Something to consider is that a small difference in tempo, say in the 2-5% regime, can have a profound effect both in how the tune sounds and how difficult it is to play along. So you might think the right tempo for a particular reel is 100 bpm and think that someone is playing at absolute breakneck speed at 110 bpm. Add that to what's already been pointed out about the ease that some players convey, and you can have wildly different perceptions from very subtle changes in tempo and delivery.
(I would compare this to baseball pitching -- you can have a guy who throws 90 mph with a jerky motion, and he looks like he's throwing just as hard as a guy who throws 95 with a smooth motion, but to a hitter there's a world of difference between 90 and 95.)
Speed Merchants
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chas
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Charlie
Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
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Il Friscaletto
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It's all about the rythm, mannnn. Play as fast or slow as you like, just as long as you don't lose the rythm.
I'm fortunate in that my teacher plays for dancers often, and teaches me the tunes at "dance" tempo. The session I go to plays just a bit faster than that. Of course, some tunes are just begging to be played fast.
Although, I started Foxhunter's slip jig the other night and nerves must have got the better of me, becasue I started it too fast. I was like "uh-oh" once I realized it. I managed to get through it, though, and it sounded good!
I'm fortunate in that my teacher plays for dancers often, and teaches me the tunes at "dance" tempo. The session I go to plays just a bit faster than that. Of course, some tunes are just begging to be played fast.
Although, I started Foxhunter's slip jig the other night and nerves must have got the better of me, becasue I started it too fast. I was like "uh-oh" once I realized it. I managed to get through it, though, and it sounded good!
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Brazenkane
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Cathy Wilde
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Cathy Wilde
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Speaking of speed ....
Some people I'm blessed to know have a boxplaying friend visiting from Sligo, and he hosted our biweekly session last night. Wow, wow, WOW!!!!!! -- talk about lift and life! His playing just bounced and swung -- you couldn't NOT tap your foot or nod your head. And here's the weird thing .... the tempo was immaterial. Never gave it a thought about whether it was fast or slow, or anything ... it was just right for whatever tune we happened to be playing.
Anyway, as the evening went on and the rounds flowed, I did finally notice the pace; it was picking up and actually getting pretty darned energetic (at least for a piker like me). HOWEVER .... it STILL didn't feel too fast. It was bright, and I had to work harder .... but I know that I've felt like I was hanging on for dear life when I've played those same tunes at a slower pace.
Argh, I wish I could explain this better
... basically it was probably the fastest I've ever played some of those tunes ... but they didn't feel NEARLY as fast as they had other times when, if you were to measure in terms of real bpm, we were actually playing more slowly. I guess the difference is, though we were flying, we weren't rushing, maybe?
Far out.
Some people I'm blessed to know have a boxplaying friend visiting from Sligo, and he hosted our biweekly session last night. Wow, wow, WOW!!!!!! -- talk about lift and life! His playing just bounced and swung -- you couldn't NOT tap your foot or nod your head. And here's the weird thing .... the tempo was immaterial. Never gave it a thought about whether it was fast or slow, or anything ... it was just right for whatever tune we happened to be playing.
Anyway, as the evening went on and the rounds flowed, I did finally notice the pace; it was picking up and actually getting pretty darned energetic (at least for a piker like me). HOWEVER .... it STILL didn't feel too fast. It was bright, and I had to work harder .... but I know that I've felt like I was hanging on for dear life when I've played those same tunes at a slower pace.
Argh, I wish I could explain this better
... basically it was probably the fastest I've ever played some of those tunes ... but they didn't feel NEARLY as fast as they had other times when, if you were to measure in terms of real bpm, we were actually playing more slowly. I guess the difference is, though we were flying, we weren't rushing, maybe?Far out.
Deja Fu: The sense that somewhere, somehow, you've been kicked in the head exactly like this before.
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Terry McGee
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Heh heh, this thread reminds me of when I visited Sam Murray in Belfast as part of my "Self-Indulgent Flute-Makers Tour".
(http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/2002trip.htm.)
I'd hooked up with Sam at a pub late in the day near where his workshop was. The plan was that I'd then go off, get a feed, and go to a local session, then join him next morning at the workshop so we could chat flute-making things at our leisure. So, next morning Sam says, "And how was the session?"
Well, I felt a bit self conscious having to say I hadn't enjoyed it at all, and indeed had left it not long after it started. This was on a 64 day trip where I'd enjoyed 30 odd sessions in five countries, so I didn't want to be seen slagging the local product. "Too fast, too competitive", I cautiously advanced.
