The Musical Priest

Reel, Bm, Traditional Irish
TrailJams Tune of the Week: November 21, 2021; January 29, 2023; August 2, 2026

One of the few traditional Irish tunes in B minor, The Musical Priest is a compact three-part reel—approachable, rich in variation, and thrilling when its final part reaches for the high notes.

Two features of this tune set it apart from most traditional Irish reels. First, it is in the key of B minor, which is a fairly rare key for Irish tunes. B minor uses the notes of the D major scale, and this tune lays out well on whistles, concertinas, and fiddles. Second, this tune is a three-part single reel. So, rather than having the usual A and B parts, this tune has A, B, and C parts. But as a single reel, each part is short: each is four measures long rather than the more typical eight measures of a double reel. While the basic tune is fairly simple to play, it invites ornamentation and variation, as you will hear in the recordings.

The tune was printed in Francis O’Neill’s collections in 1903 and 1907 and was recorded by the celebrated Sligo fiddler James Morrison in 1935. It may have developed from a Scottish strathspey associated with the names Belhelvie House and The North Bridge of Edinburgh, although the Irish reel has taken on a distinct form and identity of its own.

Reaching that High B Note: In the third part of this tune, the repeated reaches to a high B note make it challenging to play on mandolin and tenor banjo. For some strategies on how to deal with this, be sure to see Enda Scahill’s lesson on playing this tune on tenor banjo (see the References and Resources section below).

Recordings

• Video – The Dubliners: The Musical Priest / The Blackthorn Stick – two reels from the album The Dubliners.
• Video – Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds: Musical Priest / Sailor On The Rock – from the album Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds, with Paul Brady
• Video – Liz Carroll: The Silver Spear/The Earl’s Chair/The Musical Priest (Reels) from the album Lost in the Loop.

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.

• Mettle & Mirth Reel Set: The Musical Priest (Bm)  / The Merry Blacksmith (D) / The Boys of Malin (A)
• Silver Chair Reel Set: The Silver Spear (D) / The Earl’s Chair (D) / The Musical Priest (Bm)
• The Musical Priest / The Torn Jacket
• The Musical Priest / Father Kelly’s / Castle Kelly
• Musical Priest / Devanney’s Goat
• Musical Priest / Sheehan’s / Star of Munster
• Musical Priest / Sheehan’s / Merry Blacksmith

References and Resources

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

• More Recordings
  • Audio – Stuart Mason & John Weed: The Musical Priest – played slowly on fiddle with guitar backing. From the album Slow & Easy Volume 1.
  • Video – Ryan G. Duns: Tin Whistle, The Musical Priest – solo tin whistle
• Books
  • Book – Tom Morley: Learn to Play Irish Fiddle – with audio tracks.
  • Book – Dave Mallinson: 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes – with audio tracks.
  • Book – John Weed and Stuart Mason: Slow & Easy Volumes 1 and 2 – with audio tracks.
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Chris Haigh (The Fiddle Channel): The musical priest (Irish Reel) – fiddle lesson – video lesson includes sheet music in video
  • Lesson – Shannon Heaton: Musical Priest – #NameYerTune – tune taught phrase by phrase on flute
  • Lesson – Duncan Cameron Music: Musical Priest fiddle lesson
  • Lesson – Enda Scahill: Learn The Musical Priest Reel – How To Play THAT Third Part! – tenor banjo, free video lesson. The same lesson in more depth is available by subscription to the Enda Scahill Tenor Banjo Patreon channel.
• Additional Resources
  • Webpage – The Session: The Musical Priest – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and more information