Hello Barry
Nothing more to be said.
I'll bow to your superior knowledge and ability and leave the site
forthwith.
Anthony
--- On Tue, 14/4/09, Barry Say <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Barry Say <[email protected]>
Subject: [NSP] Re: Billy Pigg
To: [email protected], "what.me" <[email protected]>
Date: Tuesday, 14 April, 2009, 10:22 PM
Hi All,
On 14 Apr 2009 at 12:43, Anthony Robb wrote:
>
> Hello Adrian
> Thanks for that. I'm new to this debate and find it all
fascinating.
You have obviously been out of touch with the latest developments in
piping for
several years. We all knew of Chris Ormston's preference for the Clough
style
and repertoire, but Adrian's conversion seemed remarkable and was part
of what
caused me to re-examine my own playing
> I'm obviously one of the damned because I find choyting expressive
and
> beautiful in the right place.
What we each find appropriate in Northumbrian piping depends on our
experience.
If we associate with those who prefer open gracing and indulge in it
ourselves
it can become 'normal' and even 'habitual'. Having been on this
particular path
to perdition, it took me a great deal of effort to eradicate these
intrusions
and now I find them just that, intrusions into the music.
Chris Ormston explained why open gracing from a hgher note is
intrusive.Let us
consider open gracing a top g with the a above it. This is what Adrian
calls a
seagull. At some point the a and g holes are both open and this will
generally
make the a some that louder than it would have been if only the key
hole were
open. This makes the grace note louder than the melody note.
The thought of "moving on" from Billy
> Pigg to Tom Clough is as strange to me as "moving on" from York to
> Durham. They are both wonderful beautiful places and neither can
really
> claim superiority. I can understand moving from one to the other
but
> not "moving on" from one to the other.
I think this calls for the Harley Davison motto -' If I have to
explain, you
wouldn't understand' Billy was taught by Tom and retained many aspects
of the
style, but also introduced some 'novelty' aspects. These may have
seemed OK at
the time but after a while they wear a bit thin. It would seem that
many of
those who sought to emulate Billy's style paid more attention to the
ephemeral
aspects rather than the the solid technique which underlay it. I doubt
that
anyone haaas come closer to emulating Billy's playing than Adrian, and
if this
lead him back to Clough, then I think the rest of us should take
notice.
> The important thing to bear in mind is that ordinary folk like me
just
> know what we like.
Is this the attitude a teacher should have? Should you not be
challenging the
pupils and yourself?
> That can be nice bouncy dance tunes tunes played "out of
context??!!"
> for sheer enjoyment in each other's homes or other ways of getting
some
> some personal expression that goes beyond the rules laid down by
one of
> the most unique and talented dynasties to stand outside the
everyday
> tradition of this music.
It is a pity if the Clough approach is presented as rules. I see it
rather as
discipline freely chosen. As far as I am concerned, adopting that
discipline
gave me more control over the instrument, allowed faster playing and a
greater
degree of rhythmic expression.
> I feel priveleged to have had the music experiences I've had. I
was
> taught by ear by someone who thought Tom Clough was king and who
was
> himself taught by ear by someone who was taught by Tom Clough. The
> interesting thing is, they both had an openess of mind that
allowed for
> deviation from the received teaching. The question is, do we move
on
> from here or go back to a strict obeyance of rules that only
> the extremely gifted can live by?
That is not the question at all. The Clough approach is a very simple
method of
palying the pipes which allows anyone to play very well. Luckily there
are
quite a few players around who have a nice clean style and play
delightful
rhythmic music without the intrusions of unnecessary grace notes or
other
embellishments. That is the playing company I seek.
Barry
-------------------------
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