Speed Isn't Everything

[TonyHiggins]

I don't know if it's the renditions I've heard, but it seems some tunes ask to be played at a certain speed. I love the sound of King of the Fairies played nice and slow, but the reel, Jolly Tinker, I can only think of fast. Some reels have internal rhythms that don't really pop out until they move along. I would never dispute that slow and well played is way better than fast for fast sake. If you're wondering why something isn't sounding right, focus on rhythm, not speed. There's a session near me that goes full speed for everything. I don't bother with it. I imagine people eating luscious deserts by shoveling them down and swallowing before they can taste anything. Once, I poured a nice liqeur that I was accustomed to sipping for a friend and he dashed it back in one swallow. (And said it was good.) I was appalled.
Tony

[The Weekenders]

We like to kick this one around frequently here.

Here are a few other ideas. When you listen to a CD of your favorite group, they have your attention. They can take any tempo they want and you are likely to enjoy it. In the session or live performance, the adrenaline, the pride of ability as well as the fear that "someone will be bored" leads to faster playing. You will hear group X play their tunes and I bet they play most faster live. They get tired of them too sometimes and just push through em I think.

Maybe certain groups, who play fast and furious, are "bad" influences on beginners. I can play along with Julia Clifford (or could if I had a C# whistle) but not get her nuance and aspire to it. Likewise for most of the Historic Clare recording and even some of the Michael Coleman. But if I put on an Altan record or Patrick Street, I suddenly feel as though I am definitely not "there" yet and better hurry up in my playing. This is a bad thing, most likely, though I enjoy hearing them so much. We like the sweep and power of it.

Lately, I keep spinning the NaConnerys disc. Most everything is dang fast and I sure lose nuance trying to keep up yet feel the need to, because these are famous players after all. I need to put the disc away, especially after pondering this topic. Too much, too soon. This is at least part of the dilemma of learning this style with a huge collection of discs and sense of urgency. Remember the subtitle of the McCullough book? "Hold your own in Irish sessions!" That's a very lame, though understandable sentiment.

[Grover]

I am an accomplished lead guitar player, but I am very new to the whistle. Something I read once said that you should perform a piece well under your top speed to achieve your best playing. This means of course that you push yourself in practice, not on the stage.

[Scott McCallister]

NO NO you're all Wrong Speed isn't everything, it's the ONLY THING!
h-h-h-h-h-hahahahh



Gimme some o'dat

[Cayden]

I hate to be a nuisance [yeah yeah it never stopped me before someone is likely to say] but at this point would someoen PLEASE explain to me what 'sessionspeed' actually is. I have never understood the concept [let alone 'typical sessionspeed'], so enlighten me. Throw in something on 'sessiontunes' too, what sets them apart from the rest of the tunes and all that, what tunes aren't 'sessionstunes' .

[Kevin L. Rietmann]

I'm a speed freak myself, which isin't a good thing: the music sucks even worse...so, when playing a reel I make like I'm playing a hornpipe, at least tempo wise. That keeps those spastic tempos down, usually.
If all you've heard is De Dannan etc. you should get some records of more moderate tempo music, Ronan Browne and Peadar O'Loughlin, say.

[Tak_the_whistler]

well I can assure anyone that if speed is all they want they can get one of those Yamaha WX-5 Wind controller, fueled with Yamaha VL-70m synth., backed by Yamaha MU-50 (GM-XG) synth.. Whistles are too slow for a speed, if that's what most speed-craver (like me) is after. Try playing, for example, 64 notes at a full speed at around, say, 90 bpm. (It'd feel like playing a tune called "Pure Ornamentations") It's not only fun; it's absolutely finger-killing. You'll need to see a doctor after palying for an hour. Probably you will never get to play even a whistle. And, mind you, you'll sound rather like a harp, not definitely a whistle.

I also think Na Connerys CD is played too fast, especially their first track. I do not utterly despise their lust for speed but in my honest opinion they've gone a bit too faahhhst. And some tunes do sound funny when played way faster than the apeed *I* wish them to be. Surely speed isn't everything. There are tasty tunes that must be performed Moderato. We don't heat Pepsi it for a evening tea, do we? Or should a French course be swallowed down in a matter of minutes? Or imagine spending a night with a dream se? for only two minutes. What one'll need is an Amazing Slowdowner, not a Viagra which can push him up to more than 187 bpm.

On the other hand, I think it'd be very difficult for a solo whose technique is heard-as-it-is or a player in a small setting to play a fast tune, especially when there're not too many musicians around you to help keeping up the speed (unlike Na Con. Enough Agent Smiths to help one hide ) Take Skip Healey's "Silver Spear" set or Sylvain Barou's "Clare's Reel" set. Those two can handle the fast tunes, and unlike some groups, their tunes, played at a full -- "sessionspeed" -- speed, didn't bother me at all. To my ears they weren't covering their occasional mistakes by the mere force of speed, they laced their tunes with proper ornamentations. Surprisingly, for solo players, they didn't give me the impression of show-off attitude, too.

It's like asking a classically oriented musician, "Should Chopin be played fast?" Some tunes are meant to be played fast, I agree. But in a place like session musician(s) need to be considerate of the capability of others.

