Folk music is fantastic for so many reasons, with so many other musical styles deriving and borrowing from it.
It’s also a great source for sight reading and playing. Even though the piano may not have been a primary instrument in early or rustic folk music, there’s no reason why your fingers can’t get a great workout playing some of these well-worn numbers.
Here we have the Foxhunter’s Jig. It’s in D major. It’s hard to pin down exactly its origin — we have tried, before we get vexed messages from those who suggest we should do better.
Turning attention to playing it, instead, take a look at the manuscript below. You can hear the audio as well. This is the speed we ‘found’ it playing at — pretty fast eh? You can start it off slower and work up speed.
Some things worthy of note. It’s in 9/8 time, which means you get nine eighth notes (quavers) to each bar. With the speed as well, counting these can be quite tricky. There are many ways to count rhythm with this kind of time signature — for this piece we suggest “1 & a 2 & a 3 & a” because there are still three distinct beats to each bar, each made up of three eighth notes.
Also note that each of the four lines repeats. This means you need to be on your toes (or fingers might be more accurate) to jump back in the score and be in the right place — especially as the last note is always an eighth so you don’t have much time to think and move. The final line in particular has a big jump from the low D to the high G.
And finally, it’s in D major which means sharpening all the Fs and Cs — except on the first bar of the fourth line where we have a C natural on the descending scale. Be mindful of that.
Otherwise, have fun. This is a great workout for the right hand. If your left hand is feeling lonely, you can always try to play it an octave lower with your left, or why not work out some simple harmony to use alongside it?
