Slip Jig Track Suggestions For Practising Bodhran
Apr 10, 2017Slip jigs (9/8 jigs) are one of my favourite types of tunes to play, however many people find initially find it difficult to tell the difference between them and 6/8 jigs. The best solution for this is to listen to lots of great tracks to get more familiar with them.
The tricky thing is many albums don't specify if it's a slip or 6/8 (double) jig. Artists are also known to play around with the timings by adding an extra beat or taking one out. As fun as it is for those of us who can easily hear the change, this can make it quite confusing for someone trying to figure out whether it's a slip jig or not.
In an attempt to help you broaden your understanding of slip jigs I have created a Resource List to guide you along some great tracks.
In each part of the series I'll share with you tracks to practice along with and point out where the tune changes time signature.
- Artist: The Bothy Band
- Album: After Hours
- Track: Kesh Jig / Give Us A Drink Of Water / The Famous Ballymote
- Track: The Butterfly
- https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/after-hours/id275956536
* The first tune is a 6/8 jig, but the Give Us A Drink Of Water' doesn't start until 1:50 mins point of the track. You will notice this is when it switches to 9/8 (slip jig) time. The last tune, ' The Famous Ballymote' is in reel time.
- Artist: Colm Murphy
- Album: An Bodhran
- Track: The Blooming Meadows / The King Of The Pipers / Give Us A Drink Of Water
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/an-bodhran-the-irish-drum/id353802413
* The first two tunes are in 6/8 (double jig) time. Give Us A Drink Of Water (9/8) starts at the 2:25 minute mark.
- Artist: Nuallan
- Album: Piping From Cape Breton Island
- Track: First Figure (P/M Donald MacLean Of Lewis/ Donald James MacDonnell/Alice and Grace Twa/Swaggering Jig - aka Give Us A Drink Of Water)
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/nuallan-the-ep/id1024364617
* The Swaggering Jig, in 9/8 time, doesn't start until the 3:13 minute mark of the track. The previous three jigs are in 6/8 time.
- Artist: Martin Nolan
- Album: Bright Sliver Dark Wood
- Track: Goodman’s Slip Jig (Goodman's Slip Jig/Open The Door For Three/The Turnpike Way)
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bright-silver-dark-wood/id617195847
* All three tunes are in 9/8 time.
- Artist: Colin Grant
- Album: Fun For The Whole Family
- Track: Beoga’s Surprise (Beoga's Mischief/The Porcelain Surprise)
- https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/fun-for-the-whole-family/id355749876
* The first tune is in 9/8 time, but also has an extra beat thrown in every once in a while. Simply add an extra three 8th notes/quavers at the end of Part 1 the first three times through and on Part 2 the third time through the tune. The second tune switches into 6/8 and starts at 1:55 min.
- Artist: Wolfstone
- Album: Year Of The Dog (and Celtic Connections)
- Track: Gingerhog’s No. 2 /The Double Rise/Crossing The Mince/Give Us A Drink Of Water
- https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/after-hours/id275956536
* Gingerhog's No. 2 is in 9/8, Double Rise starts at 1:05 mins and is in 6/8 time. The third tune, Crossing The Mince is in 6/8, and starts at 2:08 mins. The last tune, Give Us A Drink Of Water, is in 9/8 time and starts at 3:11 mins.
- Artist: Breabach
- Album: The Big Spree
- Track: Chloes'
- https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/the-big-spree/id286506292
- Artist: Bully’s Acre
- Album: The Twelve Pins
- Track: Leppadumdowledum (Port Lúascaigh)
- https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/the-twelve-pins/id937582084
- Artist: Chrissy Crowley
- Album: Last Night’s Fun
- Track: Freudian Slip Into Jigs (I Have A House With A Chimney Built On Top Of It/Faith Aaliyah/Skylark's Ascension Jig)
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/last-nights-fun/id768633286
* The first tune, I Have A House With A Chimney On Top Of It, is a slip jig. Faith Aaliyah is in 6/8 and 9/8 time and starts at the 1:37 minute mark (after a 4 bar 6/8 bridge). Chrissy plays around with the timing of this second tune by only playing 15 beats of 6/8 time in Part 1 before repeating (instead of the typical 16 beats/8 bars of jig). Then she breaks into 9/8 time for Part 2, but changes the last bar to 6/8 time. She doesn't repeat Part 2, but goes directly back to playing Part 1 twice more and then Part 2 once more. The third tune, Skylark's Ascension Jig, starts at 2:26 mins and is in 6/8 time.
