Bert Van Vreckem wrote: > Bernard Hill wrote: >> In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Bert Van Vreckem >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >>> Bernard Hill wrote: >>> >>>> 2. What's a "roll" (+roll+ in the decorations)? I've checked 6 music >>>> dictionaries and books on notation and the only rolls mentioned are for >>>> timpani or other percussion and notated as either "tr" or a tremolo. >>> >>> It is used at least in Irish music as a general ornamentation mark. I've >>> come across the notation a.o. in "Traditional Irish Music: Karen Tweed's >>> Irish Choice," Dave Mallinson Publications, 1994. >> >> Thanks. But what does it mean? What would say an autoharp make of it, >> say perhaps to make it a tremolo. > > It means "play any ornamentation here". The exact meaning is unspecified.
True, more or less -- but then you could say in Irish music that *all* ornamentation is optional and could be played any way you like -- I know some Irish musicians who rarely if ever play the same tune the same way twice. But at least semi-officially, a "roll" in the Irish and Scottish tradition is one of several mechanisms used by fiddle, flute, tinwhistle, and pipes players to handle repeated identical notes without requiring a break in the sound. Fiddle players use it to do the notes in one long bow stroke, flute and tin whistle players use it for playing them in one breath without tonguing, and pipers (bag- & uilean) use it because they need *something* to interrupt the repeated notes -- you don't stop a pipe from making noise easily. And other instrument players don't need it for any reason, but it sounds good. <grin> (I use rolls frequently when playing Irish music on my Hammered Dulcimer, for example...) The roll basically inserts higher and lower notes in-between the identical notes. What it works out to is this: Say a tune has a point somewhere that has three A notes in a row. You might write this down as a single 3 beat A note with a roll ornament. When you play it, you will actually play 5 slightly shorter notes in the same timeframe, most frequently ABAGA, but I've seen people play it AGABA or even some other combination -- it's a very loose convention. And there can be longer rolls, but the basic concept is you are rolling up and down around the specified note. That all said, I don't think I've ever actually *seen* any Irish music with a roll ornament actually placed (didn't even know there was a symbol for it until I read this thread...) -- as I said before, Irish players prefer to ornament as they see fit, so the idea of actually writing an ornament on the music seems like you're telling them they can't do that... Of course, most of my written Irish music is tin whistle oriented -- maybe that symbol is used more in fiddle or pipe music. -->Steve Bennett To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
