# Music by Genre > Rock, Folk Rock, Roots Rock, Rockabilly >  Galway Girl (Steve Earle) Questions

## Alex Orr

Anyone got the sheet music or tabs?  I've figured a version out by ear (in D), but it would be nice to compare it with something more "official".  Also, is he lifting a traditional Irish tune for the lead melody lines on this song or is it original?

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## Steve Ostrander

I play this tune with my band.  I don't have tab but the chord progression goes like this:

D-G-D-G-D-Bm-D-A-D

I believe there is a YouTube video of Steve Earle playing this tune solo mandolin.

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## Jim Broyles

Yeah, I knew this song was requested before. Here's a tab I found on a tab request thread  at Mudcat.org. NOTE: The forum (Mandolin Cafe) does not format the tab right even if you use Courier New font. The original poster's instruction (bolded) to copy it to Notepad  and use Courier or Courier New, does work when you copy it from the linked location.

Subject: Tune Add: GALWAY GIRL (Steve Earle)
From: DaveP
Date: 05 May 08 - 05:43 PM

I converted the ABC into Mandolin TAB using a program I wrote a few years ago. The TAB looks wrong here because of the proportionally spaced font.
*Copy the section between the @@@@@@ lines into notepad and change the font to "Courier" or "courier new" it should then look OK.*
If it works for you see thread
Tech: FREE ABC to TAB software
where you get guided to a totally free copy of the converter.

Any queries PM me
DaveP

@@@@@@@@@

 Galway Girl
Time signature = 4/4 DefaultNoteLengh = 1/8 Key = D

 E 4 |-----|---------------|-------------|-------------|-----------|---------|
 A   |-----|---------------|-----------0-|-2-2-2-4-5-4-|-2-0-0---0-|-2-2-0---|
 D 4 |-0-2-|-4-2-4-2-0-0-2-|-4-4-4-2-0---|-------------|-------4---|-------4-|
 G   |-----|---------------|-------------|-------------|-----------|---------|
       e e   q _____ q e e   q q e e e e   q q e e e e   q q q e e   q q q q
               =2*e

 E 4 |-----------|-------------|---------|-----------|---------|
 A   |-----------|-------------|-------0-|-2-0-2-0-2-|-4-5-2-0-|
 D 4 |-5-4-5-4-0-|-2-2-2-4-5-4-|-2-0-0---|-----------|---------|
 G   |-----------|-------------|---------|-----------|---------|
       e e q q q   q q e e e e   q q q q   . e . e q   q q q q
                                           q   q

 E 4 |-------------|---------|-----------|-----------|-------------|--- |
 A   |-0-2-0-------|---0-2-2-|-0-----0---|-----------|-------------|---:|
 D 4 |-------5-4-2-|-2-------|---4-5---5-|-4-0-2-2-0-|-2-4-5-4-2-0-|-0- |
 G   |-------------|---------|-----------|-----------|-------------|--- |
       e e e e q h   q q q q   q q e e q   q q q e e   e e e e q q   h 
@@@@@@@@@

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## Eddie Sheehy

Intro:

D D


Verse 1:

D                                              
Well, I took a stroll on the old long walk 

.......D........A......G                            
On a day -I-ay-I-ay 

D                                              
I met a little girl and we stopped to talk 

 ......G...........D                          
On a fine soft day -I-ay 

 .......G..........D....................G........D       
And I ask you, friend, what's a fella to do 

 ..............Bm...........................G......  .......D    
'Cause her hair was black and her eyes were blue 

 .......G.............D.............G.........D        
And I knew right then I'd be takin' a whirl 

...............Bm......................G........D         
'Round the Salthill Prom with a Galway girl 


Bridge:

D / / / Bm / G D
D / / / A / G D


Verse 2:

D            
We were halfway there when the rain came down 

                 G                             
On a day -I-ay-I-ay 

        D                                     
And she asked me up to her flat downtown 

     D          G          D                    
Of a fine soft day -I-ay-I-ay 

      G        D                G        D        
And I ask you, friend, what's a fella to do 

            Bm                    G         D       
'Cause her hair was black and her eyes were blue 

      G        D          G          D            
So I took her hand and I gave her a twirl 

       Bm                G      D                
And I lost my heart to a Galway girl 



BRIDGE (2X)


Verse 3:

D                                          G    
When I woke up I was all alone 

         D                              G  D       
With a broken heart and a ticket home 

      G        D            G             D     
And I ask you now, tell me what would you do 

