Are there tunes that are specific to an instrument in ITM

[Brian Boru]

Are there tunes that are specifically "fiddle tunes" or "for pipers only, all others will be towed"? I was thinking for example of tunes with crans in them. I am told that crans have come into tin whistle playing from piping so it would seem like these tunes were not traditionally played on the tin whistle.

Comments?

[Congratulations]

Well, I don't know, but just cuz a tune gots a cran doesn't mean a fiddle or box or whatever can't play it. They just might play something other than a cran in that spot.

[fearfaoin]

I am told that crans have come into tin whistle playing from piping so it would seem like these tunes were not traditionally played on the tin whistle.

I was under the impression that pretty much all whistle ornaments
are from the piping tradition, since the pipes were around way
before the whistle as we know it today.

There are certainly tunes that lie better on the flute than on the
fiddle and vice versa, but they don't exclude those instruments,
they're just more of a challenge.

[straycat82]

I do know that there are certain recordings for me that, when dominated by an instrument I do not play, can sometimes be difficult for me to transfer to the whistle quickly when learning by ear. A good example of this is accordion tunes. The instruments have such unique inherent characteristics to the way they operate and speak. I would imagine that if a tune was written by an accordion player, or someone who just thought of the music in terms of the accordion, that it would not be as natural for a whistler to pick it up as, say, a tune written by a flute player. I do know that there are certain tunes that I just like better when played by a fiddler, piper, what-have-you, although I can't think of any specific examples at the moment. Fiddles are one of the easiest instruments for me to play along with and that may just be because, outside of the instruments I play, it is the instument I'm the most acquainted with and have been around the most. I have definitely known tunes that were (technically speaking) easy to play on the fiddle but more challenging on the whistle in terms of phrasing and finding natural spots to breathe. There have also been times at the academy that I suggested tunes for a new whistle player to play because they were easy to start with and had the fiddlers say "are you serious, that one's a bugger to play!"

[Innocent Bystander]

I wish I knew enough tunes to say.
But when I'm learning a new tune, I pick it on guitar first. Some tunes pick easier than others. I've just had a go with Willafjord and Spootiskerry, and, because the fingering is so natural on the guitar, I'm inclined to say they're fiddle tunes. Because the top four guitar strings are tuned the same as a fiddle. They play nicely on the whistle, but they seem like fiddle tunes to me.

Recently learned The Home Ruler and The Glenbeigh which didn't seem quite so natural on the guitar - in fact, The Glenbeigh does nicely up the fretboard, but I don't know how you'd fiddle that. So they seem more like pipe/whistle tunes to me.

Then again, there are tunes which seemed to fit more naturally to the whistle, and while I was pondering that, I came across variations which were "fit" for fiddle. Let's face it, if there's tune that catches my ear and I can't play it the way the fiddler plays it, I'll tweak the tune just so I can play something like it. And if the dots go where the whistle won't, then I'll wing it with whatever sounds closest.

So yes, there are tunes which seem "fiddle" tunes and "whistle" tunes - but there are always variations. "Two sides to every story and eleven versions of every tune."

[BoneQuint]

the top four guitar strings are tuned the same as a fiddle.

You have them tuned in fifths? GDAE? What are the bottom two strings?

[Pat Cannady]

Mu

[Nanohedron]

Mu

[Lexxicos]

Because of the intensive regulator work, I believe "The Fox Chase" is a tune generally regarded as 'Pipes Only, all others need not apply."

In my mind I tend to see "Colonel Fraser's" as a tune that can be played on other intruments, but just sounds the absolute best on the pipes. I've heard Niall Vallely play it on the 'Tina, and it just didn't sound to me like the Colonel Fraser's I'm used to.

[Innocent Bystander]

the top four guitar strings are tuned the same as a fiddle.

You have them tuned in fifths? GDAE? What are the bottom two strings?

Maybe I'm tuning my fiddle wrong...

...that would explain a lot...

[monkey587]

Fox Chase is designed to keep the pipers occupied while the musicians who can easily put down their instruments take a restroom/smoke/pint break.

[Chiffed]

the top four guitar strings are tuned the same as a fiddle.

You have them tuned in fifths? GDAE? What are the bottom two strings?

Maybe I'm tuning my fiddle wrong...

...that would explain a lot...

"Top" is a relative thing.

[awildman]

crans are ornaments. ornamentation is strictly a personal thing. they have nothing to do with whether a tune is written/designed for the pipes or whistle or fiddle. your basic ornamentation is pretty much universal across most ITM instruments: cuts, rolls, triplets, etc. ornamentation is no way to tell if a tune favors one instrument over another.

some tunes just sit better on a certain instrument. some tunes sit equally well. And some tunes are no doubt played on a certain instrument by tradition, and have nothing to do with ease/difficulty.

[dyersituations]

There are many fiddle tunes in the key of A. Whistles, flutes, and pipes tuned in D have a hard time playing those G sharps. An example would be The Foxhunters Reel in A.

-Casey

[Innocent Bystander]

You have them tuned in fifths? GDAE? What are the bottom two strings?

Maybe I'm tuning my fiddle wrong...

...that would explain a lot...

"Top" is a relative thing.

Thanks Chiffed- you've hit it. It's obvious I don't play the fiddle, but I do have one, and tune it. Mainly I have the bow for the mountain dulcimer. But I like to keep the fiddle in tune. It was my mother's.