“The Concertina Reel” is a common session tune that I associate with the great accordion player Bobby Gardiner, with whom I played a few sessions at the Roadside Tavern in Lisdoonvarna.
X:1
T:Concertina Reel, The
R:Reel
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:D
|A2FA BAFA|A2FA BAFA|B2cA BAcA|BAcA BAFA|
A2FA BAFA|A2FA BAFE|FABc dedB|AFEF D2 (3EFG:||
|:A~d3 A~d3|AddA BAFA|B2cA BAcA|BAcA BAFA|
A~d3 A~d3|AddA BAFE|FABc dedB|AFEF D2 (3EFG:||
I learned this beautiful jig, “The Gallowglass”, from my friend Adam Shapiro. Adam is an amazing fiddle player from South Africa who has been living in Clare for many years and is a member of The Fiddle Case. I also associate this tune with another friend of mine, Kirsten Alstaff, who recorded this jig on her first solo album. It actually gave the name to the album as well.
I first learned “Josephine Begley’s” many years ago from Terry Bingham’s album, on which he calls this tune “Mairtin O’Connor’s”. I only found out in February 2021 that this hornpipe was in fact a composition of Frankie Gavin. It is the great flute and concertina player from Laois Tommy Fitzharris who provided me with this information.
I learned “The Boys of the Town” from Noel O’Donoghue, Hugh Healy, Colm Healy and Eric Healy. They play it at the end of a set they recorded for a Geantraí program on TG4 a few years ago.
1 thought on “Concertina Reel (The)”
Love your tunes from Doolin. I have visited Doolin last June. I love your music. I play the button accordion by ear. I am currently learning to play the Concertina. I can read notation, but I prefer to play by ear.
I am currently trying to learn The Concertina Reel.