About The Butterfly
The Butterfly is a two-part Irish slip jig in E minor (it uses the notes of G major) — intermediate, running from D to b and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.
- Type
- Slip jig, two parts, each usually played twice
- Key
- E minor (the notes of G major) · 9/8
- Range
- D to b · first position
- Notes used
- D E F♯ G A B
- Level
- Intermediate
The Butterfly — sheet music
E minor (the notes of G major) · 9/8
The notes
Letter names, bar by bar · capitals up to C in the third space, lower case from the D on the 4th line
B E G E F♯ | B E G E F♯ E D | B E G E F♯ | B d d B A F♯ D B d e f♯ g | B d g e d B A | B d e f♯ g a | b a g e d B A B B A G A | B B A B d B A | B B A G A | B d g e d B A
The Butterfly — tab
Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it
The Butterfly — Tenor banjo tab
G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position
E|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------| A|-2---------|-2-------------|-2---------|-2-5-5-2-0-----| D|---2-5-2-4-|---2-5-2-4-2-0-|---2-5-2-4-|-----------4-0-| G|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------|
E|-----0-2-3-|-----3-0-------|-----0-2-3-5-|-7-5-3-0-------| A|-2-5-------|-2-5-----5-2-0-|-2-5---------|---------5-2-0-| D|-----------|---------------|-------------|---------------| G|-----------|---------------|-------------|---------------|
E|-----------|---------------|-----------|-----3-0-------| A|-2-2-0---0-|-2-2-0-2-5-2-0-|-2-2-0---0-|-2-5-----5-2-0-| D|-------5---|---------------|-------5---|---------------| G|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------|
Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.
The Butterfly — Mandolin tab
G D A E · open position
E|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------| A|-2---------|-2-------------|-2---------|-2-5-5-2-0-----| D|---2-5-2-4-|---2-5-2-4-2-0-|---2-5-2-4-|-----------4-0-| G|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------|
E|-----0-2-3-|-----3-0-------|-----0-2-3-5-|-7-5-3-0-------| A|-2-5-------|-2-5-----5-2-0-|-2-5---------|---------5-2-0-| D|-----------|---------------|-------------|---------------| G|-----------|---------------|-------------|---------------|
E|-----------|---------------|-----------|-----3-0-------| A|-2-2-0---0-|-2-2-0-2-5-2-0-|-2-2-0---0-|-2-5-----5-2-0-| D|-------5---|---------------|-------5---|---------------| G|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------|
Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.
The Butterfly — fiddle fingering
G D A E · first position — finger numbers
E|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------| A|-1---------|-1-------------|-1---------|-1-3-3-1-0-----| D|---1-3-1-2-|---1-3-1-2-1-0-|---1-3-1-2-|-----------2-0-| G|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------|
E|-----0-1-L2-|-----L2-0-------|-----0-1-L2-3-|-4-3-L2-0-------| A|-1-3--------|-1-3------3-1-0-|-1-3----------|----------3-1-0-| D|------------|----------------|--------------|----------------| G|------------|----------------|--------------|----------------|
E|-----------|---------------|-----------|-----L2-0-------| A|-1-1-0---0-|-1-1-0-1-3-1-0-|-1-1-0---0-|-1-3------3-1-0-| D|-------3---|---------------|-------3---|----------------| G|-----------|---------------|-----------|----------------|
0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.
The Butterfly — Guitar tab
E A D G B E · open position
e|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------| B|-0---------|-0-------------|-0---------|-0-3-3-0-------| G|-----0-----|-----0---------|-----0-----|---------2-----| D|---2---2-4-|---2---2-4-2-0-|---2---2-4-|-----------4-0-| A|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------| E|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------|
e|-----0-2-3-|-----3-0-------|-----0-2-3-5-|-7-5-3-0-------| B|-0-3-------|-0-3-----3-0---|-0-3---------|---------3-0---| G|-----------|-------------2-|-------------|-------------2-| D|-----------|---------------|-------------|---------------| A|-----------|---------------|-------------|---------------| E|-----------|---------------|-------------|---------------|
e|-----------|---------------|-----------|-----3-0-------| B|-0-0-------|-0-0---0-3-0---|-0-0-------|-0-3-----3-0---| G|-----2-0-2-|-----2-------2-|-----2-0-2-|-------------2-| D|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------| A|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------| E|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------|
Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.
The Butterfly — Ukulele tab
G C E A (high G) · open position
A|-2---------|-2-------------|-2---------|-2-5-5-2-0-----| E|---0---0-2-|---0---0-2-0---|---0---0-2-|-----------2---| C|-----------|-------------2-|-----------|-------------2-| G|-----0-----|-----0---------|-----0-----|---------------|
A|-2-5-7-9-10-|-2-5-10-7-5-2-0-|-2-5-7-9-10-12-|-14-12-10-7-5-2-0-| E|------------|----------------|---------------|------------------| C|------------|----------------|---------------|------------------| G|------------|----------------|---------------|------------------|
A|-2-2-0---0-|-2-2-0-2-5-2-0-|-2-2-0---0-|-2-5-10-7-5-2-0-| E|-----------|---------------|-----------|----------------| C|-----------|---------------|-----------|----------------| G|-------0---|---------------|-------0---|----------------|
Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.
More slip jigs and tunes like it
This setting is a community transcription from thesession.org. The tune itself is traditional. Tabs and letter names worked out by The Music Arcade.