Tony learned this lovely 3-part polka from the playing of New York button accordionist Patty Furlong.
48-bar polkas are not common in Irish music and are not used much for sets. Tony consulted Marie Brouder here in Melbourne about this. Marie is the number one person on set dancing in Melbourne and she could only find one dance that was of 48 bars duration. That is the first figure of The Kilkenny Set.
the lowest note is the open D string and the highest is the F# on the first string so the tune is fairly compact. You can play the whole tune from open position. In the first part Tony has notated the B notes as being on the open 2nd string, but you can play them on the 4th fret/3rd string if you find it easier to pick. Contrary to popular “lay” thought, part of the art of playing guitar is finding the easiest way to do things.
In this tune there is an example of how one well chosen chord can make a big difference to the tune and that chord can be found in the 2nd bar of the 3rd part of the tune. It is a B minor chord.
You could just as easily use a D chord but the Bm adds a wonderful melancholic tone to the tune.
Chords are D, G, Em, A and Bm.
Listen to the lesson (NellFees.mp3, 8:54, 4.1MB).
