“Si Bheag Si Mhor” on Celtic D Karimba

This classic O’Carolan tune sounds so sweet on the Celtic D

Everyone has their favorite Celtic song. My favorite is “Si Bheag Si Mhor” – pronounced “she beg, she more,” and means “Little Fairy, Big Fairy.” The song consists of two variations of the melody, and the first one sounds like the “Little Fairy,” while the second one is a bit grander, and sounds like the “Big Fairy.”

This song is attributed to the blind Irish harpist and singer Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738) as his first composition, but the melody is actually older.

Here is tablature for some of this beautiful tune on the Celtic D Karimba. This is the first half of the song, or the “little fairy” part. Click on the tablature image below to download the full 2-page PDF tablature for this song –  including both the “little fairy” and the “big fairy” parts.