The Sligo Maid is one of the most common reel in Irish traditional music. I associate this tune with two musicians in the area : Seán Vaughan, the great box player from Kilmaley, and Christy Barry, whistle and flute player from Ennistymon.
I recorded this tune with Adrian McMahon (flute) and Pat Dowling (keyboard) in a little video for the Micilín Conlon Memorial Weekend 2020. Watch the video below, it’s the last tune in the set!
X:1
T:Sligo Maid, The
R:reel
M:4/4
K:Ador
|:A2BA Bdef|gedB AGEF|G2BG dGBG|DEGA BGdB|
A2BA (3B^cd ef|gedB AGEG|B2BG A2GE|1 DEGA BAAG:|2 DEGA BAAg||
|:eaag a2ga|bgaf gfed|eggf ~g3e|dega bgag|
eaag a2ga|bgaf gedB|G2Bd g2ge|1 dBGA BAAg:|2 dBGA BAAG||
T:Sligo Maid, The
R:reel
M:4/4
K:Ador
|:A2BA Bdef|gedB AGEF|G2BG dGBG|DEGA BGdB|
A2BA (3B^cd ef|gedB AGEG|B2BG A2GE|1 DEGA BAAG:|2 DEGA BAAg||
|:eaag a2ga|bgaf gfed|eggf ~g3e|dega bgag|
eaag a2ga|bgaf gedB|G2Bd g2ge|1 dBGA BAAg:|2 dBGA BAAG||
4 thoughts on “Sligo Maid (The)”
I like the tune! BUT may I ask … what fingering are you using for the E & G at the start of the second turn? LH, first finger just played a G, so the E on LH is awkward, but if you play it in the RH then you have a jump to the A> UNless you play the G on the bottom row of the LH? or the A on the top row of the RH? This is why we love concertina, right? haha! Thanks. -Stephanie
Hi Stephanie! Thanks for your comment, glad you like the tune, a classic! I think your issue comes from the last note of the first part: I actually play a high G (RH, first row, first finger) and then start the second part on the high E (LH, first row, first finger) and then continue with the two high A, so there’s no cross fingering issue there. Does that help?
Ohhh! I see that now. So sorry, and yes that helps.
I guess when we are playing tunes we are also free to make small changes (like leaving out a note, too, or changing octove) to help with fingering? Many thanks for this, and for the site!
You’re absolutely right Stephanie, traditional tunes in general are not set in stone, musicians have a certain freedom in their interpretation of the tunes, which often is the exciting part of Irish Traditional Music! Thanks for the kind words and best regards from Doolin!