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Our first song is by Padraig Grimes doing a finger picking version of The Cliffs Of Dooneen. Christy Moore has this one
in his set list for many years. The song discribes what can be seen from the cliffs which are located in Co. Kerry that look
out at the coast of Clare..
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It's time to play a Pogues song. This one is Lullaby Of London which is another favorite for me. There's a little riff at the start middle and at the end, there's only a couple of verses
so the riff is essential, otherwise the song would be over before you know it. The Pogues do it in the key of C Major and
that's the way I done it, but I used the capo on the 5th fret to avoid playing the F chord, I do this because I'm aware there's
hundreds of learners who hate playing F. This one is probably for intermediate guitar players as there
are a lot of quick changes.
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Over the next few weeks I'll be putting some video tuition to some
of the more popular songs on the site. These will show the chords and I will play the song in the correct timing. These videos
are mainly for the novice player to get them off on the right track before developing bad habbits. There are several singers
and groups who have changed the timing of well know songs and when a beginner goes to learn the song and the first version
they come across has being changed from the original then the learner will assume this is the way to play it. Take for example
the well know song Fiddlers Green by John Conolly, well when you listen to John playing it and then listen to for example Barney McKenna from The Dubliners,
it's like two completely songs, Barney plays it much slower from the way it was written.
The first video lesson of the new year is an old standard ballad that's
sang by every ballad singer in Ireland. I use a capo on this one which is called Spancil Hill it's almost always played in the Am key
The second video lesson is an old Scottish song brought to Ireland
by Luke Kelly, Luke learned most of the old stuff from Ewan McColl who was his mentor while in England. This one is a love
song called Peggy Gordon which is in the key of D.
Day three brings another one that was covered by The Dubliners and
next to Molly Malone it's probibly the most sang of all the Dublin ballads. Written back in the 70's by Pete St. John it's
a standard at all the sessions around Ireland, if your going to sing ballads in a pub you must include The Rare Auld Times
The next song was one of the first ones I placed here on the site
many years ago, It's a classic at this stage and translated into many languages around the world, like all the videos I do
myself here I try to keep the timing and feel of the tune as original as possible. There Were Roses
There are standard songs that are preformed at nearly all folk session,
what's meant by a standard is that there are about 50 or so songs that you'll hear being played time after time, today's song
is one of them. It's a simple little three chord job that's being around for a hundred years and it's called Sam Hall
Staying with the old traditional tunes the next one is even easier
to learn as it uses only 2 chords. Although this one has the D and A7 chords within the lyrics I prefare to play A as I think
it sounds better for me. it's Black Velvet Band
Pete St. John is Ireland's most well known song writer, he has penned
some of the countrys most loved folk songs over the past 40 years. His biggest hit to date went to No.1 in the charts when
it was recorded by Paddy Reilly all them years ago, as Paddy said of Pete ''he writes for folk singers, he keeps things simple''
, and that's what I have done here with The Fields Of Athenry , I recently changed the key from G to D because that's the key I play it in.
Even though this is mainly a site for folk music we all love the odd
pop song thrown into a session. I'm no different. Today's update is a handy 3 chord job which was covered by The Wolfe Tones
on the album ''The Teddy Bear's Head'' way back in 1967 but I'm sure it was Johnny Cash who first recorded it in the 1950s.
The version I use is in between the two.
I Still Miss Someone guitar chords It's not a song you'll hear the 'tones play anymore, in fack they play very little of the pop stuff now-a-days. Still
it's worth learning and always goes down well no matter where you play.
Today's video was done in a bit of a hurry as it was requested, I
haven't played The Reason I Left Mullingar in years. It's one of the songs of emigration from the 1980s written by Pat Cooksey and sang by The Fureys. It's not my best
rendition but, hay, this is not the xfactor or any other singing compition, it's here to learn the chords.
Gallipoli by The Fureys and Davie Arhtur is from the first world war and it's all about a father's thoughts about his son
heading off to fight in Gallipoli when the father thinks his son should be staying at home to fight for Ireland in the war
of independence. It's not that difficult to play, watch for the C Chord in the chorus.
A Rainy Night In Soho is also played in the key of C by The Pogues, for this one I again play it in the key of C using the capo on the 5th,
it's the same three chords all the way through. Although it's one of the best love songs written in the last 30 years it only
reached number sixty seven in the British charts when released. A lack of air play from the radio stations ment it never got
into the top 20 in Ireland or Britain.
The Gypsy which was recorded by Johnny McEvoy is all about a travelling man who meets a young girl in the countryside. The girl
becomes infatuated with the gypsy and wants to marry him, but the girl is only eight years old, this one is really easy
to play.
Where My Eileen Is Waiting is an old love song that started it's life in America 90 years ago. Johnny McEvoy got hold of it and it became a hugh hit
for him. I have being singing this one for close to 30 years now an never get fed up playing it.
Jimmy McCarthy from Cork is one of the finest writers
in Ireland, Jimmy writes what's called ''Contemporary Ballads'' , and that's the stuff Christy Moore loves to sing, from ''Missing
You'', to ''Ride On'' which are both classics, but today I'm having a go at singing Bright Blue Rose in the key of D.
James Connolly On Guitar I have set this one in the key of A using the capo on the 2nd fret. It's a rebel song I first heard from The Wolfe Tones in
the early 1970s. Nobody knows who wrote it so it's credited as ''Traditional''. It tells the story of this man from Scotland
who came to Ireland to organise the trade union movement in Belfast before moving to Dublin. He then sets up The Irish Volunteers
and from his base in Liberty Hall in Dublin he marched his men to The General Post Offce which was only a few meters away
to take part in the Easter Rising of 1916 and was later shot for his part while tied to a chair.
There are man fine songs that arrived in Ireland over the last hundred years or so from England. Most have stood the
test of time mainly because they were written in the standard folk style, what's ment by this is that they have usually
got four lines in the verse and a catchy chorus with a good tune to go with it. Also the song is easy to remember and
the subject is something that many people can relate to. The Wild Rover is one of them and is what I'd call a tourist song, these are the ones that when you're playing a session in a pub and
some tourists arrive in they will often ask for The Wild Rover, Dirty Old Town or The Fields Of Athenry. Many folkies
hate playing these ones as they feel they have being ''Played To Death'' , worn out. But once you get going and see that everbody
joins in then you'll also enjoy singing them. I was one of the folkies that didn't ever play The Tourists songs for years, I
was fed up to the back teeth with listening to them from going to other groups sessions. But I discovered that your not
just playing to please yourself but also the people in the pub who might not of heard the song for years. I have asked
other groups and singers if they get tierd playing the same old stuff night after night and the anser most gave was yes
they do, but when they see how the audience enjoys listening to they they also start getting a buzz from performing they.
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| E Chord Using Capo |
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| D Chord Using Capo |
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| B Chord Using Capo |
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| A 7 Chord Using Capo |
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| A Chord Using Capo |
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The chord images above are a guide for using the capo on the second fret. There are hundreds of songs on this site
that require a capo to play along with. There are several reasons why you would use a capo. The first one is because you dread
playing a standard B Major chord, well as the chart above suggests, you only have to put the capo between the first and secont
fret and make an ''A Shape'' and the sound produced is B Major. The main reasing for me using it is because I feel it produces
a much crisper sound.
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