Thursday 15 September 2011
Tune of the Day: The Groves
Traditional Irish hornpipe
While generally in the major tonality, accidentals and F-naturals are more or less frequent in this five-part tune, depending on the version. The most common setting today is probably the one in O'Neill's Music of Ireland, a 1903 collection containing 1850 traditional pieces. Francis O'Neill obtained his setting from the great piper Patrick Tuohey, though earlier he had been impressed with a version of the tune by piper John Hicks.
Remember that hornpipes are usually played with a pronounced “dotted” rhythm, even if traditional notation gives no indication of dottedness. You can listen to our samples to get a feel of the rhythm.