Recently, we have been trialling running a short tune-learning workshop at the beginning of each session.
This involves spending 30-40 minutes learning a new tune by ear. The idea is to increase the confidence
of the sessioners for playing tunes by ear and relying less on the music. After we have learned a tune,
we will post notes about the tune we learned here.
The tunes here should all be shown as scores. If they're not then it could be your browser doesn't support
the library used to draw the music. You can probably see the ABC notation used to generate the music. I'm
trying to add PDFs to all the music so you can download that to see the score. Alternatively, use a new browser!
2012.01.13 - Shove the Pig's Foot a Little Closer to the Fire (American Reel)
This tune is an old-time American tune that's made its way over to the Celtic repertoire.
It was used as the theme tune for Transatlantic Sessions 3 series.
It's often written as a reel or a polka, but it should be played in an old-timey way
which is more like a polka but a bit more relaxed (see the video below).
For those interested, the Pig's foot is a tool used by blacksmiths and the fire is
his furnace!
I've kept the chords really simple here but feel free to throw a few more in. For example,
you could throw some Cs in there just before the Ds. Just try it out.
There's a video below of the tune being played by the Transatlantic Sessions. They syncopate
the first note of the tune, but it's still in 4/4. In a session you're more likely to hear it
played straight as we've written it here.
X:1
T:Shove the Pig's Foot a Little Closer to the Fire
R:American Reel
L:1/8
K:G
GA | "G"BcBA G2 EF | GAGE D4 | DEGA B3 c | "D"B2 A4 GA |
"G"BcBA G2 EF | GAGE D4 | DEGA B3 G | "D"A2 "G"G6 :|
|: "G"Bd-dB d2 Bd | edBc d4 | d4 g2-g d | "D"e2 d4 |
"G"Bd-d Bd-d Bd | edBc d4 | B3 c BAGB | "D"A2 "G"G6 :|