This reminds me of playing in one of Tommy McCarthy's sessions in Milltown Malbay a few years back. An elderly fiddle player, sitting next to me, leaned over and asked where i was from. I said I lived near Boston (actually Cape Cod). "Oh!" says he, "I've heard they play play really fast there." "Yes" I replied "too fast, I think." On Dec 18, 2012, at 7:11 AM, Drewstix45 wrote:
> > Interesting thread. > > There are those that are 'purists' and wish to present this piece of music, > or any other as close to its original form as possible, through tunings, > articulation and tempo.The achievement of this dependant only upon the skill, > both as a performer and musician, of the person playing. > Having a definite tempo whilst practising is both helpful and useful in > understanding the melody and mood of the piece of music being played. It also > helps with improving the skill of the instrument played. Having someone brave > enough to suggest a tempo for this piece of music is a great help for those > starting out, or learning this piece as part of a new repertoire. > > However, performing the piece of music live in front of an audience is not > about what tempo, tunings, etc. should be used - that is what rehearsals are > for. Performing music live to the public is about engaging them in what you > want to show. And ultimately this is something universal - the beauty of the > music. Whether it be music to listen to - or music to dance to. And in this > forum there is also showing the beauty of the instrument played as well. > > To what extent you are able to engage your audience is learnt through > experience - being flexible to adapt - the example given of speeding up or > slowing down the tempo of the music is a skill much needed in dance music; > especially if the beer is flowing. You can only do this by knowing the music > you are playing. And this comes from rehearsing and listening to the other > musicians you are playing with. > > On the other hand, there are those that just 'go for it'. Sometimes it works, > sometimes it doesn't. That's live music. > > We can all be intelligent and knowledgeable about this instrument and music > - myself included, but as someone wrote, 'the true sign of intelligence is > not knowledge but imagination. Music evolves, traditional as well - even > changes time signatures and tempo. That is the creative process - imagination > - having and wanting to say something. > > Tempo is a tool to aid in this process > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "hurdygurdy" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy > > The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at > http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. To reduce spam, posts from new > subscribers are held pending approval by the webmaster. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. To reduce spam, posts from new subscribers are held pending approval by the webmaster.
