MUSIC OUT OF THIN AIR

CHRIS CORBETT

TWENTY-NINE ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS

OF IRISH DANCE MUSIC
I grew up in Draperstown (Ballinascreen), Co Derry. My father, however, came from Kanturk
in north Cork and his side of the family were nearly all musical. Aside from learning the fiddle
he and his brothers played clarinet and saxophone in their youth (I suppose it was the swing
era). My paternal grandfather, Eugene Corbett, known as Genie (pronounced Janey) played the
fiddle in a little ensemble providing music for the silent movies at the local cinema in Kanturk,
Co. Cork. He went on to teach the fiddle to many people and form a ceili band called the
“Western Rovers” who played at local events including the Kilcorney Feis for most of the
1940s.

When composing these tunes, I tried to make something new whilst remaining firmly within
the tradition so I eschewed syncopation and other such gimmicks. On more than one occasion
I rewrote a tune in order to simplify it - there has to be room for the performer to introduce his
or her own variations. My goal was to compose tunes that would appeal to performers as well
as listeners, not to mention dancers.

I hope you enjoy playing these tunes as much as I do.

Chris Corbett

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

 CONTENTS

The Minstrel’s Jig......................................................................................................................... 5

The Promise of Spring (Jig) ......................................................................................................... 5
The Sheffry Hills (Reel)............................................................................................................... 7
The Eel at the Forge (Reel) .......................................................................................................... 7
The Light Fingered Girl (Hornpipe)............................................................................................. 9
Fairy Hill (Hornpipe) ................................................................................................................... 9
The Dandling Jig ........................................................................................................................ 11
What Colour is That Horse? (Jig) .............................................................................................. 11
Tony Kearns’ Favourite (Polka)................................................................................................. 13
The Candyfloss Polka................................................................................................................. 13
The Cookstown One Hundred (Reel)......................................................................................... 15
Is it about a Bicycle? (Reel) ....................................................................................................... 15
The Carefree Jig (Slip Jig) ......................................................................................................... 17
The Dark Horse (Slip Jig) .......................................................................................................... 17
The Green Fields of Canada (Slow Air)..................................................................................... 19
Killary Harbour (Slow Reel) ...................................................................................................... 19
Under the Gooseberry Bush (Jig)............................................................................................... 20
The Unexpected Visitor (Jig) ..................................................................................................... 21
The Slippery Customer (Jig) ...................................................................................................... 21
The Lost and Found Reel ........................................................................................................... 23
Dear Junior (Reel) ...................................................................................................................... 23
Out for a Dander (Hornpipe)...................................................................................................... 25
Out for a Dander (Jig) ................................................................................................................ 25
May I Have This Dance? (Mazurka).......................................................................................... 27
Malcolm’s Mazurka ................................................................................................................... 27
The Purple Mountain (Reel)....................................................................................................... 29
On Top of Slieve Gallon (Reel) ................................................................................................. 29
Sir Hugh O’Neill (March) .......................................................................................................... 31
The Sperrins March.................................................................................................................... 31
Index........................................................................................................................................... 32

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

The Minstrels Jig was the first tune I wrote in the traditional vein. At the time (around
1982), I was working near Maidstone in Kent and used to frequent old Tudor pub called the
Minstrel’s Gallery in Maidstone where there was a singaround every Thursday evening.
Although, I rarely sing (usually when accompanied by a large black fellow from
Bushmills) I was often called upon to play a tune or two on the tin whistle. During the
warm summer evenings, I used to walk back to my digs in the nearby village of Bearstead
through a large park and was often treated to the sight of a host of bats flitting like
swallows over the moonlit lake. On one such night, I arrived back in a pleasant mood and
the music was on me so I took out my whistle to play a tune or two before bed. I no time at
all, the first part of a tune had emerged. I went to bed not expecting to remember the tune
when I awoke but in the morning I still had it. As I went about my work that day I was
constantly lilting the tune to myself so as not to forget it. At the end of the day as I was
travelling back to London by coach, still lilting away to myself, the second part of the tune
came to me and on my arrival back home in London I rushed into the house, took up the
whistle and played the completed tune.

The Promise of Spring was inspired by a beautiful sunny Sunday March morning. It was
a fortnight before St Patrick’s day in the morning (that was a working title for a while!). I
was living in a second floor flat with a huge picture window that looked out over a large
expanse of green playing fields. The sun was shining, spring seemed around the corner and
I was looking forward to a good session of music on the following Sunday.

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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 The Minstrel’s Jig

The Promise of Spring (Jig)

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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The Sheffry Hills

This tune was inspired by a trip through the picturesque hills in county Mayo. It was one of
those days (probably frequent in these hills) where the weather seems to change by the minute.
As the clouds scudded by overhead, the colours of the landscape changed like a kaleidoscope
and the surface of a lake below flashed like burnished silver.

