Morrison's
Jig in E Dorian · difficulty 3 of 5
The story of Morrison's
Morrison's carries the name of James "The Professor" Morrison, the great Sligo fiddler of 1930s New York - but the jig was never his. The night before a recording session, his bandmate Tom Carmody played him an old family tune called "The Stick Across the Hob", learned from his father Maurice. Morrison wrote it down on the spot and promised to record it the next day as "Maurice Carmody's Favourite".
The record came out, the tune took off - and the name that stuck was Morrison's. Poor Maurice. It's a dark E Dorian jig with a famous stabbing figure in its first part, and a favourite of whistle players who want something that sounds far harder than it is to learn.
How to play Morrison's on tin whistle
Jigs swing in 6/8: two lilting groups of three per bar. Get that pulse steady at a walking tempo before you push the speed.
The tab under the notes shows the whistle fingering for every note - filled circles are covered holes, and a + means the overblown octave. If you are new to stave notation, you can try reading the stave and tab together which gradually will make you learn the notation.
Start slow with a metronome getting the base melody right. As the fingers learn the tune, try adding some ornaments and gradually increase the tempo without losing control.
Notation is sourced from The Session, the community archive of traditional music.
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