Beginning Irish Mandolin

Denis Murphy was one of the foremost Sliabh Luachra fiddlers. You can read a short biography of him here: http://comhaltas.ie/blog/post/denis_murphy/

The second slide of our set is usually called Denis Murphy's slide (3). At least, it is so named in the book Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra, edited by Terry Moylan. You can hear O'Leary play his version on his CD titled The Trooper. It is the second tune on Track 15. There ís another recording by Denis Murphy on the (very hard to find) CD titled Music from Sliabh Luachra. I have made the simplified transcription here based on that recording.

Probably the most difficult passage occurs in measure 7, where a sequence of two triplets is played. To prepare for this, allow your fingers to hold down the last three notes of measure 6. This way, you can simply peel those fingers off the fretboard as you are playing the difficult sequence. You'll probably find this hard to do at first, but if you stick with it, you'll be rewarded. As always, pay attention to the recommended pick directions and, of course, take advantage of the two mp3s.

If you've learned the first slide of our set from the previous issue (http://www.mandolinsessions.com/oct07/Gregory.html) , you can attempt to play them back-to-back. It may take a little time to learn how to make the transition.

Click to hear denis_murphy_3_slow.mp3.
Click to hear denis_murphy_3_tempo.mp3.

For comments, questions and requests, you can contact me at michael.gregory@und.edu

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