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How Do You Develope A Style?


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I have recently been discussing style development with another player and we both have developed our style of play by listening to other players and try to emulate the bits of their style we like.So in fact our way of playing is a compilation from a number of players and a bit of ourselves.

If you play only to written music have you got a style?

Have only by ear players got a style?

How have you developed your style?

Al <_<

 

 

 

 

Tried to get rid of the E in Develop after it was posted ,but failed dismally

I will write it out 100 times

Edited by Alan Day
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If you play only to written music have you got a style?

Have only by ear players got a style?

How have you developed your style?

 

By listening to a lot of different players and appropriating the elements I like. By figuring out how those elements can be used in other musical contexts.

 

By avoiding getting caught in any purity traps -- ie playing only one style, in one way.. That's not necessarily right for everyone, but it works for those of us with short attention spans!

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If you play only to written music have you got a style?

Have only by ear players got a style?

How have you developed your style?

Al <_<

Strictly playing written music is IMHO not very stimulating to develop a style. Playing by ear leaves (at least for me) more space to experiment and explore the posibillities on my anglo. The most optimal situation is to put your mind at zero and let your fingers go. In this way I make discoveries (note sequences, techniques) that can be elements that could add up to a style.

 

 

Tried to get rid of the E in Develop  after it was posted ,but failed dismally

I will write it out 100 times

I think it looks rather classy/archaic ;)

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Yes, I've developed a number of styles mostly by chance and oddly enough not by listening to concertina players. Of course each time I encounter a concertina recording or another player something is borrowed. It must be so for in a few days a little change shows up in my playing.

 

Ear verses reading....don't know what to say. I do both. Can't help but augment what passes into my fingers. It is often harder to get a tune "right" by ear. I'll frequently start augmenting right away to the point the tune is obliterated in my foolishness. Then it's back to the drawing board. The written form is a more secure way for me to get the basic tune down and then let go.

 

I try to be sensitive to each genre I dabble in. Learn the rules first before I start to drift.

 

In my opinion even someone who feels compelled to copy a particular artists' style down to the last detail has in reality developed a personal style.

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I have recently been discussing style development ---

---

How have you developed your style?

Al <_<

 

My style was developed as a way of surviving playing ITM on EC. Had I had the wits or the brains when I started, I would have chosen Anglo, of course.

 

Henk is right on the spot with “put your mind at zero and let your fingers go”, though my mind has a habit of going to a non-zero state when I least need it...

 

Influence from other players

Of course, and listening a lot, all the time: another thread discusses “how you learn” - e.g. listening to a loop at work is a freebie, the tune seems to pass all intellect and place itself nicely in long-term memory. Along with the style. I have listened to a lot of fiddle music, which has led me to believe that I tend to use the bellows as a bow.

 

Converting Irish Anglo playing details takes up a large part of development. Someone in this forum said, or quoted someone saying: "If you don't have the note or it is impossible to play, play another that fits".

 

To me, that is where the zero-state of mind and wriggly fingers apply. It can sometimes take weeks, months (years!) before I discover the solution was just two buttons away, on the other side...

 

Other player’s styles

Sorry, if this is very ITM-focused, but it is a part of (my) style development. The calm, unembellished style of Jaqueline McCarthy and the humorous fireworks of Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh are equally enjoyable to me and both a source of wonder and a great deal of “zero-state mind & fingering”. It is not one above the other, it is both.

 

Enough said. My style development was never (is not) a planned journey, it is listening, emulating (converting AC to EC) and adding elements that work. A small sample here.

 

Henrik

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Mark`s posting regarding copying other peoples styles,reminds me of a couple of evenings during my old sales repping days.

Southampton and Portsmouth are fairly near to each other in Hampshire and I had a lot of work to do in both areas so I booked myself into hotels to coincide with Folk Clubs that were on each evening.On the first evening I went to Southampton and watched a fairly famous artist perform.He was a singer guitarist and told jokes in between and it was very enjoyable.The following evening I went to Portsmouth to another Folk Club,a different artist got up and started singing.What a coincidence I thought ,I heard this last night.This chap then went on to do an exact clone of what I had heard the night before.The same jokes,the same songs he must have recorded it and learnt it all exactly parrot fashion.Now that is taking style a bit too far.

Al :blink:

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To develop ones own style is sometimes difficult when one is being taught music. But I found that if you open your ears ?? to all music you hear around you and especially live performances, this may help you to find your own style.

I play a lot of newly composed music :blink: and find that it is an advantage that the pieces have not been played before which leaves me to discover how to play them. When I play a piece that has been written for another instrument people start to compare :angry: and then forget that often the same piece on for example piano or clarinet or violin sounds different even or especially when played by a musician who is considered very good on his or her instrument. I believe it takes time and experimenting on your instrument and then stick to what you like best for yourself :) . I am still experimenting.

