The Irish Traditional Music Forum FAQ:
Q: What's the matter? Don't you like the Poststructural Whistle Forum anymore?
A: We love the whistle forum. But it's about whistles, about people who play the whistle, and about people who don't; it's not about a specific type of music. It gets a bit busy and things move fast. The ITM forum moves slower and it is about a specific type of music, Irish Traditional Music, for all instruments.
Q: Can I post here, too?
A: Of course. Everyone is welcome.
Q: I have a question about rolls on the whistle, is this the right place?
A: That depends. This forum is about style in Irish Traditional Music, or ITM. If your question is about how to play a roll on the whistle, you should ask it on the main whistle board, because it will not be interesting to uilleann pipe players or fiddlers. If your question is about when or when not to play rolls in ITM, or about who plays or doesn't play rolls in ITM, or about this really wild roll-like thing you heard Willie Clancy do on an old record, then this is the right forum.
Q: I'm a beginner but I want to play ITM, is this the right place for me?
A: Certainly. You don't have to be an experienced player to browse or post here. All you need is the desire to learn about ITM. Just try to keep in mind that this is a forum about a style of music, and not about a specific instrument.
Q: What do you mean, "use the search function"?
A: Many topics have been discussed already in the past. Asking old questions over and over clutters up the forum and bores people. So, before you start a new thread here, click on the word "search" in brackets, in the upper right corner of the forum screen. You can search by forum, topic, author, and date. Quite handy, really. And don't hesitate to post if you still have a question after your search. You can try a search right now by clicking here.
Q: What's ITM?
A: Irish Traditional Music. We know it when we hear it.
Q: Oh, you mean Celtic music?
A: Ummm....
Q: Is Riverdance ITM?
A: Probably not. For one thing, it's not traditional, it's composed. But if you have something really interesting to say about Riverdance, or another type of music, by all means post it.
Q: Somebody told me my post doesn't belong here. What's up with that?
A: Everybody is welcome here. But not every post. The point of starting a new forum on chiff & fipple was to provide a space for focused and uncluttered discussion. There is always the Poststructural Whistle Board to post anything, on topic or off topic. The ITM forum is on-topic only. Don't worry, people who read the ITM forum read the Whistle forum, too, and your post will not get lost. Thanks for understanding.
Q: Aren't you guys just being snooty and elitist?
A: No.
Q: Why is it wrong to learn tunes from sheet music?
A: Because it's like trying to understand sex from a biology textbook. You may get some of the mechanics, but you are missing the main thing. That said, it's not "wrong" to learn tunes from sheet music, it's just not enough. Everybody agrees that in order to learn ITM, you have to listen to a lot of it. Here is a link to some previous discussion of this: those who use printed music, learning by ear.
Q: Can I discuss bluegrass, new age, baroque, or other styles of music here?
A: See "Is Riverdance ITM?"
Q: Which make of whistle, flute, pipes, fiddle, concertina, etc. is best for ITM?
A: This isn't the right forum for your question. The ITM forum is not about the best choice of instrument to play, but about the music that comes out of it.
Q: Which make of bodhran is best for ITM?
A: Well, acutally, n... nevermind. (Oh, you almost had us there.)
Q: What are all those letters for tune transcriptions?
A: It's called ABC and worth taking a look at: The ABC Hompage. This nifty tool will convert ABC notation into sheet music for you.
Q: What's the difference between a tinwhistle, a recorder and a Norelco Triple Rotary Head Electric Shaver™?
A: You might want to check here.
Q: I heard this really great tune, can I ask for the music here?
A: Yes, if you can't find it yourself. First try JC's Tunefinder, Fiddler's Companion, or The Session.
Q: Does Dale know you guys are doing this?
A: Yes.
Irish Traditional Music Forum FAQ - please read
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Bloomfield
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Roger O'Keeffe
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An excellent initiative which, apart from serving to inform, should lower the risk of ethnocentricity allegations on all sides.
I'll come back and edit out that and other ephemeral remarks at a later stage so that this thread remains easily readable as a basic FAQ file.
As an ITM practitioner who learnt "it" by ear and never got past page one of the Kama Sutra, I would suggest that a few things should be made clear for the benefit of the musically literate ingénus and ingénues, especially revolving around our little friend "D".
There's already a degree of confusion on the first "working" thread (Miss McLeod's) because the recording which it features is on a Clark's "C" whistle. I'm not even literate enough to know what key the tune is written out in, but I have noted that it follows the normal ITM convention, which is that the tune is transcribed as if for an instrument pitched in D. According to the same convention, the notes on a whistle, pipes etc. and other similar fixed-pitch instruments are referred to as if the instrument were in D, even if it's actually pitched in another key.
If someone more literate than I wants to express all this in terms more more clearly understood by those afflicted by a classical music edumacation, I'd be quite happy to defer and edit out this post altogether when it becomes redundant.
I'll come back and edit out that and other ephemeral remarks at a later stage so that this thread remains easily readable as a basic FAQ file.
As an ITM practitioner who learnt "it" by ear and never got past page one of the Kama Sutra, I would suggest that a few things should be made clear for the benefit of the musically literate ingénus and ingénues, especially revolving around our little friend "D".
There's already a degree of confusion on the first "working" thread (Miss McLeod's) because the recording which it features is on a Clark's "C" whistle. I'm not even literate enough to know what key the tune is written out in, but I have noted that it follows the normal ITM convention, which is that the tune is transcribed as if for an instrument pitched in D. According to the same convention, the notes on a whistle, pipes etc. and other similar fixed-pitch instruments are referred to as if the instrument were in D, even if it's actually pitched in another key.
If someone more literate than I wants to express all this in terms more more clearly understood by those afflicted by a classical music edumacation, I'd be quite happy to defer and edit out this post altogether when it becomes redundant.
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Pat Cannady
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Pat Cannady
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... thought I better write something helpful to bring the FAQ up again -
Mark_J
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Here is a bit of minutia: I just noticed that the description on the message board Forum Index reads as follows.
I'd like to suggest that it read "about the music, not the instruments" or something other than "all instruments."
and the top of the well updated FAQ readsIrish Traditional Music Forum
For all instruments -- please read faq before posting
If I were new to the forum, I would read that and think I did not need to read further to post a "what's the best make of . . ." I understand that is not following the directions. However when an enthusiastic newby does just that, then Bloomfield has to don the black leather boots again. . .. . . Irish Traditional Music, for all instruments.
I'd like to suggest that it read "about the music, not the instruments" or something other than "all instruments."