New Hampshire Country Dance Fiddle Tunes Website

Playable Tunes in Standard Notation

The Jigs Page

Here are all the jigs on the website in standard notation. Click on any tune to play it; you should hear the melody with a simple accompaniment. Click on white space to stop playback.

Using the Playable Tunes
About the Help Links. Click on a help link to open a Help Window with a more detailed discussion of its help topic.

Please note: For reasons described below this page should be viewed on a computer rather than a tablet or phone.

★      Playback Controls. There are sliders just below the menus to control music tempo and volume. Please start playback before using the sliders; otherwise an error message will result. Click for Help with Playing the Tunes

★      Page Navigation. Use the menus at the top of the window. Menus scroll if there's not enough room for all items, and they remain open until the pointer is moved away to make it easier to explore the tunes. Click for Help with Finding Tunes & Site Navigation

★      About the Tunes. To learn more about the different types of tunes go to About The Tunes . Click for Help with Learning About the Tunes

★      Tune Downloads may be found on the Tune Index or the Downloads Page.

Important Note: Playable tunes are best viewed on a computer. They don't resize on smaller screens, and they may produce unpredictable results. On an iPhone or iPad you're likely to see the tune but it won't play. On an Android tablet results can range from just getting an error message to seeing the tune and having buggy playback. The tune menu doesn't fit on a smaller screen.


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Using the Tunes

The tunes on the Playable Tunes pages are in standard notation, and can be played.

To Play a Tune. Just click on a note and the tune starts playing from there. You'll get the melody and a basic accompaniment.

★       To End Playback. Click in the white space in or outside of the tune.

★       Playback Controls. Right below the menu bar at the top of the window are two sliders. One controls the tempo of playback and the other controls a tune's volume.

▶           Please wait until playback has started to use these controls. If you click on the sliders before starting tune playback you will get an error message.

This is not a download section. If you want to download tunes, use the Tune Index or the Downloads Page.

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Page & Site Navigation

There are four menus at the top of the page. To dismiss a menu move the pointer away.

★       Find a Tune Quickly. Use the menu named for the tune category on the page (e.g. The Reels). Choose a tune from the menu and you'll be taken right to that tune.

▶           The menu will display as many tunes as there is room to display. If there are more tunes the menu will scroll..

▶           Use your trackpad or scroll wheel to scroll the menu; on a mobile device there may be scroll bars visible. If you can't get the menu to scroll try putting your device in portrait orientation to make room for longer menus.

★      Use the Tunes by Type menu to navigate between the pages for different tune types in this section.

★      Use the Website Menu to go elsewhere in the website, and the NHCD menu to go to related websites (e.g. the Dance website) .

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Learn About the Tunes

★       Explore the Tune Collection. Go to the searchable Tune Index page for a listing all the tunes as well as links to take you right to them.

★      About the Tune Categories. Learn about the different types of tunes on the website at About The Tunes .

▶           There's an overview of NewEngland fiddle tunes and some discussion of each type of tune we cover here.

★      Listen to the Tunes. The Playable Tunes section has playable versions of all the tunes on the website.

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~ Jigs ~


  • Andy De Jarlis, Canadian Old Time Music. London EBX 4123, 1968.

  • Basic Melody; also presented with ornamentation from the playing of Andy De Jarlis. Andy ended the tune with a short, strong note.

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  • Andy De Jarlis, Canadian Old Time Music. London EBX 4123, 1968.

  • Ornamentation from Andy De Jarlis, Canadian Old Time Music, London EBX 4123 A more basic version of the melody is presented as well.

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  • Carter Newell

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  • This tune just came to me nearly complete. For most dances omit the repeat in the A part and play the second ending.

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  • Loosely based on a recording of George Wilson

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  • Fourgone Conclusions, Contra Dance Music from Western Massachusetts. Front Hall Records, FHR-029, FHR-029CD, 1983.

  • A Swedish jig, sometimes played as a reel. In the first half of measure 7 of the A part I prefer a C chord, but only when played as a jig.

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  • Fourgone Conclusions, Contra Dance Music from Western Massachusetts. Front Hall Records, FHR-029, FHR-029CD, 1983.

  • A Swedish jig, sometimes played as a reel.

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  • Frank Ferrel, Classic Down East Fiddle Music. Voyager Records, CD 370, 1975, 1980, 2006 (CD).