        Bm         A          G          D      
If her hair was black and her eyes were blue 

            G        D                     G         D       

'Cause I've traveled around. I've been all over this world 

              Bm                       G      D   
Boys I ain't never seen nothin' like a Galway girl


BRIDGE (3X)

The bridge I picked up easily because it was played on a tinwhistle.  I make a mando tab but I have difficulty showing the time.  Here are the tonic solfa notes:

d r m r d r m m m r d 
l l t d t l s m
s l l s m f m r m 
r r r m f m r d d 

l l s l t d t l 
s s f m r r 
l l s m f m r m 
r r r m f m r d d

I use a lot of cuts, crans and rolls - (read slides, triplets, and hammers) to get the flow.

Good Luck.

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## Eddie Sheehy

Sorry about the chords being on top of each other, they looked fine when I posted it and when I edit it.

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## Eddie Sheehy

I've added dots to the first verse and chorus to show the chord spacing.

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## Alex Orr

Thanks.  I'd already figured the chord changes out but the tabbed melody line is cool too see.  I already have a passable version, but I wasn't teribly pleased with a few bars and wanted to see what others had come up with.  I'm looking forward to playing it when I get home.

So, I'm curious did he lift the lead melody line from an existing Irish reel or did he make it up himself?

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## Eddie Sheehy

If he did then its one I haven't heard before... but then again just a change of tempo can yield a different tune....

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## Jim MacDaniel

Found this great version on youtube, with Sharon Shannon sharing the stage with Steve at the Kennedy Center Gala for Irish Music:

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## Eddie Sheehy

Not to shabby!  That's Donal Lunney on the bouzouki...

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## Jim MacDaniel

> That's Donal Lunney on the bouzouki...


Wow, you're right; I don't know how I missed him _or_ his upside down zouk.  :Wink:

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## baileboy

Ok, I'm going crazy trying to play, I can't figure out what D chord he's playing,  I don't think it's the "standard" D

 

Can anyone tell me what D chord he is playing?

I think the G is:




Thanks to the previous posters for getting me started on this song!

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## Earl Gamage

Just food for thought, Earle does use that D chord but he reaches for the B note on the G string for a G chord sometimes (at least that's what I think goes on on Copperhead Road).  I have not listened to Galway Girl but that may be why it does not sound normal to you.  This is just a wag but it might help you think it out.

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## M.Marmot

That song became the bane of my life whenever i have returned home... every second jack or nancy, on seeing the mandolin presumed that i'd know it... i did not. 

That youtube video is my first time hearing it in full... another fine bootstomper from Mr Earle, i suppose theres worse things to be hassled for

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## david blair

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/8942

Maybe this is what you're after?

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## Greg Wilson

Working on this talk now and almost have it licked but having problems on the line "On a fine soft day ay ay".  

I have tried playing it:
......G...........D
On a fine soft day -I-ay 

and 

......D...........G
On a fine soft day -I-ay 

Neither way sounds right.  What is Steve doing there?  Any help appreciated!

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## Clement Barrera-Ng

> Working on this talk now and almost have it licked but having problems on the line "On a fine soft day ay ay".


I played the song with a band before and we tried about A -> D and G -> D (as you did) and we eventually settled on G->D since it sounds better.

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## michaelpthompson

Now you've got me going on this song. Perfect for singing in the pub, which is what I usually do. I only knew it by the Elders before this though:




That's a live version, where you can see them playing, but the sound is not too great. Here's a link to a recorded version with better sound.




Great song. Gotta go practice. Gotta stop finding new songs to learn until I catch up some.  :Redface:

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## Mandoviol

We recently recorded a version of it in D just for ourselves.  Sounded pretty good.  Fun song to sing.

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## michaelpthompson

> We recently recorded a version of it in D just for ourselves.  Sounded pretty good.  Fun song to sing.


I do like the Elders version I posted (well, I AM Irish) and tried to play along with it, using the chords posted here. Apparently, they don't play it in D like Steve does, so I went back to Steve's version. The Elders do the lyrics a bit different too. Really nice song though.

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## barney 59

Steve is selling that Jimmy Moon mandolin ( from the Kennedy Center video) by the way. I don't know where it is now, probably Matty has it in the Village-- Steve likes to hang at Umanov Guitars so that is who would be handling it .Steve is not interested in selling the Gil..

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## Jim MacDaniel

Anyone ever see him play his Vox/Hammertone/Phantom-inspired Spicer eMando as below? (I've never seen him play it live or in a vid, and  wonder if he still even has it.)

