Chords for Cooley's Reel: Trad Irish Fiddle Lesson by Kevin Burke

[N] _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [D#] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [N] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [B] _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _
[A] One of the [C] _ great names, one of the most [B] loved and [C] respected [B] names in Irish music [D] is Joe Cooley.
[A#] _ _ _ Joe was a [C] [B] great accordion player who [A#] _
spent a lot of his life [F#] in San Francisco.
He emigrated [D] from the west of Ireland to the west of the US, [C] spent a lot of time in San [F#m] Francisco.
_ _ He died probably in the mid-70s, I think.
_ [B] _ _
_ _ _ _ [D] _ There's a tune, a very [C] popular tune that bears his name, it's called Cooley's Reel.
_ [G#] _ [C#] _ So I'll [D] talk you through the [A#] way I play Cooley's. _
_ [E] _ _ _ [B] _ _ _ [D]
I start with an E [E] note and a B [N] note, _ [Fm] the two middle strings on the [F#m] fiddle.
So I put my [G#] finger between the two, I kind of trap [C#] the two of them against the fingerboard
so then I don't have to hop back and forth too [E] much. _ _ _
_ _ [Bm] _ _ _ _ [D] You can see [C#] for those opening notes, [D] the first finger is more or less staying put, sometimes
it jumps up and comes back down again, but it's playing the two strings.
_ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ [B] _ _ Here we bring in the third [Bm] finger, [D] _ _ [G] _ [Em] _ _ [E] _ _
_ [Bm] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
once [E] more.
_ [B] _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ [Bm] _ _ _ _ [C] _
[B] And then I usually put [C#] in a little triplet, [G] _ _ _
[B] F sharp, E, [D#m] [G] D.
[C] _ _ [G] So I'm going to [D#] play Cooley's Reel [D] this time [C#] with a few _ [C#m] additions, a few [D] rolls, a few different phrasing ideas.
[C#] _ _ _
[G] _ [E] _ [B] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
[D#] That opening phrase, I use my old _
[D#m] grace note thing for the rhythm, [E] _ _ _ _
[C#m] the two B's there, [C#] I
put the grace note on the second one [Bm] [E] to _ _ _ [D] give the, [C#] establish the rhythmic thrust of [E] the tune. _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [Bm] _ _ [B] The string crossing, [C#] making sure I bring in [Bm] both strings. _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ [Bm] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ [Bm] _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _