Click here to jump straight to the TAB for “The Star of Munster.”
I find that my favorite traditional tunes are almost always in a minor key or mode. “Morrison’s Jig,” “Cooley’s Reel,” “The Musical Priest” – these melodies grab my attention in ways that tunes with a major sound just don’t. Today, we can add another great minor melody to the list with “The Star of Munster.”
The melody is old and quite popular, but I haven’t been able to find much in terms of the actual origins. Much like the “star” of “The Star of the County Down,” the star of Munster was most likely an attractive woman. It seems few things could inspire a fiddle tune better than a comely lass.
“The Star of Munster” Playing Tips
I’m including two versions of “Munster” below – one that follows the original melody line and a “Simplified” version. The original tune is nonstop eight notes for almost the entire song, with notes so dense that I was forced to spread the arrangement across two pages, even for the “Simplified” vesion.
My advice to you on this one is to take things slow and focus on the patterns that repeat within the two sections of the tune. Measures 2 and 3 are the same as measures 6 and 7 in the A section, and measures 10 and 11 are the same as measures 14 and 15.
If you think of these repeated patterns as the core(s) of the tune, you’ll then start to notice that the measures around them also have a lot of similarities, too. These traditional tunes were learned by ear for generations, and the ones that stood the test of time and are still around today tend to have “ear worms” built into them. If the patterns weren’t relatively easy to remember (and satisfying to play), these tunes wouldn’t have stuck around for so long.
Click the Download button below if the embedded PDF doesn’t display properly on your device. The “Simplified” version of the tune is the bottom download button. Happy picking!
The-Star-of-Munster-Low-G-Ukulele-Level-1“The Star of Munster” Low G Sheet Music Download
“The Star of Munster (Simplified)” Low G Sheet Music Download
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