Lesson 58. The Drunken Gauger

This tune is a Set Dance. It is played in jig time and has all the characteristics of a jig, but is played much slower.

A most unusual feature of this tune is the order in which the parts of the tune are played. There are only two parts to the tune but they are played:

AA BA BA.

This would be a sequence required by someone stepping the tune.

Tony says a humorous sidelight to this tune is that quite often when he’s heard it played at a session, after about 1 minute and 20 seconds people start to look at each other to see what the other musicians are playing in regard to the sequence of parts. From Tony’s observations they are often played in the wrong order!

When playing slow set pieces it is quite easy to unintentionally increase the speed. Dancers will tell you that this is not a good thing! Pay particular attention to your tempo making sure that you don’t speed up. Remember that this tune is played in jig time but not at jig tempo.

Chords are G, C, D and Am.

Gerry GaffneyLesson 58. The Drunken Gauger