The Blackbird

Roscommon Reel

The Ships in Full Sail

Easter Sunday

A lovely reel by the late Paddy O'Brien. I was lucky to learn many of his tunes while studying with his daughter, Eileen at the University of Limerick for my MA in Irish traditional music. What a fantastic tunesmith!

The Yellow Cow

Jewels of the Ocean

Jewels of the Ocean by Allan MacDonald

Finbar Dwyer's Favorite

Swinging on the Gate

Newmarket Polka

Another polka!

I have two yellow goats

Happy tune! Also, listen to this version by Oarla O'Lionair.

Willie Coleman's

Thanks to my back-up singer!

Star of Munster

Toss the Feathers

John Kelly's Reel

I learned this tune this afternoon from the album, Reed Only by Brian McNamara and Tim Collins. 

The Sheep in the Boat

P.J. Crotty, Carol Cullinan & James Cullinan recorded this on their album, Happy to Meet. I expected it to be the same tune as A Goat in the Boat, but they're not even very similar. I think I'll play them in a set together.

A Goat in a Boat

I learned this tune from a concert by Louisa Bennion (concertina) and Loïc Bléjean (uilleann pipes) last week. It's fun to learn tunes from non-string players and pick out their variations, ornamentation, and phrasing! 

Where Lilies Bloom

Here's a fun polka I learned from a Cheiftains album. Thanks to Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh for convincing me that Polkas are actually cool.

Garrett Barry's

Here is a classic jig called Garrett Barry's. I first heard this tune on Tommy Potts' CD Liffey Banks, then learned it from Neil Martin, although he transposes it into G from D.

Pushing a baby walker with my foot while playing is more difficult than I expected! But he was a great listener!

See LizDavisMaxfield.com for more info on folk cello!

Jerry O'Sullivan's

Hello!


This is my first NTAD post, and I'm excited to start sharing new tunes with you. I'm Liz Davis Maxfield-- Katie Davis Henderson's sister, and I'm the new NTADer!

Here's a lovely slow reel to start. Lúnasa recorded Jerry O'Sullivan's on their album The Kinnitty Sessions. Kevin Crawford plays it in EbMajor on his Bb flute, so I took the liberty to transpose it to DMajor. It is also played in GMajor. 

I play folk cello and my first book, The Irish Cello Book, will be released by Berklee Press and Hal Leonard in early 2013. For more information, visit my website, LizDavisMaxfield.com

Tommy Peoples

I learned this reel off of an Altan recording. Tommy Peoples is a great fiddler and his tunes are gorgeous as well. This reel is quite simple and easy to learn.