Ships are Sailing

Reel, E Dorian, Traditional Irish
TrailJams Tune of the Week June 25, 2023; April 21, 2024

This is a strong Irish reel that has journeyed across oceans and become one of the most popular of Irish session tunes.

Recordings

• Audio – Traonach: Ships Are Sailing​/​The Longford Collector​/​The Old Copperplate (reels)
• Audio – Comhaltas: Ships are Sailing from the album Foinn Seisiún Volume 1
• Video – Pat Barton: The Ships are Sailing – Irish traditional reel on button accordion

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.

• Ships & Copperplate Reel Set: Ships are Sailing (E Dorian) / The Longford Collector (G) / The Old Copperplate (A Dorian)
• Farewell Reel Set: Farewell to Ireland (A Dorian) / Ships are Sailing (E Dorian)
• Ships are Sailing Reel Set: Ships are Sailing (E Dorian) / The Longford Collector (G) / Swinging on a Gate (G)
• The Cup of Tea / Ships are Sailing / The Star of Munster
• Swinging on a Gate / Ships are Sailing
• The Sally Gardens / Ships are Sailing/ The Banshee

References and Resources

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

• More Recordings
  • Video – Prawdziwe Perły: Farewell to Erin / The Ships Are Sailing (Reels) from the album Na Wygnaniu
  • Video – Enda Scahill: Ships Are Sailing – Irish Reel on Tenor Banjo
• Books
  • Book & Audio – Matt & Shannon Heaton: In Harmony 
  • Book & Audio – Dave Mallinson: 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes
  • Book & Audio – Stephen Ducke: Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes
  • Book – Foinn Seisiún, Volume 1 — Published by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. 
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Tergal14 Mandolin: Irish mandolin lessons. Ships are sailing (reel) – video mandolin lesson with tablature in video
  • Lesson – Irish Tenor Banjo with Enda Scahill: Ships are Sailing, Free Tutorial for Irish Banjo – video tutorial, with link to Patreon for more resources. Also see Enda’s video: An Irish Bag of Licks for Ships are Sailing, and his book & course Learn Irish Banjo Vol II – Expert Techniques To Improve Your Playing
  • Lesson – Sean Cunningham (Whistletutor): Tin Whistle Lesson – Ships are Sailing (Em reel) With Tabs – video lesson with whistle tablature in video
• Additional Resources
  • Article – Jonathan Lay (TrailJams): Dorian, Mixolydian, Oh My: Modes in a Nutshell
  • Webpage – The Session: The Ships are Sailing – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and other information