The Providence Reel

Reel, D, attributed to John McGrath (1900–1955)
Also known as: The Rossport Reel

In the lore of this tune, it acquired its title “The Providence” when Michael Coleman introduced it to two other musicians heading by train to Providence, Rhode Island in 1940. The tune is generally attributed to John McGrath (1900–1955), of Rossport, County Mayo, Ireland.

Recordings

• Video – Matt Molloy and Sean Keane: The Sword In The Hand / The Providence Reel / The Old Bush – from the album Contentment is Wealth. (The Providence Reel starts at time 0:49 in this recording.)
• Video – The Good Tune: The Sporting Pitchfork & Providence Reel – played on fiddle (Kevin Lees) and guitar (Sebastian Bloch). (In this recording, The Providence Reel starts at time 1:32.)
• Video – Dulahan Ireland: The Providence Reel – played on fiddle, tenor banjo, and guitar. (Dulahan is the duo of Joe and Adele Green, County Mayo, Ireland.)

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.

• The Salamanca / The Providence Reel
• The Floating Crowbar / Providence
• The Providence / The Eel in the Sink / The Culfada

References and Resources

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

• Books
  • Book & Audio – Dave Mallinson: 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes
  • Book – O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, 100 Jigs and Reels – Downloadable book (PDF)
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Shannon & Matt Heaton: Providence [Reel in D] – Tune of the Month with Shannon Heaton – taught phrase-by-phrase on flute and guitar.
  • Lesson – Hatao (hatao’s Irish tune of the day: 470 The Providence (Double Reel, D) – video lesson on flute, with on-screen sheet music. (In this version of the tune, D is the lowest note played, so it can be played on a D whistle or Irish flute.)
  • Lesson – The Irish Mandolin: The Providence Reel – in D Major tabbed for mandolin and played by Aidan Crossey – played on mandolin, with on-screen sheet music and tablature
  • Lesson – Chris Haigh (The Fiddle Channel): Providence Reel (Irish fiddle lesson) – video lesson on fiddle. Simple and ornamented version of the tune.
  • Lesson – Mikie O’Shea: The Providence – Whistle – video lesson on tin whistle
• Additional Resources
  • Article – Jonathan Lay (TrailJams): Dorian, Mixolydian, Oh My: Modes in a Nutshell
  • Web page – The Traditional Tune Archive: The Providence – sheet music and archival notes about the tune.
  • Web page – Henrik Norbeck’s ABC Tunes: The Providence – Sheet music, ABC notation