Hey all! Just wondering what I should do in the way of prettying up my tinwhistle songs. I find myself at a point now where I am technically proficient, and I am trying to put some ornamentation in the songs, but they aren’t coming out as nice as I would like them to. Mind you, sometimes I compare myself to a CD permormance, and that is perhaps unfair . Is it just a matter of listening to more songs to get a feel of the rhythm? I still have some trouble, too with my generations getting screachy in the 2nd ovctave, once I hit hight a onwards…grrrrr!!!
Take a look at Bro Steve’s pages…there is a link around here somewhere. He gives pretty good lessons in basic ornamentation.
In regard to the screechy second octave, with patience and practice it’ll get to sound sweet. You have to trust yourself to blow hard enough to hit the notes, and still lighten up and balance on the very edge of the note.
How long have you been playing? When you say ‘proficient’, what exactly do you mean…that you can memorize and hit the notes? If you’re listening to CD’s, do you have a program to slow them down so you can actually hear the ornamentation? Its a useful tool for learning what is actually going on when someone is playing.
Start with the simplest of ornaments: cuts and strikes. Experiment with putting them in in appropriate places. Even those simple ornaments can be VERY effective if you execute them in the right spots and CLEANLY. Once you have a feel for those, you can think about some rolls, triplets, etc.
A tune played simply with minimal ornamentation but played WELL with feeling and rhythm is always better than a highly ornamented tune played poorly! Some of the old timers like Micho Russell didn’t ornament a huge amount but their music is still exciting to listen to. Check them out.
John Skelton, an excellent professional player of Irish flute (as well as whistle, bagpipes, bombarde) recently told me, “If you’re trying to play along with CDs, throw them away!”
I’m sure he didn’t mean quite that, but his point was that the CDs are often a product made for their sales value rather than for the pure joy of making music. In the studio, especially, the musicians throw in every lick they have, and them some.
Some of the most moving pieces I have ever heard have little or no ornamentation. IMHO, feeling the music is much more important and much more difficult than just making it fancy…
You come dangerously close t osaying that ornamentation is just there to make things fancy. A point of view uttered here more than once before.
While I agree that some people can go OTT with it I think you should focus on why ornamentation is used. It is there for a reason, it helps bring out the important notes or phrases in a tune, adding layers and meanings. It is a road to expression and I think you’ll find a completely unornamented piece pretty bland (I certainly would), using it sparsely and tastefully is a virtue though.
Practice the ornaments you like, worked into scales, scales in thirds, scales in fourths.
Play songs you like, with little or no ornamentation.
Listen to players you like, all styles, all instruments.
Sing all your songs.
The right ornamentation for you will work its way into your playing in an insidious, subconcious way, but if you force it, it’s just someone else’s expressions. Make every song your own.
This is a variation on a method I used for Renaissance and Baroque music. The scales I do in front of the TV (distracts me from the tedium and encourages the kids to go do their homework), and the singing I do in the car. Safer for everyone that way.
Brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department.
No, I believe the combination of bad player and maker is not an ideal one but let’s not go there again: I was only joking in reference to former discussions.
Thanks for your advice, guys. I’m certainly not saying that ornamentation is inherinently necessary, etc, just that I wish to improve on my ornamentation itself, and get a better idea of where it may fit. I find that I listen to a song played by someone else and I think to myself “that ornamentation sounds so nice there, I wish I’d thought of that.” I think I’m just rushing through my songs too much; I learn them, but I never put my soul into them. In rushing, I don’t get a chance to think of where I may put ornamentation.
I see the point about CD’s. I was thinking that, actually when I was typing it out. . I will go over all my songs again slowly, carefully thinking of what (if any)! ornamentation will sound good there, and make sure to play with feeling, particularily when playing airs.
I found that listening to (and faking my way playing along with) music to get the feel of the rhythm worked very well for me.
Ornamentation basics, as learned on websites and in books much like learning the scale or learning to breath into the whistle is good but to me was like learning phrases in a foreign language.
The beauty comes when you can naturally put them all together into your own sound in the style you enjoy.
Yay… you’ve hit on the big question. As a whistle-playing friend of mine said at a session once (and I consider it a high compliement), “finally, you stopped playing tunes and started playing music.”
What I always tell my students is to stop thinking with their fingers. Fingers and fingering are tools to help you get somewhere… where you’re going in the end is expression. Anyone can play a tune. Now it’s up to your ear and your heart.
What I like to do is work with tunes I know inside and out. You know you like the melody.. but WHY do you like it? Here’s one technique I use: I slow the piece WAY down and basically deconstruct it. Strip out all your usual ornaments/articulations and rebuild it from scratch. The new tempo will give you new insights on the framework of the tune and what makes it a good melody and what makes it meaningful to you. Work your way through it in multiple ways and don’t be afraid to experiment – long phrases next to short ones, slow slides next to abrupt tonguing – I promise no one will get hurt. The real joy here is discovering what’s hidden in the tune waiting for you to find it. As you move forward, bring your tempo up and see what works and what doesn’t.
Have fun. To me this is the best part of all the hard work you’ve been doing … finding your voice. You’ll amaze yourself, you really will.
I don’t post often because I am a new whistler and don’t have much to add to the comments of experienced musicians. I find your posts particularly useful. Thank you for them. Please keep posting here.
. Is it just a matter of listening to more songs to get a feel of the rhythm? I still have some trouble, too with my generations getting screachy in the 2nd ovctave, once I hit hight a onwards…grrrrr!!!
but let’s not go there again: I was only joking in reference to former discussions.
ornamentation will sound good there, and make sure to play with feeling, particularily when playing airs.