Community Music

This page is a resource for Middlebury students and community members interested in playing traditional music together.  A starter list of Celtic-related repertoire can be found below.  The list includes a mixture of tunes currently being taught to Middlebury students, tunes that are familiar to other local musicians, as well as some that are frequently heard at sessions around the globe.

Informal Celtic-themed sessions happen at Carol's Hungry Mind Café (downstairs), near the end of each semester.  All are welcome.  Please contact Timothy Cummings for more information.

There are also monthly sessions being hosted by the Champlain Valley Scottish Fiddle Club, on first Sundays, beginning 2pm.  More information, as well as their repertoire list, can be found on their website.

 

COMMON REPERTOIRE FOR TRADITIONAL JAM SESSIONS

(Asterisks [*] mark tunes that can be played on Scottish-style pipes, and so tend to be the most inclusive at local sessions.)

 

AMERICAN:

'Angeline the Baker' (hoedown, in D)*

'Ashokan Farewell' (waltz, in D)

'Ducks on the Mill Pond' (hoedown, in D)*

'Florida Blues' (hoedown, in D)

'Frosty Morning' (hoedown, in A)

'Holy Manna' (shape-note melody, in G or D*)

'Old Joe Clark' (hoedown, in A)*

'Sail Away Ladies' (hoedown, in D)

'Sandy Boys' (hoedown, in A)*

'Simple Gifts' (Shaker dance tune, in G or D*)

'Wayfaring Stranger' (ballad/hymn, in Am)*

'Wondrous Love' (shape-note melody, in Am for pipers)*

 

IRISH:

'The Butterfly' (slip jig, in Em)

'The Dawning of the Day'/'Raglan Road' (4/4 march, in A)*

'Dinky's Reel', (in A)*

'Father Kelly's' (reel, in G)

'The Foxhunter's' (slip jig, in D)

'The Humours of Tulla' (reel, in D)*

'Johnny Doherty's' (reel, in Em)

Kerry polka set

'The Lonesome Jig'/'The Rolling Wave' (in D)

'Lord Mayo' (2/2 march, in Am)

'March of the Kings of Laois' (Irish/Scot 6/8 march/jig, in A)*

'Miss Monaghan's' (reel, in D)

'The Moving Cloud' (Irish/Scot. reel, in F, G or D*)

'Out on the Ocean' (jig, in G)

'The Praties are Dug' (jig, in D)

'The Red-Haired Boy'/'The Jolly Beggarman' (Irish/Scot. reel/hornpipe, in A)*

'Return to Fingal' (slow march in Em)

'The Road to Lisdoonvarna' (jig, in Em)

'Sheebeg & Sheemore' (waltz, in D)

'The Silver Spear' (reel, in D)*

'South Wind' (air/waltz, in G or D*)

'The Swallowtail Jig' (in Em)

'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' (reel, in D)

 

SCOTTISH / CAPE BRETON (CANADA):

'The Atholl Highlanders' (6/8 march, in A)*

'The Battle of Waterloo'/'Bonaparte Crossing the Rockies' (Scot-Irish/App. 4/4 March, in A)*

'Calliope House' (jig, in D for pipes and whistles)*

'Campbell's Farewell to Red Castle/Gap' (Scottish/Appalachian 2/2 , in A)*

'Crossing the Minch'/'McNabb's Hornpipe' (hornpipe, in D)*

'The Dark Island' (slow march/waltz/air, in D)*

'The Devil in the Kitchen' (strathspey, in Am)*

'Donald MacLean's Farewell to Oban' (2/4 march, in A)*

'The Duck' (jig, in D)*

'Farewell to the Creeks' (6/8 march, in A)*

'The High Drive' (reel, in D)*

'Highland Cradle Song' (waltz, in D)*

'Jenny Dang the Weaver' (reel, in D)*

'The Jig of Slurs' (in D/G)*

'MacGregor of Ruara' (3/4 retreat march, in Am)*

'Roxburgh Castle' (reel, in A)*

'Sleepy Maggie' (reel, in Am and/or Bm)*

'The Sound of Sleat' (reel, in D)*

 

LOWLAND / BORDER (SCOTLAND/ENGLAND):

3/2 (triple) hornpipe in A*

'Jenny Nettles' (4/4 march/dance, in A)*

'Linkumdoddie' (4/4 march/dance, in A)*

 

ENGLISH:

'Kingsfold'/'Star of County Down' (English/Irish ballad, in Bm)*

'O Waly, Waly' (waltz/air, in D for pipers)*

 

QUÉBÉCOIS (CANADA):

'Joys of Québec' (reel, in A)

'Saint Anne's Reel' (in D)

'Reel de Gaspé' (in D)

'Reel Saint-Antoine' (in A)

 

BRETON (FRANCE):

Gavottes (in D, Bm)*

Hanter dros (in Bm*; and in G, or D*)

 

GALICIAN (SPAIN):

'Aires de Pontevedra' (in A)*

 

LOCALLY-COMPOSED: