One of the earliest folk music resources on the Net, The Hornpipe covers venues, musicians and instrument makers across the southern half of the United States, from Dover to N'Awlins to San Diego.
Puttering through history can be fun—and weird, in a lot of places.
The lively Hornpipe is really very characteristic of the Englishin nature and is a very old Celtic solo dance that is very much based on the sailor's abilities during the dancing with the sailors originally performing it with folded arms.
The steps are clearly shipwise such as hauling in the anchor, climbing or rigging ropes etc. The Sailor'sHornpipe was most popular during the 16th to 18th Centuries but the original (Hornpipe) goes much farther back and was originally done by men only.
It is somewhat difficult to master this dance as a beginner and usually is taught dances like the light and Slip Jig and some reels before progressing on to the Hornpipe.
With this tune, and with hornpipes in general, I think it often sounds best to play each pair of eighth notes as if they were a dotted eighth followed by a sixteenth.
If College Hornpipe sounds awfully familiar when you play it, that's because it is the basis of the tune that most people think of as "Sailor'sHornpipe".
In fact, your main difficulty may be in not playing the so-called "Sailor'sHornpipe" when you intend to play College Hornpipe, and vice versa.
The final dance is the hornpipe, which is in 2/4 time, although some hornpipes can be in 4/4 time.
Each set dance has a lead around (one step done once on the right and once on the left foot) and a set, which is longer than a normal step and is done only on the right foot.
There're some tunes associated with Dermot Grogan, including the jig named after his birthplace Kilmovee, Mayo, but this hornpipe is probably least known.
I got it from Paul Smyth's flute playing, and he informs us that the tune comes from the repertoire of the Kilmovee Ceili Band.
Paul Smyth recorded this tune with another lovely hornpipe: http://thesession.org/tunes/display.php/4101 I don't know if this is a traditinoal tune or D. Grogan's composition.
The Derry Hornpipe [sheet music] -- Irishhornpipe, D major.
Staten Island [sheet music] -- Irishhornpipe, sometimes played as a reel, D major.
Hornpipe -- a moderate tune, written in 4/4 or 2/4, but played with a pronounced "swing" (listen to "The Rights of Man" and compare it to the sheet music)
The hornpipe was originally a sailor'sdance, and this one has been passed down through the Appalachian folk tradition.
Their delight and astounding skill in playing together had a smile on my face the whole time, and they ranged from bluegrass to Bach to Balkan, making it all their own by giving themselves entirely to the music.
Doc Watson picks a mean guitar on the lead here, with the Chieftains backing him on what sounds like fiddle, spoons, tin whistle, and bodhran.
College Hornpipe for violin, cello and doublebass is a traditional fiddle tune that Mark O'Connor and Edgar Meyer arranged for their album with Yo-Yo Ma entitled "Appalachia Waltz".
O'Connor learned this tune from fiddling legend Benny Thomasson at an early age.
After Meyer finished out the arrangement with his bass lines,"College Hornpipe" has a new and different life from the one found on the early O'Connor recording "Soppin' The Gravy".
