Re: [Harp-L] Irish/Celtic trad



Ok now that I'm not trying to do this on a commute home from my iPhone...

Playing Irish music on any instrument is quite a bit harder than you give it
credit for.  Sure, you got the patterns down, but if you are playing the
same melody each time...well, not only did you completely miss the point,
but you are a terrible player of ITM.  It's the "twiddly bits" that come
between the notes that make the tunes difficult.  Imagine that you are
playing the same basic AABBAABB (the standard pattern for tunes)  but each
time you play one of those parts, you need to make it different from the
last time you played it...while at the same time, you need to make sure your
ornaments add to the phrasing of the music and make it correct.  The notes
you leave out, the cuts, the rolls...each can either make or competely
destroy a phrase.  Remember that you aren't memorizing the some with the
ornaments, you are doing them (at least if you are good enough) on the
fly...changing them up and adapting them so that the music and ornamentation
of the entire session doesn't dissolve into a cacaphony.   Repetative?  Not
really.   Add to that, the version you know of the tune may very well not be
the same version that's played at the session you attend while out of town.


Oh yeah, and you are doing this at around 130-140 beats per minute, playing
single notes at breakneck speed with accuracy, timing and phrasing all
working together and necessary to get down.

If that sounds easy, you are obviously a great player.  For the rest of
humanity, it's great fun, and becomes easier as one becomes familiar with
the accent of the tunes, but is never anything to deride.

I once knew a classical flautist who laughed at me for playing Tin Whistle
and Irish Flute.  Obviously what I played paled in comparison to what she
was playing.  Well, that attitude was quickly dissuaded once she started
trying to learn the music.

Remember that another musical form may indeed seem easy from the outside,
but it's not until you actually attempt it that you see how difficult it
really is.

Oh, my harmonica chops?  They aren't.  I just picked the thing up about two
weeks ago when I noticed I'm starting to get arthritis in my left hand
(which is making flute/whistle playing a bugger and a half).

On Feb 13, 2008 5:56 PM, Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Joe -
>
> I went through something like what you describe when I first started
> playing Scottish music (similar to Irish). Yeah, the tunes go by very fast.
> But it's not true that no liberties are allowed. Some people insist that
> there's only one "true" way to play a tune, but then somebody else insist
> that the version *they* know is the only correct tone. Take it with a grain
> of salt. The "no liberties allowed" folks are pretenders and know-it-alls
> (even the famous ones).
>
> The joy is in the feeling of playing the tunes, and the sound of the
> melody - that's one reason I hang out with the San Francisco Scottish
> Fiddlers. Just the pure melody being played can be huge and create
> tremendous excitement and mood. After all, this is music that originated in
> unaccompanied singing, and playing of the pipes or fiddle. All the rhythm
> and harmony are implied in that melody, which all by itself is danceable.
> Then you go on to the next tune, which if chosen well follows on logically
> from the last, flows nicely, and raises the excitement level.
>
> Also, the music has its own kind of swing. It can even be laid back (even
> though the notes go by fast - some of the fastest music is the most relaxed
> sounding, oddly enough).
>
> One thing you don't have to do much of is improvise. That part is
> appealing to some folks - you learn the melody, and you play it. Maybe
> ornament it a bit, but you don't have to do the tough work of making up new
> stuff on the spot the way jazz musicians, and a lot of blues and rock
> musicians, do. I'm sure there are folks who can play blazingly fast sets of
> reels and think that improvising over a 12-bar blues must be the toughest
> thing in the world to play.
>
> Winslow
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 1:16:07 PM
> Subject: [Harp-L] Irish/Celtic trad
>
> Was talking back and forth to another member and voiced my feeling(s)
> that Irish/Celtic Trad (and it's Am-er-eecan cousin..bluegrass) must
> be the toughest stuff in the world to play.
>
> Just think about it. First you have a melody and then it repeats
> itself, then repeats itself again, and again, and again. How does one
> play this stuff? From rote? How does one keep the notes straight? The
> nice thing about jazz is that you never have to do the same thing
> twice. It's so easy (by comparison).
>
> THEN, as if that wasn't enough to spin your head, the melody changes
> to something else, and the whole entire process starts all over
> again. Instead of a bridge, there are multiple melodies. Then, it's
> no fun if they tell you that there are literally thousands of notes.
> AND all the verses have to match. No liberties allowed. And the
> speed? fugeddabowdit.
>
> When I hear players like Jim Conway, Rick Epping, Brendan Power, my
> brain liquifies and drips down into my shoelaces. Jeez.
>
> smo-joe
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