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Jigs Playalongs

The Coleraine – B minor

 

Basic chords

This tune is written in the mode of B aeolian. This means the available chords are the same ones which would be available in D ionian, aka D major, E minor, F# minor, G major, A major, B minor and C# diminished. The tune actually uses the melodic minor scale, where the seventh note in a minor scale is sharpened by a semitone. In the case of this tune it means that instead of the usual notes of a B aeolian scale, B C# D E F# G A, the seventh sometimes switches to A#. When this happens you have to accompany it with chord V converted into a major chord. The major 7th note is an unstable tone and really wants to resolve to the root note when included in the melody. That is why it has to be accompanied with chord V, which also wants to resolve to chord I. Furthermore, the notes in chord V are the 5th, 7th and 9th or 2nd notes from the scale, so if the 7th has been raised by a semitone, that means the middle of the three notes in the V chord (F#m) has to be raised by a semitone to match. That is why the V chord converts to F# major. The use of the melodic minor in this way is not at all common in Celtic music.

The tune’s second bar contains the notes “C# F# F# F#”. In relation to the key centre of Bm, these are “2 5 5 5”. Therefore this bar is firmly a chord V section. I have used chord V’s related major chord, chord VII, for ease of playability.

The F# chord in the fourth bar could have been either minor (as in the aeolian mode) or major (to match with the A# taken from the melodic minor scale) as there is neither an A nor an A# in the bar. I have plumped for the major V chord for consistency, but you can experiment with both.

The B part of the tune begins with the notes “D E D D C# B” so sounds pretty clearly like it needs a D chord. The second bar goes “C# A A A – -” making it very definitely an A bar. In bar four of the B part there is an A#, so chord V has to be major to match. Likewise in bar seven.

Substitutions

In the A part of the tune I have added a G chord as a substitute for Bm. This works because any minor chord can be switched to the major chord which is either two above it (its related major) or two below it in the key scale. That means that Bm can be replaced with either D or G, because both of these chords have two notes in common with it. G works particularly well here as it creates a nice run down the scale- Bm A G F#.

The second time through the B part I have substituted an Em for a Bm. This works because you can always play chord IV (or a substitute thereof) over a chord I section, but not chord I over a chord IV section. Straight after the E minor I have used F# minor instead of F# major, because the chord is not going to resolve down a fifth to chord I. Playing F# major would make the listener want to hear chord I next (because of the major 7th note of a B melodic minor scale being included- the major seventh is unstable and wants to resolve up a semitone to the root note) and so as the following chord is not Bm but G, F# minor has to be played instead.

Jazzy substitutions

You might be put off this chord selection by all those numbers! Don’t panic though, they’re actually a very simple set of chords which are very easy to change between (see the diagrams down below which I have written in descending scale order). Lots of further uses for the same slide-able shapes can also be found in my first book, Backing Guitar Techniques for traditional Celtic music. The idea is that every chord in the A part can be fingered with the index finger on the bottom E string, the middle finger on the D string and the ring finger on the G string. By sliding this fingering around the neck and moving the middle and/or ring fingers a fret higher in relation to the root note (always under the index finger) you can quickly and easily switch between all those beautiful, jazzy chords with lots of numbers in!

The basic principles behind this selection of chords are as follows:

  1. You can replace the chords in any mode with a combination of major 7s, minor 7s and dominant 7 chords. In the ionian mode, chords I and IV have to become major 7 chords, chords II and VI have to become minor 7 chords and chord V has to become a dominant 7 chord (which contains a flattened seventh note relative the the root note’s scale, eg a D7 chord contains C♮ not C#.
  2. As this tune is written in the mode of B aeolian (with occasional accidentals) the jazzy tetrads (seven chords) available are the same ones which would be available in D ionian, because B is the sixth mode and the sixth note of a D major scale is B. This means that the A chord has to be a dominant 7 chord, NOT a major 7.
  3. In jazz chord land, adding ANY note from within the key scale to ANY of your chords is theoretically fine (in context some might sound better than others).
  4. Any chord which resolves down a fifth can be replaced with an altered dominant, which contains accidental notes NOT from the key scale. This is what makes the F#7#5 chord (an F#7 chord with the #5 relative the F# added, aka Cx which means C double sharp, alternatively just known as D) work in bar 7 – it resolves down a fifth to Bm7.

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The Glen Cottage Polka – G aeolian

 

This tune is fairly simple in its chord options, but not simple in the fact that they are mostly barre chords! It’s written in the uncommon mode of G aeolian, whose key signature is the same as that of B♭ major. Therefore the available chords are G minor, A diminished, B♭ major, C minor, D minor, E♭ major and F major. The simple chords can be broken down into just I, IV and V aka Gm, Cm and Dm.

