Frank’s reel has been a very popular up lifting tune in many sessions I have played in. It has tricky 1st bar in the 2nd part of the tune which sometimes is played as a first part depending on the tune that it follows.

Click on the music score below to open the document in a new window

part one played slowly

part two played slowly

Frank’s reel complete

The Mountain Road is a very popular session tune that’s bound to have all musicians join in. I have recorded the reel in the key of D major with the first part played twice followed by the second part twice. You may find that some musicians play the tune as a single reel ‘1st part once/2nd part once’ so maybe it’s best to tell accompanying musicians your intentions.

Also you will find musicians playing many different versions of the tune.  The long f# at the beginning of the tune can be played as a rolling triplet i.e.  e f# f# or as a hammer-on (play e then pound your finger down on the f# then play the note of f#) Also at the beginning of part two you can play the DC#D as a plain triplet D D or vary it second time around. It’s up to you to experiment

part one

f#-   A f#   Bf#Af#  |   f#-   Af#   ef#de   |   f#-   Af#   Bf#Af#  |   G-   f#G   edbd  |
f#-   A f#   Bf#Af#  |   f#-   Af#   ef#d-    |   ef#   A A  BAf# A  |   A   BD    EF#DED  |:

part two

DC#D   A   BAf#A   |   DC#D   E   F#G’F#E   |  DC#D   A    BAf#A   |   G-    e f#d   ef#GA   |
DC#D   A   BAf#A   |   DC#D   E   F#G’F#E   |  D D   A    BAf#A   |   G-   f#G    edbd  |:

Gerry O’Connor offers some great advice while demonstrating his techniques playing The Mountain Road.