Thought I'd put in my 2 cents. Strathspeys, as danced by RSCDS dancers, are done with two beats to the measure, thus 60 is about correct, although a little bit slow in my experience (I would usually figure about 62 for a strthspey.) Reels and jigs are danced, again, as two beats per measure, but nearly twice as fast, so 112-118 would be about right. However, highland strathspeys and Cape Breton strathspeys are usually 4 beats per measure, and are thus twice as fast or faster. In Cape Breton stepdancing, dancers often start up with a strathspey and go into the reel. The beat for the reel is usually slower than the beat for the strathspey at the time of transition.
Of course, what I've indicated is true regardless of how the tune is notated. It's the beat per measure that counts. John, who plays for dancers from time to time. Nigel Gatherer wrote: >OK, time to get serious. Thanks to everyone who has commented on this >subject. I'm now reading J Murdoch Henderson (JMM) [1] on the subject >(which is just a little more than my brain can handle!), and I'm trying >to get it down. > >All the below assumes a metronome beat equals a crotchet or quarter >note unless otherwise specified. > >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. > >REELS (half-note measurements in brackets) >The mistake I made when I raised this was not stating/realising that >the reels in question would be notated in 2/4, so if we assume all >reels to be in 4/4, Hardie's figures become 216-232 (108-116), and >JMM's recommendation is 240-252 (120-126). Now you can see why they use >minims or half-notes - my metronome doesn't go higher than 250. Playing >"The Barrowburn Reel" at 240 (120) seems fine - I think I might take it >a touch slower, but I tend to favour playing slower rather than faster. >Shand plays reels around 250, while Cape Breton reels are between >192-250 (96-125) [2], which concurs with the other figures.. > >Anyway, the upshot is that it's all clear to me now. I can put together >a table of lower and upper limits which will relate to dance speeds. >Thanks again to everyone for helping. > >[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? > Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