(Now it has to be remembered that I routinely play reels for dancing at ceili band pace, so I'm no stranger to speed. This seemed more like aggression than speed. Very fast, very flat, very relentless.)
"Ah", said Sam, with a wry smile. "Befast PowerDiddle".
So, since then, whenever I see young players attempting to set a new land-speed record, I remember Sam's description and smile.
Terry
(http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/2002trip.htm.)
I'd hooked up with Sam at a pub late in the day near where his workshop was. The plan was that I'd then go off, get a feed, and go to a local session, then join him next morning at the workshop so we could chat flute-making things at our leisure. So, next morning Sam says, "And how was the session?"
Well, I felt a bit self conscious having to say I hadn't enjoyed it at all, and indeed had left it not long after it started. This was on a 64 day trip where I'd enjoyed 30 odd sessions in five countries, so I didn't want to be seen slagging the local product. "Too fast, too competitive", I cautiously advanced.
(Now it has to be remembered that I routinely play reels for dancing at ceili band pace, so I'm no stranger to speed. This seemed more like aggression than speed. Very fast, very flat, very relentless.)
"Ah", said Sam, with a wry smile. "Befast PowerDiddle".
So, since then, whenever I see young players attempting to set a new land-speed record, I remember Sam's description and smile.
Terry
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Cathy Wilde
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Azathoth
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I for one have just (re-discovered) the joys of playing everything at a nice relaxed tempo, since some of our local folkies here in Hamburg have organized a weekly slow session for beginners.
Everything is played *very* sedately, so this is also a fantastic opportunity as a non-beginner to re-assess aspects of your flute-playing.
For example
1. Tone (often forgotten, but it distinguishes excellent players from the merely good)
2. Ornaments. For example, it's surprising how difficult a known tune becomes with just a few taps and cuts thrown in in different places. But being able to throw in an ornament when you want it is a useful skill
3. Rhythm. It is also surprising how even playing things slowly does not always make the rhythm easier. Often it gets much harder.
4. Memory. Assuming the tunes are new, the tunes are played slowly enough for you to learn them then and there, if you can. Recommended: don't learn them at home if you don't know them already -- try learning them in the session, since this helps to develop your ear.
Of course, you could just play slowly at home, but the slow session has the following benefits:
1. You are playing in a group: so you should still play musically and as far as possible without error, even though you are not playing as fast as you (think you) can.
2. Since you don't want to unnecessarily annoy people who are just learning an instrument, you have to do things like 2. and 4 with reasonable musicianship. This is important, since for example playing a roll musically and at exactly the right time is more difficult than just hammering loads of rolls out at home.
3. It's a session *and* its practise. It's the best of both worlds!
And as far as playing tunes fast or not: for me, I'd agree with others on the forum here -- it's a question of rhythm. Fast often just translates as "with the wrong rhythm". I think all tunes have certain a rhythm -- in fact many definitely have more than one rhythm -- at which they sound "right". Faster or slower than this rhythm makes the tune sound "wrong", somehow.
Difficult to explain precisely!
Cheers,
Ed
Everything is played *very* sedately, so this is also a fantastic opportunity as a non-beginner to re-assess aspects of your flute-playing.
For example
1. Tone (often forgotten, but it distinguishes excellent players from the merely good)
2. Ornaments. For example, it's surprising how difficult a known tune becomes with just a few taps and cuts thrown in in different places. But being able to throw in an ornament when you want it is a useful skill
3. Rhythm. It is also surprising how even playing things slowly does not always make the rhythm easier. Often it gets much harder.
4. Memory. Assuming the tunes are new, the tunes are played slowly enough for you to learn them then and there, if you can. Recommended: don't learn them at home if you don't know them already -- try learning them in the session, since this helps to develop your ear.
Of course, you could just play slowly at home, but the slow session has the following benefits:
1. You are playing in a group: so you should still play musically and as far as possible without error, even though you are not playing as fast as you (think you) can.
2. Since you don't want to unnecessarily annoy people who are just learning an instrument, you have to do things like 2. and 4 with reasonable musicianship. This is important, since for example playing a roll musically and at exactly the right time is more difficult than just hammering loads of rolls out at home.
3. It's a session *and* its practise. It's the best of both worlds!
And as far as playing tunes fast or not: for me, I'd agree with others on the forum here -- it's a question of rhythm. Fast often just translates as "with the wrong rhythm". I think all tunes have certain a rhythm -- in fact many definitely have more than one rhythm -- at which they sound "right". Faster or slower than this rhythm makes the tune sound "wrong", somehow.
Difficult to explain precisely!
Cheers,
Ed