[Insert Photo]

The Eel at the Forge (Reels)

When I was a boy, my family lived at Burnside, Draperstown in South Derry almost directly
opposite a blacksmith’s forge. A little stream known as the burn ran past the forge, under the
road and emerged on the other side in what was then the school playing field. There was great
excitement when an eel appeared in the burn beside the forge and the bigger boys were all keen
to catch it. It was caught in the end by my two brothers Eugene and John. I’m told that we ate
it although I don’t remember eating it. The twistiness of the tune brought to mind the event and
I think it reflects the struggle with the slippery big eel.

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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 The Sheffry Hills (Reel)

The Eel at the Forge (Reel)

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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The Light Fingered Girl

When I wrote this tune, my daughter Dilara was learning the whistle. She loved the tune and
wanted to learn it. I thought it was probably too difficult for her and told her she wasn’t quite
ready for it. Imagine my surprise when a week later she took out her whistle and started to
play it. When I asked her how she was able to play it, she confessed that she had found the
music of it on my printer, “stolen” it and learned it. So that gave me the title. She was light
fingered to “steal” it and also to be able to play it.

[Insert Photo]

Fairy Hill

Fairy Hill is the place outside Kanturk, Co Cork where my father grew up.

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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The Light Fingered Girl (Hornpipe)

Fairy Hill (Hornpipe)

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The Dandling Jig

dandle- verb gently bounce (a young child) on one’s knees or in one’s arms (Compact Oxford
English Dictionary).

One of my earliest memories is of my father’s lilting and whistling. One of my favourites at

this time and appealed to my childish sense of humour was “Suzanna's A Funicle Man”, a
whimsical song concerning an old woman who had an old sow and featured lots of grunting,
whistling and farting noises! The bouncy nature of this jig put me in mind of my father’s
rather boisterous dandling and lilting.

[Insert Photo]

What Colour is That Horse?

The second tune title comes from the writing of Myles na gCopaleen (Flann O’Brien (Brian
O’Nolan)) on the subject of clichés. The answer is, of course, “another”.

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 The Dandling Jig

What Colour is That Horse? (Jig)

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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 I used to play every Sunday evening in a pub in South East London with Kane O’Rourke,
Christian Vaughan-Spruce and Connor Doherty and one evening we were discussing how few
polkas we played. Kane had written a cracking polka which we always played as part of our
only set of polkas. I suggested that we all compose a polka for the following Sunday. Polkas
are invariably simple tunes and consequently I had never been able to write one that didn’t
sound like a pastiche but I rose to the challenge and composed four that week. Needless to say,
the rest of the lads had forgotten all about the composing challenge! Thanks, lads, for all the
crack and great tunes and for these polkas.

Tony Kearns’s Favourite

This tune took the fancy of Tony Kearns, the well-known photographer of Irish musicians.
Tony very kindly took the photographs for my album.

The Candyfloss

There is something about this tune that is reminiscent of childhood seaside excursions, funfairs
and carousels. We rarely went to the seaside and more often than not it was to the more sedate
and salubrious Portstewart rather than to Portrush which I think my mother considered to be
vulgar, if not louche. As children, however, we wanted the gaudy lights, funfairs and penny
arcades in which to squander our few pence. A highlight of any visit to the seaside was the rare
treat of candyfloss (cotton candy)

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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Tony Kearns’ Favourite (Polka)

The Candyfloss Polka

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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The Cookstown One Hundred

The Cookstown 100 is a motorcycle race, held annually in Cookstown, Co Tyrone. Once a
year, streets would be blocked off as the circuit ran through the town as well as around the
twisty roads of the surrounding countryside. The main attraction for many school children was
the closure of schools for the day. I hope the tune gives a flavour of the exciting nature and
windy roads of the race. At any rate, I sometimes like to play it a reckless speed!

Is It About A Bicycle?

You may have noticed a bit of a bike theme happening here and begin to wonder if I have
taken to leaning nonchalantly against walls for no apparent reason. This tune title is a line
from “The Third Policeman” by Flann O’Brien and if you haven’t read it, you won’t have a
clue what I’m on about.

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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The Cookstown One Hundred (Reel)

Is it about a Bicycle? (Reel)

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Of all the dance forms in traditional Irish Music, the set dance and the slip jig are the least
profuse. Set dance tunes such as. “The Blackbird” and “The Job of Journeywork” were
devised for particular sets of steps to be danced to them and often have an unusual number
of bars. So the paucity of set dance tunes is a direct consequence of the limited number of
set dances. But there is no apparent reason for the relatively small number of slip jigs in
the repertoire. My own theory is that they’re a devil to write!

The Carefree Jig

This tune seems to skip along quite blithely, hence the title.

The Dark Horse (Slip Jigs)

This tune is really a rewrite of an early attempt at a slip jig. The first attempt was more of a
groove than a melody. After coming up with this tune, I later realised that I had
unconsciously kept the only good bit from the previous effort and reworked it into a much
better tune. This tune only got a title after recording it. Nigel Stevens’ wonderful guitar
accompaniment gives the tune a slightly dark and broody feel.

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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The Carefree Jig (Slip Jig)

The Dark Horse (Slip Jig)

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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The Green Fields of Canada

This is a very beautiful and sad song of emigration

Killary Harbour

The reel was inspired by a visit many years ago to the beautiful and remote spot in Co
Mayo. The youth hostel was being rebuilt, so we had to stay in some sort of old cottages
that had been used as outhouses for years. Right by the shore were a couple of derelict
cottages which looked long abandoned. It set me to wondering about the people who had
once lived there, how they had managed to scrape a living from such a barren landscape
and what had become of them. No doubt they had been forced to emigrate. I sat down on a
rock and played “the Green Fields of Canada”. I don’t think I will ever play it as well
again. When I had done my friends all had tears rolling down their cheeks.

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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The Green Fields of Canada (Slow Air)

Killary Harbour (Slow Reel)

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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 Under the Gooseberry Bush (Jig)

I believe I wrote this tune whilst trying to learn the fiddle. Perhaps I should have called it
“Every Cloud has a Silver Lining”! This title refers to the extent of my sex education – it’s
what my mother told me when as a lad, I asked where I came from.

The Unexpected Visitor

Someone’s bound to call around when you’re trying to have a quiet day to yourself. On this
particular day I was feeling creative and had just composed two jigs. In London you don’t
tend to get people calling unannounced but on this occasion I had two in a row. Despite the
interruptions, I had two jigs to show for the day but I still wasn’t entirely happy with them.
After playing them a few times, I realised that the “A” part of one tune would go better
with the “B” part of the other and vice versa.

The Slippery Customer

I thought this tune would suit the pipes, especially the turn, or “B” part but when it came to
recording it for the album, it proved to be a bit tricky. So it’s the tune that’s the slippery
customer, not me!

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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The Unexpected Visitor (Jig)

The Slippery Customer (Jig)

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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The Lost and Found Reel

I found this tune and several others on a tape I’d made and forgotten about for a couple of
years. I’d entirely forgotten the tunes on that tape and was very happy to rediscover them.
The “A” part appears to have very unconventional ending, ending strangely on the seventh
note of the scale(C#) but the C# is really the first note of the following phrase prolonged
and coming in a bit early. Very often, musicians will play a long drawn-out note (or
fermata) at the start of a tune, by way of introduction. If you wish to do this here use the D
above the first note.

Dear Junior

I dedicated this tune to the late Junior Crehan who I was very fortunate to meet on my first
and many subsequent visits to Milltown Malbay. Junior was a true gentleman and a
composer of many fine tunes. Unfortunately, not everyone who recorded Junior’s tunes
gave him credit for their composition. Those familiar with Junior’s Tune “The Otter’s
Holt” will notice a similarity with the harmonic structure of this tune so I thought that a
fitting reason to honour him in the title. I only hope it’s worthy of him.

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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The Lost and Found Reel

Dear Junior (Reel)

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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Out for a Dander (Hornpipe)

I feel that, as a rule, hornpipes should be played at a leisurely pace and not raced through.
This one, I think, conveys the feeling of no particular place to go and no hurry to get there.
In the north of Ireland, a dander is a leisurely stroll.

Out for a Dander (Jig)

This is simply the hornpipe played as a jig

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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Out for a Dander (Hornpipe)

Out for a Dander (Jig)

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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May I Have This Dance?

There is something pleasantly old-fashioned, slightly formal and dignified about the mazurka.
One can’t imagine dancing it with wild abandon. No, no, a sense of decorum surely must be
required. By the same token, it would be out of the question to invite a lady to dance the
mazurka by asking, “You dancing?” The least one can say is “May I Have This Dance?”

Malcolm’s Mazurka

I was trying to think of a mazurka I’d heard Tommy Peoples playing, so my friend Malcolm
could learn it. I couldn’t think of it at all but as a consolation, this tune just popped out of the
whistle

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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May I Have This Dance? (Mazurka)

Malcolm’s Mazurka

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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 Haystack Island (Reel)

Haystack Island

Many years ago, on a trip around the coast of Donegal I spied a tiny island. On the island was a
little haystack. The island was only big enough to produce one haystack but some diligent
person had taken the trouble to row out and cut the grass by hand. This tune is for them.

The Purple Mountain/On Top of Slieve Gallon (Reels)

The purple mountain in this case refers to Slieve Gallon in the Sperrin Mountains which looks
purple at certain times and from the top of which there is a great view right across Lough
Neagh.

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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 The Purple Mountain (Reel)

On Top of Slieve Gallon (Reel)

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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Sir Hugh O’Neill

This tune has the feel of a clan march, so I name it for Sir Hugh O’Neill, the Earl of Tyrone in
the time of Elizabeth 1st. He was a fascinating character who played cat and mouse with the
English for many years before finally being forced to flee the country after the battle of Kinsale
in 1601. He died in exile in Rome.

The Sperrins March

The Sperrins are the largest mountain range in N. Ireland. They’re not very high but
nonetheless pretty. I grew up in the East Sperrins region.

These two tunes were played on a Bb flute on the album, so they would sound in Eb and Bb
instead of G and D as they are written here.

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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Sir Hugh O’Neill (March)

The Sperrins March

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 Index

Candyfloss Polka........................................................................................................................ 13
Carefree Jig ................................................................................................................................ 17
Cookstown One Hundred ........................................................................................................... 15
Dandling Jig ............................................................................................................................... 11
Dark Horse ................................................................................................................................. 17
Dear Junior ................................................................................................................................. 23
Eel at the Forge ............................................................................................................................ 7
Fairy Hill ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Green Fields of Canada .............................................................................................................. 19
Is it about a Bicycle? .................................................................................................................. 15
Killary Harbour .......................................................................................................................... 19
Light Fingered Girl....................................................................................................................... 9
Lost and Found Reel .................................................................................................................. 23
Malcolm’s Mazurka ................................................................................................................... 27
May I Have This Dance?............................................................................................................ 27
Minstrel’s Jig, The........................................................................................................................ 5
On Top of Slieve Gallon ............................................................................................................ 29
Out for a Dander (Hornpipe)...................................................................................................... 25
Out for a Dander (Jig) ................................................................................................................ 25
Promise of Spring......................................................................................................................... 5
Sheffry Hills ................................................................................................................................. 7
Sir Hugh O’Neill ........................................................................................................................ 31
Slippery Customer...................................................................................................................... 21
Sperrins March ........................................................................................................................... 31
The Purple Mountain (Reel)....................................................................................................... 29
Under the Gooseberry Bush ....................................................................................................... 20
Unexpected Visitor..................................................................................................................... 21
What Colour is That Horse?....................................................................................................... 11

© 2010 Music Out of Thin Air

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 Music out of Thin Air
Twenty-nine original compositions of
Irish Dance Music
“You might have thought that all the Irish jigs and reels possible had already been composed,
or perhaps you thought there was no need for any new ones. Over the years the odd musician
here and there has introduced a new tune to the mainstream repertory of Irish dance music.
Reavy, Dwyer and Fahey stand out as prolific composers, but there have been many more who
have given us just one or two little gems. Such is the manner of things that we sometimes lose
sight of the connection between composer and composition, so that few active musicians now
would know who wrote The Maid of Mount Cisco or George White's Favourite or The
Mountain Road? The difficulty in coming up with a new tune is to avoid the piece sounding
like something that already exists or to be simply a medley of well-known phrases. Chris, in a
relatively low-key manner, has put together about fifty tunes of his own over a number of
years, and he has only just now let on about it. The remarkable thing about them is that they all
stand as tunes in their own right, with very little reference to anything else, and from a
technical view they range over a varied selection of modes, tune types and construction
patterns. So how do they come to him? Noodling on the flute might accidentally suggest an
attractive phrase, which soon emerges as the first part of a tune, and with a little thought the
turn is added. It's all over in a short time, and as Chris says, "It comes out of thin air." I
suppose the final test will be in a few years' time when a group of musicians, all unknown to
Chris, play a rake of tunes and one of them says, "What's the name of that last one?" "That's
one of Corbett’s!"

Reg Hall.
TG4 Gradam na gCeoltóirí winner 2009

“These are not slavish re-workings of elements from deep within the tradition – they are new,
fresh and modern yet they don’t arrogantly or dismissively reject what went before; they
achieve the “holy grail” of any sensitive Irish traditional musician – they continue the tradition.
Good man, Chris – more please!”

Ronan Browne, Conamara

A recording of these tunes is available on a CD entitled “Out of Thin Air”

Please visit the website for details: www.musicoutofthinair.com

For other enquiries please email: info@musicoutofthinair.com

Thanks to Sarah-Marie McGuckin for the original artwork.

(email: kamakazi.sarah@gmail.com)