Jig, D Mixolydian
TrailJams Tune of the Week for September 16, 2021; March 3, 2024
This tune is attributed to Irish piper Garrett Barry, who was born in County Clare in1847, during Ireland’s Great Famine. Known as “the blind piper of Inagh,” Barry was in demand for his piping of dance tunes and slow airs.
Recordings
- Video – Comhaltas Session: Garrett Barry’s Jig. From the album Foinn Seisiún 2: Traditional Irish Session Tunes. (Also transcribed in the accompanying book, Foinn Seisiún Book – Volume 2.)
- Video – Blarney Pilgrims: Blarney Pilgrim/Garrett Barry’s Jig/Banish Misfortune. From the album Blarney Pilgrims, Olde Day Again.
Dots (Music Notation)
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.
This version of the tune is in D Mixolydian with no accidentals. It is a simplified version: it stays politely within its scale, and has wide open space for you to add embellishments as suits your instrument and your taste. If you explore the References and Resources section, you will find other versions of the tune that make beautiful use of notes outside the D Mixolydian scale.
About the chords in this arrangement: The “D5” and “C5” designations mean that only the root and fifth notes in the chord are played, and the third is omitted. So, a D5 chord consists of D and A, and a C5 chord consists of C and G. Because the third is omitted, these chords are neither major nor minor. The chords designated as C5/D mean that the C5 chord is played over a bass note of D.
Play from the Dots
Sets
Examples of sets that include Garrett Barry’s Jig.
- Piper’s Lark Jig Set: Garrett Barry’s Jig (D Mixolydian) / The Lark in the Morning (D)
- Garrett Barry’s / Kitty Lie Over
- Blarney Pilgrim / Garrett Barry’s / Banish Misfortune
References and Resources
For those who want to dig deeper, here are some other resources.
- More Recordings
- Video – Garrett Barry’s Jig – Trad Irish Fiddle Lesson by Kevin Burke. Excerpt of lesson available by subscription to Fiddlevideo. This version of the tune has no sharps in it, with D as its tonic — effectively putting it in D Dorian mode.
- Video – Leo Rickard: Garrett Barry’s /The Lark in the Morning. Played on uilleann pipes, which is the instrument the tune was composed for by the piper Garrett Barry. This version of the tune reaches outside the D Mixolydian mode, making ample use of F#, F natural, C#, and C natural.
- Books
- Book: Complete Irish Fiddle Player, by Peter Cooper, published by Mel Bay. The author provides dots and recordings for two versions of the tune: one version is simple, and the other contains more ornamentation and variation. The set of audio tracks for all of the tunes is downloadable from the publisher’s website.
- Book: Foinn Seisiún Book – Volume 2 published by Comhaltas
- Additional Resources