learning new tunes by ear

[David Levine]

Jody is right about the ITM being linear. I used to play guitar and when I started playing Old Time music on the fiddle I could hear the chords without too much effort and then learn the tune based on the simple and obvious changes. But with Irish music the melody is often too elusive to fit into the simple changes of Old Time music and you just have to learn the melody, period. Occasionally I'll be aware of an arpeggio making a D chord- and maybe that's why hornpipes and jigs are easier to get than reels.

At the end of the day there are no tricks for learning an Irish tune except to listen to it, slow it down, break it down, and learn it bit by bit. And then when you have it memorized you can start to learn the tune and make it your own. If it was easy everybody would do it.

[Anglo-Irishman]

I've developed a reasonable 'ear' for pitch down the years, but I'm convinced that the real breakthrough for me was learning to play a chord instrument, in my case bouzouki.

 

Suddenly the idea of which chords work with which part of the tune came together in my head, and I started to be able to put (simple) chords to tunes. And blow me down if the same subconscious thought process transferred immediately and wholesale to the flute. I could now very quickly work out the basic structure of a tune in terms of chords, and then half the battle to pick a new tune up was won because the basic shape of the tune was there. I suspect many of those people who can quickly improvise harmonies to tunes they don't previously know are quite often in fact using something like the same technique, and the 'improvised harmony' might actually sometimes be them missing the actual notes of the tune but getting the right chord structure.

 

Steve,

I agree that, to capture a tune, it's best to attack it in a "pincer movement" - from the melody side and the chord-structure side simultaneously.

Chording instruments are easier for jamming than melody instruments, if you think about it: whereas you need eight or a dozen notes for a folk song, you often need only 3 or 4 chords, and the chord changes don't come thick and fast, like the notes do.

 

One of the few times I took part in a session was in England. Half the players had concertinas, all better than mine (and played them better, too!) so I ditched my Anglo and played 5-string banjo for the evening. Towards the end of the session, the friend who had dragged me along expressed his amazement at the fact that I, as an Irishman, knew so many English tunes. I told him that I hadn't known a single one that they had played all evening.

 

The secret was, of course, hearing the chord sequences first, and playing rolls on those chords until the melody became familiar, then picking the melody out of the chords (with suitable inversions where necessary). And where that didn't quite come off - voilà! - neat harmonies, as you say!

 

The "chord structure" approach is particularly useful on the Anglo, especially playing along the rows, because the correct chord forces you into the correct bellows direction, which eliminates half of the "wrong" notes. With the duet, I'm getting to a similar position as with the banjo: getting the correct chord in the right hand narrows down the choice of melody notes, and if you choose the "wrong" one, it's in harmony. With the Crane, the chord patterns are the same left and right, so they only have to be learned once.

 

I find that playing several very different instruments (in my case, Anglo, Crane, banjo and autoharp) creates synergies. I often find that, when I work out an arrangement on one instrument and then port it to another, it goes better on the original instrument when I switch back. I think this swapping gets me out of the rut. Things I work out on the banjo are "banjoistic", things I do on the concertina are "concertinistic", etc. When I try to transfer them, they become more globally "musical".

 

There's probably a good reason why academic musicians have to take at least two instruments at the conservatoire!

 

Cheers,

John

[hjcjones]

Jody is right about the ITM being linear. I used to play guitar and when I started playing Old Time music on the fiddle I could hear the chords without too much effort and then learn the tune based on the simple and obvious changes. But with Irish music the melody is often too elusive to fit into the simple changes of Old Time music and you just have to learn the melody, period.

 

Because Irish tunes are often modal, the chords are different and may give less of a clue. And, as you point out, it is less driven by chord structure and more by melody, so if you are accustomed to thinking of tunes from a chordal perspective you may find it difficult at first.

 

As you've realised, you have to start thinking in terms of melody rather than the underlying chords. However, most Irish tunes have a fairly standard structure and can be broken down into a few phrases, together with a few minor variations on these.

 

A typical structure is:

 

A1

B1

A2

B2

 

C1

B1

C2

B2

 

Here's what I mean: in the first part of the tune, the first 2 bars (A1) will take a particular form, followed by a second phrase (B1). Then A is repeated, sometimes exactly the same or sometimes with a slightly different ending (A2). Then phrase B is repeated, again possibly with a slightly different ending (B2). Then you repeat the whole thing.

 

Then into the second part: A new phrase (C1) is introduced, again followed by B1. Then C is repeated (possibly with a different ending C2) followed by B2. Repeat.

 

What this means is that instead of having to learn 32 bars note by note, you have just 3 main phrases to learn, and possible a few variations. Nearly all tunes go something like this. The same goes for English tunes as well, and probably most tunes from, or derived from, the traditions of the British Isles.

 

Understanding this structure also makes it easier to pick up tunes by ear in sessions.

[buikligger]

quote "What this means is that instead of having to learn 32 bars note by note, you have just 3 main phrases to learn, and possible a few variations. Nearly all tunes go something like this. The same goes for English tunes as well, and probably most tunes from, or derived from, the traditions of the British Isles.

 

Understanding this structure also makes it easier to pick up tunes by ear in sessions." end quote

 

 

I write out my tunes in this way. So i see the parts that are repeated and which parts differ

 

X: 1

T: Blarney Pilgrim, The

M: 6/8

L: 1/8

R: jig

K: Dmix

 

A.

 

|:DED DEG| A2A ABc| BAG AGE| GEA GED|

 

DED DEG| A2A ABc | BAG AGE | GED D3:|

 

B.

 

ded dBG | AGA BGE | ded dBG | AGA GAB|

 

g2e dBG | AGA BGE | B2G AGE| GAG G3:|

 

 

C.

 

A2D B2D | A2D ABc | BAG AGE | GEA GED|

 

ADD BDD| ADD ABc | BAG AGE | GED D3:|

 

 

dirk