Dusty Windowsills

Jig, A Dorian, by Johnny Harling, 1977
Also known as: The Chicago Jig; Austin Barrett’s; The Dusty Windowsill

This jig features interval jumps that give the tune an exciting syncopated sound.

Johnny Harling composed this jig in Chicago in 1977. By some accounts, he took inspiration from the song “Dust in the Wind,” which began playing on the radio that year. The tune’s name also was inspired by actual dusty windowsills, and some of the lore of the tune is that Johnny jotted the melody down in the dust. Johnny composed the tune on tin whistle.

Recordings

• Video – Alban Fuam: The Dusty Windowsill / The Gravel Walk – from the album From Galway to Dublin
• Video – Niilo Sirola: Jigs: Kitty Lie Over / Dusty Windowsills – solo tenor banjo with backing on bouzouki. (Dusty Windowsills starts at time 1:48 in this recording.)
• Video – Comhaltas: Dusty Windowsills – from the album Foinn Seisiún 1: Traditional Irish Session Tunes, published by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann

Sheet Music

As always for traditional tunes, the musical notation and chords do not indicate the “right” way to play the tune, but are a useful reference.

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Dust & Gravel Set: Dusty Windowsills (Jig, A Dorian) / The Gravel Walks (Reel, A Dorian)
• Kitty Lie Over / Dusty Windowsills

References and Resources

For those who want to dig deeper, here are some other resources.

• More Recordings
  • Video – Shane Farrell: Dusty Windowsills Jig – tenor banjo solo
  • Video – Pat Barton Accordion: Dusty Windowsills – Irish traditional jig on button accordion – b/c/c# diatonic button accordion
• Books
  • Book & Audio – Dave Mallinson: 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes
  • Book – Foinn Seisiún, Volume 1 — Published by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
  • Book & Audio – Stephen Ducke: Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes – sheet music with tin whistle recordings
  • Book & Audio – Peter Cooper: Complete Irish Fiddle Player – the tune is called “The Chicago Jig” in this book. (Mel Bay Publications)
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Hatao (hatao’s Irish tune of the day): The Dusty Windowsills (Double Jig, A Dorian) – video lesson. Tune played on flute with on-screen sheet music.
  • Lesson – Chris Haig (The Fiddle Channel): The Dusty Windowsill (Irish fiddle lesson) – video lesson
  • Lesson – Sean Cunningham (whistletutor): Tin Whistle Lesson – Dusty Windowsills (Jig) – video lesson
• Additional Resources
  • Web page – The Session: Dusty Windowsills – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and more
  • Web page – irishtune.info: Dusty Windowsills – archival information about the tune, curated by Alan Ng
  • Article – Jonathan Lay (TrailJams): Dorian, Mixolydian, Oh My: Modes in a Nutshell