Naked tunes

[JeffS]

I don't know if anyone else has this experience: I'm beginning to lose my love of highly ornamented tunes. For the first few years of playing any opportunity for a roll or triple was taken. Exemplified in the so-called piping style (Malloy, Crawford etc), I thought that the more the merrier in terms of ornamentation.

Save for some triplets, taps/cuts and the odd roll, my current favorite sorts of tunes to play and hear are naked. No real ornamentation at all. The cassette which accompanies Fintan Vallely's book Timber, for example, is filled w/ naked tunes.

We frequently hear that the "Sligo Style" is characterized by little ornamentation. Colm O'Donnel and Conal O'Grada are - I believe - included in this lot. I'm sorry, but Conal O'Grada's music is filled with ornamentation. So, I don't get that. (By the way, I'm a HUGE fan of Conal's music so don't misread that). Harry Bradley also has quite a bit of ornamentation (love his stuff too)

Patsy Hanley and a few other "Flute Geezers" are closter to what I'm talking about: solid, full tone with almost no rolls whatsoever. John McKenna also hits it perfectly, but the only recording's I've heard of his are accompanied by obnoxious piano. Marcus O'Murchu (CD = "O Bheal go Beal") is pretty much what I'm referring to.

Are there any current players with music available that play naked flute music (aside from the aforementioned, which I've already worn out). Perhaps w/ the diaphramatic, wild pulse? It allows one, in my opinion, to fully enjoy the melody.

Am I the only psychotic flute player that finds such radically simplistic approach attractive? I'm now relearning a lot of tunes and taking out the rolls, and I find I like the tune better. For example, try losing the roll on A at the beginning of Rolling in the Rye Grass (no pun intended). Or lose the roll on E for the jigs Leitrim Fancy or Kid on the Mountain.

Thoughts? Feelings?

Regards,
JeffS

[Jens_Hoppe]

Well, sparsely ornamented tunes are certainly traditional, so it's not as if you're committing a sin playing that way. In my opinion, if that's what appeals to you (at the moment), by all means go for it.

Or lose the roll on E for the jigs Leitrim Fancy or Kid on the Mountain.

You mean everyone doesn't play KotM like
<pre>
~E3 ~F3 ~G3|~E3 ~B3 BGE|~E3 ~F3 ~G3|BAG ~F3 FED|
</pre>


Jens

[jim stone]

Makes sense to me. I find
that often I'm ornamenting
when I don't quite know
how to play the tune.
Ornaments can bury
a tune.

[bradhurley]

You may want to listen to Jack Coen on flute, also Micho Russell on whistle; both characterized by sparsely ornamented styles, very melodic.

I played with a heavily ornamented style for nearly 20 years, then made a radical switch toward simplicity after spending a week with Jack Coen. I've settled on a sort of middle ground nowadays, not too spare and not overly ornamented, though it really depends on the tune.

One of the benefits of learning to play simply is that it forces you to focus on melody. In my old way of playing, I tended to use ornamentation as a crutch to help me learn tunes more quickly. I could just play rolls where the melody took awkward turns, for example. In effect, I was "dumbing down" the melody and missing out on much of its essence by forcing my style of ornamentation onto it. Now my approach is to begin by learning the pure melody, letting the ornamentation fall naturally where it wants to or using it for variations.

Playing a melody well is actually more challenging than just throwing in all the ornaments in your bag of tricks.

Most of the people you mention above as having highly ornamented styles (Harry Bradley, Conal O'Grada, etc.) are also highly melodic: their ornamentation doesn't hide or blur the melody, it complements and augments it. That's part of what makes their playing so musical and exciting: they never lose sight of the melody, and lots of their variations are melodic rather than pure ornamentation.

Edit to add a note on "Sligo style": I wouldn't say that Sligo style is characterized by little ornamentation: with fiddlers, for example, "Sligo style" usually is taken as a synonym for "Michael Coleman style" which is quite heavily ornamented. There are a number of flute players from Sligo and a few from other places (Clare, Galway) who play in a relatively simple style; I'm thinking of people like James Murray or Sonny McDonough, for example, but I don't know if people in Sligo would consider this a characteristic Sligo style of flute playing or if it's more individualistic.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: bradhurley on 2003-02-12 07:25 ]</font>

[rhodeirish]

You would probably enjoy John Creaven's CD "The Story So Far". Great phrasing & tone. Very minimal with the pyrotechnics. I enjoy it a great deal.

