Dennis Cahill Style - Tutorial Video by Folk Friend - Nye Farley

Today Nye Farley published a video in which he explains a bit the style of Dennis Cahill. It's a video for Guitar, but maybe some of the parts could be interesting for bouzouki players as well. Example tune is approx. 107 BPM.




I tried to find chords for bouzouki which might be suitable for this style. Here is my chord sheet, G-Drone on the Bass String:

A selection of strumming patterns - Nye Farley

Nye Farley (Folk Friend) offers a series called Folky Fridays where he talks about several techniques for Irish Guitar. In No 3 he talks about different strumming patterns. So this might also be interesting for bouzouki.




The sound quality is really bad, but the content make it worth having a look at it.

Nye also has written a book which I can really recommend called Backing techniques for Celtic Traditional Music which is available on his website:

https://finaleguitar.co.uk/product/backing-guitar-techniques-for-celtic-traditional-music/

Planxty - Live at Vicar Street 2004

The legendary concert on youtube. Buy the CD and DVD if you haven't got them already.

Paul Brady - Wearin' The Britches - Chords

Paul plays greek bouzouki and sings this ode to traditional values with Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny in the Embankment, Tallaght in 1976.






And here he is solo with greek bouzouki from 1977.



Here's lyrics and Chords: Paul plays capo at 2nd fret

You'll find lots more tabs for tunes and songs on this blog here:
https://irish-bouzouki.blogspot.com/search/label/Tabs%20for%20GDAD

{t:Wearin’ The Britches}

{st:Paul Brady}

[Dm]Come all young men where e'er you be and listen to me lamentations

[Dm]I courted a girl beyond compare and I loved her with admiration

[Dm]At length in time she became my wife, 't was [C]not for beauty [E]but for [Am]riches

And [C]all the time it [F]causes strife, to [Dm]see which of us will [Am]wear the [Dm]britches

[Dm]O Paddy Kane it is my name, me height it is five foot eleven

[Dm]and Me wife is nearly not so big, she only measures four feet seven

[Dm]The hedges I have oft times stripped, [C]I've left them bare of [E]rods and [Am]switches

[C]Her skin with blows sure [F]I’ve turned black, but [Dm]still she says she'll [Am]wear my [Dm]britches

[Dm]Well I am a tailor to my trade, at cutting out I am quite handy

[Dm]But all the money that I make, she lays it out on tea and brandy

[Dm]Now sometimes I do shout and ball with [C]nothing going with [E]rogues and [Am]witches

[C]Her head goes oft times [F]to the wall, [Dm]still she says she'll [Am]wear me [Dm]britches

[Dm]One morning at the tea and eggs, content and sitting by the fire

[Dm]Well She broke the teapot on my legs, and left me leapin to retire

[Dm]How often do I shout and moan, as [C]I go hopping [E]on my [Am]crutches

[C]I wished I'd broke her [F]collar bone, the [Dm]day I let her [Am]wear me [Dm]britches

[Dm]So come all young men where e'er you be, don't marry a wife if she's enchantin

[Dm]For if you do, you'll be like me, with other men she'll go gallanting

[Dm]Now my advice it is to you, to [C]marry for love and [E]not for [Am]riches,

[C]And be sure of a wife with a [F]civil tongue, who'll [Dm]give you leave to [Am]wear your [Dm]britches.

Chords which might be used:

Dm  7000
Dm  2003
C     0232
E     0220
Am  2202
F     2300 or 2330

Planxty - Yarmouth Town

An old video of Planxty. It's a song only available as Single, and on a compilation, as far as I know. Yarmouth Town.



Here are the chords the way I use to play it. If you use the app "songbook" from Linkesoft, I wrote about it some time ago, you just have to copy and paste.

You'll find lots more tabs for tunes and songs on this blog here:
https://irish-bouzouki.blogspot.com/search/label/Tabs%20for%20GDAD

{t:Yarmouth Town}

Capo 2

{pause: 15}

In [D]Yarmouth Town there [G]lived a [D]man,

[G]kept a little [D]tavern down [A]by the strand

The [D]landlord had a [G]daughter [D]fair,   

a [G]pretty little [D]thing with the [A]golden hair.

          

{soc}

Oh, [D]won’t you come down,

[G]won’t you come down,

[A]won’t you come down

to [G]Yar[A]mouth [D]town.

