Reel, E Dorian, Traditional Irish
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.
Play from the Dots
Sets
Examples of sets that include this tune.
- Ships are Sailing Reel Set: Ships are Sailing (E Dorian) / The Longford Collector (G) / Swinging on a Gate (G)
- Ships Are Sailing (E Dorian) / The Longford Collector (G) / The Old Copperplate (A Dorian)
- 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
- Farewell to Erin / Ships are Sailing
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