Toss the Feathers

This printed version comes from http://www.8notes.com/scores/8698.asp?ftype=gif. You can also find this tune, in a slightly different version, in the Fiddler's Fakebook. It can be tricky learning a new tune, especially when you find different versions and you're not sure which one you want to focus on. Often times, the different versions blend together and harmonize nicely... no real right or wrong as long as they're in the same key and have some similarities.

You can hear the tune played by the Corrs at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHjS8Oz8Gkg

Toss The Feathers is a reel in the key D Mixylodian, and can be found in at least 309 song books per http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/138. It is also known as The Creaking Headboard.

"One of my all-time favorite tunes. Kevin Burke rips through a tremendous version on his If the Cap Fits cd. This tune is quite different from the more common Toss the Feathers reel, and we play them in a set, giving rise to lots of odd looks when someone asks, "Great tunes! What are they called?" You can emphasize the long d in measure 4 of Part A and the long a in measure 3 of Part B by sliding up to those notes. I also tend to add triplets to the stair-step phrases (|cABG A2| becomes |(3cBA BG A2|, and in Part B |afge...| becomes |(3aaf ge...|). Finally, go with the bluesy feel of that c natural in a D tune by sharping the G in the end phrase that comes around in each half: |cAB^G A2...|
# Posted on June 14th 2001 by will harmon"