John Harvey

[carrie]

John Creavan's CD came to my mind as well, as did the Coen brothers' The Branch Line, though I've only heard a little from that one.

Carol

[Gordon]

I studied for about a year with Jack Coen, so I'm a bit biased for the non-heavily ornamented camp. Mike Rafferty, as well (same region, E. Galway) plays with limited ornaments, as does Joe Burke on his Tailor's Choice CD (though with more than Jack or Mike).
The thing about a "no-frills" style is that very often the deviations on the tune or the notes played, rather than rolled through, are in fact a bit more complex than a tune that uses an abundance of rolls and crans. In other words, in the same space that a long roll is used, there are several beats to fill. While a player like Jack might simply land a good solid downbeat, he might also use a simple triplet turn around, or some other more melodic phrase, easily played yet more (to my ear) interesting than a series of machine gun rolls.
I ornament now much more than Jack does, but more in the vein of a John Skelton or Frankie Gavin -- I still have problems with the Crawford-like triplet/cran fest playing, where I often don't recognize the tune, even when it's one I play often. Since a love of melody is a good part of why I chose flute over, say, drums, I tend to gravitate toward players that really make the most of a tune's distinctiveness, rather than having them all sound like variations of the same basic musical ideas.

[prunci]

I find it interesting that a couple of people have referred to Conal O'Grada's playing as highly ornamented and, primarily, melodic. What strikes me about Conal's music isn't so much ornamentation or melody, but rhythm. Good Lord, that boy swings his backside off! In fact, I had to think about it for a minute to decide whether I find his playing highly ornamented or not; I get into a deep groove listening to him play. I just wish he'd put out some more music on CD!

I find Paul McGrattan's music sort of a balanced blend of rhythm, melody, and tasteful ornamentation. His new CD, Keelwest, is a bit more "naked" than his first solo album, with slightly slower tempos and cleaner, more assured playing. He's got it all as a flute player.

[kevin m.]

I tend to favour this,perhaps,'more direct approach'.I particularly love the playing of Jack Coen,also Larry McDonagh and Micho on whistle.This last week I have been listening to Kevin Henry's 'One's own place'album and Paul McGrattan/Paul O'Shaughnessy's 'Within a mile of Dublin',picked them up cheap in a local record shop sale(which of course makes them EVEN BETTER,I'd been considering buying them for some time.This thread has helped identify further players to investigate.thanks all.

[chas]

Deirdre Havlin's playing isn't devoid of ornamentation by any means, but it's not overly decorated. Her playing is incredibly rhythmic, as has been said about others in this thread.

[MarkB]

Naked tunes,flute lichen,the lack of ornamention, and decoration. We're lucky that not many drift over from the whistle board, or it could get out of hand.

I have come to the same kind of conclusion and reduce the amount of ornamention I use on the whistle. I came to that conclusion learning to play my flute, which I struggle with. Just trying to make the basic notes of a tune while struggling with everything else you have to do to play the flute, I rediscover a simpler sound, that can just as expressive without decoration.

And heard something quite different from what I was use to doing on the whistle.

MarkB

[jim stone]

Yes, I wish I could be as fluid
and fast on the flute as I
am on the low D whistle. The
principal difference is that
I can't half hole the C natural.
Patience.

[kevin m.]

I received a copy of Joe Burke's 'Tailor's choice'album through the post today-thanks for the lead,Gordon.What a smashing album! Lots of lovely slow air playing,mainly in the company of harp,played by Maire Ni Chathasaigh or Kathleen Guilday.As well as playing flute,Joe plays his accordian on two tracks and whistle(a Clarke?) on two others.The flute he plays appears on the cover,and is identified as a Rudall and Rose in Boxwood,with silver keys and ivory bands,made in the 1840's.The tunes,beautiful instrument and the musicians' craftsmanship complement each other perfectly on this consumate set.Recommended!