Click here to jump straight to the TAB.
A while back, I posted the song “Off to California,” one of my favorite hornpipes, and I noted that the song bears a strong resemblance to today’s tune: “Fireman’s Reel.”
If you listen to the two songs next to each other, there is no denying the similarity. They sort of feel like two different people painted a picture of the same landscape. The same ideas are there and recognizable in each, but the way everything fits together is a little different.
Some of the differences are obvious and right on the surface. “California,” for example, works best in C on the uke; “Fireman’s” plays best in D, making it a bit higher in overall pitch. But the biggest difference between the two is a bit more subtle. The songs feel different, both to the listener and to the musician, because they are each a distinct form of Irish folk music: “California” is a hornpipe; “Fireman’s” is a reel.
When I posted “Off to California,” I talked a bit about the difference between a hornpipe and a reel, but since “California” is a hornpipe, I focused mainly on how to add a dotted rhythm to give a hornpipe it’s distinctive bounce. Today, I’m going to do the opposite and talk about playing reels.
“Fireman’s Reel” Playing Tips
Before I dig too much into this topic, I want to clarify that the differences between a hornpipe and a reel are often region-dependent. If you are playing the two tune types in an Irish style, then they are very distinct. If you are playing them in a Bluegrass or Old Time style, you might play them almost exactly the same way and might not distinguish between them at all.
North American folk music tends to have much more bounce to it across the board, while Old World folk musicians played things a lot more straight in many styles. This is perhaps because those older traditions grew directly out of a more formal dance culture that had much more rigid rhythmic conventions.
So while I’m going to give you some tips on playing “Fireman’s” as a straight reel, you will often hear it played more the way that I play “St. Anne’s Reel” in that post. “St. Anne’s” is a much more distinctly New World tune that gained popularity in Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, so you don’t often hear it played straight.
The Rules for Playing Irish Reels
Okay, so how do you play an Irish-style reel? There are three main rules:
- Play Fast: Reels are much more up-tempo than hornpipes.
- Play Straight: Play the notes as written. Don’t insert a dotted feel.
- Emphasize the Downbeat: Keep reading for a full explanation of this one.
An Irish reel has a strong, driving rhythm that helps dancers keep time, and while reels are always written in 4/4 time, the emphasis is only ever placed on two beats in a given measure – the 1 and the 3, also known as the downbeats. (You’ll also see this referred to as the 1 and the 5 because a measure usually will have 8 eighth notes rather than 4 quarter notes, but it’s still referring to the same spot in the measure.)
Let’s look at the first measure and see how it sounds rhythmically using rhythm syllables:
Since we are playing the song with a straight feel, the rhythm syllables are simple:
TI TI TI TI TI TI TI TI
To give it an Irish reel feel, you add emphasis to the first note and the fifth note of the measure, which you can think of like this:
TI ti ti ti TI ti ti ti
You’ll want to play reels with a regular “down-up-down-up” picking pattern, so to add the emphasis, you just have to pick a little harder on the downstroke on beats one and three.
A lot of this emphasis on the downbeats will also come from the rhythm and percussion players if you are playing in a group or with a backing track. Don’t stress about doing all the heavy lifting on your own.
If the constant barrage of eighth notes is too much for you in this tune, I’ve also provided a simplified arrangement that puts more empty space into the song so your fingers can catch up. You can find a download button for the simplified arrangement at the bottom of the post.
Click the link or the ‘Download’ button below to see the sheet music if your browser doesn’t display the embedded PDF. Happy picking!
“Fireman’s Reel” Low G Sheet Music Download
“Fireman’s Reel (Simplified)” Low G Sheet Music Download
Leave a Reply