- Artist: Coig
- Album: Five
- Track: Bad Day At The Beach (Sunburn, Man-flu and The S#!+s/Craig's Pipes/Ann Lacey's/Mickey The Pipes)
- Track: D Jigs (Bathroom, Bar and the Parking Meter/Nora Crionna/ Muineira de Casu/Ellen O'Grady)
- https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/five/id896879549
* Bad Day At The Beach - The first tune, Sunburn, Man-flu and The S#!+s, starts at 0:16 mins and is in 9/8 time. They break into reel time at 1:54 mins and continue with reels until the end of the track.
* D Jigs - The first three tunes are all 6/8 jigs, but the last tune, Ellen O'Grady, is a slip jig. It start at the 3:21 minute mark.
- Artist: Donal Lunny
- Album: Donal Lunny
- Track: Leppadumdowledum (Port Lúascaigh)
- https://youtu.be/gVLtA4uX_NM?t=18m23s
*The entire track is in 9/8 time.
* The above link is a YouTube video of the recording as I couldn't find it on iTunes. If anyone knows where this can be purchased please let me know so I can add the link here.
- Artist: Beoga
- Album: A Lovely Madness
- Track: Soggy’s / Waterboogie
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/a-lovely-madness/id264539085
- Artist: Mac Morin
- Album: Mac Morin
- Track: A Slip Into Something More Comfortable (The Kid On The Mountain/Mrs. James MacNeil)
- https://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/mac-morin/id475759432
- Artist: James Galloway and The Chieftains
- Album: James Galloway and The Chieftains In Ireland
- Track: The Red Admiral Butterfly
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/james-galway-chieftains-in/id921843667
- Artist: Celtic Woman
- Album: Celtic Woman
- Track: The Butterfly
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/celtic-woman/id716051506
- Artist: Eliza Carthy
- Album: Eliza Carthy & The Kings Of Calicutt
- Track: Sheffield Park/Polly Bishop's Slip Jig/Roger De Coverly
- https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/eliza-carthy-kings-calicutt/id656879886
- Artist: Danu
- Album: Up In The Air
- Track: Slip Jig / Jig Gan Aimn
- Track: Slip Jig / The Humours Of Glendart
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/up-in-the-air/id804876426
The Butterfly
Artist: The
Chieftains, James Galway, The Bothy Band
- Give Us A Drink Of Water (aka The Swaggering Jig)
- Sheet Music: https://thesession.org/tunes/635
- Sheet Music https://thesession.org/tunes/10
Open The Door For Three
The Turnpike Way
- Sheet Music: https://thesession.org/tunes/1756
- Sir Roger De Coverly
- Artist: Eliza Carthy
- Album: Eliza Carthy & The Kings Of Calicutt
- Artist: Danu
- Album: Up In The Air
- Sheet Music: https://thesession.org/tunes/9196
- Hardiman the Fiddler
Polly Bishop's
Artist: Eliza Carthy does a nice off-rhythm bit in the last time thru the A section), A Fig for a Kiss (Altan), and these 3 from Planxty (although the last is not a slip jig, despite the name of the video). https://youtu.be/fyE3Mye-eks
- Rocky Road to Dublin
apparently, words were written by D.K. Gavan,
Record
ed in 1964 by the The Dubliners and The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Road_to_Dublin
Rocky Road to Dublin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Rocky Road to Dublin" is a fast-paced 19th century Irish song about a man's experiences as he travels to Liverpool in England from his home in Tuam in Ireland. It is often performed instrumentally.
EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG
Kitty come down from Limerick by the Dubliners (on tenor banjo) and Drops of Brandy. kelly
- Drops of Brandy
- The Happy Farewell, I think it's called? Hamish Moore
Zoe Conway/Meabh O'Hara, An Phis Fliuch on You Tube, which is apparently a vulgar name in Irish; the other name is O'Farrell's Welcome to Limerick. Irish dancers compete in slip jigs, so many Irish dance CDs have lots of great tunes!
The Boys of Ballisodars
Stolen Apples
- Fig for a Kiss
- Kid on the Mountain
The Swaggering Jig (misnamed "Give us a Drink of Water" on the Bothy Band album.
Dever the Dancer
The Dusty Miller
Rince Philib A'Cheoil
- Artist: The Barra MacNeils
- Album: Racket In The Attic
- Track: Rattlin’ Roarin Willie