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Re: Sally Gardens (Reel)

Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2019 1:21 am
by Tor
benhall.1 wrote:It's a funny thing, but I can't make my brain understand tab at all. I can sight-read from sheet music or from ABC notation, but tab? Not a hope. I don't even seem to be able to work it out at all. It's probably just the way I'm wired ...
I'm somewhat similar - well, except for trying to read ABC, I haven't seen the need for it (I just pass any ABC through a converter to get sheet music). Tab? Never really worked. Even tab for guitar doesn't work, and I've been playing (and seeing guitar tab) for 45 years. Reading a score always worked. The sheet worked for the whistle from day one too, I took one look at the tab-like explanationary drawing that came with the Walton I had just bought, and I used sheet or ear from then on.
I haven't been able to learn to read the F clef though. But as I've been transcribing a lot of music recently it looks like I'm finally getting there too.

Re: Sally Gardens (Reel)

Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2019 5:56 am
by pancelticpiper
Mr.Gumby wrote:
Am I mistaken to think the ABC of the internet is only an easy, compact and portable way of writing (code to translate into) staff notation? I don't think it was ever meant to be read...everybody just converts that to staff, don't they?
I certainly don't know anything about the origins of ABC.

All I know is that when I started talking ITM online and visiting ITM sites it quickly became apparent that ABC was standard. I'd never heard of it. Perhaps it's an American thing? I don't know. But I kept finding ITM written in ABC only. For staff notation I was referred to software that converts ABC to staff notation.

It was all strange to me, coming from Highland piping and Church music all of which is written in ordinary staff notation (well except for canntaireachd and shape-note).

I've had Irish players tell me that they can't read staff notation, but can fluently read ABC.

To me ABC feels primitive and woefully inadequate, and hardly a comprable replacement for staff notation.

Re: Sally Gardens (Reel)

Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2019 6:33 am
by Sedi
I use the "tradmusician" app on my phone to convert ABC to sound (you can also convert to staff notation) and learn by ear, always cross-checking against good recordings on youtube because the app only gives me the bare bones of a tune. But I think it is immensely useful for practice. I did learn to read sheet music when I was younger and took Boehm-flute-lessons but that was 30 years ago and I barely remember it. Learning by ear is also a lot of fun IMO and I never did it any other way on the whistle.

Re: Sally Gardens (Reel)

Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2019 7:41 am
by Seanie
When I started learning to play music over 40 years ago some formal lessons were held in schools in the evening time.

Tunes were written up on a blackboard in Irish ABC. An arc was put over a group of 3 notes in a jig. A line was put under a note if it was a long note. The higher octave had a little tick mark put at the top right hand side of the note. All very intuitive. Students were expected to bring along a notebook in order to take down the tune. Also a tape recorder in order to record the tune.

This method has survived up to this day. Both my sons learned this way. Instead of a blackboard tunes were photocopied but still written out in the same fashion.

This is what is meant as ABC in Ireland.

Cheers

John