Basic chords

In the basic chords I have replaced the third and fourth bars, which are really just another chord I section, with B♭ major. This works because G minor’s related major is B♭ major (a minor chord’s related major chord is always two notes above it in the root scale) so the two can be used interchangeably to break up lengthy chord I sections.

This tune is somewhat unusual in that in the second half of the A part (second line) it doesn’t go to chord V on the seventh foot tap but on the fifth. This is clear from the melody notes in bars 13 – 16; “D – D C B♭ – A – G – – – G – – -”.

In the B part, the second line could really have been a huge chord I section with chord V marking the end of the section as usual. However, I have used an E♭ chord instead of the first chord I. You can always replace a minor chord with its related major (whose root note is two above it in the key scale; in this key B♭ major would replace G minor) or, for a more wistful sounding substitution, with the major whose root note is two below it in the root scale, as in this instance where G minor is replaced by E♭ major. I feel that this “wistful” sounding substitution fits particularly well with the long, high B♭ note played in this bar.

Bars 11 and 12 of the B part have been accompanied with chord V. This is not something I would commonly do, but I didn’t want to go from my E♭ straight back to chord I (if you add a substitution and then revert to the “standard” chord I it really feels like you’ve started a story and given up half way through) so as there was still plenty of chord I section available, it made more sense to resolve back to my chord I by going via chord V. If you have a long section of any chord you can always break it up by resolving to said chord from the chord whose root note is a fifth above it in the given key.

Substitutions

In this version of the chords, the A part is the same. The B part however has been changed to use a descending chord run going down the scale from Gm all the way to Dm (chord V). To keep the descending run going in bars 13 and 14, chord I has been replaced with chord IV (Cm). It is always acceptable to put chord IV or any of its substitute options in a chord I section.

The section ends in the usual way by resolving from chord V (Dm) back to chord I (Gm).

Jazzy substitutions

In this version of the A part I have replaced each of my chords with the jazzy tetrad shape applicable for the key of B aeolian. As this key has the same key signature and therefore chords as D ionian (major), my tetrad options are: B minor 7, C# ½ diminished, D major 7, E minor 7, F# minor 7, G major 7 and A (dominant) 7.

I have more or less done the same in the B part except that I have also reinstated the V chord for the 7th foot tap.

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Jigs Playalongs

The Kesh Jig – G ionian

 

Basic chords

The Kesh is written in the key of G ionian, so the available chords are G major, A minor, B minor, C major, D major, E minor and F# diminished.

The second bar goes “A – – A B D”, so it could be seen as a chord V bar. In order to avoid having chord V right near the start of the tune I have played A minor (chord II) instead. This works pretty well as most of the bar is full of A notes!

The third bar could take either C or G. I’ve gone for G for contrast and because this makes a more satisfying chord progression.

As in almost all folk music, the fourth bar takes chord V. On the repeat it resolves back to chord I for the second half of the bar, in order to make the section sound finished.

The seventh bar of the B part is really a chord I section- its notes are “G – – A – -” (either a whole bar of G or half a bar of G and then half a bar of D). However, replacing chord I (G) with chord IV (C) in this section creates extra tension which is then diffused byt eh resolution from chord V (D) to chord I (G) at the end of the section.

Substitutions

In bar three I have replaced G major with its related minor, E minor. In the fourth bar I have played chord V in its first inversion. This means that of the three notes normally in a D major chord, D, F# and A, the middle of the three, F# has been played at the lowest pitch within the chord instead of the root note D which would normally be the lowest note in a D chord. The reason I have done this is that it sets up a nice walking bassline from the E at the bottom of the E minor chord, via the F# at the bottom of D/F# (aka D in the first inversion) to G at the root of the G chord.

In the B part I have replaced G with its related minor, E minor and C with its related minor, A minor.

Jazzy substitutions

In this version I have taken the progression from the previous section and converted each of the chords into “the right kind of seven chord”. These are the “tetrads”, or four note “jazz” chords, where as well as the 1st, 3rd and 5th which make up the notes of a regular triad (three note chord) you also add the 7th note from the root note’s scale. You can discover the theory behind these in my first book Backing Guitar Techniques for Traditional Celtic Music.

For any major key the list of tetrads available is:

Chord I – major 7 –

Chord II – minor 7

Chord III – minor 7

Chord IV – major 7

Chord V – dominant 7

Chord VI – Minor 7

Chord VII – ½ diminished (rarely used in folk music)

So for our tune in G major, the options are G major 7, A minor 7, B minor 7, C major 7, D (dominant) 7, E minor 7 and F# ½ diminished. These simply replace the equivalent triad from the old progression, so D becomes D7 (note that it must be D7 NOT D major 7 because it is chord V), G becomes G major 7 and so on.

