As a new whistle player, what I’m trying to do now is build up speed and accuracy (hitting the notes solidly and keeping a steady tempo with attention to phrasing). My immediate goal is not to be a solo virtuoso, but merely not to make a fool of myself if I try to play in a session. Consequently, I am concentrating mostly on the “raw” tunes, without much, if any, ornamentation. I figure that can come later. Is this the right way to go? Or should I be working on ornaments even when some of my jigs and reels are not quite up to tempo? The reason I’m asking is that I’m really serious about this and want to go about it in the best possible way. TIA.
[ This Message was edited by: Ridseard on 2002-08-01 01:43 ]
I’m sure you will have posts saying to learn the song first, then the ornaments, as well as posts telling you to learn them as you learn the song. Then there will be those who might tell you to do what’s best for you.
Some people practice ornaments without a song. That way they’re ready to do them when they need them. Anyway, the key is to practice, and you’re doing that. (Sorry if this was of no help.)
Cheers,
JP
I tend to use ornamentation somewhat sparingly, and I usually find that the appropriate ornaments suggest themselves fairly early on in the learning of a tune. If you find your ear suggesting a cut here or a trill there, I see no reason not to put it in, even as you’re still slowly building up to speed. On the flip side, however, there’s no need to push to get the ornaments in there…if it works best for you to get the tune down solid first and then work on ornamentation, then that’s what you should do. There are some tunes that I play VERY simply, with no ornamentation at all. This is folk music, and there’s really no “right” or “wrong” way to do it.
Redwolf
The very idea of “ornamentation” is a little misleading. On the whistle, a certain amount of what we call ornaments are part and parcel of the way you make Irish dance music sound good on your instrument (correct me if I’m wrong, Ridseard, but from a previous post I gather that’s what interests you).
This is very different from the way we learn classical music, where what is written on the sheet is enough, and where anything you add is a mere “decoration”.
I think it’s much better to learn and incorporate at least basic ornamentation into your tunes as you learn them. If you assume that you can add them on later, there’s a danger they’ll sound just like that - “decorations” that you have added on, rather than being an integral part of the way the music flows.
In my whistle classes I introduce people to cuts and taps in the first or second lesson, and get them doing them in the first tune they learn from me.
On 2002-08-01 08:47, StevieJ wrote:
I think it’s much better to learn and incorporate at least basic ornamentation into your tunes as you learn them. If you assume that you can add them on later, there’s a danger they’ll sound just like that - “decorations” that you have added on, rather than being an integral part of the way the music flows.
You’ve hit the nail right on the head. That issue is precisely what was bugging me and prompted my question. I realize that a piece of “unornamented” sheet music is merely an approximation to the way a tune should really sound. Of course, the way it should “really sound” is not set in stone either but varies from player to player, which itself is an intrinsic and essential part of traditional music, and to some extent accounts for so many different versions of the same tune. All this seems very complicated when I try to analyze it, so I suppose it’s best just to try to get a “feel” for interpreting the tunes. Thanks!
I think you should learn cuts and taps early on. I tried to and thought I had them down when I didn’t. They weren’t nearly short and “crisp” enough. I’d go to Brother Steve’s Tinwhistlepage and learn the tunes in the Basic Ornamentation section. Play them along with Bro Steve’s MP3 until you really have them down. After that it fairly simple to use cuts and taps in other tunes you learn, for instance to separate two notes of the same pitch, or to accent an important note. (A good exercise, btw, is to play tunes completely without tonguing, which forces to you to use cuts (& taps). Not desirable stylistically imho but a great exercise.)
One of Bloomfield’s earlier threads,
I believe it’s called ‘Slow Down, Bloomfield,’
was really helpful to me in getting
ornamentation right. Indeed, I return
to it occasionally, often to my profit.
If it’s at all possible, studying
ornamentation with a teacher can
be a big help. Getting the idea is one
thing, doing it right is another.
Workshops at festivals can be
very helpful, too.
I’ve seen whistle teachers on this board recommend both waiting to learn ornamentation and learning as you go. I suppose both methods work.
My observation has been that new whistle players who are into ornamentation in a big way tend to overemphasize the ornament notes, giving them too much time, so they crowd in between the melody notes, competing with them. Record youself and listen, you’ll see what I mean. (I’m not saying anyone on Clips has done this 
I’m not saying they haven’t, either.) Make the ornament notes briefer/quicker, more of a rhythmic accent rather than an extra melody note. Something to shoot for. When you work on this, focus on keeping the rhythm of the tune intact.
Tony
On 2002-08-01 11:30, jim stone wrote:
One of Bloomfield’s earlier threads,
I believe it’s called ‘Slow Down, Bloomfield,’
was really helpful to me in getting
ornamentation right.
Well, as I am likely to fail in other walks of life, I can at least take comfort in going down in history as the guy-who-couldn’t-play rolls-and-told-everybody-so.
The thread was actually called “Roll over, Bloomfield” (I know, another stupid pun…). You can find it here.
With the additional help of a day-long whistle-workshop with our very own Brother Steve, I can now say that I have understood long rolls and that I can basically play them. It will take me a while yet before they’re always smooth and even, and B-rolls are still hard. Looking back over the past year or so, I would say: By all means learn cuts and taps right away. Even rolls, provided that you learn them as note-cut-note-tap-note in the rhythm of the tune, played slooooowly. I would not recommend isolating rolls and practicing them “dry”. But YMMV, of course.