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James Morrison recorded his eponymous jig in the 1930’s. One problem, though – he didn’t write the tune, nor did he ever try to name it after himself. He’d learned the jig the night before the recording session from Tom Carmody, the accordion player in his band. Carmody had learned it from his father and knew it as “The Stick Across the Hob” (which you can still find as its own distinct, but very similar tune).
Morrison intended the song to be called “Maurice Carmody’s Favorite” on the album, though due to a typo it was actually labeled “Maurice Comedy’s.” We call it “Morrison’s Jig” today because the tune became associated with Morrison, but you’ll see it and similar tunes still called “The Stick Across the Hob,” “Lyon’s Favourite,” and “Tom Billy’s Whelan’s,” among others.
“Morrison’s Jig” Playing Tips
Note: The B section of this transcription doesn’t get a repeat. Rather, it is doubled in length to 16 bars with some variation between the two 8-bar sections. It is played AAB instead of AABB.
A jig is a traditional form of dance music. They are written in 6/8 time, with the six eighth notes per measure typically written as two sets of triplets. When playing a jig, you emphasize the first note in each triplet to create a driving beat for the dancers to follow. You can count it out like this:
1 – 2 – 3 ; 4 – 5 – 6
Or use the rhythm syllable system:
TRI – o – la ; TRI – o – la
“Morrison’s Jig” has an instantly recognizable hook in the A section. Played on a ukulele, you have to use a technique called string skipping – playing consecutive notes that are far enough apart that you have to jump up or down more than one string, skipping a string entirely.
This is trickier than it sounds, and it’s something you’ll want to practice at a slow tempo at first if you don’t have a lot of experience with it. It’s also important to keep a “down-up-down, down-up-down” picking pattern for your triplet pairs.
If you do a straight alternate picking pattern for the 6 notes (DUDUDU), you’ll find your hand moving up at the beginning of the second triplet. You’ll then have to reverse direction AND skip a string to hit the middle note of the second triplet, which will make it very difficult to stay on beat.
Once you have your pick directions figured out, you can start adding emphasis to the first down stroke of each triplet to highlight the driving ONE-TWO beat of the dance.
If the constant triplets and string skipping are too much for you, I’ve included a simplified version of this song. The download link is below the embedded PDF.
Click the link or the ‘Download’ button below to see the sheet music if your browser doesn’t display the embedded PDF. The simplified version of the song is the bottom download button. Happy picking!
“Morrison’s Jig” Low G Ukulele Sheet Music Download
“Morrison’s Jig (Simplified)” Low G Ukulele Sheet Music Download
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