Robin Jones - Plains Of Kildare - Andy Irvine

 A new post by Robin Jones. This time a nice interpretation of Plains of Kildare which was made well known by Andy Irvine. 

 

Unfortunately Robin deleted his video from youtube recently. :-(

Lyrics and chords from Ultimate Guitar:

[Verse 1]
Dm                              C            G
Come all you bold sportsmen and listen to my story
Dm                             C                Dm
It’s about noble Stewball that gallant racing pony
Dm                                   F/C              C
Arthur Marble was the man that first brought Stewball here
       F             C                           G
For to run with Miss Griesel on the Plains of Kildare.
 
[Verse 2]
Dm                              C          G
O the fame of his actions we’ve heard of before
Dm                          C          Dm
But now he is challenged by young Mrs. Gore
Dm                                F             C
For to run with Miss Griesel that handsome grey mare
        F             C                           Dm
For ten thousand gold guineas on the Plains of Kildare.
 
Dm         G
 
[Verse 3]
Dm                                        C               G
And the cattle they were brought out with saddle whip and bridle
Dm                                 C                    Dm
And the gentlemen did shout at the sight of the gallant riders
Dm                             F            C
And in viewing the cattle just as they came there
        F             C                          Dm
O they all laid their money on the Monaghan grey mare.
 
Dm        G
 
[Verse 4]
Dm                             C             G
And the order it was given and away they did fly
Dm                         C                Dm
Stewball like an arrow the grey mare passed by
Dm                              F              C
If you had’ve been there for to see them going round
         F               C                                  Dm
You’d’ve thought to your heart their feet ne’er touched the ground.
 
Dm        G
 
[Verse 5]
Dm                                 C             G
And when at last they came to half way round the course
Dm                       C         Dm
Stewball and his rider began to discourse
Dm                              F           C
Says Stewball to the rider “Can you tell to me
        F       C                          G
How far is that grey mare this moment from me.”
 
F   G     Dm
 
[Verse 6]
Dm                              C            G
Says the rider to Stewball “You run in great style
Dm                              C           Dm
You’re ahead of the grey mare almost half a mile
Dm                             F         C
And if you keep your running I vow and I swear
         F             C                           G
That you never will be beaten by the Monaghan grey mare.”
 
F   G     Dm
 
[Verse 7]
 
Dm                              C               G
The last winning post, Stewball passed it quite handy
Dm                              C                Dm
Horse and rider both called for sherry, wine and brandy
Dm                                F          C
And they drank up a health to the noble grey mare
        F             C                           G
For she emptied their pockets on the Plains of Kildare. F/C: 5,3,0,0 

Wild Mountain Thyme - Robin Jones Tutorial

It seems that Robin is very busy doing tutorials at the moment. Here he shows his approach to the well known song Wild Mountain Thyme. The crosspicking pattern he shows can be used to accompany lots of more songs in 3/4 time. Even Daoiri Farrell uses it a lot, e.g. in his song Creggan White Hare.

This is part 1 of the tutorial. If you want to go further you can get it here.

Edit: I bought part 2 yesterday. I think, it's really worth it. You get 11 videos in which Robin shows and explains the arrangement line by line. Some of them are really short, where he plays one line, others are longer where he gives some tips for playing. In the last video he shows how to play this arrangement to a metronome, which is important to play in time. So I'd really would like to encourage you to buy this tutorial if you are interested in accompanying songs.

Black is the Colour - Robin Jones - Trials of Cato

Another video Robin Jones posted on youtube. The classic song Black is the colour. He uses the arrangement of James Fagan. If you want to learn to play like this you might consider taking classes with Robin, he has some free slots at the moment.

 

This is how James Fagan plays it:

Now I tried to tab the Robin Jones version. Here's the intro. If you would like the pdf including the first verse please write me an email and I will gladly send it to you.

600 000 views, wow!

 This blog now has 600 000 views. Thanks a lot for your interest in the Irish Bouzouki. 

I'm still looking for someone who would like to help me with this blog. Do you have any content, tabs or whatever has to do with the irish bouzouki please get in touch with me.

Old Hag, You have killed me - Robin Jones Arrangement (Trials of Cato)

Robin plays a wonderful arrangement of the tune Old Hag... I tried to tab the first time round, hope I did a good job. If you want the whole tab please send me a email and I'll gladly send it to you for free.

