Would a fiddler play at a different tempo for people doing a Scottish country dance than for a stepdancer? I'm just wondering b/c ever since I started stepdancing I'm a lot more conscious of rhythm and tempo and things like that in music.
--- Toby Rider <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > At 05:57 PM 1/9/03 +0000, you wrote: > >>Isn't that why lists like this exist? > > > > Aye, well...sorry. I'm mentally transferring > problems I had with another > > list onto this one. Thankfully, we're pretty > focused on helping each > > other here! > > Yes, we're really special on this list. Most > people actually get along > and can agree to disagree. :-) Mostly because it's > the same 25 people or > so who have been doing most of the posting for years > now (although the > subscriber base for this list is actually quite > large now, and keeps > slowly growing). There are in general few catfights > on this list, and > more information exchange. We generally leave those > catfights to some of > the other traditional music lists :-) Heh.. Heh.. > > > > > > How much variation in tempo would you think is > acceptable for a reel > > played for listening? How slow can one take it > before people start > > throwing things at you? Before Fiddlers start > throwing things? > > I've found that you can get away with alot more > playing tunes for an > audience. It allows you to be alot more creative. I > like that. Creative > is good, robotic is bad.. > Playing for dancers is cool in some ways (gives you > alot of practice > playing the same tunes, over and over and over) but > it can also be a > tramautic experience. It seems there's always some > fat, bloated, > listerbag, non-musician, in a kilt (you know the > type, they look like > tartan sofas) that wants to come up after every set > and micromanage the > music. Faster.. Slower.. The first part faster.. The > second part slower.. > Blah.. Blah.. Blah.. That's just part of the reason > that I got so pissed > off that I stopped playing the fiddle for an entire > year. > Now I'm back and I've adopted a much healthier > attitude. I basically > don't give a damned. I'm not playing music for a > living, I have a good > day job. I'm playing music because I love it, but > heck music isn't even > my only passion. Therefore I'm going to play > whatever I want, however I > want, and the only opinions that matter to me are > those of people who > actually know about the music and have a clue. > If Charlie Gore or Nigel Gatherer says something, I > listen carefully. If > some bloated walking tartan sofa says something, I > smile politely all the > while thinking "What a freakin' tosser! I wonder how > loud the thud would > be if the floor opened up and he fell through to the > bottom?" > Okay, with that said, back to the question :-) Alot > of people take > creative license with tempo on tunes. For some > reason the first one that > comes to mind is that tune I think it's called "the > Waulkin' of the > Fould". I heard someone (maybe it was Johnny > Cunningham) play it as a > slow air. I've also heard it play very even and > strathspey-ish by some > old dude from Cape Breton (which one? I can't > remember, maybe Fr. > Morris?) Either way it's a pretty sweet tune. > > > > -- > Toby Rider ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > > "He either fears his fate too much, > Or his deserts are small, > That puts it not unto the touch > To win or lose it all." > > - James Graham, Marquis of Montrose > > > Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & > Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your > browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html ===== __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
