"Dance Tunes" or "Airs"?

[Tony McGinley]

Maybe it has been asked before here!!
But I am both curious and lazy - so here goes.


I wonder in what way ITM players weigh their
choice of music with regard to "Airs" and "Dance
Tunes"

I personally play about 75% Airs. I tend also
to play the reels, jigs etc. in a more lyrical way,
a bit like Martin Hayes and Denis Cahill do.

My guess is about 80% of ITM player play mainly
dance music. But I could be way off mark here.

I would enjoy, and be facinated by, your input.

[Caj]

In terms of the actual number of tunes, it's almost 100% dance tunes.

That's unavoidable, because a lament is a lot of work. I think I can only play 3 of them with confidence, and I go over them obsessively looking for something I'm missing. I definitely don't go looking for new ones.

When playing outside of practice, it's also almost always dance tunes. This is for many reasons: one, in a group I rarely have an opportunity to play a solo piece that takes a lot of time; two, the environment doesn't lend itself to such things, with lots of noise, shouting, etc; three, I am generally less confident about those tunes. I fear I will bore people, except people who I know are into that stuff.

I've also noticed a disturbing trend: when someone plays a lament, non-traddies don't always realize it's a tune. Some idiot with a bodhran might turn to a friend and start showing off how he makes ear-splitting clacking sounds. Or a newcomer in an open session might just start a tune right in the middle, as if you were just tuning up or dicking around.

Basically I've never played a lament in public and felt good about it afterward. Maybe it would be different if I ever played in a more formal environment, i.e. on stage.

Caj

[Ro3b]

Airs tend to be party pieces. I'm much more interested in playing with people than soliloquizing. I've got about three airs I play -- Staker Wallace, Sean O Duibhir an Gleanna, and, um, well, ok, I've got two. That's about enough for me.

[Martin Milner]

I'm much more interested in playing with people than soliloquizing.

Ditto. When we tried to do an air in Peter Cooper' fiddle class, it didn't work. You have to be allowed your own timing, which doesn't work when there's 30 people playing.

I learnt quite a few airs on the whistle, but on the fiddle I have one. Airs are great to play when nobody's listening, though.

[Caj]

A good air on the concertina is Port na bPucai (if you believe in either the pooka or the existence of a good air on the concertina.)

Noel Hill taught us the Lament for the Fox, which also works very well on the box.

Caj

[Unseen122]

I play an air once in a while, but seriously Waltzes are slow compared to the mostly Reels/Jigs that I play.

[Cathy Wilde]

We generally leave the airs at home except at a very small private session or during a band gig, either when setting a mood or filling broken-string-fixit/ MIA-band-member time.

At sessions, it seems the dance music is more group-friendly, and groups are what the sessions around here seem to be for.

There's an occasional song or air, but not too many, I'm afraid. Since most of the people around can attend only one session a month, playing time is precious -- so everybody wants in the pool at once.

Whee!

[Wanderer]

I know a fair number of airs. They were my favorite tune whne I started, and thusly, I learned a few of them.

I almost never play them in session. Consequently, I rarely learn them these days.

[Tony McGinley]

This is cooking up really interestingly!!
My thanks to those who have participated
thus far.

I have been doing a bit of thinking about,
and a little research (ish) recently on ITM.
Asking people what they really like in Irish
music, and a large number are indicating a
preference for airs. But at a party, hooly,
dance, gig the dance music reigns supreme.

ITM dance music was precisely that - i.e
music to dance to. Most people didn't listen
to appreciate - what they needed was the
rhythm, and a lively and preferrably simple
melody to carry it.

I note the comments regarding sessions -
my playing experience is not in sessions,
but with a few friends in a private or otherwise
undisturbed setting. I also have a background
of classical guitar (many years ago) and piano.
These instruments tend to be solo or
ensemble type instruments. This might
partly explain my preference for airs.

I'll think a bit more about this and look
forwards to hearing some more comments.
Thanks again and keep the input coming!!

[talasiga]

.....
Airs are great to play when nobody's listening, though.

When a hundred hear an air
we get 101 musicians .....

[SteveShaw]

We'll play five or six slow tunes during a long evening but they wouldn't all strictly be regarded as slow airs. Inisheer, Eleanor Plunkett, that sort of thing. Real slow airs are very hard to play properly (see recent animated thread!) but I have a bit of fun with 'em at home.

[BrassBlower]

Depends on the instrument. On the whistle, I prefer airs. On the guitar, I like to pound out jigs and reels.

[burnsbyrne]

I have a good number of airs and O'Carolan tunes and I enjoy playing them. I also play a lot of dance tunes, probably more than the airs. I don't play socially because my damaged left wrist prevents me from playing the dance tunes anywhere close to the proper tempo. So I play my slow reels, jigs, hornpipes, slides, etc and my only slightly slower airs and enjoy the vibrations the whistle makes in my fingers and ears.

But I'd like to be able to play like a bat out of hell every once in a while

[Caj]

I have a good number of airs and O'Carolan tunes and I enjoy playing them. I also play a lot of dance tunes, probably more than the airs. I don't play socially because my damaged left wrist prevents me from playing the dance tunes anywhere close to the proper tempo.

What instruments do you play? I wonder if the button accordion would be a good option for someone with a damaged left wrist.

I mean, the left wrist is still stressed depending on how you play it. I know it was uncomfortable for me, and Patty Furlong wears a tennis wrist band because the box can press up against it. But on the other hand, har har, I gave up before I bothered with ergonomics (I'm too left-handed to play an accordion.)

I figure if you avoid playing the basses (which won't be missed in a session,) you can make it really easy on the wrist.

Caj

[Tony McGinley]

Thanks to everyone who voted and to those who contributed with comments. I have long wondered why slow airs, and not so slow airs, were given second place. I personally find this avoidance very puzzling because of my great love of traditional Irish airs.

I have listed some of what I perceive as key comments made in your contributions.

* "a lament is a lot of work. I think I can only play 3 of them with confidence,"

* "in a group I rarely have an opportunity to play a solo piece that takes a lot of time"

* "the environment doesn't lend itself to such things"

· "Airs tend to be party pieces. I'm much more interested in playing with people than soliloquizing"

* "You have to be allowed your own timing, which doesn't work when there's 30 people playing."

* "Airs are great to play when nobody's listening, though."

* "it seems the dance music is more group-friendly"

* "When a hundred hear an air - we get 101 musicians"

* "Real slow airs are very hard to play properly"

It would seem from an aggregate of the comments that the playing of airs, while liked by many, is avoided mainly because of other people and the enviornment, with a few finding them technically difficult.

Thank you all again. This has been a very interesting exercise for me to observe. I have some answers but also still some questions only partly answered. The main question not fully satisfied is WHY? prefaced in Tomás O Canainn words; "The slow air is rightly regarded as one of the most beautiful facets of the Irish musical tradition and yet many of the better dance music executants never attempt the playing of an air." - WHY?