{eoc}

2. At [D]night there came a [Bm]sailor man

and he’s [G]asked the daughter [A]for her hand.

„Oh, [D]why should I marry [Bm]you, she said, 

I [G]have all I [D]want with[A]out being wed.

{soc}

Oh, [D]won’t you come down,

[G]won’t you come down,

[A]won’t you come down

to [G]Yarmouth [D]town.

{eoc}

3. „But [D]{soh}if{eoh} with me you do [Bm]{soh}want{eoh} to linger,

I [G]tie a piece of string all ar[A]ound my finger

and [D]as you pass by, just [Bm]pull on the string

and [G]I’ll come [D]down and I’ll [A]let you in.“

{soc}

Oh, [D]won’t you come down,

[G]won’t you come down,

[A]won’t you come down

to [G]Yarmouth [D]town.

{eoc}

4. At [F#m]closing time the [Bm]sailor man

he’s [Em]gone to the tavern down [A]by the strand

and [F#m]as he passed by, he [Bm]pulled on the string,

and [G]she’s come [D]down, and she’s [A]let him in.

{soc}

Oh, [D]won’t you come down,

[G]won’t you come down,

[A]won’t you come down

to [G]Yarmouth [D]town.

{eoc}

5. Now [Bm]he’s never seen such a [Em]sight before,

‚cause the [G]string around the [D]finger was [A]all she wore. 

{soc}

Oh, [D]won’t you come down,

[G]won’t you come down,

[A]won’t you come down

to [G]Yarmouth [D]town.

{eoc}

6. The [F#m]sailor stayed the [Bm]whole night through

and [Em]early in the morning went [A]back to his crew,

and then he [F#m]told them about the [Bm]maiden fair,

the [G]pretty little [D]thing with the [A]golden hair.

{soc}

Oh, [D]won’t you come down,

[G]won’t you come down,

[A]won’t you come down

to [G]Yarmouth [D]town.

{eoc}

7. Well, the [D]news it soon [Bm]got around

and the [G]very next night in [A]Yarmouth Town

there was [D]fifteen sailors [Bm]pulling on the string

and [G]she’s come [D]down and [A]she’s let them all in.

{soc}

Oh, [D]won’t you come down,

[G]won’t you come down,

[A]won’t you come down

to [G]Yarmouth [D]town.

{eoc}

8. So all young men that to Yarmouth go,

if you see a pretty girl with her hair hanging low,

well, all you’ve got to do is pull on the string,

and she’ll come down and she’ll let you in.

{soc}

Oh, [D]won’t you come down,

[G]won’t you come down,

[A]won’t you come down

to [G]Yarmouth [D]town.

{eoc}

Yarmouth ist ein Hafen und Civil parish an der Nordwestküste der südenglischen Isle of Wight. Der Ort liegt an der Mündung des Flusses Western Yar in die Meerenge Solent. Yarmouth ist die kleinste Town im Vereinigten Königreich.

{define: D 11 x 1 1 1}

{define: D 6 1 0 0 0}

{define: D 0 x 0 0 0}

{define: D 3 4 1 0 0}

Liam O'Brien, Ciara Ní Bhriain & Macdara Ó Faoláin - Stone of Destiny

Macdara is one, if not the best bouzouki player of the younger generation. He also builds bouzoukis and other instruments. Here he is with  Liam O'Brien and Ciara Ní Bhriain. The tunes they play are The Stone of Destiny (written by Maurice Lennon), The Liffey Banks & Music in the Glen.




I tried to transcribe the first tune. Here it is for your pleasure (hopefully)

You can download the tab as pdf here.

West Coast Of Clare - Intro

Just found this really old post of mine. The video link did not work anymore. The link to my tab either. So here is the re-post, 12 years after the first one. Now I added the tab on the page.

I'm playing my old Stevens Bouzouki here, trying to play the intro of West coast of Clare, one of the best songs by Andy Irvine. I tried to copy the arragement he once played live on his bass bouzouki. I restringed my zouk for this to achieve that bass bouzouki sound.


Here's the tab for this intro,  I made it with Tabledit

 

You'll find lots more tabs for tunes and songs on this blog here:
https://irish-bouzouki.blogspot.com/search/label/Tabs%20for%20GDAD

Ceird an Cheoil - Bouzouki, TG 4

This fantastic RTE-Programme about the bouzouki is not available on youtube anymore as far I know. But I just found it on Dailymotion. Here's a lot of information on this lovely instrument. I mentioned this programme before, but it's always worth to look at it again.

