🎻 Forget pumpkins and skeletons -- we have modal tunes!

Halloween is approaching, Reader!

I can't say I'm one of those people who puts out a lot of Halloween decorations, or starts drinking pumpkin spice lattes as soon as September 1st has hit. But I do love a good modal tune in Irish music with a couple of "spooky" notes that make your ears perk up!

My private students can vouch that this is the time of year where I start assigning more of those spooky tunes. Liz Carroll has written some fun hornpipes that definitely fit the bill -- if you're looking for some YouTube inspiration, she teaches both The Wolf and The Spy Czar on her channel!

A week or so ago, one of my Tune Library members put a Finbarr Dwyer jig called Aherne's Egg on my radar, and it's been the latest earworm!

It's in E mixolydian mode, which means that it uses all the notes from the key of A but centers around E.

Diabolical, right? 😉

If you're coming from a classical or jazz background, then you may not get intimidated by modes and different E keys. But if you're not used to a lot of accidentals and switching between E major and E mix, then this tune can definitely pose a challenge!

Thanks to member feedback, I've started labeling tunes in the Tune Library by difficulty level, and am putting this one in more of the advanced category for its key and twisty-turny nature.

But, Reader, it is ohhhh so fun to play!

I think I've almost convinced Bear to put it in a set with Ne'er Shall I Wean Her and Esmeralda -- this would get us a set in E mix, C major and F major. Not your most session friendly keys, but definitely great material for our duo to play around with! We recorded the other two in this video, but would switch the order.

It's not very often you come across an E mixolydian tune, but surprisingly I'm finding it goes well with quite a few keys! A minor is a good option, which also makes C major a good choice. A major works too, since it's the same key signature but you're using the notes of an A scale rather than an E scale.

• A major: A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G# - A
• E mix: E - F# - G# - A - B - C# - D - E
• E major: E - F# - G# - A - B - C# - D# - E

So you can pair this tune with any other jig you know in A minor, C major or A major and see how you like the combo!

Depending on your comfort level with modal tunes, here are several suggestions for how to add them into your practice this season!

• If you're new to modal tunes (or still not entirely sure what they are), try playing the two E scales shared above to hear the difference (aka the D vs D#).
• If you're somewhat familiar but not super comfortable yet, try the E scales above but practice them in thirds (skip a note in between), fourths (skip two notes) and so on. The more intervals you can instinctively hear in this scale, the easier it gets to recognize phrases in the tunes you're learning!
• If you're super comfortable with E mix and other modes... let's do a tune swap! What other E mix tunes do you know? Or maybe do a deep dive into Finbarr Dwyer's compositions. He wrote some great ones!

Until next time, let modal tunes be both spooky and fun. Tell your pets, family and neighbors that you're just getting into the season. 😁

Happy playing!

~Hannah