Grace Notes?

[Jude]

Ok, so i have another question(among many) when to use "Grace Notes"

I notice on most Irish songs, there is a "little" note that is played between another note. I managed to find out that these notes are called "grace notes" but when do I use them when playing Irish jigs or other fast songs. grant you, I may be expecting too much of myself too quickly but I really want to learn to play jigs as well as polkas. So...Jim, or anyone else have an answer for me. When do I know when to use the grace notes?

Is you get tired of my questions let me know and I'll stop asking,so many questions(just kidding) I really won't stop.

Liz

[Tradewinds Ted]

The rules for this kind of variation aren't rigid at all In some circles it is traditional to play the tune a little differently each time through, which complicates the matter a bit. The idea is to make the tune more interesting, without creating a distraction.

 

I play Irish music more on the whistle, where there are several different techniques for leading into melody notes, such as cuts and slides, which further complicates the decision on what to do. Some of these don't really apply to the concertina, but the dilemma of choice is basically the same.

 

There is a tendency for beginners to add too much, and the tune gets lost, or at least is starts to lose any life. Start off learning to play the tune straight. Once you can reliably play it though cleanly and with feeling, then try adding in extra grace notes and such, either wherever you feel they might fit, or by listening to others play either live or from recordings, but go ahead and try them as many places as you want at this point in your practice. Once you can reliably play these variations cleanly, then try playing the tune straight again. Then go back and and sprinkle in just a few grace notes wherever they just beg to be there, and don't necessarily even add these few every time. The goal is to be able to play the tune either way when you play with others, responding to whatever else is happening with the players around you, and what has gone before.

 

Have fun with it!

[Geoff Wooff]

Some people describe Grace Notes as Ornaments, which might suggest something decorative which is used to beautify the tune however, the original purpose of these devices is to provide rhythmic punctuation.

 

Many earlier forms of instruments possessed little in the way of dynamic ability, so changes in loudness could be of little use to emphasize the beat or phrase. One instrument that comes to mind in this regard is the Bagpipes where grace noting systems are highly developed as a way to chop up the issuing sounds into rhythmic pulses... perhaps not the most elegant way of describing the result but... I hope it will suffice.

 

This should suggest how to use your grace notes in a simple way to start with. Try putting a 'Cut' on the first note of the bar, in Jigs, this can be done on a keyboard instrument either by playing a very short note before the tune note ( usually something of higher pitch.. perhaps two notes or more above that first note of the bar) or by starting the two notes together and imediately releasing the grace note leaving the graced note with a little kick in its step... a little rhythmic bounce.

 

This is the first step to gracing Jigs and as Ted says 'use sparingly', but perhaps before even trying this I recommend that you look carefully at Jigs to see the rhythmic patern that makes them:

 

A normal 6/8 Jig has a basic patern of two groups of three notes per bar. If you play these notes giving them each the same length, as is shown on the written music sheet then Jigs sound la-la-la, la-la-la . BUT... if you change the length of these notes to get something like laa-l-la, laa-l-la... thus making the Beat note longer, the second note shorter and the third note of normal length you will arrive at a good rhythmic emphasis even before adding any Grace notes.

 

This lengthening and shortening of notes was ( and is) very important to providing ' pulse' in dance music at a period when instruments had little dynamic range.

 

Have a close listen to GOOD Jig playing... you could try slowing down the recordings of fine players to hear how they use these devices to produce bounce, pulse and good danceability .

Edited January 19, 2014 by Geoff Wooff

[JimLucas]

The rules for this kind of variation aren't rigid at all

 

In fact, I'd say even calling them "rules" is a bit too rigid.

 

I pretty much second everything Ted said. It's much better to play with no "ornaments" (a term I hear more than "grace notes") at all than with too many. And there's no point in trying to add them before you've learned to play the tune itself smoothly and comfortably.

 

Your profile says piano is one of your interests. Did you start on the piano by trying to copy in its entire detail some solo piece by Chopin or a performance by Thelonious Monk, or did you start with something simpler and work your way gradually to more complex pieces? I'd be very surprised if you said the former.

 

There are also local stylistic variations in the amount of ornamentation used by Irish concertina players, and some of our members here have expressed their preference for the less ornamented styles. If Irish your interest, then maybe some of those folks can direct you toward appropriate recordings.

 

In addition, a great many Irish tunes are played in the key of D and require a C#, which your 20-button concertina doesn't have. (A 30-button in C/G, with the third row mentioned elsewhere, is the most common for Irish.) Best not to worry about that, though, until you have a number of tunes in G (and even Em and Am) under your fingers, as there are plenty of those, too.

[Jude]

I started playing piano when I was 5. My mum sat and played "Clare de Lune(moonlight) by Debussy, and sat and played the song. Ha, my mum thought instantly she had a child prodgedy ..NOT!!!! Lol. I just found out what those little notes (space notes)were called and like them, so I will try to learn to use them in my songs....but will be careful to not to use too many .

I just realized there is also a discussion on the forum for accordions. I am currently researching Cajun Accordions. I think I will invest in one and learn to play it as well. What fun!

[Jude]

Sorry for the incorrect spelling...it should be (prodigy) I am using my ipad and auto-correct and inserts whatever it wants lol

[malcolmbebb]

You may wish to visit melodeon.net, a sister forum aimed at button accordions, where Cajun is a little more at home than here.

[Wolf Molkentin]

Sorry for the incorrect spelling...it should be (prodigy) I am using my ipad and auto-correct and inserts whatever it wants lol

I'd suggest you have that feature disabled. I had the same trouble with my IPhone until I stopped it...

[Jude]

Hi Malcolm,yes, I will visit that site also, but will still be here because I am still learning my Concertina and appreciate all of your help.All of you are so very helpful and I certainly appreciate your input.