The Star of the County Down

The first of the tunes from Ireland to go up on the site; this is the beautiful and well-known song 'The Star of the County Down'. Here is both the tune on its own for melody instrument such as fiddle or whistle, for 2 melody instruments as usual, and also a piano duet. One part of this latter arrangement is for very easy piano and should be played 2 octaves up when playing with the other part. As a piano teacher I've always looked for duets to play with beginner students. This one keeps the hands in one position apart from one very easy position shift, uses both clefs and encourages them to play in time with a more complex second part.

NB. The piano duet is in C minor as that bases it around middle C for the beginner pianist, while the melody on its own is in D minor as that is an easier key for most melody instruments. A simple transposition will enable them to be played together, eg the second part of the piano duet would work with a fiddle playing the melody. Please contribute to the site if you are downloading!