Brian Boru's March
Anon. - Arr: chasmac/ Fretsource
Composed in honour of Brian Boru, an ancient Irish king, Brian Boru's March is a famous melody usually played on penny whistle to a chordal accompaniment. This is a simple arrangement of the tune in A minor for fingerstyle guitar.
Listen to Brian Boru's March
Here's the audio version of the score, which changes page by page if you want to play along with it.
Beginners' Playing Guide
Brian Boru's March consists of three 8-bar sections: A, B & C.
Section A is the main theme, which is repeated.
Section B is a contrasting theme in the relative major key of C major but ending on A minor, so it's not a genuine key change. It's also repeated.
Section C is a reprise of section A but modified to include the high A and G melody notes on string 1 frets 5 and 3, respectively. Section C is also repeated.
Time Signature
The time signature of 6/8 (six-eight) means there are two beats per bar and each beat is worth a dotted quarter note. Emphasise the notes or chords that coincide with those beats.
Chords
The chords that are formed from the notes in the score are also shown above the bars. These are exactly the chords that you would strum if someone else was playing the melody. As it is, the fingerstyle arrangement already includes the chords. They can be easily played by holding the simplest and most familiar guitar chord shapes associated with those chords. So hold the shapes and you'll find that the notes will fall into place. From those shapes, it just needs a little modification here and there to fit the melody. For example, in the first complete bar, by holding the simple A minor shape, you can play all the notes except B, and for that you just have to remove your 1st finger.
Brian Boru's March consists of three 8-bar sections: A, B & C.
Section A is the main theme, which is repeated.
Section B is a contrasting theme in the relative major key of C major but ending on A minor, so it's not a genuine key change. It's also repeated.
Section C is a reprise of section A but modified to include the high A and G melody notes on string 1 frets 5 and 3, respectively. Section C is also repeated.
Time Signature
The time signature of 6/8 (six-eight) means there are two beats per bar and each beat is worth a dotted quarter note. Emphasise the notes or chords that coincide with those beats.
Chords
The chords that are formed from the notes in the score are also shown above the bars. These are exactly the chords that you would strum if someone else was playing the melody. As it is, the fingerstyle arrangement already includes the chords. They can be easily played by holding the simplest and most familiar guitar chord shapes associated with those chords. So hold the shapes and you'll find that the notes will fall into place. From those shapes, it just needs a little modification here and there to fit the melody. For example, in the first complete bar, by holding the simple A minor shape, you can play all the notes except B, and for that you just have to remove your 1st finger.
Download a free PDF copy of Brian Boru's March for offline viewing and printing.
brian_borus_march.pdf |