Here are a couple of my favourite traditional Irish tunes.
First is The Road to Lisdoonvarna, a slide that’s normally heard in the key of Em (or E dorian to be exact). Here I play it in Am (A dorian), matching the following tune. I like playing tunes in the lower range of the fiddle along with the lower range of the guitar. It gives the tune a real solid, meaty feel.
This tune gives way to the Donegal reel, The Gravel Walks. A classic fiddle tune – it was one of the first reels I learned on the fiddle and I still love playing it. But, I was a guitarist before taking up the fiddle and it was also one of my favourite tunes to back. I loved the lift to C major in the final part and then the return to Am on the repeat (this one’s also A dorian, if we’re going to split hairs!)