How to Kill a Butterfly

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:25 am

I've never liked the tune, The Butterfly,
but this rendition is likeable. Find myself
learning the tune from this video.
From Doc Jones' irishflutestore, the
group Butterdogs, a Japanese ITM
group. Note the aebi 6 key.

http://irishflutestore.com/Butter%20Dogs.html

There is a clear place to end the tune on
the video.

Aanvil · Post by **Aanvil** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:22 pm

Sugoiiyo! Hatao rocks!

King Friday · Post by **King Friday** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:45 pm

I love the butterfly! It's my favorite tune to play on a low whistle. It kicked my butt when I was first startting out, but now that I understand the rythm I go through 45 minute sessions like crooked tune does.

King Friday · Post by **King Friday** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:02 pm

By the way, Hatao is awesome! His bass G is about as big as he is. What's that tune called?

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:00 pm

It resolves very nicely to G after the C part --

B3 B2A G2A|B3 BAB dBA|B3 B2A G2A|B2d g2e dBA:|G3

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:41 pm

We go straight into Barney Bralligan after Butterfly, then end it there.

monkey587 · Post by **monkey587** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 9:29 pm

chas wrote:Just add a long note at the end of the C part. I think it would be an E or an A.

Go to greenlinnet.com and find Kevin Burke's In Concert album. Click on listen to the whole album. The first cut is The Butterfly, played straight and at moderate tempo, so you can hear how he plays (and ends) it.

that is NOT played "straight"

the rhythm is highly "interpretive" and exaggerated. I wouldn't encourage anyone to learn it from that. You'd be better off listening to Tommy Potts, who at least keeps the beat steady the whole time. you can download it (and the whole album) from tradtunes.com

the reason we all groan about the butterfly at sessions is that beginners try to play it like kevin burke, and everyone's completely lost the whole time.

Jennie · Post by **Jennie** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:07 pm

monkey587 wrote:that is NOT played "straight" the rhythm is highly "interpretive" and exaggerated. I wouldn't encourage anyone to learn it from that. You'd be better off listening to Tommy Potts, who at least keeps the beat steady the whole time. you can download it (and the whole album) from tradtunes.com

the reason we all groan about the butterfly at sessions is that beginners try to play it like kevin burke, and everyone's completely lost the whole time.

That's the second strong reaction I've heard about his playing in a week, and I don't even live among Irish musicians...

The more I play, the straighter I like it.
Good thing I never started drinking whiskey, it's probably the same trend.

Jennie

monkey587 · Post by **monkey587** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:48 pm

Jennie wrote:That's the second strong reaction I've heard about his playing in a week, and I don't even live among Irish musicians...

Objectively, the rhythm is neither straight nor consistent. I'm not saying it's bad this time. I have been known to say so in the past. I know Burke can play with good rhythm so obviously this was a choice, and it doesn't appeal to me in the least bit... However, my aesthetic sense is not the reason I recommend against learning to play it like Burke. At least not for a beginner, or anyone intending to play with other musicians.

boomerang · Post by **boomerang** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:57 pm

Our band plays the Butterfly about 4-5 times through, finishes in the A part, on the f natural,....followed by a moderate bodhran solo, which leads beautifully into a reel, usually drowsy maggie or junior crehans, Or any other high energy reel
Its a good contrast of feeling and tempo, rather then trying to match it with annother slip jig,
works well
David

BoneQuint · Post by **BoneQuint** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 2:48 am

jim stone wrote:I've never liked the tune, The Butterfly,
but this rendition is likeable. Find myself
learning the tune from this video.
From Doc Jones' irishflutestore, the
group Butterdogs, a Japanese ITM
group. Note the aebi 6 key.

http://irishflutestore.com/Butter%20Dogs.html

There is a clear place to end the tune on
the video.

Thanks! That's very nice, and the other clips too. Although I wish the video wasn't squished. Here's some more Hatao stuff I found, with his earlier group "Craic" -- sounds like some informal session recordings:

http://www.muzie.co.jp/cgi-bin/artist.cgi?id=a015283

Err...but I don't read Japanese...and some of it sound kinda, er, bad...so I'm not really sure what's there.

River Otter · Post by **River Otter** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 12:08 pm

Innocent Bystander wrote:
Chiffed wrote:Head into Kid On The Mountain. It's got a nice form, beginning middle and end. Alternately, the hornpipe Rights of Man, complete with triplets, is nice.
Kid on the Mountain! That's plain cruel! Segue into another slip jig there! Hunting the Hare! Sir Roger de Coverley!

I have been meaning to ask for a while . . . Is Kid On the Mountain a double jig or slip jig? I have never seen it notated and my attempts to notate it lead me to believe it could go either way. The third, fourth, and fifth part sound more like a slip jig to me.

MacNeil · Post by **MacNeil** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 12:23 pm

I know one session where they finish it off with "Road to Lisdoornvarna," which definitely has an ending!

doogieman · Post by **doogieman** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 12:33 pm

There's a story about Miles Davis complaining to John Coltrane for playing extremely long solos. Coltrane said something like " I keep getting more and more ideas and I don't know how to stop". Miles said "take the m@therf*#ker outta your mouth".

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 2:41 pm

doogieman wrote:There's a story about Miles Davis complaining to John Coltrane for playing extremely long solos. Coltrane said something like " I keep getting more and more ideas and I don't know how to stop". Miles said "take the m@therf*#ker outta your mouth".

First time anyone's compared my playing to John Coltrane's! Well, yeah, I guess I can see the similarities.