Si Bheag Si Mhor - Turlough O'Carolan

Si Bheag Si Mhor is one of Turlough O'Carolan's (1670-1738) waltzes. Translated into English it is called "Little hill, big hill". It is said to take inspiration from folklore surrounding two hills in which lie to mortal remains of ancient warriors.



Niilo Sirola made a recording with some more instruments.

He also made a tab for this tune. You can find it on his website:
http://irish.muualla.net/waltz/si-bheag-si-mhor/


Here's fine arrangement on the zouk by Carol Murgue.




And another one by Eamon Coughlan




Here's a very differnent approach by someone who calls himself CW, a multi instrumentalist. He has lots of videos on youtube, there are some more with bouzouki.

He writes on youtube:

"It is usually played at a slow and leisurely pace by most musicians; I had the melody in my head one day, and it started morphing into a Planxty-esque jam in 4-count rhythm (as opposed to 3 count as it's usually played), and sitting down with my zouk last night, this is how it came out. I like it a lot, and I'm still practicing it/smoothing it out, but I think this video turned out well! Tuning: FCGC - capo 5th fret"

Updates

Over the last few days I updated or deleted several sites on the blog which were outdated. Since I started the blog more than 10 years ago there are lots of videos which are not available anymore on youtube. It takes a lot of time to look at all the old posts. I found out that youtube changed links to videos, so all the older movies are not available anymore. I looked up some of the old videos, but this is hard work. So I decided to delete a lot of old videos.

If you come across dead links on the blog please report them to me or leave a comment. It's a lot of work to review all the pages on this blog so I would appreciate your help.

Also if you come across any good information regarding the Irish Bouzouki feel free to inform me and I will put them on the blog.

Many thanks in advance!

Chords Am and G - Matt & Shannon Heaton: Reels in the Heaton Kitchen - Flute and Bouzouki [Leaving the Station, Rollin, Maud Millar]

A lovely video made in the Heaton's kitchen.




In the first tune Matt plays Am C G chords (Capo7, so it's Em)

In the second tune he plays G C D chords (so it's D with capo 7th fret)

I did not check the third tune yet.

I made a chord sheet with these chords:

Here's a short video where I play these chord progressions slowly.

The Greene Tunebook

While updating some of my entries I found that the link to this tune book had changed.


By accident I found this tunebook on the web.
https://www.ceilidhsoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/CeilidhSoc-Favourites-Book-1-20181024.pdf

Here's the original one, the link has changed since I last looked at it:
http://old.ceilidhsoc.org/music.pdf?Special=23&Type=Group

42 pages with lots of tunes, most of them with chords. A great learning base.

Julie Fowlis & Eamon Dooley - Live Webstream for Lindblad Expeditions

What a pleasure: Julie and Eamon together, just the two of them. A livestream made for Lindblad Expeditions on April 23rd, 2020 as part of the Virtual Music Lounge concert series.

Páraic Mac Donnchadha with Mac Dara Ó Faoláin

While looking for videos featuring Mac Dara Ó Faoláin I found this beautiful video of Páraic Mac Donnchadha with Mac Dara Ó Faoláin. Beautiful music with banjo and bouzouki. Páraic Mac Donnchadha released an album some time ago which you can get on bandcamp or at Custy's in Ennis.

https://paraic.bandcamp.com

https://custysmusic.com/products/h3-paraic-mac-donnchadha-not-before-time-thar-am-h3

Yvonne Casey & Macdara Ó Faoláin

Some videos of Yvonne Casey & Macdara Ó Faoláin. Macdara is one of the finest bouzouki players of the young generation. He also is a Luthier and he builds fantastic Bouzoukis, Mandolins and Ukuleles.
Look here: https://ie.locale.online/macdara-o-faolain-musical-instruments-610515195.html

He plays with Band Nuadan:
https://nuadantrad.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/nuadantrad/


The Oliver Plunkett - 40th Cork Folk Festival, 06.10.19

" Eanna’s Dance"  - 40th Cork Folk Festival

 "Tune For Yvonne Casey" composed by Tommy Peoples. Cork Folk Fest

and just for the fun of it, here's a very old video of young Macdara


Macdara Ó Faoláin Dungarvan from TRTÉ on Vimeo.