What is this "ornament" she is playing?

The Chiff & Fipple Irish Flute on-line community. Sideblown for your protection.
Post Reply
User avatar
TxWhistler
Posts: 226
Joined: Tue May 26, 2020 9:15 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: I have recently retired and have always wanted to learn to play a musical instrument. I'm leaning to play the whistle and now the flute.
Location: Tyler, Texas

What is this "ornament" she is playing?

Post by TxWhistler »

In this video Steph plays an "ornament" multiple times and in other songs I've heard it. I really like it and somewhere down the road when I am good enough at my playing I hope to add it to the songs I play. The clearest place that I've found to see her fingers is at the 26-27 second mark. I slowed down the video to 25% play speed and it appears to me she plays a G, then a cut using the L3 finger, taps using the R1 finger, then repeats, cut L3 and tap R1.

I've known of rolls since last year when I started playing the whistle and just recently heard of "short" rolls. Is this two short rolls back to back or is there a different name for it.

Here's the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4rpTJX899A
tstermitz
Posts: 528
Joined: Tue May 26, 2015 10:18 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8

Re: What is this "ornament" she is playing?

Post by tstermitz »

What a sweet, beautiful video!

Maybe what I'm hearing is this: Short roll, note, long-roll.

If so, I call these "Michael Coleman rolls", because he uses them extensively. That isn't an official term, just what I think of to identify them.

Mary Bergin frequently uses something similar, which I hear as this: tongued-short roll, note, long-roll.

When you say short roll, are you thinking a note-cut-note-tap-note in the space of a quarter note or a cut-note-tap-note. That is, do you hear a triplet or a doublet?
tstermitz
Posts: 528
Joined: Tue May 26, 2015 10:18 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8

Re: What is this "ornament" she is playing?

Post by tstermitz »

Check out the notation for the Ebb Tide (aka Dash to Portobello or Port Gael Lynn), which is the second tune on the video:

Third setting by Damien Rogeau. He shows a "note, long-roll; cut-note, note-cut-note, note" (If that makes sense).
https://thesession.org/tunes/1821

For a different take, listen and see this transcription of Sean Ryan playing (his composition) "Dash to Portobello. You can see that he makes extensive use of short rolls, and changes back and forth between short and long rolls. That gives the tune galloping feel.
http://www.cranfordpub.com/tunes/Irish/ ... obello.htm

I think you can build up many variations by combining rolls, but when I'm playing, I think of the full figure, not a combination of two kinds of rolls.
User avatar
TxWhistler
Posts: 226
Joined: Tue May 26, 2020 9:15 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: I have recently retired and have always wanted to learn to play a musical instrument. I'm leaning to play the whistle and now the flute.
Location: Tyler, Texas

Re: What is this "ornament" she is playing?

Post by TxWhistler »

tstermitz wrote: Wed Sep 08, 2021 4:29 pm What a sweet, beautiful video!

When you say short roll, are you thinking a note-cut-note-tap-note in the space of a quarter note or a cut-note-tap-note. That is, do you hear a triplet or a doublet?
Thanks tstermitz for your responses!!!

I'm very new to the Irish flute and the tin whistle for that matter. For the part I'm referring to in my question, I hear a note, cut-tap, cut-tap. Or in other words a note and a doublet and a doublet. My eyes could see that she was tapping twice and I tried in my own inept way to duplicate the sound but quickly found out it was more than a double tap. I slowed the video down as slow as I could get it and at the reference point I mentioned I can see her play a G then a cut, tap, cut, tap.

I was just wondering if there was a name for it or was it just playing a note and then two short rolls back to back?

My understanding of a short roll is that it is a doublet (has two sounds). Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Also, please correct me if my understanding of a long roll is incorrect. I thought that to roll a G you play a G then use the finger above it (A) to cut and the finger below the G a F# to tap. That's not what she is doing, my eyes see a G played, then a cut using G finger, tap using F# finger, cut using G finger and a tap using the F# finger.

My brain is not hearing her play a triplet then a doublet but I'm hearing a note - doublet - doublet. Maybe I'm just confused and not hearing it correctly.

Again, thank you for taking the time to help a newbie to flutes.
kenny
Posts: 1633
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 7:50 am
Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland

Re: What is this "ornament" she is playing?

Post by kenny »

Steph brought out a book to complement her last CD, "Up She Flew". The book contains 2 notated versions of each tune on the recording, one basic "dots" version, and a more detailed version including the ornamentation used. I would think both book and CD would be available from her website if you search for it, and would thoroughly recommend both to you.
"There's fast music and there's lively music. People don't always know the difference"
User avatar
TxWhistler
Posts: 226
Joined: Tue May 26, 2020 9:15 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: I have recently retired and have always wanted to learn to play a musical instrument. I'm leaning to play the whistle and now the flute.
Location: Tyler, Texas

Re: What is this "ornament" she is playing?

Post by TxWhistler »

kenny wrote: Thu Sep 09, 2021 2:58 am Steph brought out a book to complement her last CD, "Up She Flew". The book contains 2 notated versions of each tune on the recording, one basic "dots" version, and a more detailed version including the ornamentation used. I would think both book and CD would be available from her website if you search for it, and would thoroughly recommend both to you.
Thank you Kenny, I did not know that. I will definitely look into getting them!
BKWeid
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2012 1:15 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: I really enjoy the information and experience from the members on this forum. I've learned so much from the long time members about ITM, flutes, and whistles in general. I also enjoy the humor and culture. Instrument reviews have been helpful and the posts on embouchure are priceless. As I generally don't get out to sessions, the information from this board is my only connection at times to the music.
Location: Utah

Re: What is this "ornament" she is playing?

Post by BKWeid »

I picked up the book and CD and really enjoy the notation for tune learning. Great Stuff! She is really an amazing player.
User avatar
Mr.Gumby
Posts: 6611
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 11:31 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Location: the Back of Beyond

Re: What is this "ornament" she is playing?

Post by Mr.Gumby »

Careful not to conflate this as one 'movement'.She ends one phrase dega bg ~g2 and then repeats the thing starting ~g2 bg ..
Had a longer post written this morning with the tune written out but the power was cut before I could post (planned interruption for network maintenance I had forgotten about) so the lot got lost. Am posting this from my phone now .
Don't overthink this stuff too much, it's fairly straight forward. Once you get your head around it. It important to grasp the structure of the tune and what the ornaments are doing there. Things fall into place then.

Short rolls can come in different shapes and sizes though, not everything is as standardised as some tutors want you to believe.
Last edited by Mr.Gumby on Thu Sep 09, 2021 11:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
My brain hurts

Image
Flotineer
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:22 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: New fluter. Recovering piper... What with one thing and another I’m learning the flute, but I’ve been learning Irish music for a while now.

Re: What is this "ornament" she is playing?

Post by Flotineer »

Mr.Gumby wrote: Thu Sep 09, 2021 8:59 am Careful not to conflate this as one 'movement'.

. . .

Once you get your head around it. It important to grasp the structure of the tune and the ornaments are doing there. Things fall into place then.

These, 100%. Sometimes a cut and then a pat is just a cut and then a pat. Having the feel of the tune is the bit that makes things fit together.
Post Reply