How many tunes do you know?

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:44 am

I keep a list, but it only contains "odd" tunes that aren't in my various tunebooks and collections. These are the ones that I like to play, but are unlikely to come up otherwise. (Popular songs, oldtime fiddle tunes, classical and jazz snippets, etc.....).

I also keep a short list of 1-6 tunes I'm currently working on, but once I have them down pretty well, they drop off the list.

River Otter · Post by **River Otter** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:24 am

I think Ron White best sums up my feelings of inadequacy regarding the number of tunes I know, specifically at a session:

"I don't know how many [tunes] it would have taken to kick my @$$, but I know how many they were gonna use."

River Otter

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:37 am

River Otter wrote:I think Ron White best sums up my feelings of inadequacy regarding the number of tunes I know, specifically at a session:

"I don't know how many [tunes] it would have taken to kick my @$$, but I know how many they were gonna use."

River Otter

And no matter how many you know... the one they pick will be one you don't!

shadeclan · Post by **shadeclan** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:51 am

I would have to say that, after nearly a year of practicing as much as I can (30 second stoplights, making pancakes on Sunday, campouts with the Scouts, anytime I have a free moment, etc.), I know exactly zero tunes, after I compare myself to "the masters"

I can, however, finger out a tune that is recognizable by most, if that person has heard the tune beforehand. Also, forget any sort of ornamentation on all but the most practiced tunes.

On top of everything else, my most practiced tune - "Bridget O'Malley" - does not seem to be known by anyone, so there is little chance that any of you would think I was playing a tune if you heard me!

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 11:21 am

I have about 200 or so, I'd guess. I won't consider myself to know "a lot" of tunes before I break 1,000. Not that I am counting, or anything.

picardy third · Post by **picardy third** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:48 pm

How many tunes do I know?? All of them.

NoMattch · Post by **NoMattch** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 1:37 pm

I know that I know more now than I think I know, ya know?

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 1:46 pm

Lots of tunes, maybe a couple of hundred,
but not enough and seldom the ones the
other musicians at the session are playing!

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:51 pm

I'm probably around 100, most of which I can play just fine in a group, but by myself they are of 'variable' quality.

I can't even imagine knowing 1,000; 500 is the least I feel I'd need to know to be worth a damn.

feardearg · Post by **feardearg** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 2:08 pm

I am approaching 300 tunes. I don't know how I would do it if I didn't keep a running list. I am able to go thru the list just about every week to keep fresh. I work pretty hard on the tunes and would hate to have them slip away just because I forgot that I knew them!

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 3:13 pm

Wow, this is quite the Lazarus of threads...and I still think Peter's answer one of the best posts ever written on this topic.

The actual number of tunes is much more interesting when you're starting out (or if you're a tad compulsive in behavior). I had a list that was given to me when I started playing in a slow session. Now that all the tunes are checked off as "known", all I can say for sure is I know at least the 72 common session tunes on that list (common in my area at least), but I no longer have any clue how many I really know - although compared to Peter and others I really know very few tunes. I've picked up more tunes since that list through dots, session tapes, CDs, and quite a few tunes I've learned through osmosis at session (nearly all of which have no name as far as I know)...all are in various stages of growth or decomposition depending upon how often they're played at session.

All that really matters is that no matter how many tunes you know there are always more to learn. That's part of what makes ITM so fun.

Eric

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:12 pm

Jayhawk wrote:... All that really matters is that no matter how many tunes you know there are always more to learn. That's part of what makes ITM so fun. ...

That's the truth!

vintagekits · Post by **vintagekits** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 4:58 pm

its hard to say - sometimes if someone say do you know "such and such" a tune and then I say no - but then they start and it comes to me

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:19 pm

vintagekits wrote:its hard to say - sometimes if someone say do you know "such and such" a tune and then I say no - but then they start and it comes to me

To quote somebody, "Sometimes I know more than I think I know... you know?"

walrii · Post by **walrii** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:52 pm

"I only know half of them half as well as I should like and I like less than half of them more than half as much as they deserve." Or something like that.

Chiff and Fipple Forums

How many tunes do you know?

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