You can also add any chord extensions (extra notes) to a jazz chord, so long as the notes you add are from the key you are currently playing in. For example instead of playing D7 for my chord V I have used D9. This works fine because the 9th note in the D chord is an E, and E appears in the scale of G major so adding it sounds fine.

In bar four of the B part I have broken up a chord I bar by playing half a bar of G then half a bar of its first inversion, a G chord with B at the lowest pitch in the chord. This creates a nice little bassline to lead up into the C chord in the next bar. The same principle applies to the momentary shift from C back to G/B in the next bar- it creates movement in the bassline.

In bar 7 of the B part, I have used a nifty trick to create a chromatic link from a C chord to a D. Instead of just playing C major 7 followed by D7, I insert a C#½ diminished chord as a passing chord. You can use this to create a chromatic link between ANY two chords whose roots are separated by a semitone. For example, within the key of G, you could link G – Am (G – G#dim – Am), Am – Bm (Am – A#dim – Bm), D – Em (D – D#dim. – Em) etc etc. It also works in any mode, for any two chords whose roots are a tone apart.

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Playalongs Reels

Cooley’s Reel – E dorian

Basic chords

This tune is in the key of E dorian. That means the available chords are E minor, F# minor, G major, A major, B minor, C# diminished and D major. These are the same options which would fit a tune in D major, as dorian is the second mode and E is the second note of a D major scale. You can find out more about how this works using the Amazing Mode Wheel or in my first book, Backing Guitar Techniques for Traditional Celtic Music.

Throughout the simple chords, I have used chord VII instead of chord V. chord V in the key of E minor is B minor, which is hard to play, and in any mode other than ionian you can always replace chord V with its related major chord. In this case, Bm’s related major is D which sounds brighter and is easier to play.

Bar three of the tune sounds very much like it needs chord VII- the notes are “F# D A D B D A G”. The majority of notes in this bar are D, F# and A, the notes of a D major chord (chord VII).

The tune has no clear chord IV sections in either the A or B parts, so I have used the same basic chords for both.

Substitutions

In this version I have substituted the E minor in bar two to its related major (G) for variation.

Likewise I have added the B minor (chord V) back into bar IV.

For contrast in the second line of the A part I have removed the brighter D major chord and just used B minor for a bar and a half instead. This is partly because I like the sound of it and partly because changing to Bm for just half a bar would be very difficult at speed!

In the B part I have added a D major (chord VII) in the second half of the first bar. This works well because the section contains an F# note, which is normally an indicator of chord V or VII (chord VII is D major which contains D, F# and A).

In the second half of the second bar of the B part I have added a G major chord, the related major of E minor, because the bar begins on a high G note.

In the third bar I have inverted my D major chord (by adding my thumb on the second fret of the bottom string). This is because on a guitar both Em and G have nice low bass notes on the bottom string. D on the other hand has the D string as its lowest note and consequently sounds weedy in comparison. For this reason putting the F# on the bottom string in the bass gives a fuller sounding chord and creates a nice conjunct bassline between the three, Em – G – F# . Generally speaking it is nice to try and keep the bass notes of your chord progressions as conjunct as possible- avoiding any big jumps makes your chords sound a lot more fluid, deliberate and musical.

Jazzy substitutions

When you want to add four note chords or tetrads to any tune’s accompaniment, you need to know which major key would contain the same chords as your key mode. We are in E dorian, which contains the same list of available chords as D major. For tetrads in a major key, chords I and IV become major 7 chords, chords II, III and VI become minor 7 chords and chord V becomes a (dominant) 7 chord. That means that the list of tetrads available in D major would be:

D major 7

E minor 7

F# minor 7

G major 7

A7

B minor 7

C# ½ diminished (rarely used in folk music- we’ll replace it with chord V in the first inversion, aka A/C#).

Adding any notes from the key scale on top of the base chord will just give you a jazzier sounding version of the same chord, for example in place of G major 7 you could play G major 9, G major 11 or G major 13.

As we are in E dorian, our chord I is E minor 7, chord IV is A (dominant) 7 and chord V is B minor 7. In any mode other than ionian chord VII also becomes dominant, so our D chord would be D (dominant) 7 instead of D major 7. Chord VII is related to chord V, meaning that the two can be used interchangeably.

In the A part I have switched to high barre chords. I particularly like to use the E minor 7 barre chord on the seventh fret when playing in E dorian or aeolian, as this has a nice tinkly feel but with the low E string left in for a good solid bass note.

G add 6 is just a C major shape slid way up the neck.

D add 9 is an easier version of a D barre chord which can be played with just two fingers- useful at speed! Flatten the ring finger to fret the D, G, B and top E strings.

Using a 9 chord as chord IV in the dorian mode gives it a really nice jazzy twist- to me a IV9 chord sounds almost flirtatious!

