O’Keefe’s Slide

A Dorian, Traditional Irish Slide
TrailJams Tune of the Week for December 19, 2021; May 14, 2023

This traditional tune is named for Pádraig O’Keefe (1887-1963), a master fiddler of Ireland’s Sliabh Luachra region. Sliabh Luachra (or Slieve Logher) is the mountainous region in Ireland that straddles the county boundaries of Cork, Kerry, and Limerick.

Recordings

• Audio – Comhaltas: O’Keefe’s. From the album Foinn Seisiún Volume 1, published by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.
• Audio – Stephen Ducke: O’Keefe’s Slide. Played on tin whistle. From the book Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes.

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.

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Murphy’s Road Slide Set: The Road to Lisdoonvarna (E Dorian) / O’Keefe’s Slide (A Dorian) / Denis Murphy’s Slide (D)
• Brosna Slide Set: The Brosna Slide / O’Keefe’s Slide / Denis Murphy’s Slide

References and Resources

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

• More Recordings
  • Video – The Chieftains: O’Keefe’s Slide, in E Dorian. From the album The Chieftains 4.
  • Audio – The Jones Boys: Hardiman the Fiddler​/​The Kesh Jig​/​Dennis Murphy’s​/​O’Keefe’s from the album Like the Sun a​-​Glittering. Dennis Murphy’s starts at time 1:48; O’Keefe’s starts at 2:42.
  • Video – Claire Shirey: O’Keefe’s Slide / Dennis Murphy’s Slide Concertina
• Books
  • Book – Foinn Seisiún, Vol 1. Published by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.
  • Book & Audio – Irish Music 400 Traditional Tunes, by Stephen Ducke 
  • Book & Audio – Learn to Play Irish Fiddle, by Tom Morley (The tune is in E Dorian in this book.)
  • Book – The Portland Collection, Vol. 1 (The tune is in E Dorian in this book.)
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Claire Shirey: O’Keefe’s (A minor) Slide Concertina Tutorial – video tutorial on concertina
• Additional Resources
  • Webpage – The Session: O’Keeffe’s slide – crowdsourced sheet music, comments and more.
  • Article: Jonathan Lay (TrailJams): Dorian, Mixolydian, Oh My: Modes in a Nutshell
  • Webpage – The Jones Boys: O’Keefe’s Slide notes about the tune, with sheet music.