The Sally Gardens - a reel in G Major tabbed for mandolin and played by Aidan Crossey

The Sally Gardens is one of those tunes which I first used to play at sessions many years ago when I started getting into traditional music. I hadn't played it for many years until a contact got in touch with me via my website and asked if I would mind creating some tab and a sound file.

His email started me thinking about how lucky I have been to have been able to access decent sessions within walking distance of my home in South East London when I first started playing. At one stage there were 4 such sessions weekly and it really accelerated the learning process for me - both in the sense of picking up new tunes and in the sense of being able to practise the tunes in a session several times a week.

Having returned to the tune, I found that I had a little more respect for it on account of no longer hearing it several times a week. (And my contact - who's had prior access to the tab and sound files - is pleased. So that's all grand...)

Notated, tabbed for mandolin and played on his G&O #34 mandolin by Aidan Crossey. More on this and many other tunes from the Irish musical tradition at www.TheIrishMandolin.com - follow the link to "learn some tunes".