Pauline

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John Kirkpatrick has done concertina impressions in some of his workshops to demonstrate different styles of playing the Anglo, William Kimber, Peter Bellamy, etc.

 

I have found it interesting to listen to some recordings of myself from some years back to see the difference in how I play now. The tendancy is to be more minimalist now and to play in a crisper manner. I wonder if this holds true for others?

 

As another issue, if you artificially restrict yourself to a style of playing will you miss out in your development?

 

Robin Madge

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I have found it interesting to listen to some recordings of myself from some years back to see the difference in how I play now. The tendancy is to be more minimalist now and to play in a crisper manner. I wonder if this holds true for others?

 

...another issue, if you artificially restrict yourself to a style of playing will you miss out in your development?

 

Robin Madge

 

Depends on genre in my case. Celtic and Old Time reels: crisper for sure. With an air or lament, I have discovered minimalism along with legato and given myself the permission to allow space between the notes on a fermata.

 

 

Perhaps, but some folks truely wish to express in only a few genre or styles and the refinement and authenticity of that choice becomes a laudable life's work.

There is something to be said for mastering a style fully as opposed to being a jack of all trades and the master of none, which seems to be my lot in life <_< .

Edited by Mark Evans
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The answer to my question of does playing by ear only give you style has in part been answered by a firm no.It is the interpretation of the music being played and of course the timing, combined with a reasonable playing ability, which forms a style.Many fine classical musicians can easily be recognised almost at the time they start playing.

It was perhaps a stupid question, but at least we all talk about it.

Al :)

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My current style consists of attempting to play a tune (Old MacDonald is the current favorite it seems) for more than three notes before my son is required by the whims of fate to either push a handful of buttons for me (to add emphasis to the song I suppose) or grab the bellows and squeeze it together (he does this rather surprisingly gently and though I know it's not good for the instrument, I usually am playing my POS Stagi when he's in reach).

 

It's ugly. It's double coyote ugly in fact, but damned if it isn't the best time of my life.

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It was perhaps a stupid question, but at least we all talk about it.

Al :)

 

In no way was this a stupid question. I greatly enjoyed the posts and thought a great deal about "style". Another fine topic from you sir.

 

A rather nice companion to Rhomylly's current thread.

Edited by Mark Evans
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The answer to my question of does playing by ear only give you style has in part been answered by a firm no.It is the interpretation of the music being played and of course the timing, combined with  a reasonable playing ability, which forms a style.Many fine classical musicians can easily be recognised almost at the time they start playing.

It was perhaps a stupid question, but at least we all talk about it.

Al :)

 

I'm glad you said this, it's what I've been seething to say since Geoff Wright said "reading music vs. playing by ear".

In my not so humble opinion, the truth is that if you are not very good at either, then the result will inevitably be less musical. In both cases, once you have got past the mechanical difficulties of finding the right notes, then you are able to listen to what's going on around you and to what you are playing, and make music.

 

That being said, I agree with Mark that it's a great thread theme.

 

Samantha

(edited to add last paragraph).

Edited by Samantha
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I am glad Samantha I have stopped you seething,but you should not hold these thoughts back,even Geoff ,I am sure, would at the time have been interested in your counter discussion,it is what this is all about.I have done many a U turn on reading someones reply to my posting and I do not mind admitting when I am wrong.

Having said my views on reading and playing to dots,I have been listening to a great deal of anglo concertina playing by different artists recently and many of them I know personally,the majority play by ear,some learn the tunes from music and then play by ear,every one has a different style,or completely different style of playing concertina to the next.It is very very interesting.

Irish styles is a massive subject as I know from recent forays into this area,even parts of different counties have different styles.Is this due to a following of a famous player,historical,or specialist dances in that area ? This is a similar subject which comes up in playing traditional music from central France where dances from different regions set the style of the music,the beat and style of playing.

This is a slightly different subject to individual styles but for many players it is how their styles develop.

Al

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Alan,

 

How have I developed my style? John Hartford said that all style is based on limitation. Limitation certainly has been a factor for me. Not by nature a lightning-fast player, I previously gained some facility with chords, harmony, and rhythm on other instruments; so on EC I've built on those to drive a tune and compliment what other band members are doing. After a few times through a tune, in my head I hear lines or rhythms that others are not playing, so that's what I try to add, if others are holding down the melody. I've also learned that what I don't play is just as important as what I do play, so I try to leave artful "gaps" for others to fill.

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