AJTwo wrote:It's true that folk players can be good, but it's also true that folk music is folk music because it's accessible to be played by the masses, God bless it, and not just folk who have gone to Berklee (not to be confused with Berkley, as I once did).
Well put.
I think this is what Thomaston was saying, but it seemed to be misunderstood by some.
"Life is far too important to be taken seriously"
~Oscar Wilde
AJTwo wrote:It's true that folk players can be good, but it's also true that folk music is folk music because it's accessible to be played by the masses, God bless it, and not just folk who have gone to Berklee (not to be confused with Berkley, as I once did).
Well put.
I think this is what Thomaston was saying, but it seemed to be misunderstood by some.
If you put as much effort into playing Hayden or Telemann or Corelli or Schumann as you put into playing tunes well, you can go very far in classical music (of course you'll still need an ensemble or orchestra mostly). On the other hand if you are not willing to put as much effort into playing tunes as you would into studying a Chopin etude you are not going to go as far some of the greats of ITM.
ITM is simple in structure, but so is much "classical" music. Subtleties reside in different places in different music styles. "Folk" music today is typically called "traditional" music because it is not about "folk" playing the music but about how the music is transmitted: not in the conservatory, but at the kitchen table. And if you read up a bit about, for example, Paddy Keenan's youth, it's not clear to me that the conservatory is always more rigorous.
Tell us something.: I used to be a regular then I took up the bassoon. Bassoons don't have a lot of chiff. Not really, I have always been a drummer, and my C&F years were when I was a little tired of the drums. Now I'm back playing drums. I mist the C&F years, though.
For me the whistle is my first melody instrument. I'm a percussionist who took piano in grade school but stopped as soon as I was allowed, so I don't consider myself a pianist.
For the record, I'm always thnking about what I'll play next, but I'll always hold the whistle near and dear.
I've said this before, but I'll say it again: I came to the whistle backwards-like, starting out on timber flute. It wasn't that I looked down on the whistle, but that the whistle terrified me. It's easy to play badly, after all, simple as it is. But I finally took up the whistle, and I'm glad I did. There are some tune sets that I just have to play on whistle if I have the choice; the flute won't do the trick at all for what I have in mind.
To hell with the begrudgers, as the saying goes.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
All I offered was an explanation for why people look down at this music and its instrumentation. No skin off my nose if some C&F'ers (or even all) didn't find that plausible, I mean do you think the world looks at us any different? Deniers (and herring gobbler), please go ahead and resume your group hug below.
Tell us something.: I used to be a regular then I took up the bassoon. Bassoons don't have a lot of chiff. Not really, I have always been a drummer, and my C&F years were when I was a little tired of the drums. Now I'm back playing drums. I mist the C&F years, though.
Guinness wrote:All I offered was an explanation for why people look down at this music and its instrumentation. No skin off my nose if some C&F'ers (or even all) didn't find that plausible, I mean do you think the world looks at us any different? Deniers (and herring gobbler), please go ahead and resume your group hug below.
Herring gobbler? I've been called many things, but that's a new one. It's rare that I sit alone at the computer and rock with laughter, but this is one of those times. Good on you!
Guiness, you offered one of many possible explanations as to why some snobs look down on traditional music, but your particular explanation was arrogant and narrow minded, and it showed your unbelievable ignorance. As a player of both ITM and Classical music, it is easy for me to see that you obviously have no idea what you're talking about.
About the comment on tuning, there are different standards for tuning in ITM, that are not necessarily better than or inferior to those in classical music. A fiddle player being "out of tune" by classical standards may or may not reflect his or her skill level.
Also, who are you to say what is more "developed"? Certainly, chromatic music may use more notes, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it will sound more pleasing-- "atonal" music is often about as chromatic as you can get, and I personally don't find it very pleasing. Regardless of your personal taste, it is not up to you to say which is more developed.
With regards to the original question: yes, for many the tinwhistle is an introductory instrument. for others, it is not. The whistle should not be seen as an inferior instrument. It depends on the musician who is playing. After listening to musicians like Mary Bergin, how can anyone possibly say the the tinwhistle is inferior?
