Progression timeline for ITM

[Matthew Heumann]

Having written about 500 Irish, Scottish, & English tunes as well as played for decades in sessions, I can attest to the fact that the brain can only hold so much........

A full session's worth is doing pretty good for most experienced players, beginners just have to play/listen often enough that the tunes become second nature. Whenever I switched to a new session, I was shocked how much of that group's repertoire I didn't know, and had to start over from scratch (the 200 tunes in my head from the previous sessions were for nought). I can only play a few of my own compositions from memory, too many, so thank goodness for notation programs to archive them. My best advise is get connected with a Contra band or an Irish or Scottish dance band where the group plays often and has a steady tune selections to let you hone your skills, ans they are sticklers for smooth rhythm and consistent tempo. It worked well for me in the earliest days. As for memorizing........some folks have, many don't, not much else to say. Just repeat, repeat, repeat until you don't have to think about it.

By the way, I'm sure you'll hear this from many long time players, but sometimes my fingers remember tunes that my brain can't fathom where they came from or what the name is. Muscle memory is very intriguing!

[RAc]

5 hours ago, adamhuestis said:

What process do you guys generally use for learning a tune?  I have trouble learning songs that do not have words. 

 

One possible way to solve this would be to attach words to tunes and then memorize the tunes through those fake lyrics. As others have pointed out, everyone must find his/her individual key to unlock the shrine of music.

[John Wild]

Another aspect is to keep trying.

What I mean is that if you get used to playing tunes from the written music only, the skill of learning from the written music, and remembering it, will be lost.

Also, the skill of learning by ear will be lost (or not developed in the first place).

[wunks]

You could invent some words or even use syllables to hang the tune on such as "la de dum de diddle de dum de diddle de di de oh!".....😊

[AndyNT]

11 hours ago, adamhuestis said:

What process do you guys generally use for learning a tune?  I have trouble learning songs that do not have words. 

Practice, practice and practice, and then practice it more - without the dots.

Even if it hasn't got words, still sing it out loud to get the tune firmly into your head. It is surprising what your fingers will sort out for themselves once you 'know' the tune.

I find it also helps me if I listen to other people playing the tune, perhaps on YouTube or Spotify. It helps to build that mental picture of how the tune sounds. 

[John Wild]

5 hours ago, wunks said:

You could invent some words or even use syllables to hang the tune on such as "la de dum de diddle de dum de diddle de di de oh!".....😊

This is a chart I was sent some years ago. There are others with different detail but using the same principle.

[Jillser Nic Amhlaoibh]

I find it easier to learn and remember tunes that I'm familiar with, so if I'm learning a tune that I haven't heard before I'll always source a recording/video of it that I like and listen to that over and over - if I can hum it to meself in the car then I won't have any bother learning/remembering it. You could also try "back chaining" when learning a tune - that's where you start off learning the last couple of bars/measures of it and then work your way backwards - it results in you always playing towards "familiarity".  I sometimes do this if I'm learning a 3 or 4 part reel and having difficulty remembering the last part.

[gcoover]

16 hours ago, John Wild said:

This is a chart I was sent some years ago. There are others with different detail but using the same principle.

 

Forget about playing any tunes, I'm starving!

 

[Anglo-Irishman]

On 5/1/2024 at 7:55 AM, RAc said:

attach words to tunes and then memorize the tunes through those fake lyrics

I've found this to work for me. One aspect of it is that if you write one syllable per note, then when you've "recited" your lyric in your head, you've played all the notes in the tune. Another aspect is expression. if you build up your fake lyrics with statements, questions, emphatic replies, explanations and exclamations, you can let the phrasing, dynamics and tempo follow them.

I suppose, when you folks talk about ITM you mean Irish jigs, reels, etc. Not much room for dynamics or tempo there! However, my idea of Irish instrumental music is Carolan compositions and the often beautiful tunes to well-known songs. When I play an instrumental version of a song, of course the lyrics are already there, making my playing tender, boisterous, sad or happy, as the case may be. With one Carolan piece, I experimented with a "fake" lyric. It's for "Eleanor Plunkett" - it's not great poetry, but it keeps me from just playing one note after the other:

 

It's a lovely day today!  (Positive assertion by voice 1)

Do you think so?           (Critical question from voice 2)

Yes, I think so; it's a really lovely day. (Emphatic re-assertion by voice 1)

If it weren't such a lovely day, there'd be clouds in the sky, (Long argument from voice 1 ...)

And the little raindrops would keep on falling,   (... argument continued ...)

And I'd be so sad.                                                    (... culmination of argument)

It's a really lovely day!         (Final re-statementof positive assertion by voice 1)

 

Works for me! As I said, not great poetry - but hey, some of the trad. lyrics to beautiful tunes are not that great either!😎

Cheers,

John

[Cathasach]

I'm about a year and a half in to learning the concertina and I come.from a vocalist background and I'm mostly in the same boat as you. I learn around a tune a month, although I am getting better.

 

If I need fake lyrics to sing along with something I just meow.

[hjcjones]

The more tunes you learn, the easier it becomes to learn more tunes.  Most tunes in the Irish tradition (and indeed the other traditions of the British Isles) follow a fairly standard pattern in which many of the phrases are repeated, although perhaps with minor variations. Once you get to understand this structure you realise that instead of having to learn every note of the tune you only have to learn a few phrases, and a few variations, and then string them together.

 

The other aspect is that the same, or similar, motifs tend to pop up in different tunes, and when you get to them you realise you already know how to play them.

 

As for the actual process of learning tunes, everyone is different. I learn by ear, so before I even start the tune will have attracted me, and perhaps become an earworm. For me, learning the tune is a separate process from learning how to play it - I need to be able to sing the tune to myself, and this comes from repeated listening. When the tune is in my head I can think about transferring to to my fingers.