Corraboth Jig

Welcome to my archive digest series. I've started making my way through the Irish Traditional Music Archive's Forde and Pigot Collections, playing each tune in turn, as many times as I like, but once all the way through at the minimum, and finding those tunes that I deem exceptionally fit for me to play and enjoy on the concertina. Hopefully, I will be bringing you some gemstones long-buried or otherwise waiting in obscurity.

I am sharing with you my favorites. Most of these are tunes I'd feel comfortable playing at a session, although a few may be waltzes or airs. I will also admit now a bias against the key of D Major, as my instrument and I do not yet agree on how that should be approached.

The first tune I bring you is the Corraboth Jig.

I was thrilled to find this tune - I think it's a very nice jig, particularly at a somewhat slower tempo and accompanied by chords. In the absence of available local accompanists, I've taken the liberty of working out some chords to add into the tune. Please also note that I have changed a few notes here and there, even in the melody-only transcription. These changes, now and in the future, are generally the accommodations that allow me to play the tune, either because it is difficult to play the original physically or mentally. Often, I will misread and catch my error later only to decide that I liked the mistake better, or start true and wander off course unconsciously. If you are deeply curious about the exact original notes, I can provide them, but please rest assured that I am not changing the nature of the tunes. If there is a tune I feature that I have made significant changes to, I will also have the original transcription directly featured.

There's also no reason not to play this tune fast - it holds up very well at session speeds, and I think would be welcome in many sets.

This tune reminds me of the Munster Jig, which is also listed in Pigot's collection as Jackson's Bottle of Claret, and performed by many as Jim O'Connor's.

The numbers and lines here are Coover Tablature for the concertina. My concertina uses the Wheatstone layout, but that shouldn't be an issue for this one.

If you would like these files in their SVG format as displayed here, they are available by right-clicking the image and saving them.

If you would like them as PDFs, here they are:

No chords PDF.

With chords.

I am also going to be including an audio recording of the tune in each instance, but I am currently without my microphone, so for the moment you will have to make do with a phone recording. In the future, I'll be recording this tune with guitar as well.

For now, that's it - I'll be trying to get one of these out on a weekly basis, aiming for Monday morning releases, bright and early EST. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for how I present these tunes in the future. One of the big improvements I'd like to make is getting this webpage/email to look a little better, but I also wouldn't mind doing stuff like writing out suggested chord names above the music - maybe on the unarranged tune?

I hope you enjoy the tune!

Axel