What's the hardest reel to learn/play?

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 8:28 am

We all know the easy ones. Which ones are killers?

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 8:31 am

they are all hard enough to play well, especially the simple ones.

:roll:

vomitbunny · Post by **vomitbunny** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 8:37 am

The ones in bad keys with extra sharps and flats.
There is no reel so easy that it cannot be made almost impossible this way.

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 8:39 am

The First one.
Slan,
D.

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 8:56 am

About three days ago I would have told you Gravel Walks...but I sat down with my tape recorder, played bits back over and over, and it wasn't really as hard as I thought it was on flute...in fact, it's my new favorite even though I'm still trying to work it up to session speed.

Lots of folks claim reels are hard, but I don't think they're any more difficult than many a jig or slip jig (Jig of Slurs - there's a hard tune on flute or whistle, and I still don't think even Matt Malloy's version sounds good - I tell, IMHO, it's an unnatural tune and proof of the devil).

Eric

MarkB · Post by **MarkB** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 8:58 am

Peter said it all. Playing any reel or tune well, from what appears to be the most simple of compositions to one that has four parts, has nothing to do with it being a "killer," to play or learn.

I struggle with any type of tune to learn it, playing it well takes time and even when I think I can play a tune "well," the fickle finger of fate is always dancing on the end of the whistle or flute.

MarkB

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:19 am

There are always those who think they can play a tune well because they can play the notes. You'd have thousands of beginners telling you that they can play the "Kesh Jig" well but other jigs are much harder to play.

It's like saying you can cook pretty well because your food is never burnt and at the right temperature. But to be a good cook, the food has to taste good, too.

I know what the poster meant, but at the end of the end, what's really "hard" to get in ITM is good phrasing. You could be playing Kesh Jig, Out on the Ocean, Miss McLeod's, The Banshee, which are tunes most consider simple tunes, but does that mean they can play it well and are easy to play well?

Ro3b · Post by **Ro3b** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:24 am

A lot of tunes that fiddlers love are major challenges on flute or whistle. Dinky's has a damned awkward figure at the beginning of the second part. Bear Island has some scary E major arpeggios in the first bar. Pretty much anything by Ed Reavy or Paddy Fahey or Finbar Dwyer or Liz Carroll will be a challenge. But all these tunes will make you stronger.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:24 am

I'm working on the Mountain Road, and having a hard time not sounding like a machine gun. I think certain tunes are natural on fiddle and terrible on whistle and vice-versa. And as Peter said, getting from knowing the notes to a tune to playing it well, takes a long time.

g

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:26 am

Related to the main question, I would also say that what's hard for someone might be easy for someone else. Brains are different, and the way they handle data is different from brain to brain, too.

A reel I just can't play is "The Ivy Leaf", I've had the sheet music in front of me, Mary Bergin's CD playing, and some other flute players, and there's still something that my brain can't figure out, but I'm sure the tune is much easier for others.

The toughest reel I learned methink is the second part of "The Wise Maid", I remember having a hard time.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:26 am

Ro3b, great minds think alike!

TonyHiggins · Post by **TonyHiggins** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:46 am

Mt Rd is difficult for some reason. It 'sounds easy,' but difficult to make it smooth and clean and interesting all at the same time. I find reels with a run of notes making you life one finger after the next up the scale hard to do and keep a steady rhythm and some emphasis in the right places. Wise Maid comes to mind. Some tunes are more difficult to memorize when they have repeating phrases with little variations, but they're not necessarily harder to play after you learn them. Try Thady Casy's from L Nugent's Windy Gap cd. If you're looking for a challenge, buy The Dance Music of Willie Clancy book by Pat Mitchell. It has the ornamentation written in. Try Tarbolton Reel out of the book with all the stuff attached. (If you don't practice it every day, it falls apart badly.

)
Tony

Caj · Post by **Caj** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:52 am

As I mentioned before, the Ebb Tide is OK on the Concertina, but a pain on the fiddle/mandolin. It can also be a pain on the Concertina depending on what fingering system you use.

The Mason's Apron is supposedly hard on the concertina, or so says my computer simulations! But I never tried it.

Caj

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:58 am

Hey glauber, sent you a private message.

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 10:04 am

Yeah, there is a difference between hard to play and hard to learn. I have had a beach of a time learning the second part to Sligo Maid because I just can't wrap my head around the melody.