The Mountain Road
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.