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The reel is the most common and most popular tune type. It is in 4/4 time: there are two strong beats (beats 1 and 3) in a bar so, though we can write them in 4/4 time, Cut time may also be used. The most likely reason for the reels’ popularity is that tune players can best express their art through them. The possibilities for ornamentation and variation are endless and this can be heard in different players’ approach to any one tune. Because of this they are also great tunes to accompany, and the harmonic and rhythmic possibilities are vast.
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The Mountain Road Key of D major
This is a good tune to start with because harmonically it comprises a "three-chord trick" (I, IV and V; see Reading Music). Most traditional tunes could be played using this combination of chords though it would be usual for accompanists to tease out other possibilities for variation.
The A chord in bar two is an A7 suspended4, meaning the seventh and fourth notes up from A are included in the chord. This is quite a complex chord, which should add interest for those of you already familiar with the basics.
This tune is occasionally played as a single tune, that is, the first part once and the second part once. The rhythm of the strumming hand is commonly referred to as the " boom-chick style". This involves plucking the alternating bass note on beats 1 and 3 and strumming the chord on beats 2 and 4. The offbeat thus becomes the more accented beat.
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The Mountain Road Key of D major, Dropped D tuning (DADGBE)
Let us now try the same tune in Dropped D tuning. You must tune the low E string down a full tone to D. I usually use a slightly heavier string than normal for the low string. If using a medium gauge set of strings, I might choose a .59 gauge for the low E string. This is to make the string more taut, to hold the tuning better and also to get a more resonated tone from the string and guitar. Be careful in doing this, as some guitars may not be able to hold these heavier gauged strings and they may cause damage to your instrument. Check with a dealer if you're unsure.
The chord patterns haven't changed in this version but a couple of small changes have occurred: firstly the D chord is different from before. One of the advantages of Dropped D tuning is the ease with which you can access big sounding open chords; the D that I'm using here gives you three D's in the bottom when you don't use your third finger on the middle D string. I oscillate between the open (modal) and full version thus getting two distinct sounds with relative ease. Having the third finger free also means that it's easy to do the D, F#, G, A bass run at the end of each part; this adds to the harmonic interest.
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The Mountain Road with Substitutions
Here is the first example to employ substitute chords. These chords allow the accompanist to go beyond the simple harmonic structures of traditional music, and provide new colours to fill in the canvas. Possibilities for variation are endless when these chords are employed. Many traditional tunes are based on the "three-chord trick" (chords I, IV, V; G, C and D in the key of G major for example (see Reading Music)) so it is important to find alternative chord patterns that give the tune a greater harmonic interest and rhythmic drive.
The first substitute chord is the F# minor. It takes the place of the D major. F# minor is chord III in the key of D major, and, it has two notes (F# and A) in common with the tonic (home) chord. B minor (chord VI) is now the first chord of the second part (and also begins the second four-bar phrase); B minor also has two notes (D and F#) in common with the D chord that it replaces. As you will have seen in the Reading Music section, B minor is the "relative minor" of D major and would therefore usually be the first choice substitute chord though I like to use both chord III and VI.
I play an A suspended 4th chord (with the note D) near the end. This gives a little suspension-resolution effect (the D, fourth note, resolving to the C#) before the more important resolution of the A chord to the D chord. Practically all tunes will end with chords V to I. This is known as a "Perfect Cadence" (close of a musical phrase). A perfect cadence in the key of G would be D to G; in the key of A it is E to A etc.
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