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## Jim Broyles

Didn't work.

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## barney 59

Steve is a hound for sure when it comes to instruments. He's pretty knowledgeable about them I've found. Did you ever see the Kopple interview? He's sitting in a room with a 20 foot row of guitars hanging on hooks and in the space between the next 20 foot row of guitars is a set of drums set up and the logo on the base drum says "The Beatles". He shared that studio with someone so maybe they weren't ALL his. He was still in Nashville when that interview took place.  Mostly I see that he is using his Gilchrist and his Martin "Steve Earle" signature model that he designed with Matt Umanov. He lives in New York now so I wonder if he has the space for all of that.

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## Brick Top Blagger

> Working on this talk now and almost have it licked but having problems on the line "On a fine soft day ay ay".  
> 
> I have tried playing it:
> ......G...........D
> On a fine soft day -I-ay 
> 
> and 
> 
> ......D...........G
> ...


I think A to D sounds best, personally. I don't actually know what everyone else in the group is playing...

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## Brick Top Blagger

> I played the song with a band before and we tried about A -> D and G -> D (as you did) and we eventually settled on G->D since it sounds better.


But if that's Clement (if so, hey man), then apparently I'm supposed to be playing G to D!

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## Mark Robertson-Tessi

I know it's an old thread, but some more details based on the original recording:




> Working on this talk now and almost have it licked but having problems on the line "On a fine soft day ay ay".


On the same parts of the verse later in the song, it's 
D A | D.   That's D on "fine", A on "day", and D on "ay".  
On the intro, he's a bit loose with the chords there.  2002 for the D...  The 'chord' on "day" is pretty much just the E on the second fret D string, though he's holding down the 2nd fret E cause that's still ringing throughout.  Then a quick 0002 on the "I" syllable, and back to 2002 for D on "ay".  

The opening D chord is 7000.

The Bm always walks down to the G, going through a D chord with A in the bass:  Bm D/A | G D  
On the mando he's playing things like:  4000 , 2000 , 0023 , 2002 for that part.

Sometimes during the song he's strumming D chords over some of the other chords.  Sometimes he's letting that top E string act as a drone.  

Always been one of my favorite songs to play.  If you play it with straight chords it can sound a little too clean, so think of simpler shapes using 1 and 2 fingers, even if it leaves some drones in there that aren't part of the strict chord.

CHeers
Mark R-T

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## citeog

> Not to shabby!  That's Donal Lunney on the bouzouki...


And Arty McGlynn on acoustic guitar and Nollaig Casey on fiddle. A backup crew like that would make Foster and Allen sound good:o).

Paul

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## Bernie Daniel

> Anyone got the sheet music or tabs?  I've figured a version out by ear (in D), but it would be nice to compare it with something more "official".  Also, is he lifting a traditional Irish tune for the lead melody lines on this song or is it original?


Alex, try this tab -- its a .tef file that I used when I was first working out the basic melody.  It is not how I play it now as I've added a lot of pickup and grace notes since.  Also you might not like all the drones I put in there and actually I don't use all of them anymore myself.  Just another viewpoint.  I think I got the shell of this tab from someplace but it was a few years ago...........

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## Daniel Nestlerode

I have a student learning this tune.  It's a great one, and I have been told that I will need to know it when my Bluegrass band does its stint hosting a Bluegrass festival outside of Dublin in August.   :Wink: 

Here's what I told my student about the first half of the verse...

This is a really loose song.  After watching Steve Earle play various versions of it on YouTube I have decided, like a few of you, that the first half of the verse is nearly ad-libbed.  Lots of D and G.  Start on the D and then just end the first line with the G and the second line with the D.  Anything you do in between that's in the D scale and rhythmically appropriate will work.

In the second half of the verse there is a descending bit you can play either straight as Bm(Hair), A(Black), G(Eyes), D(Blue) or you can play the Bm as 400x the A as 200x (I guess that might be considered an A5) and hit the G nd the d as normal for 2 fingered chords.  Others have also noted this.   :Smile:  

The point is...Whether you play it straight or as Earle does it, doesn't really matter.  What matters is enjoying the song!  If you can play it more smoothly and convincingly using full chords, do it.  If you can play it better with Earle's loose-y goose-y style, do that.  Whatever works for you and makes the song fun to play is the right way.   Earle changes it up a lot from performance to performance, there's no reason for anyone else to focus on one version as the right way to do it.

