Phrasing in Irish Traditional Music

[michael sam wild]

I found this on The Session from the papers of the Sean Reid Society . I'm not a piper but am very influenced by them and after ploughing through it it makes sense.

I've just found the book on Irish Traveller Pipers fascinating and the transcriptions of Doran, Furey , Rooney et al. are marvellous ( see other post)

 

http://seanreidsocie...nce%20music.PDF

 

When I'm transcribing from CDs etc I listen a great deal to work the tune out in phrases. (I've not yet got round to a slowdowner! so it's slower but keeps the feel of the original player with you) The last few notes of any bar of phrase can be thought of as the lead in notes to the next bar. Just as we start a tune with a few bridge, kick off or lead notes it helps the flow. This may be obvious to others but it's been helpful. There is a second paper that can be accessed on the web, apparently no 3 is not out yet..

 

I also find an analysis of bars to find how they are related in the tune useful and also an approach that feels like 'call or response' or forward and back as in a dance useful in exploring tunes.

Edited April 18, 2012 by michael sam wild

[Geoff Wooff]

The author of this article, Pat Mitchell, also plays the Concertina. His advices on phrasing and emphasis are usefull for all who play ITM.

One thing that I have noticed is that some of the younger musicians have a tendancy to play in a more linear fashion with regard to the internal rhythm. It is as if they are so used to playing with a 'backing' instrument ( guitar etc) that they are leaving the rhythm and pulse duties to be carried by the accompaniment.

 

The fact that the Pipes are an instrument with very little Dynamic Range causes the piper to arrange 'pulse' by lengthening and shortening of notes within the bar. This gives a shuffling rhythmic effect which is so usefull in dance music and typifies the way certain musicians play.

 

This changing of note lengths can be found,of course, in most types of music but it is the way that it is done locally which defines the differences between related genres.

 

Pat Mitchell is well known in the Irish Piping scene for his giant works "The dance music of Willie Clancy" and later the same studies of Patsy Touhey and Seamus Ennis etc.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Geoff Wooff

[Anglo-Irishman]

Mike,

 

I've noticed that Irish fluters often take their breaths, not at the end of a bar, but after the first (strong) beat of a bar. Obviously, they have to stop playing some time, however briefly, to breathe in, and this method really does emphasise that the end of one bar is the upbeat to the next. Far from interrupting the flow, it makes the tune even more coherent. I find that doing this on Carolan tunes can be very effective and freshening, if not overused.

 

Geoff,

I sometimes have to tell some of the guys in my group not to just play one note after the other - what you call "linear" style. When they're accompanying songs, I urge them to learn the words, and phrase their accompaniment as if they were singing. With most songs, this means slightly different phrasing in each verse, which adds variety. For solo instrumentalists, another trick I learned is to make up words to fit a tune, and play the instrument as if you were singing these words (they don't have to be great poetry, because no-one will ever hear them, but they should make some sort of sense).

 

Cheers,

John

[michael sam wild]

Thanks John , I often put words to tunes , in fact I often find tunes for words and songs I compose that way, I suppose lilting gives the same help even if the 'words' are not as meaningful! Diddle ay do

[David Levine]

Every concertina player should play the flute... and every fluter should play the concertina.

Each teaches you a lot about the other instrument.