Hi Wendy, Nigel, > On Wednesday 06 February 2002 06:06, Nigel Gatherer wrote: > > > > STRATHSPEYS > > Jeffrey Friedman says they dance Strathspeys at 60. I'm not a dancer, > > but musically that seems VERY slow to me [3]. JMM states the limits as > > between 160 and 188. That upper limit seems fast to me, but nothing > > compared to the 202 reached in some Cape Breton recordings [2]. Now to > > Jimmy Shand and his Band; listening to a few Shand Strathspeys gives > > measurements of 130, 133 139, 139, 141 and 142; this seems right to me > > as a musician, but I can't speak for a dancer. Alastair Hardie's count > > of 126-138 seems to concur. > <snip> > > [1] Flowers of Scottish Melody, 1935 > > [2] ...as notated in 'Traditional Celtic Violin Music of Cape Breton' > > Kate Dunlay and David Greenberg > > [3] Jeffrey - are you sure it's not half-note measurements you mean? > > Nigel - Jeff was referring to Scottish Country Dance strathspeys, not Cape
> Breton. For SCD aren't the strathspeys supposed to be counted two to the bar, > rather than four to the bar as in Cape Breton? I *can* tell you that if you > tap your foot for four downbeats the SCD teacher is almost certain to tell > you you're playing it "wrong" because it's not what they need. Ian, Anselm?? Hmm. I can't really speak from a musician's point of view here. As a dancer, the beats are "1, 2, 3, and", which corresponds to step, close, step, pull through. The first and third beats are definitely the key ones in the step, and I can see how counting in minims might help get the emphasis right. RSCDS recommendations for strathspeys (sudden memories returning) are 112-116; [1] I suspect if I was to dance to music played at 126-138 I'd feel like I was running (though 112 and below is probably starting to get laboured and wobbly...depending on the band, of course...) Ian [1] The Manual of Scottish Country Dancing, RSCDS -- 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
