bwat wrote:busterbill wrote:I have yet to understand in Irish Traditional music we refer to instrumental music as tunes and music with words as songs. This is a nomenclature I've not run into in other genres. But it is a definite "thing" in Irish Trad.
It’s a
thing everywhere. Ask yourself how weird it feels if you say ”sing a tune” or ”whistle a song”! Actually I suppose you could whistle a birdsong but that’s a different species altogether.
It is true, but in the American folk tradition, most classical, jazz, kid's classical and band music and many other folk traditions, often everything is a song, though in some context referred to as a tune. It is not uncommon to be at a concert and hear an artist refer to the next piece he is going to do as a song, only to hear a completely instrumental number.
When I was a kid in band or taking piano lessons, my teachers would say, "I think we're ready for a new song" all the time. We hadn't been singing anything. And the new piece on the next page didn't have words either.
And you are right colloquially: whistle a tune is a more common phrase. When I was in high school myself and a friend of mine worked up a nice whistling duet for the Star Spangled Banner complete with complex harmonies and hitting all those high notes. It was great fun. And most band directors would likely refer that as a song, tune, piece, march or anthem if they were introducing it in a concert or they were handing out the sheet music whether or not it was performed by two kids whistling, a brass band or there were any singers scheduled to appear in the concert. While in the trad tradition if we had a piece that was sometimes played by instruments only or sometimes sung by a singer, it would be referred to specifically as a song or a tune depending on whether a voice or only instruments were in the mix.
I know when my kids were learning cello, violin, saxophone, guitar, piano, non-trad banjo et al, each piece was referred to as a song or a piece, seldom as a tune.. "We are going to begin a new song on page x. (Again, no one was singing.)
In bluegrass, folk, pop or old time music concerts I have attended I have often heard one artist on stage turn to another and say, "Give us a tune" only to hear them sing a song.
Seldom have I heard the word tune or song relating to any specific piece of music as distinctly and specifically as I have in Irish Trad.
I'm no musicologist but do find it interesting.
It is a great tool for learning and communicating in this specific tradition. The distinction is a clear and useful way to function in a session setting.
Please forgive me malingan for hijacking this post. You will find it often happens and is usually done in the spirit of fun and sharing.
And yes, I'd recommend the Bb whistle.
) and do a decent job at it. I just ordered a brass Killarney Whistle in D and I'm like a kid waiting for Santa to arrive.
