Second phrase
In bar one, a high A dyad placing squarely on the third beat is preceded by what may be
an alternative E triad. Bunting's treble and bass do not always align and usually the bass
notes are ahead of the treble, so the E dyad could have been original and the A dyad
could conceivably have been inserted afterwards. However, the rest of the bass chords in
the notation align quite well with the treble and the A dyad is one of them. Of them, this E
triad is unique in not being clearly aligned with a treble note. It is possible to view the
alternative E triad as being the straightforward option for the bass for beat 3 and to
interpret the A dyad as being the fancy way most often used by Higgins.
From a technical point of view, the A dyad might be considered to present damping
problems as both A pitches could be regarded as clashing with the previous E triad and
the subsequent hypothetical E chord harmony. Higgins, who played with the fingerpads
and not with the nails, may not have had a heavy damping technique which dealt with fairly
rapid harmonic changes. The A chord contains an octave E and octave A, and the next
chord in the arrangement after the A dyad contains an octave G# and octave E. These
octaves may have been intended to strengthen the sense of the harmony of these
contrasting and rapidly moving chords against their sustain on the harp.
The previous E triad can really only be damped prior to striking the A dyad. For those
who prefer to apply damping technique here, my solution to damping the A notes of the
bass A dyad chord is, on the next beat, to use the second left hand finger to dampen the
top A which playing the treble G# octave and to use the right hand thumb to dampen the
bottom A while playing the bass E octave as a ladhar (first and third right hand fingers).
Second and third phrases
Phrases two and three are musically very similar, especially bar three and probably the
missing fourth bar. The second beat of bar three has been changed in both phrases. In
the second phrase, the two bass notes G# & B have been removed leaving a run of G#, A
& B. In the third phrase, the treble run G#, A & B has been edited into doubling the G# &
B bass notes. This introduces more melodic variation to the piece.
Banks of Claudy
2nd & 3rd phrases