Slow airs

[Louigi Verona]

A tweaked Walton C. (though it sounds a little lower than C. Recently I found out it's mouthpiece can be moved, so I should tune it to precise C)

[oleorezinator]

seamus ennis said to play slow airs properly, one should have a verse memorised.

[oleorezinator]

Peter...
I would never play an air within earshot of you. Not only would it make you cry...but you'd probably chase after me and break my whistle.

why so?

[falkbeer]

A few years ago a clip of an air was posted here that quite a lot of people raved on about. To my ear the player broke up phrases, dwelt endlessly on passing notes, omitted important ones, inserted ornamentation in totally inappropriate places and kept on sliding in and out of notes that could not handle that treatment and in the process made a complete shambles of the tune.

You can completely ruin a good tune by not knowing what you're up to while thinking you're so wonderfully expressive you could make people cry.

I believe thats what many people said about Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie too when they bagan blowing their horns!

There is an old chines saying that goes someting like this:
The woods would be very quiet,
if only the bird with the most beautiful voice would sing.

The most important aspect of playing music is to have fun. And there is no right or wrong way of interpret a piece! Glenn Gould´s Bach interpretations were considered very bold (and cool) in the 60´s. There are still people who can´t stand them - but I like them. The world would be a poorer place without Glenn Gould.

I´m not saying that anything goes, but try not to listen to much to authorities - it might be very restraining.

[Louigi Verona]

Well, that's true, but before making up own individual style one has to learn properly. And that means listening to authorities. If you start experimenting right from the start without trying to copy a classic performance - well, you'll just never really learn to play anything. But once you have the basis - hey, why not?

[talasiga]

.....
I´m not saying that anything goes, but try not to listen to much to authorities - it might be very restraining.

When I hear a moving air
I hear not an authority
But heart .....

[alurker]

If you know are familiar with a song (esp. if sung in Irish), it is a bit off-putting when someone plays that song as a slow-air with the phrasing (which is dictated by the natural phrasing of the words) all wrong. The same air may sound fine to someone who doesn't speak the language or who has not heard the song sung.

[Cayden]

I believe thats what many people said about Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie too when they bagan blowing their horns!

There is an old chines saying that goes someting like this:
The woods would be very quiet,
if only the bird with the most beautiful voice would sing.

The most important aspect of playing music is to have fun. And there is no right or wrong way of interpret a piece! Glenn Gould´s Bach interpretations were considered very bold (and cool) in the 60´s. There are still people who can´t stand them - but I like them. The world would be a poorer place without Glenn Gould.

I´m not saying that anything goes, but try not to listen to much to authorities - it might be very restraining.

There is very much a wrong way to play a piece, there are many right ways to play a piece but there are definitely more way to completely mangle an air. I resent the 'all we want is to have fun' approach' when it comes to playing airs, it has ample opportunity to reduce these tunes to meaningless strings of notes, new age mood music and the like. There's room and plenty of freedom for a personal approach but there are limits to it.

The suggestion 'that was what said about Gillespie and Parker' is a cheap shot attempting to defuse an argument in the discussion, there's a difference between finding new ways in music and not knowing the structure and content of a piece you're playing. There is just plain old bad playing and incompetence to deal with before we start discussing 'interpretation'.

Several times I have quoted the following in these discussions:

I have often heard song airs played by pipers who leave out notes or phrases which are needed to bear the metre and words of the associated song/s, or (more often) insert redundant notes or phrases which are not supported by the song metre and for which no corresponding words exist. For the listener who knows the words, this is torture. The listener who does not has no yardstick with which to access the validity of an instrumental rendering of a song air, and is therefore in no position to do so.

and there is an important point there.

[Tony McGinley]

When I hear a moving air
I hear not an authority
But heart .....

And "alurker" wrote:

"If you know are familiar with a song (esp. if sung in Irish),
it is a bit off-putting when someone plays that song as a
slow-air with the phrasing (which is dictated by the natural
phrasing of the words) all wrong. The same air may sound
fine to someone who doesn't speak the language or who
has not heard the song sung."

Take one part of each and mix carefully together.
The resultant mix near perfectly reflects the experience
of hearing a slow air well played.

The sample posted by "Louigi Verona"
http://www.dimlight.net/music/louigi/gile_mear.wav
while a very reasonable bit of playing, sounds all
out of sorts - it just is not right. The phrasing,
the timing, the endings, the rubato and the
decorations all sound - not right!!

While it is a very reasonable example of whistle playing,
it is, at the same time, an excellent example of how not to play
"Mo Ghile Mear"

[Louigi Verona]

I would be very thankful for a more... um... constructive feedback. That is - what exactly is wrong and what should I do to make it right? If you think I should listen to a better recording than from that book - leave a link please. My playing there is very similar to the playing from the Slow Airs book I mentioned.

[Tony McGinley]

I would be very thankful for a more... um...
constructive feedback. That is - what exactly is wrong and what
should I do to make it right? If you think I should listen to a better
recording than from that book - leave a link please. My playing
there is very similar to the playing from the Slow Airs book I mentioned.

Hey Louigi

I was not being critical of you or your playing - not at all!

It is difficult to explain what sound not right to someone who is
familiar with this ancient tune for many years. I will attempt some
sort of analysis and will also look around for some recordings which
demonstrate the correct phrasing and try to get back without too
much delay.

[Cayden]

I didn't listen

Mo Gile Mear is more strict in it's meter than slow airs associated with the great Sean Nos songs.

This may help:

Seal da rabhas im' mhaighdean shéimh,
'S anois im' bhaintreach chaite thréith,
Mo chéile ag treabhadh na dtonn go tréan
De bharr na gcnoc is i n-imigcéin.
***
Curfá:
'Sé mo laoch, mo Ghile Mear,
'Sé mo Chaesar, Ghile Mear,
Suan ná séan ní bhfuaireas féin
Ó chuaigh i gcéin mo Ghile Mear.
***
For a while I was a gentle maiden
And now a spent worn-out widow
My spouse ploughing the waves strongly
Over the hills and far away.
***
Chorus:
He is my hero, my dashing darling
He is my Caesar, dashing darling.
I've had no rest from forebodings
Since he went far away my darling.

[Louigi Verona]

I'm in a band which sings Scottish and Irish folk songs. We sing Ghile Mear actually, so I heard it being sung lots of times... I think that this is just a question of getting 'that feeling'. Probably comes from experience... Well, I'll be waiting for your tips and advice

[doogieman]

In Jazz music, when playing ballads, it's also important to know the words - the song - in order to play it correctly.
There's a great scene in 'Round Midnight where Dexter Gordon's character is sitting in the alley trying to play Autumn in New York and can't get it right. "I've forgotten the words".

[Louigi Verona]

Hm. Well, on the other hand, a song is a song and a melody is a melody. I mean - I understand that an admirer of a tradition would prefer to listen to a tune performed just as it is sung. However, in general, why can't you play a melody not as if is a song, but just if it's just a melody? I think that outside the traditional (folk) performance this is quite fine.