When I first started, I felt I progressed pretty quickly,then I felt I was making little progress…actually I guess I was, it was just not so readily visible. You have just made me feel as If I HAVE progressed.
Is ‘setting’ really the same as ‘version’? or is there a subtle difference?
I am taking lessons from two different teachers…as i think of it, they have very different styles. Why two? My first teacher does not play airs much and candidly says she is not good at them. The other loves to play airs; she has a very ornamented style. She says I should not try to imitate her, but to learn from her what I like and incorprate what I want. In other words, she is giving me the tools, and how I use them is up to me. (Her name is Loretto Reid..some of you may have heard of her.)
One teacher uses tonguing a fair bit and the other hardly at all. I think I have just answered my own question.
But I love how this list gets me thinking…and hearing the thoughts of others.
As regards learning tunes,it helps if you listen “actively” to a tune on a record.
The essential principle of Irish music is repetition with subtle variation. Most two-part tunes are played “AA-BB”, i.e. the first part is played twice, then the second part is played twice, then the whole lot is repeated one or more times in the same AA-BB format.
If you listen to the first (or “A”) part of a typical tune, you will notice that it is made up of four “sub-assemblies”, which we can call a1, a2, a3 and a4 (same goes for the B part, mutatis mutandis).
Typically, the a1 and a3 parts are similar to each other or even identical, and there are also similarities between a2 and a4, though there are often greater differences in a4, to signal that it’s the end of the part. IN some tunes, you will notice that b4 is the same as a4.
Armed with this knowledge, listen to the tune again a few times and try to anticipate what’s coming next, i.e. mentally (or even out loud) sing along with the record. You will gradually find that you’re getting most of the notes right, and you can then focus on an ever smaller number of notes which you haven’t quite figured out. This is where you’ll really notice the effect of variation, where the musician is consciously varying bits of the tune which in a simple transcription are shown as identical.
Good luck.
Roger
An PluiméirCeolmhar
[ This Message was edited by: Roger O’Keeffe on 2002-09-26 17:43 ]
The other thing about that slow downer is that you can start off learning something at a painfully slow speed, then gradually speed it up. You know your progress, its easier to play along with a recording than alone with a metronome, and I can do it with my headset on and a very quiet whistle, and not wake the birdies.
Roger- Thanks for that insight. When I thought about it and (actively) applied it to a few instrumental songs in my mind it became very clear. What I like to call A blinding flash of the obvious!
I usedn’t think about this kind of thing at all, but a few years ago I was asked to give a talk about Irish music to a group of people of a wide range of nationalities, and that set me analysing and articulating what previously just came naturally.
What really brought it home to me was trying to learn the beautiful air “Farewell to Govan” from one of Liam O’Flynn’s albums. When I did the mental singalong thing, I realised that what I thought was one little phrase is actually played four different ways.
Maybe we should start a thread on learning techniques on the ITM board?
When first I read this about “learning” to play by ear I scoffed at the comment, having alwasy considered it a gift some had and most didn’t. But as I considered everything in my beleagured brain I came to the conclusion that perhaps the ability to play by ear can be learned, depending upon one’s proficiency on their instrument.
Having started out on piano and organ, I still am usually able to pick something out on a keyboard after a couple listenings. However, when it comes to guitar and, unfortunately, whistle, success thus far eludes me.
Practice, practice, practice… Hold on, I don’t want to know how to get to Carnegie Hall!!!
I’m at about the same point myself, so I know what you’re talking about. For what it’s worth, I’ve learned a lot from just trying to pick out tunes on some of Joanie Madden’s solo CDs. It’s helpful that she seems partial to the slow stuff. Since I’m slow myself, that makes it relatively easy to pick out tunes. But I agree that there is a hazard. I won’t flatter myself by suggesting that, when I play, I sound anything like Joanie. However, you do tend to pick up some of her ornamentation. Once I feel that I have learned a tune in this manner, I deliberately try to pick out phrases within the tune and rearrange them a bit so I’m not simply a whistling clone.