  • The melody is a fairly standard version; I'm not sure where I leanred it. The chords for this tune have always baffled me. I figured out these chords as accurately as I could from Frank Ferrel's Classic Down East Fiddle Music, Gilles Losier, piano.

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  • Newt Tolman & Kay Gilbert, Nelson Music Collection. Record, DR 8292, around 1970); Book, 1969.

  • Here is how it's written out in the Nelson Music Collection by Newt Tolman and Kay Gilbert. Adapted from a transcription by Ralph Palmer. There's a somewhat different version under the name There Came A Young Man, also presented in this collection. The chords are identical except that version has an Em chord instead of an E7.

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  • Old Grey Goose, Old-Time Country Song & Dance Band (cassette), 1993.

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  • Bill Spence with Fennig's All-Stars, Fennigmania, Front Hall Records FHR-024, 1981.

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  • This one started out as an exercise to see how long I could stay away from the G chord in the B part. At the time I was playing music with Deanna Stiles regularly. She told me she liked the tune so we started playing it together. The Cocheco River runs through Dover, NH, where I was living at the time.

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  • Played for The Roberts, usually as a two-part tune; see Tunes with Associated Dances.

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  • Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra. F&W Records, F&W 3, 1972.

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  • Old Grey Goose, Maine Country Dance Music and Song. Folkways Records FD 6530, 1979. Chords are from Doug Protsik, Old Grey Goose.

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  • Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra, Swinging on a Gate, Front Hall Records, FHR-03, 1974 (both melody and chords).

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  • Old Grey Goose, Maine Country Dance Music and Song. Folkways Records FD 6530, 1980.

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  • Bill Spence with Fennig's All-Stars, The Hammered Dulcimer, Front Hall Records FHR-01, 1975.

  • There are many variations on the melody and on the accompaniment. This is about how I learned it around 1980 or so. Chords are from Bill Spence with Fennig's All-Stars, with Joan Pelton playing piano. Joan later got Rod & Randy Miller to do the New England Chestnuts recordings on her Alcazar label.

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  • Fourgone Conclusions, Contra Dance Music from Western Massachusetts. Front Hall Records, FHR-029, FHR-029CD, 1983.

  • This appeared around 1980 on some sheet music from Cammie Kaynor (I believe) on the same page as Bellman's Jig. It was labeled "Here is Another One" and was thought to be Swedish. The North Atlantic Tune List describes it as a Danish tune that became popular in Wales during the mid 20th century. Note: The spelling error is theirs, not mine.

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  • The melody is from a workshop by Eric Favreau at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, Jan. 2009. The chords are my best guess of Andy Davis' chords on Any Jig or Reel with Becky Tracy, Keith Murphy & Andy Davis, New England Dancing Master CD, 2005.

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  • Doug Protsik, recording made at Maine Fiddle Camp, 1998. Maine Country Dance Orchestra, Bowdoinham Contradance, played many times, 1980s.

  • This was a tune played fairly frequently at the Bowdoinham dance. It's a Scottish tune, possibly originally a pipe tune. This transcription is based on a recording of Doug Protsik playing the tune for me on a piano.

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  • The melody and most of the chords are fairly standard. The alternate chords are based on the playing of Cindy Roy on Maine French Fiddlers (EAB 91281, 1992).

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  • Old Grey Goose, Old-Time Country Song & Dance Band (cassette), 1993.

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  • Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra, Swinging on a Gate, Front Hall Records, FHR-03, 1974

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  • From the playing of Dudley Laufman from a few different sources.

  • Dudley Laufman with Patty Laufman, Barry & Gretchen Draper and Richard Gehrts, Canterbury Folk at the Belknap Mill. Cassette, 1980.

  • Dudley Laufman, Traditional Barn Dances with Calls & Fiddling. Dudley & Jacqueline Laufman, Human Kinetics, 2009, book and accompanying CD).

  • Lover, S. The low backed car, characteristic Irish song. Firth and Hall, New York, monographic, 1846. [Notated Music] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sm1846.410610/.

  • This version attempts to abstract a core melody from the various written and recorded versions available (including the original manuscript) as well as from hearing Dudley play the tune at dances many times.

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  • Dudley Laufman with Patty Laufman, Barry & Gretchen Draper and Ruichard Gehrts, Canterbury Folk at the Belknap Mill. Cassette, 1980.

  • As played by Dudley Laufman on the cassette.

  • I've also included a later version and a core melody version for comparison. On this recording Dudley was playing his Anglo concertina which is tuned to what may have been an older tuning standard. I believe it is nominally a C concertina but it is about 24 cents sharper than our current standard B on this recording. I have transposed it to A to make it comparable with the other versions.

