Hi Nigel, et al, > > I'm writing an article about the speed of Scottish tunes using my own > > research based on recordings of dance bands, although I've just noticed > > that I didn't note any Strathspeys. I've always been under the > > impression that a Strathspey would be played slower than a reel, but > > looking at 'The Caledonian Companion', Alastair Hardie gives reels at > > 120-128, "Most reels, however, will benefit from the less breathless > > tempo of 108-116...". He gives the Strathspey tempo as between 126-138, > > considerably faster than the reel. He has marches at 92-100, > > even-rhythmed hornpipes at 104-112, and uneven-rhythmed hornpipes at > > 69-76, which does seem rather slow to me. I'd like to hear your > > opinions. > > I'm under the impression (without doing much research) that strathspeys have > slowed down somewhat over the years. Hugh Thurston, in "Scotland's Dances," > quotes Major Edward Topham, in 1775, writing as follows: > > "Another of the national dances is a kind of quick minuet, or what the > Scotch call a 'Straspae.' We in England are said to walk a minuet: this is > gallopping a minuet. Nothing of the minuet is preserved except the figure; > the step and time most resemble an hornpipe--and I leave you to dwell upon > the picture of a gentleman full-dressed and a lady in a hoop dancing an > hornpipe before a large assembly." > > I think he wouldn't have made this observation if he'd encountered the > strathspey at the tempos we dance it nowadays. > > 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. Writers attributed it mostly to the "graying" > of the SCD population but it may also have to do with the trend toward more > gracefulness in the step. 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?) > > At any rate, regarding current practice, Barbara McOwen (a great fiddler > from San Francisco always in demand for RSCDS functions) writing in 1989 > gave these tempi: > > Reel and jig: 112-120 > Strathspey: 60-66; strathspeys with highland setting may require 66 or > faster, official Highland Fling tempo is 68. > > Suzie Petrov (an excellent pianist from Pennsylvania who plays at a lot of > RSCDS functions) writing in 2001 gives tempi for the RSCDS versions of these > tunes as follows: > > quick time tunes (jigs, reels & hornpipes): 110-112 > Strathspeys: 60 >
Speaking as a Scottish Country Dancer, I would expect quick-time tunes (reels and jigs, i.e. 4/4 & 2/4 played quickly, and 6/8) to take approx 4'30" for 8x32 "bars". Strathspeys would be 8'00" approx for 8x32 "bars" (where a bar is sufficient music to dance a single travelling step - often equivalent to 1 bar of music, but sometimes 2 bars of music = 1 dancer's bar; this seems only to occur with 2/4 tunes in my experience). The way we dance strathspey nowadays, we would be hard put to get the step in at the speed I understand Jimmy Shand used to play (not that I've ever heard any of his recordings myself). So if you want to give modern tempos, you're better working to that speed (which works out at Barbara/Susie's speeds). Of course, if you want historical info, or info for music played for listening, that's a different matter. Alan Paterson's DanceData database includes info on over 5000 dance music tracks, and includes the time taken for many of these tracks. See http://www.scottap.com/dancedata/ for more info and to download. On the terminology side, SCDers do not make many distinctions at all. The average SCDer is hard put to distinguish between a "reel" (simple time) and a jig (6/8) - subtleties such as hornpipes are beyond them. In slow time, it's just "strathspeys", even when they are slow airs or schottisches (though they are always simple time - they can tell a waltz, although it's not part of the standard repertoire). HTH, Ian -- IndigoVision Ltd http://www.indigovision.com/ The Edinburgh Technopole, Bush Loan, Edinburgh, EH26 0PJ Tel: [+44] (0)131 475 7234 Fax: [+44] (0)131 475 7201 Personal: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.scottishdance.net Feed the world: http://www.thehungersite.com/ Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
