Steve Wyrick wrote: > ...I remember a discussion on the STRATHSPEY mailing list in the last > couple years to the effect that even within recent memory the tempo > of the Strathspey has slowed down....Some people said they recalled > that in the mid-1900s the strathspey tempo was more like what we now > do "Glasgow Highlanders" at, ie around 60-66 BPM. (regarding > Hardie's tempo for the Strathspey it seems to be double what I'm used > to. Do you think he's counting differently?)
Mmm. This is where I get all mixed up. Let's see. (Whips out a metronome)... (For x/4 tunes, one click of the metronome equals a crotchet, or one quarter note. Perhaps you're counting it as a minim or half-note?) At 66, a Strathspey sounds to me like a slow Strathspey (or solo Strathspey as Skinner would call it. At 126 it sounds faster but not blistering. Looking at 'Traditional Celtic Violin Music of Cape Breton', there are many speeds given there for Strathspeys from 118 up to 202 and beyond. > I hope this is useful. Yes, Steve, very useful, but my head is spinning and I'm lost! I think the message is that it depends and there's no real answer. I was hoping that someone with definite opinions would come and say "This is it and no other thing is right." I suppose I could do worse and set the metronome on some Jimmy Shand recordings, since he was very particular about tempi. Thanks Steve, and Kate Dunlay for assisting me. -- Nigel Gatherer, Crieff, Scotland [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/gatherer/ Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