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  • We used to go on a moose walk after Veggie Thanksgiving at our friend Lee Breslow's in Londonderry, NH, back when it was still fairly rural. We never saw a moose, but we had some nice evening walks in the woods.

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  • Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra, Swinging on a Gate, Front Hall Records, FHR-03, 1974.

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  • From the playing of Jean Marie Verret, Ashokan, 1997

  • This version contains all the ornamentation and timing details I was able to transcribe.

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  • Jean Marie Verret, Ashokan, 1997

  • On the record French Canadian Dance Music (Jean-Marie & Lise Verret, Folkways RF 120) this tune is recorded as "La Quadrille à Ti-Jules - Première Partie: La Chaîne du reel". It's played in F, so I've included a basic version in F as well.

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  • Jean Marie Verret, Ashokan, 1997 (Basic version)

  • Jean Marie taught this (in D) at Ashokan with considerable emphasis on timing and ornamentation. This is a basic version of what he played; there is also a fuller version with his timing and ornamentation included.

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  • Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra, Mistwold (F&W Records, F&W 5, 1974).

  • ln measure B3 it's hard to identify the second chord. It's played with an F# bass, but clearly isn't an F#m.

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  • Bill Spence with Fennig's All Star String Band, The Hammered Dulcimer Returns! FHR041 (CD), 1992.

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  • Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra, Mistwold. F&W Records, F&W 5, 1974.

  • There are many variations; e.g. in measure A2, the G becomes GFG.

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  • This is fairly typical of how it's played. There's another version with a more embellished melody and with less conventional chords that reflects my playing of the tune a bit more accurately.

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  • There is another version that is more typical of how it's usually played. This version has a somewhat embellished melody and somewhat less conventional chords that reflects my playing of the tune a bit more accurately. I've always felt that in the B part the emphasis switches between the first and fourth count of the measure; I've tried to indicate that with accent marks. The chords reflect that to some extent.

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  • Per's Four Play Jigs and Reels, Folkways FW 8826, 1960.

  • There's another tune by this name that's much better known. I have been unable to learn anything about this one, but it's a very good tune!

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  • This is a fairly common New England version of the tune. For a somewhat different version, look under the title Brisk Young Lad.

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  • Old Grey Goose, Maine Country Dance Music and Song. Folkways Records FD 6530, 1979.

  • A popular Maine jig, known as Up the River in Maine and Rolling Off A Log elsewhere.

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  • Joseph Allard, Grand violoneux ~ Hommage, CAM 105.2.

  • The B-part of the Joseph Allard recording has an interesting baseline that goes about like this (two notes/measure):

  • |: G G# | A B | E A | D F# | G G# | A A |

  • |1 E A | E E :]2 E E | A A |]

  • This tune is clearly related to A Starry Night For A Ramble, as played by the Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra. But despite being melodically very similar they are stylistically so different that it's easy to miss the similarity. Chords are from the Joseph Allard recording although probably simplified.

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About the NH Country Dance Fiddle Tunes Website

There is a full About page on the home page of the website. All other pages have abbreviated About pages.

The Website. There are two major sections to the New Hampshire Country Dance website: the Fiddle Tunes and the Dance sections. This is the Fiddle Tunes section. It presents about four hundred tunes in abc and PDF format. The Dance section presents stories, history, philosophical and analytical articles. There is an older Music website that will be redone eventually which also includes discussion of topics like learning by ear vs. from written music.

Edited & Published by Peter Yarensky. I am a dancer, caller and dance musician from the Seacoast region of New Hampshire. I play fiddle, piano and hammered dulcimer, and call contras and squares.

Contact. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or if you find any errors, typos, omissions, or about music and/or dance in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire. Email: peter at nhcountrydance dot com (usual substitutions apply).

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Sources

Website Photos. All photos were taken by Peter Yarensky (website editor and writer of most of the contents) unless otherwise noted. All photos are used with permission.

Other Graphics come from a few sources. All sources allow usage on a noncommercial website. Sources include the Aridi Computer Graphics Vector Clip Art Collection, Vol. 1–5, The Little Book Of Typographic Ornament, downloadable version, the Underground Grammarian, Printers' Devices & parts of their clip art collection, and the Visual Delights collection of graphics.

For more details about all of these sources, look on the full About section at the bottom of the home page.

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