Find traditional instrumental music
X:1
T:Swinging on a Gate
M:C|
R:reel
L:1/8
K:G
d2| "G"gedB G2AB|"Am"cABG AGEG|"G"DGBd g2g2|"D7"fgag fdef|
"G"gedB G2AB|"Am"cABG AGEG|"C"cABG "A7"AGEG|"D7"DGGF "G"G2:|
|:d2|"G"gfga bagf|"Em"gfed B2AG|"Am"EAAB cBAG|EAAB "D7"cdef|
"G"gfga bagf|"Em"gfed B2AB|"Am"cABG "Em"AGEG|"D7"DGGF "G"G2:|
SWINGING ON A GATE. Irish, American; Reel. USA, New England. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. An Irish reel that has become very popular at New England contra dances, especially when backed with a swing chord progression. See related hornpipe "Katherine Brennan's Favorite." The tune’s origins are obscure, however, it appears to have been composed in comparatively modern times. A creditable rumor has it that it came out of the New York Irish traditional music community sometime in the mid-20th century. The alternate title, “Katherine Brennan’s Favorite” points its being populazed by a teacher of New York fiddler Andy McGann’s, which certainly dates it prior to any of the printed sources listed below.
Additional notes
Source for notated version : - Delaware Water Gap (N.Y.) [Brody]; April Limber [Phillips]; the Bridge Ceili Band [Mulvihill].
Printed sources : - Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; p. 272. Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland vol. 1), 1974, No. 53. Laufman (Okay, Let's Try a Contra, Men on the Right, Ladies on the Left, Up and Down the Hall), 1973; p. 35. McNulty (Dance Music of Ireland), 1965; p. 16. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddler’s Repertoire), 1983; No. 87. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No.. 24, p. 6 (appears as “Swinging on the Gate”). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 237. Sannella, Balance and Swing (CDSS). Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 155. Sweet (Fifer’s Delight), 1965/1981; p. 71.
Recorded sources : - Folkways FTS 31098, Ken Perlman "Clawhammer Banjo and Fingerstyle Guitar Solos." Front Hall 05, Fennigs All Stars "Saturday Night in the Provinces." Front Hall 03, Dudley Laufman "Swinging on a Gate." Green Linnet 1009, Edire Og Ceili Band "Irish Music: The Living Tradition." Green Linnet 1021, Father Charles Coen "Father Charlie." Kicking Mule 205, Delaware Water Gap "From the Rivers of Babylon to the Land of Jazz" (1979. Learned from Dudley Laufman's Canterbury Dance Orchestra).
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