Bearing in mind that one of my life rules is “Never say never”, 100 Popular Irish Session Tunes is the last in the series. Although the series comprises 600 tunes, this last book is still packed with popular standards. The Green Mountain, George White’s and The Bank of Turf are all perfect examples. Reels, jigs, hornpipes, polkas, slides, slip jigs, and barn dances are to be found in the book with the usual importance given to reels followed by jigs. Six books of 100 Irish tunes plus six accompanying CDs has been a mega project. I think that if I had known at the outset what an enormous task I was setting myself, I would never have started. It has taken around 20 years to complete plus 15 years before that studying the music, when producing books such as these would never have entered my head.  To be fair, the books’ development was nothing like as precise as this. I didn’t wake up one morning and say to myself “I think I’ll produce six Irish music books”. The books developed steadily over time, born out of my impatience to learn more and more tunes as quickly as possible. I found I kept forgetting tunes I had learned earlier, particularly the setting I had worked out to suit myself and my instrument, (I still forget nowadays but on a larger scale). Because of this, I started jotting the tunes down for easy revision. Then I saw a gap in the market and I published 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes from my crib sheets. It was a much bigger success than I had imagined, so I continued the series. I didn’t intend to bring out accompanying CDs but I had such a lot of requests for them that, in the end, I relented and produced the recordings, that took 13 years. Now the project is finished, I’m glad I’ve done it and I’m pleased with the end product although I would have liked to have had more talent to put into the soundtracks, but it’s difficult when you don’t start young. However, I feel that I have been paid a great compliment by the fact that companies in Ireland have copied my products, some tunes note for note. The tune settings in this book are all ‘session friendly’, i.e. you can learn them exactly as written and know that you will have a perfectly acceptable version. However, I consider it unwise to learn a tune from only one source and I would suggest strongly that, when learning a new tune, you pay heed to other books, recordings and live performances. It is important to note that the settings in this book are greatly influenced by the instrument I play, the D/G melodeon (an accordion system rarely found in Irish music circles - B/C and C sharp/D are the norm). I’ve made a conscious effort to allow this to happen in order to give the book its own unique character. When choosing books, take care not to be put off by the title; some of the best sources of tunes are from tuition books. Just because the book cover says ‘Learn to Play the Banjo’, don’t think it’s of no use if you play the tin whistle. Books will only help you to learn the notes of a tune. To pick up the rhythm of Irish music you must devote a large amount of time listening to both recordings and live musicians. Of greatest importance, you must practise; the value of this book is directly proportional to the number of hours a day you spend practising. Chord arrangements are more or less as played on the soundtrack, but nevertheless, are only suggestions. The dominant chords (i.e. D in the key of G, A in the key of D and E in the key of A etc.) throughout this book are noted as plain major chords, whereas many musicians prefer to play the seventh (D7, A7, E7 etc.). Feel free to play either type of chord as the mood takes you. Suggested ornamentation has been kept to a minimum and is indicated by the symbol ~. To help those whose music reading skills only extends as far as finding the notes, a separate, optional CD has been produced (DMPCD1101), so you can familiarise yourself with a tune before learning it.

Contents

Reels

Ambrose Maloney's Bag of Potatoes, The Belles of Tipperary, The Boys of Malin, The Castle Kelly Colonel Frazer Dairy Maid, The Dinkie's Drunken Tinker, The Dublin Reel, The Eel in the Sink, The Farewell to Erin First Month of Summer, The Foxhunters' Reel Galtee Rangers Gatehouse Maid, The George White's Fancy Green Mountain, The Jackson's Jenny Picking Cockles Kilrush Polka No. 1, The Kilrush Polka No. 2, The King of the Clans Laington's Liffey Banks, The Lucky in Love Mamma's Pet Mayor Harrison's Fedora McDonagh's McFadden's Handsome Daughter Michael Creamer's Michael Reilly's Milliner's Daughter, The Molloy's Monsignor's Blessing Mountain Top, The

Mullingar Races Music in the Glen My Love and I in the Garden Paddy Cronin's Peter Street Piper's Despair, The Rattigan's Reconciliation, The Red Haired Lass, The Stenson's Stoney Steps, The Swinging on a Gate Tom Ward's Downfall Union Reel, The Volunteer, The

Jigs

Bank of Turf, The Bill Collins' Brian O'Lynn Bush on the Hill, The Butchers' March, The Come Have a Drink With Me Con Cassidy's Get Up Old Woman and Shake Hole in the Hedge, The Jerry's Beaver Hat Kinnegad Slashers Leg of the Duck, The Leitrim Fancy Old Man Dillon Orphan, The Paddy Taylor's Rambler, The Richard Brennan's Favourite Rose's Delight Scatter the Mud Seamus Cooley's

Sliabh Russell Trip to Sligo, A Visit to Ireland, A

Hornpipes

Byrne's Derry, The High Level, The Poppy Leaf, The Showman’s Fancy

Polkas

Annaghbeg, The Gullane No. 2, The Johnny O'Leary's Many a Wild Night Pete Bradleys Timmy O'Connors

Slides

Ceanngulla, The Con Carthy's Favourite Dan Cronin's Dennis Enright's Glountane Frolics Kishkeam, The Scart, The

Slip Jigs

Cock and the Hen

Dever the Dancer

Fig for a Kiss

Give Us a Drink of Water

Swaggering Jig

Barn Dances

Hills of Tara, The Peach Blossoms