Battering Ram — Mandolin Tab

Mandolin tab and sheet music with synced audio · Key of G · 120 BPM · 6/8 time · Irish Folk · Beginner

Chords used in this arrangement: G, Em, C, D, Am, Bm, B7.

Micho Russell, the legendary tin whistle player from Doolin in County Clare, used to describe this jig as a kind of musical story. Each part represents the increasing force of an English battering ram demolishing an Irish family's home during the 19th-century evictions. So that relentless, driving energy you feel as the tune builds isn't just good writing, it apparently meant something pretty raw to the people who played it. It's also got more variants floating around than most jigs; some players use a two-part version, others a three-parter, and the Irish name An Reithe Toghla (roughly "the eviction ram") keeps the original meaning alive. The three-part mandolin tab version you've got here is the session standard, and once you're comfortable, that high B-part run up to the octave is really satisfying to nail.

This page includes mandolin tablature, standard music notation, and a chord chart — printable as PDF and playable in sync with the original recording. Change the key, slow the tempo down, and loop the bars you want to practise.