Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2002 8:14 am
First question:
It's dance music, of course, and the dance never stops until it's done.
It is in this vein that I have taken advice (heard at Brother Steves', and elsewhere) not to breathe at the end of a part, before the repeat. The point is to keep the pulse going, I gather. So, I would like to play like this:
(T:Ships Are Sailing (snipet); K:E Dorian)
... g2bg f2af | edef gfed |] Be z d BcdB | ADED ADED |...
The "z" is a rest and the place I think I should breathe on the repeat, without disrupting the pulse of the end of the second part.
Well, I don't really manage. There are tunes that lend themselves so well to taking a breath at the end of the part. Look at this transcription of The Knotted Cord (aka Junior Crehan's Favorite):
(Thanks to Brother Steve for letting me use his transcription. It is part of his tin-whistle pages. Look for Advanced Ornamentation: Rolls - the practice page. There you will also find the sound clip from which I learned the tune.)
Steve playes off-beat rolls on A at the end of both parts. But I find myself taking a breath there, and starting the repeat/other part with a new attack. (Maybe I am facing repressed classical-music traumata from my childhood?)
How heinous a sin am I committing? (Concertina-players, fiddlers & pipers need not respond to this one.)
<hr>
Second question:
I like making up my own sets of tunes. It's fun and permits me not to encumber my mind with what is commonly played together or not.
Right now, I really like playing the Knotted Cord (see above) into Sally Garden (and sometimes followed by Green Groves of Erin). So I have been thinking about the transition from one tune into the other. My question is: How much attention should I call to that transition?
First off, there is a key change, so one would hope the transition isn't entirely lost. The easiest thing is to just play:
... BABd egga | dBGA BA~A2 |] G2DG B2GB | dBeB dBAB ....
But I thought a bit of a statement would be nice, and so now I play:
... BABd egga | dBGA BA~A2 |] >g4 B2gB | dBeB dBAB ....
It seems (to my untutored) ears especially nice when the guitarist at the session accents that first beat of Sally Gardens with a whopping G-major chord (they can usually manage a G-major chord).
How do you tackle these tune transitions, with extra emphasis or without?
It's dance music, of course, and the dance never stops until it's done.
It is in this vein that I have taken advice (heard at Brother Steves', and elsewhere) not to breathe at the end of a part, before the repeat. The point is to keep the pulse going, I gather. So, I would like to play like this:
(T:Ships Are Sailing (snipet); K:E Dorian)
... g2bg f2af | edef gfed |] Be z d BcdB | ADED ADED |...
The "z" is a rest and the place I think I should breathe on the repeat, without disrupting the pulse of the end of the second part.
Well, I don't really manage. There are tunes that lend themselves so well to taking a breath at the end of the part. Look at this transcription of The Knotted Cord (aka Junior Crehan's Favorite):
(Thanks to Brother Steve for letting me use his transcription. It is part of his tin-whistle pages. Look for Advanced Ornamentation: Rolls - the practice page. There you will also find the sound clip from which I learned the tune.)
Steve playes off-beat rolls on A at the end of both parts. But I find myself taking a breath there, and starting the repeat/other part with a new attack. (Maybe I am facing repressed classical-music traumata from my childhood?)
How heinous a sin am I committing? (Concertina-players, fiddlers & pipers need not respond to this one.)
<hr>
Second question:
I like making up my own sets of tunes. It's fun and permits me not to encumber my mind with what is commonly played together or not.
Right now, I really like playing the Knotted Cord (see above) into Sally Garden (and sometimes followed by Green Groves of Erin). So I have been thinking about the transition from one tune into the other. My question is: How much attention should I call to that transition?
First off, there is a key change, so one would hope the transition isn't entirely lost. The easiest thing is to just play:
... BABd egga | dBGA BA~A2 |] G2DG B2GB | dBeB dBAB ....
But I thought a bit of a statement would be nice, and so now I play:
... BABd egga | dBGA BA~A2 |] >g4 B2gB | dBeB dBAB ....
It seems (to my untutored) ears especially nice when the guitarist at the session accents that first beat of Sally Gardens with a whopping G-major chord (they can usually manage a G-major chord).
How do you tackle these tune transitions, with extra emphasis or without?