The Reel of Rio

Reel, G, Irish, by Sean Ryan (1919-1985)
Also known as The Happy Postman; The Road to Rio

This exuberant reel was composed by Irish fiddler Sean Ryan. Sean Ryan, born in County Tipperary in 1919, was a prolific creator of tunes in the Irish tradition, and a very prominent player.

There is some vague lore about the tune’s title. Sean Ryan seems to have named the tune “The Happy Postman.” But later it became known as “The Reel of Rio,” for the city in Brazil, perhaps because there was a “samba” feel to the tune. As for the pronunciation of “Rio,” it might be pronounced as the city “ree-o” or it might be pronounced “rye-o” as a friendly echo of the name “Ryan.”

Recordings

• Video – Niall and Cillian Vallely: Rio (The Reel of Rio / All Round the Room / The Merry Thatcher) – from the album Callan Bridge
• Video – Seán Ryan & Dan Coughlan: Happy Postman Reel – from the album Ryan & Coughlan, Vol. 3. (The tune is in F# in this recording, a half step below standard tuning.)
• Video – Girsa: Reel of Rio / High Road to Linton – from the album A Sweeter Place

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. This simplified version of the tune comes primarily from the playing of Sean Ryan and Dan Coughlan.

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Dinky’s Rio Linton Set: Dinky’s Reel (A Mixolydian) / The Reel of Rio (G) / The High Road to Linton (A Mixolydian)
• The Reel of Rio (G) / Dinky’s Reel (A Mixolydian)
• The Reel of Rio (G) / High Road to Linton (A Mixolydian)
• Green Mountain (D) / The Reel of Rio (G) / Maud Millar (G)
• The Maid Behind the Bar / The Reel of Rio

References and Resources

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

• More Recordings
  • Video – Pat Barton: The Reel of Rio (The Road to Rio) – Irish traditional reel on button accordion – played on Borsini b/c/c# diatonic button accordion
  • Video – Shane Farrell (Irish Tenor Banjo Music): The Reel of Rio – tenor banjo solo
• Books
  • Book – Brian Ryan: The Hidden Ireland: The first selection of Irish Traditional Compositions of Sean Ryan
  • Book – Susan Songer with Clyde Curley: The Portland Collection, Contra Dance Music in the Pacific Northwest, Volume 3
  • Book – Randy Miller and Jack Perron: Irish Traditional Fiddle Music
  • Book – 100 Enduring Irish Session Tunes
• Additional Resources
  • Webpage – The Session: The Reel of Rio – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and other information
  • Webpage – irishtune.info: Reel of Rio – archival information about the tune, curated by Alan Ng
  • Webpage – The Traditional Tune Archive: Reel of Rio – sheet music and tune information
  • Article – The Traditional Tune Archive, Biography: Seán Ryan – a very brief biography