Belle of the Ball - irishtune.info

Tune ID#142 (Belle of the Ball)

These two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording MC (details in the Discography below).

Basic musical information on this tune.
Rhythm ?	Bars	8-bar phrase structure	Mode ?
Barn dance	32	AABB	A Major

Basic musical information on this tune.

Rhythm ?

Bars

8-bar phrase structure

Mode ?

Barn dance

AABB

A Major

Titles ? given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):

Belle of the Ball, The / Memories of Sligo / James Gannon's (2nd in set James Gannon's on MC; 3rd in set Barn Dance Medley on OTUS1; 2nd in set Barn Dances on DRuss; 2nd in set Jamesy Gannon's Barn Dances on CLnn 1; 3rd in set Western Swing on ECoy 1)

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

below to hear the first 12 seconds.

Year Recorded	Track #Tune?	[Album code] Artist. Title (Link to Album Info page). Performers (instruments).
1927	1.8#2	[MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle).
1931	12#2	[BtB] Paddy Killoran, James Morrison. From Ballymote to Brooklyn. Paddy Killoran (fiddle), James Morrison (fiddle). For this tune: Paddy Killoran (fiddle), Paddy Sweeney (fiddle).
1931	16#2	[RtHaMtD] Round the House and Mind the Dresser. Paddy Killoran (fiddle), Paddy Sweeney (fiddle).
1934	1#3	[OTUS1] Oldtime Records. Vol. 1. U.S. Recordings. Traditional Irish Recordings from the 1920's and 1930's. Louis E. Quinn and His Shamrock Minstrels: Louis E. Quinn (fiddle), James O'Beirne (fiddle), Patrick Lynch (accordion).
1991	12#2	[BBow 3] Buttons and Bows. Grace Notes - Nótaí Maise. Jackie Daly (accordion, concertina), Séamus McGuire (fiddle, viola), Manus McGuire (fiddle), Garry O'Briain (guitar, mandocello, piano).
1992	4#1	[ScE] Gerry Harrington and Eoghan O'Sullivan. Scéal Eile. Gerry Harrington (fiddle), Eoghan O'Sullivan (accordion). For this tune: Eoghan (accordion), Gerry (fiddle).
1995	11#2	[DRuss] Dale Russ. Irish Fiddle. Dale Russ (fiddle).
~2000	8#2	[CLnn 1] Charlie Lennon. Time for a Tune. Charlie Lennon (fiddle, piano, drum).
2002	2#2	[HB 2] Harry Bradley. As I Carelessly Did Stray. . .. Harry Bradley (flute, whistle). For this tune: (flute), with Jesse Smith (fiddle).
~2002	4#3	[ECoy 1] Éamonn Coyne. Through the Round Window. Éamonn Coyne (banjo, guitar, mandolin).
~2015	8#2	[HRich 1] Haley Richardson with Dylan Richardson. Heart on a String. Haley Richardson (fiddle), Dylan Richardson (guitar, bouzouki).

Goes Well with . . .

In the above Discography, this tune is:

Played after	On Albums
James Gannon's	MC, BBow 3, CLnn 1, ECoy 1, HRich 1
Glenbeigh	BtB, RtHaMtD
[untitled]	OTUS1
Hills of Tara	DRuss
Ballroom Favourite #2	HB 2

Played before	On Albums
Hayes' Favourite	ScE
Mrs. Kenny's	HRich 1

Bibliography

According to my research, there are zero transcriptions that are musically very similar to this tune anywhere in the indexed books, regardless of tune title. Try my recommended links to other indexes if you need a transcription. To learn to play this tune, simply learn it from another musician or study the recording(s) listed above. See also: Tips for Learning Irish Traditional Music.

Tune ID#142 (Belle of the Ball)

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Discography

Goes Well with . . .

Bibliography