1] Mike and Mary Rafferty. The Dangerous Reel. Mike Rafferty (flute, whistle, pipes), Mary Rafferty (accordion, flute, whistle). |
| ~2002 | 14#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). |
| ~2007 | 7#2 | [PHGH 2] Peter Horan and Gerry Harrington. The Merry Love to Play. Peter Horan (flute), Gerry Harrington (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 #1497 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #721 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| 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. |
| As tune #57 in [DM 1] Dave Mallinson. 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes. |
| 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. |
| As tune #151 in [FT] Randy Miller. The Fiddler's Throne. |
| As reel #25 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. |
| As tune #18 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. |
| 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