JTU wrote:
I have found that the Scottish jigs such as Cock O’ the North and the English jigs such as The Oyster Girl are easier to learn than the more frantic and less melodic Irish jigs.
Tricky if not impossible to define in a way that's widely agreed upon, terms like "frantic" and "melodic".
If by "frantic" we mean note density, true that it's common for Highland pipe jigs to have more long notes than is typical for Irish double jigs. Oftentimes a bar of a Highland pipe jig to have only two notes (two dotted quarternotes).
I opened the first Highland pipe book to hand and the first three jigs (
The Kitchen Maid, Minnie Hynd, and
Paddy's Leather Breeches) have bars 1, 3, and 5 of the second part having only two notes per bar.
Irish double jigs like to keep the gears churning, by comparison, with the main movement being six notes per bar. (The popular Highland pipe jig
Barbara's Jig, in the first part, has only one bar with six notes in it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt_7sTw9qXw )
Personally I don't equate note density with frantic. An Irish double jig has a nice flow to it, if played well.
About "melodic", that's personal taste, though for sure there are tunes that have wide intervals having a jagged feel while others move scalewise for a smoother feel.