In the B part I have used some different variants on the chord shapes, though the theory is exactly the same. If you don’t want to learn any more shapes you can use the old versions- I just find these ones easier to change between in this context.

In bar five of the B part, I replace a chord I sounding section with chord IV. You can always do this, in any key. I then follow it up with a C major chord. This is “borrowed” from the mode of E aeolian. Only one note differentiates the dorian and aeolian modes- in dorian the sixth note is how it would be in a major scale with the same root note (in the case of E dorian it would be C# as in an E major scale) and in aeolian the sixth note is flattened, giving the mode its darker feel. As the sixth note of the scale is rarely used in Irish melodies in minor keys, you can often get away with “borrowing” chords from the other minor mode. C major makes a good substitute for E minor, because they contain two notes in common- C contains C, E and G and E minor contains E, G and B. As this bar contains neither a C nor a C# in the melody, you can get away with this substitution which provides a darker sounding progression than the C# diminished chord from the dorian mode would have done.

A part chord shapes

B part chord shapes

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Playalongs Reels

Fahy’s Reel – D dorian

Basic chords

This tune is in the key of D dorian. Therefore the available chords are D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor, B diminished and C major.

In the A part there are no sections which sound strongly like they need anything other than chord I. Consequently the whole part can be backed with chord I, with chord V in bars four and eight, resolving to chord I to mark the end of the section.

In the B part, the second bar contains the notes “C – G C E C G C”. As this is clearly outlining a C chord (chord VII), I have put one in.

Although it is customary to play chord V throughout the fourth bar in an Irish tune, this particular one sounds better with chord I for the second half of the bar. This is because the notes are “C B C D E D D -”. You can hear that the second half of the bar is very clearly finishing on a strong D, therefore I like to put a D minor chord here to match.

Basic substitutions

In this version to break up the huge chunk of D minor I have replaced the second bar with chord VII. In a chord I section you can more or less play whatever you want, and I like chord VII here as the second half of the bar contains a C note on a dominant beat, so sounds quite chord VII-y .

In bar seven I create a link from C down to A minor by using G/B, a G chord in the first inversion. This is a very common trick to link any chord to its related minor- play the first inversion of the chord below the related minor chord to create a nice descending bassline. For example, you could play D – A/C# – Bm or G – D/F# – Em. In this particular context G/B works well because it’s in a chord I section and you can always play chord IV (G) in a chord I section, so an inversion of said chord is also perfectly fine.

In bar three of the B part I have replaced chord I with chord IV. You can always replace chord I with chord IV in a chord I section.

I have re-used my link from C down to its related minor A minor as in the A part.

Jazzy substitutions

In this version I have replaced all chords with tetrads. The tetrads available in D dorian are the same as that in C ionian, except that now we begin on D minor7. The complete list is: D minor 7, E minor 7, F major 7, G (dominant) 7, A minor 7, B ½ diminished (we will avoid the diminished chord by playing the first inversion of chord V, aka G/B).

In bars three and seven, I have used B♭ major 7 as a substitute for D minor. This chord is borrowed from the mode of D aeolian. The dorian and aeolian modes are only differentiated from one another by the sixth note of the scale (which is flattened by a semitone in the aeolian mode) and Irish tunes in minor keys rarely feature the sixth note in their melodies. This means that if we wish to, we can “borrow” chords from the aeolian mode. B♭ major seven contains the notes B♭, D, F and A. The upper three notes form a D minor triad, so so long as the section in question doesn’t have a B♮ in the melody this will make a good dark substitute for a D minor chord.

In the B part I have used the standard trick of linking a minor chord to its related major using the first inversion of the chord whose root is one below the starting chord. In this case I am linking D minor up to F major, so I use C major (chord VII) in its first inversion, aka C/E.

You will notice that in bar four I have committed the ultimate folky sacriledge and missed out the chord V bar! You can sometimes get away with playing chord IV instead of chord V in the dorian mode- it can give a cool optimistic ending to a phrase of a tune. Just bear in mind that you HAVE to go V-I at the end of a section to make the section sound finished. In other words it is sometimes OK to play chord IV in the 4th, 12th, 20th or 28th bar of a tune in a dorian key, but not in the 8th, 16th, 24th or 32nd.

In the fifth bar I have borrowed B♭ major 7 from the aeolian mode again, which is fine as there is no B or B♭ note in the melody anywhere in this bar. I have followed this chord with Am7, even though it is not a chord V section, because it provides a nice conjunct set of chords dancing around the chord V and coming to rest on it in order to resolve back to chord I (the root notes being B♭ – A – G – A – D).

A part jazzy chords

B part jazzy chords

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Strumming patterns

How to strum jigs (older version)