Personally I don't like to play a tune fast until I get it right at a slow pace. Then I used m-n to brush up on my speed.

my 2 shillings worth.

[Azalin]

I don't want to feel an obligation to keep singing your praises when you surpass your old teacher - which at current rates will be well before Christmas.

Well, hopefully not, 'cause I'll be at your workshop in Toronto in january!

[fancypiper]

you should get some records of more moderate tempo music, Ronan Browne

Use extreme caution when listening to Ronan Browne. It leads to the desire to purchase and learn to play regulators.

Avoid at all costs unless you have some big bucks to spare!

[EricWingler]

[quote="Jetboy]
I know a gifted accordion player who has a rendition of Harvest Home that can make you weep. [/quote]

Yeah, my whistling playing has a similar effect on people.

[GaryKelly]

Back in my old comms tech. days, my morse code instructor frequently had to remind us of the Golden Rule: "Never send faster than you can receive."

It was a great rule. Because once you learned the code, it was easy to bang out messages at 30 words-a-minute plus... Trouble was, the gadger on the other end of the radio would naturally reply at 30 wpm+...and if you could only 'translate' the incoming tones at 12 wpm...you were screwed bigtime 'cos you were losing more than half of the message.

I think the same rule probably applies to the playing of music... If what you're 'receiving' sounds bad...slow down your 'sending'.

my 2p fwiw

[Turas mor]

I am very new to whistling, but have been playing music for many years. I noted with interest several comments on this board about practicing using metronomes (from Glauber in particular). I would have to whole heartedly agree with this. While playing in folk and rock ensembles, I have often been surprised at how fast we were playing in a live performance. When I would go back and listen to recordings of the band later, we sounded like we were in a great hurry to finish the songs.

I suspect that the better you know a song, the more often you have played it, combined with the excitement of live performances and the urging of the crowd, leads us to often play a song faster than it should be played. I don't think you even notice it while you are doing it, only later in retrospect.

I wonder how often this occurs in sessions? Some of the problem may not be playing up to 120 BPM, it might be that we are really playing at 150 BPM?

Just my two cents.

Didn't the Irish ever slow dance?

[The Weekenders]

While playing in folk and rock ensembles, I have often been surprised at how fast we were playing in a live performance. When I would go back and listen to recordings of the band later, we sounded like we were in a great hurry to finish the songs.

I suspect that the better you know a song, the more often you have played it, combined with the excitement of live performances and the urging of the crowd, leads us to often play a song faster than it should be played. I don't think you even notice it while you are doing it, only later in retrospect.

Yup. Good points. Actually, our band practices slower, knowing full well that will happen. Happens in classical music too, at gigs more than concerts. I get a little insecure about playing slow things at some receptions etc. My gtr/flute duo has a demo tape with some very beautiful tunes (Girl with the Flaxen Hair, Haru No Umi, Gymnopedies, etc) and we have lost a few gigs because people wanted something less "sedate." Too late to explain that it was because they were listening to a variety of styles for demo only...
The other thing is that some people DON'T want to be "in touch with their feelings" that slow pieces or airs might summon. They say they "just want to have fun." There are so many beautiful slow tunes, but the band I am currently in only wants upbeat and preferably bawdy tunes for pub gigs. I want em to cry in their beer, personally, then pull em out with a fast instrumental followup but I am out-voted.

[Turas mor]

The Weekenders wrote:

The other thing is that some people DON'T want to be "in touch with their feelings" that slow pieces or airs might summon. They say they "just want to have fun." There are so many beautiful slow tunes, but the band I am currently in only wants upbeat and preferably bawdy tunes for pub gigs. I want em to cry in their beer, personally, then pull em out with a fast instrumental followup but I am out-voted.

I feel your pain.

I always felt that the dynamics of slow and fast, loud and soft, were part of the beauty of live music. Unfortunately the drummer always wins this one. It may not be getting out voted, just "beat" out. Besides, it is so hard to play something pensive and slow, when people are crying out for loud and fast.

[Nanohedron]

I hate to be a nuisance [yeah yeah it never stopped me before someone is likely to say] but at this point would someoen PLEASE explain to me what 'sessionspeed' actually is. I have never understood the concept [let alone 'typical sessionspeed'], so enlighten me. Throw in something on 'sessiontunes' too, what sets them apart from the rest of the tunes and all that, what tunes aren't 'sessionstunes' .

Haha! Good points.

Sessionspeed is a BPM factor for a given tune played well beyond what I have prepared myself for, regardless of its musical effectiveness. Non-session tunes are the ones that nobody in my locale plays but me.

For me, as ever, it all comes down to what is communicated to me through a tune when played at a particular speed (putting aside other factors in the playing of it). The Tarboulton, for instance, works best for me at a deliberate, relaxed pace, and I think also lends itself well to slow-reel playing. OTOH, there are those during sessions who'll let fly on that one so fast that my skin wants to peel off. OK, fine...I'll play, too; what the heck. Now, if I start that tune, however, deliberate is what they'll usually get because that's my take on it. I'm communicating something. That's the point of it all, for me.

My two cents, is all.