The Garry Owen, Tune of the 7th Calvary

The Garry Owen is a traditional Irish tune that has been traced as far back as the 17^th century. It is better known in the United States by its association with the 7^th Calvary. Tradition has it that the tune was popular among the Irish members of General George Custer's regiment, and Custer adopted it as the regimental tune. George Custer is remembered today for the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1876, when he led the 7^th Calvary into one of the worst disasters in US military history. The Battle of Little Bighorn at eyewitnesstohistory.com gives the details of this battle.

Every musician should know this tune and its historical importance. It is a good song to memorize. The image at the top of this article shows the melody of the Garry Owen. Click on the image to enlarge it and print it out. The melody is written in 6/8 time, which is to be played with two beats to the measure and each beat containing three eight notes. Some musicians will need to breathe after every phrase of two measures, but strive to breathe only after each line.

The tempo of this song may vary. Try to play it at the speed of a march, around 120 beats to the minute. For practice, play it even faster. After memorizing it, try to play it in different keys. Since it is in the key of C, and the first note of the tune is a C, it is easy to figure out how many sharps or flats to play if you know your key signatures. If you start one note higher, on a D, you would use both F and C sharps. To start on an F, you only need B flat. If you start on a G, you would only use F sharp. And if you start on a D, you would use the F and C sharps. I suggest trying this tune starting on each of those notes, C, F, G, and D. As you add sharps and flats, you also discover how much more difficult it is to play a song in different keys. With practice, and playing from memory, you will become much more facile at playing in any key.

A midi file of this song is available at Garry Owen (www.contemplator.com) and is in the Key of G. If you play a B flat instrument such as clarinet, trumpet, or tenor saxophone, you will need to play in the Key of A. That would mean three sharps, F, C, and G. For the E flat instruments, such as Alto Saxophone, that would be the key of E with four sharps, F, C, G and D.