Tune #4: A Tune A Week
This week’s tune (yes, a week late—sorry about that!) is The Rookery, a reel by Vincent Broderick. I’ve worked on this before on and off, and every time I come back to it, it teaches me something new—mostly about how I think I want to phrase things versus what actually works once I’m in the middle of the tune.
I remember the first time I tried to play The Rookery. I thought, “Okay, this should feel pretty natural once I’m rolling.” And in a way it does—the melody is so smooth that it settles right into the hands. But underneath that easy flow, there’s a kind of quiet mischief. The phrases don’t always land where your muscle memory expects, and if I don’t stay focused, I end up tripping over my own patterns like an absent-minded dog tripping over its own leash (Noah, you know how that goes).
What really gets me every time is the phrasing. The challenge isn’t finger speed or technical fireworks—it’s deciding how I want the tune to breathe. I can’t just coast through on autopilot; I actually have to make choices. If I don’t, I find myself running out of direction halfway through a phrase, feeling like the tune is playing me rather than the other way around.
And honestly? I kind of love that about it.
The Rookery has pushed me to rethink how much phrasing shapes the personality of a tune. I’ve spent practice sessions slowing this one way down, messing around with where to lean in, where to back off, when to connect and when to separate. It’s the kind of tune where one tiny adjustment suddenly makes the whole reel feel like it stands up straighter.
As the fourth tune in this series, The Rookery feels like the right kind of challenge—not overwhelming, not virtuosic for the sake of it, just cleverly written in a way that nudges me out of my habits. When I get it right, it’s incredibly fun to play. And when I don’t… well, it tells me exactly where I still need to grow.
If you’re working toward more intentional phrasing, this tune will give you plenty to chew on.
Take your time with it. Let it marinate. Come back to it again later—you might hear something different.
Happy playing, and here’s my take:
Session Obsession 