Hope this helps!
Daniel

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## JeffD

> The point is...Whether you play it straight or as Earle does it, doesn't really matter.  What matters is enjoying the song!  If you can play it more smoothly and convincingly using full chords, do it.  If you can play it better with Earle's loose-y goose-y style, do that.  Whatever works for you and makes the song fun to play is the right way.   Earle changes it up a lot from performance to performance, there's no reason for anyone else to focus on one version as the right way to do it.


Great comment. I think I have spent a lot of hours chasing down some little bit of technique as if it were Holy Writ when in actuality the artist may have tossed it off without thinking, and do it differently next time. Getting it right is a lot of judgement, I find. Its hard sometimes to suss out exactly what is a necessary part of the tune, what is the artists deliberate ornamentation of the tune, and then, what is the artists just random stuff that he/she is worrying about a lot less than me and can actually go any of many different ways. As Daniel says, play the tune, play the song.

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## mickmando

When Steve played in Leeds ( UK) last year, he had the name on the headstock obliterated and the word F*** on the headstock . I have a picture of it but didn't think it right to post it. I don't know his reason behind it.

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## Danny Thomasson

I have the chord progression down but I have not figured out the strumming pattern.  Is he doing a DDDUD or DDUD DDUD?

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## Jim Broyles

Sounds like D/D/DU/DU/ within the bar, to me. It varies  according to the players feeling at the time, but I am pretty sure the "intro" goes like that.

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## Paul Brett

We often play this at gigs and if I have to do the solo bit I always end up playing the solo from Steve's Dixieland. I can't get the 2 straight in my head when i need to...it could be the beer!

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Ed Goist

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## neil argonaut

> We often play this at gigs and if I have to do the solo bit I always end up playing the solo from Steve's Dixieland. I can't get the 2 straight in my head when i need to...it could be the beer!


Same here, and I don't even drink! I've always thought of dixieland musically as being a bit of an update on Galway Girl, and much as I like Galway girl, Dixieland's probably my favourite Steve Earle song.

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## jorgey

All,  I just discovered this song by accident.  What a treat!  Like finding money in the sofa!  I'm amazed I've gone this long without heraring it.   This thread answers almost all the questions I had.  Thanks!  Here's the video where I first caught it.  It's in an airport terminal during a delayed flight to Ireland.  What do the Irish do to pass the time?.............. And I love how all the young kids know the words...

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jawgee, 

journeybear, 

Ky Slim

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## Rick Nelson

If Im not mistaken there is a YouTube tutorial for this song. Also for Copperhead Road.  


> Anyone got the sheet music or tabs?  I've figured a version out by ear (in D), but it would be nice to compare it with something more "official".  Also, is he lifting a traditional Irish tune for the lead melody lines on this song or is it original?

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## sonic

Theres a few I found this one good

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## ollaimh

the best version is daori farrel playing it in an airport

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## Dean Campbell

Guys, i have found this tab what i have been practising, its sounds pretty good when i play it, but i need a little help here guys, although i can just about play this tab, i am really struggling to get the pattern of the strum when i try to play some chords with it, anyone know what strum i should be doing....i am only three months into my playing, thanks in advance..
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4L...N3Mkx6N1E/view

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## EdHanrahan

> ... really struggling to get the pattern of the strum ... anyone know what strum i should be doing


"Strums" can be so much of a _feel_ thing that describing them often misses the point or, more literally, the feel.  Plus, there's often left-hand muting besides whatever up & down the right hand is doing so, again, it can be tough for the outside observer to describe correctly.  That said, it's hard to do better than the source - strumming starts around 0:35.  Just go for the _feel_ and... enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMUBCeAK7Cg

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Dean Campbell

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## Dean Campbell

> "Strums" can be so much of a _feel_ thing that describing them often misses the point or, more literally, the feel.  Plus, there's often left-hand muting besides whatever up & down the right hand is doing so, again, it can be tough for the outside observer to describe correctly.  That said, it's hard to do better than the source - strumming starts around 0:35.  Just go for the _feel_ and... enjoy!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMUBCeAK7Cg


Thanks Ed...yeah, i guess your right, i need to some hours playing under my belt, get a feel for it and not just doing it by numbers so to speak..thanks for the link, i will have a good look at that over the next few days
Cheers Dean

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## bigskygirl

This is a nice version for getting a feel for the rhythm, even has a lefty bouzouki in it...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_7-PM_4aeE4

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Dean Campbell

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## Dean Campbell

> This is a nice version for getting a feel for the rhythm, even has a lefty bouzouki in it...
> 
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_7-PM_4aeE4


thanks, great link

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