30 Aug 2021
7 Jun 2021
Darren Lynch - Spancil Hill - Lyrics, Chords
Darren Lynch presents the classic song Spancil Hill on a Six String Bouzouki.
{t:Spancil Hill - Darren Lynch}
{st:Darren Lynch}
Capo 4th fret
Last[Gm] night as I lay [F]dreaming, of pleasant days gone [Gm]by,
Me [Gm]mind being bent on rambling,to [F]Ireland I did [C]fly,
I [Gm]stepped on board a vision,and [F]followed with a [C]will,
Till the [Gm]first I came to [F]anchor at the cross at Spancil [Gm]Hill,
T’was [Gm]on the twenty [F]third of June,the day before the [Gm]fair,
When [Gm]Ireland’s sons and daughters,and [F]friends assembled [C]there,
The [Gm]young the old the brave the bold, their [F]duty to full [C]fill,
At the [Gm]parish Church near [F]Clooney,a mile from [Dm]Spancil [Gm]Hill.
I [Gm]went to see me [F]neighbors to see what they might [Gm]say,
The [Gm]old one’s were all dead and gone,the [F]young one’s turning [C]grey,
I [Gm]met with tailor Quigley, he’s as [F]bold as ever [C]still,
Sure he [Gm]used to make me [F]britches when I lived in [Dm]Spancil [Gm]Hill.
I [Gm]paid a flying vi[F]sit to my first and only [Gm]love,
She’s as [Gm]fair as any lilly as [F]gently as a [C]dove,
She [Gm]threw her arms around me saying [F]Johnny I love ye [C]still,
She was [Gm]Meg the farmer’s [F]daughter,the pride of [Dm]Spancil [Gm]Hill.
I [Gm]dreamed I held and [F]kissed her as in the days of [Gm]yore
Ah [Gm]Johnny, you're only jokin', as [F]many's the time be[C]fore
Then the [Gm]cock, he crew in the morning, he [F]crew both loud and [C]shrill
I a[Gm]woke in Cali[F]fornia, many miles from [Dm]Spancil [Gm]Hill
Chords:
Gm: x 5 1 0
F: x 3 3 0
C: x 2 3 0
Dm: x 0 0 3
Here's a tab for the Intro and the first two lines. Accompanyment of line 3 is the same as line 2 and then the first line repeats.
Daoiri Farrell about accompanying Jigs
A nice workshop by Daoiri Farrell about playing Jigs on the bouzouki.
Right hand pattern he shows:
The other right hand pattern:
6 Jun 2021
The Foggy Dew - By Ye Vagabonds - Tutorial by Jasper Kaye
Jasper Kaye uploaded a tutorial video to the song The Foggy Dew as played by Ye Vagabonds. This is not the well known Song!
First the song, sung and played by Jasper
And here's his tutorial video:
Here's a solo version by Brian Mac Gloinn of Ye Vagabonds where you can hear the
bouzouki very well:
Here are the lyrics with some chords I figured out, don't know, if they are exactly the same as Ye Vagabond's. They differ a bit from Jasper's chords. There is always more than one way to accompany a song ;-)
When [D]I was [G/A]a [D/F#]bachelor [D]young [G/A]and [D/F#]bold
I [Bm]followed the [G]roving [D]tra[A]de
The [D5]only [A/E]thing that I [D/F#]ever done [G5]wrong {soh}(Basslauf!){eoh}
I [Bm]courted a hand[G]some [D]maid
I wooed her all the summertime
And part of the winter too
The only thing I ever done wrong
Was to keep off the foggy dew
'Twas on one night about twelve o'clock
As I lay fast asleep
There came this maid to my bedside
And bitterly she did weep
She wept, she moaned, she tore her hair
And she cried "what shall I do?"
So I rolled her into bed
And covered up her head
For to keep off the foggy dew
Well all the first part all that night
And we did sport and play
And all the latter part of that night
Snug in my arms she lay
And when the broad daylight appeared
She cried "I am undone!"
Well hold your tongue
My pretty young girl
For the foggy dew has gone
Well I never told nobody her name
And its damned be if I do
But it's often times that i think on that night
That I kept off the foggy dew
Chords could be:
D: 2,0,0,0
G/A: 2,5,0,0
D/F#: 2,4,0,0
Bm: 4,4,0,0
G: 0,0,2,0 or 4,5,0,0
A: 2,2,0,2 or 2,2,0,0
D5: x,0,0,0
A/E: x,2,0,2
D/F#: x,4,0,0
G5: x,5,5,0
Bm: 4,4,0,0
G: 0,0,2,0 or 4,5,0,0
D: 2,4,0,0 or 7,0,0,0
New Bodhran Metronome on Youtube
Santiago Molina uploaded some Bodhran Metronome tracks on youtube. Each track lasts for around 10 minutes. Up to now he uploaded metronome tracks for polka and jigs in various speeds.
