Music Lesson: Jig Patterns

I forgot to tell you the names of those two jigs that I just played.

Jigs Introduced

• First Jig: The Cool A Jig

  • A straight-up six-eight jig.
  • "jiggety jiggety, jiggety jiggety."

• Second Jig: The Choice Wife

  • A slip jig, which is a nine-eight jig.
  • "So it's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4th, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3."

I use the same right-hand pattern on both of them, even though one's a six-eight jig and the other's a slip jig.

Right Hand Patterns

Speaking of right-hand patterns, now I'm going to take the opportunity to show you the basic jig pattern that I use pretty much on all my jigs.

"I don't necessarily keep the pattern going the whole time through a jig. I'll employ slurs, hammer-ons, pull-offs, open spaces."

This is the basic thing that's going on. Let me show you the basic pattern, then a couple variations on it.

Tuning

Okay, I am back in Orkney tuning, where I'd like you to be if you were going to be practicing all these patterns because it just works out a lot easier here.

Tuning: cgd, gcd

Now, I'm going to keep my index finger on the second string, second fret on the left hand. You might want to have your multi-angle focus on my right hand now because that's where the action is really going to be.

Basic Pattern

The basic pattern is on different strings.

"It doesn't really matter which strings you're doing this on. The important part is the right-hand groove."

Remember, it's not a straight six with a jig.

"It's dotted, jiggety, jiggity, jiggity jiggety."

Variations

Now, another way to play it is by bringing your thumb down to one of the treble strings as opposed to...

Okay, now since that can get pretty darn boring quickly, let me show you a riff from a really well-known Scottish fiddle tune.

• Tune: The Athol Highlanders
  • (A T, H, O, L, E. Do not mispronounce that.)
  • Here's how it goes, showing how that pattern would apply to that tune.

Now, just to show you that Orkney tuning can also play in a key other than G, I'll do a part of an Irish jig called the Kunla. I'll just employ this pattern to show you how it would work with a different fiddle tune.

Encouragement

Okay. I'm having way too much fun. I just can't stop.

"It really is an invigorating pattern."
"I encourage you to spend as much time as you can just doing them till you internalize them, get them in your blood, and then throw in the left hand. That's the easy part."

Once you have the patterns, you can play pretty much any jig that you would want to play.

Final Thoughts on the Athol Highlanders

Before we move on, let me just alert you to how I would play the Athol Highlanders if I were using my thumb.

Remember I just said that you can do it using these two fingers: pluck, and then middle ring or middle index.

You can also do it with a slightly different feel. I think it's actually a bit more powerful. It may not be right for all jigs, but here's how I would use it:

• With a thumb
• As opposed to without a thumb.

Recap

Okay, so that's the basic jig pattern.