Memory aids?

[jim stone]

I've often found that I'm ornamenting in places
where I simply never bothered to learn
the tune. I think one really has to be careful
about ornamentation.

[sbfluter]

Some ornaments are necessary technical things you just have to do otherwise you're not even playing the instrument correctly. Others are more optional.

Some people do put in more ornaments than they should. And some people probably put in a lot less than they are capable of.

That's human nature. We tend to like the things we can do well

It's not even just that. If I like the tune and even if it is harder than another one, I'll learn it more easily and retain it more easily just because I like it.

[sbfluter]

Most people can learn to play an instrument at least competently. It is a matter of finding one that suits you and that can sometimes take a long time.
Geoff

I used to be more competent, but a lack of ability to read sheet music caused me to quit piano, a lack of desire to go to church caused me to quit guitar and bell choir, and a strong desire not to be physically attacked caused me to quit riding the bus down to my flute lessons.

[jim stone]

The very forces that drove me to the kazoo!

[rama]

I've often found that I'm ornamenting in places
where I simply never bothered to learn
the tune. I think one really has to be careful
about ornamentation.

same for me. good point. old habits die hard.

[johnkerr]

There are two things here. Firstly, fiddles are good. A well played fiddle has a rhythmic drive that no other "folk" instrument can equal IMHO.

You obviously have never heard a really well-played accordion, then.

[Cubitt]

I've often found that I'm ornamenting in places
where I simply never bothered to learn
the tune. I think one really has to be careful
about ornamentation.

In many cases, I learn a tune more because of how someone plays it than because the tune itself was so fantastic. When that happens, I incorporate the ornaments that attracted me to the tune as part of the process of learning it. I am sometimes surprised when I hear someone else play a tune I've learned this way to find that, without the ornament, the tune loses much of its punch. I think it is a mistake to think of ornaments as a separate entity from a melodic line in a tune. ITM is an aural tradition, and how you play a tune is closely tied to how you learned it. Ornaments are a part of that, even if you end up changing or discarding some as you make the tune your own.

[Tootler]

There are two things here. Firstly, fiddles are good. A well played fiddle has a rhythmic drive that no other "folk" instrument can equal IMHO.

You obviously have never heard a really well-played accordion, then.

Especially not an accordion!!

[Cubitt]

There are two things here. Firstly, fiddles are good. A well played fiddle has a rhythmic drive that no other "folk" instrument can equal IMHO.

You obviously have never heard a really well-played accordion, then.

Especially not an accordion!!

OOPS! Better not tell Phill Cunningham, Joe Burke, Jimmy Keane, or John Whelan, then.

[Bloomfield]

You obviously have never heard a really well-played accordion, then.

Especially not an accordion!!

OOPS! Better not tell Phill Cunningham, Joe Burke, Jimmy Keane, or John Whelan, then.

More like Joe Cooley & Tony MacMahon.

[awildman]

An accordion can have great drive. Anybody happen to see the Oreichtas (sp?) sean-nos dance special on TG4? Its still in the archives. The accordion player, whose name I forget had unmistakable rhythm.

I still prefer the fiddle for its versatility and beauty, but an accordion is next on my list to learn after I master the fiddle, flute, and whistle.