This is the link to his channel, where you can find lots of interesting videos:
https://www.youtube.com/c/gaitero/videos
Here is one example for polka (140 BPM) and one example for jig (110 BPM).
3 Apr 2021
Matt & Shannon Heaton - Inis Here in D - Capo 7th fret
Here's "Inis Here" to be played with Capo on 7th fret. Now you can use D-Chordshapes.
In this video Shannon first teaches the melody and after that Matt shows the chords on his Guitar. The waltz is in A, Matt uses Capo 2nd fret on his guitar to play in G. He is in standard tuning.
So this is my attempt to transfer the arrangement for bouzouki with capo on 7th fret with D-chords.
2 Apr 2021
Matt & Shannon Heaton - Inis Here
A beautiful new tune by Shannon Heaton. In this video she first teaches the melody and after that Matt shows the chords on his Guitar. The waltz is in A, Matt uses Capo 2nd fret, so do I on bouzouki.
Now I tried to transcribe the Guitar part to the bouzouki. Because of the tuning GDAD I had to change a few of the bass notes.
30 Mar 2021
Finale Guitar - How to play strummed triplets in slip jigs
Nye Farley talks about strumming triplets in slip jigs. Of course this one is made for guitar, but can easily be translated for bouzouki. If you like it look for more videos of Finale Guitar on youtube. Nye also has published a good book on accompanying irish tunes on guitar with a lot of ideas you also can use for bouzouki.
Here's his youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiiTbjn4LW-CkWt1t2dC_Kg
Bodhran Metronome
Are you in need of a cool metronome? Well, ask youtube. You'll find Bodhran beats you can use as metronome. Here is a list of a few of them, maybe you'll find some more.
Unfortunately until now only Jig and Reel available.
These are from this website:
Jig 110 BPM
Jig 90 BPM
Reel 100 BPM
Reel 90 BPM
22 Mar 2021
Richie Rosencranz - Three Fishers, Stan Rogers cover
A beautiful version of the Stan Rogers Song "Three Fishers" played by Richie Rosencranz from Portland, Oregon on Shruti Box and Bouzouki.
Here he can be found on soundcloud (but only guitar and or banjo)
https://soundcloud.com/richierosencransmusic
[Bm]Into the [Bm]west as the [G]sun went [A]down
Each [G]thought on the [G]woman that [Bm]loved him the [A]best,
and the [Bm]children stood [Bm]watching them [G]out of the [A]town
{soc}
For [D]men must [D]work and [G]women must [A]weep
For there's [Bm]little to [Bm]earn and [G]many to [A]keep,
and the [G]harbour [G]bar be [A]moanin',
and the [Bm]harbour [G]bar be [A]moa[D]nin'
{eoc}
They trimmed the lamps as the sun went down, and
They looked at the squall and they looked at the shower, and
The night-wrack came rollin' in, ragged and brown.
Though storms be sud - den and the waters be deep, and
The harbour bar be moanin', and
The Harbour bar be moanin'.
In the morning gleam as the tide went down, and
The women were weepin' and wringin' their hands,
For those who would never come back to the town.
The sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep, and
Good - bye to the bar and its moanin', and
Good - bye to the bar and it's moanin',
The sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep, and
Good - bye to the bar and its moanin', and
Good - bye to the bar and it's moanin',
Matt & Shannon Heaton - Song of the chanter - Chanter's Song - Bouzouki Arrangement
On March, 20th Matt & Shannon started their virtual session with this tune. Matt played a wonderful arrangement on his bouzouki. Here's my attempt to write down the arrangement for the first time round. The Song starts at around 5.10.
Here's the tab:
16 Mar 2021
Lillies In The Field - Reel in G with Capo 7th fret - John McCormick & Mary Vanorny with Brian Miller
A few days ago I posted the tabs to the first two reels of this set. Today I tabbed the third reel called Lillies In The Field.
Here's the link to the track on bandcamp:
The Black Haired Lass/Bag of Spuds/Lillies in the Field
Underneath you'll find my tab. There might be some mistakes in there, but If you listen to the tracks you'll hopefully get along with them.
Link to the tune at thesession.org:
https://thesession.org/tunes/1750
15 Mar 2021
Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny together on stage
These two giants of irish trad music together on stage. One hour of the finest of bouzouki playing.
14 Mar 2021
Chordfinder app for iOS - Chord Library
https://apps.apple.com/de/app/chordfinder-for-bouzouki/id507236609
13 Mar 2021
The Black Haired Lass - The Bag Of Spuds - McCormick & Vanorny with Brian Miller
I recently discovered the album In the Tap Room by McCormick & Vanorny with Brian Miller. Brian plays some fine bouzouki backings there. Now I tried to transcribe the first two reels of the Set "The Black Haired Lass / Bag of Spuds".
Here's the link to the track on bandcamp:
The Black Haired Lass/Bag of Spuds
Underneath you'll find my tabs. There might be some mistakes in there, but If you listen to the tracks you'll hopefully get along with them.