Here's the website of Trials of Cato: https://www.thetrialsofcato.com/

Robin also gives lessons, if you are interested look at www.robinjonesmusic.com

 

Viimaheim - Medievial Folk Music on the Irish Bouzouki

 I haven't covered much medievial music on my blog. Mostly I'm into celtic music. This man captured my attention because I like his rhythmical style of playing. He tunes his bouzouki in ADAD, which I think most players of medievial music do.

His youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Viimaheim

Hej, Sokoły! (AKA Na zielonej Ukrainie) Slavic folk song Originally music by Maciej Kamieński

 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Drink Up, There's More! Game: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Project RED, 2015) Originally music by Marcin Przybyłowicz, Mikołaj Stroiński and Percival

 

Herr Manneling Scandinavian (Swedish) folk song 

 

Wild Mountain Thyme - Lindsay Straw

Lindsay has started her patreon page a few weeks ago. Now she released her first video on that platform. Her beautiful version of the well known song Wild Mountain Thyme. A lovely accompaniment with nice minor chords. On her patreon site you can download an audio version and a chordsheet. She also made a tab as far as I know. But you have to be a paid member. As far as I know this is her first content of bouzouki playing. Hope there will be lots more in the near future. But she also is a fantastic guitar player, so you might check her albums.

Lindsay on patreon:

You can listen to and buy her two albums on bandcamp: 

And here is her website:

Conor Connolly and Ruairi Mcgorman - Downing's house, Prosperous Music festival

 This video is 8 years old, but I just found it on youtube. Box and Greek Bouzouki at their finest. 19 minutes pure joy. If you know the names of the tunes please comment!

Accompanying in C-Major

Three possibilities to fret the chords  C,F, G. This might be useful if you have the capo on 2nd fret and the next tune is in D. It's always good to know chord shapes which are placed together near, so they are easy to fret. It also sounds better if the accompaniment does not contain such large leaps in pitch.

The other chords you might need are Am and Dm which are:

Am: 2,2,3,0  | 2,2,0,2 | 5,7,7,0

Dm: 2,0,0,3 | 7,0,8,0 | 10,12,0,0

Colin Farrell and Alan Murray - The Penny Coin Jig

Another tune I tabbed some time ago and just found on my harddisk. Alan Murray is one of the bouzouki players that inspires me a lot. I really enjoy his accompaniments. I can't remember where I found the abc to the tune, it seems it's not on thesession. The video is part of Colin Farrell's Tune a Day 2022 and it's Day 308

Here's my tab. First line Accompaniment, second line melody. If you would like the full pdf version click here

And don't forget to comment or you can buy me a beer.

Three fine Bouzoukis for sale in Germany

Currently there are 3 handmade bouzoukis for sale on the German market. I don't know the luthiers who built them. If you know anything about them please comment.

https://www.kleinanzeigen.de/.../irish.../2682134343-74-3223

https://www.kleinanzeigen.de/.../iris.../2654143222-74-12653

https://www.kleinanzeigen.de/.../irish.../2646951293-74-3260

Gordon A Jackson - Sir Patrick Spence Intro

Another Tab I found on my harddisk. I tried to tab the intro to the Song Sir Patrick Spence released on his album "It's cold by the door" released in 2021. I think he plays it on a greek bouzouki.

Most viewed posts in January 2024

This is a list of the most viewed posts in Jan 24. If you have missed one... It seems that most visitors just look for the latest posts and don't click on the links on the right. Might be a mistake (?) There are lots of things to discover if you have the time to browse through the older ones.

Nuadan (Macdara Ó Faoláin) - The Beautiful Goldfinch

Just found an old tab on my harddisk. Unfortunately I can't find a video or audio on the internet of the recording from Nuadan. So I had to upload it by myself. I uploaded it as unlisted, hope that's ok and Nuadan don't mind. This is from the first album by the band. It's not on spotify, apple music or bandcamp, so it might be difficult to get it, but it is definitely worth it.

Macdara's website: http://www.macdaraofaolain.com

But this is the tab I made some time ago. If you want the whole tab please click here.

If you download please comment!

Toormore Slide, An Chóisir, The Wedding Feast, The House Party - One tune, many names - Lots of chord possibilities

I always loved the Toormore Slide. Now I tried to collect some chord possibilities and I found a lot of them. Some are obvious, some might sound a bit strange. If you want try them and tell me which are your favourites.

Here's a version with whistle: Athas

A very slow Fiddle take by Mossie Martin

And a fast one by The Press Gang