Hi
I sent this yesterday but apparently only some people got it (the email
that is), so I'm sending it again, with some additional comments.
*
For any of you who care to help me with my little experiment in
directed listening, here is the description of how I was trying to
emphasize the beat in strain 6 of the clip of All the Night I Lay with
Jockey, the link of which was supplied in my previous email.
In some of the beats containing the Bdgd arpeggio (mainly in the 2nd
and 3rd groups of arpeggios), I play the first note very slightly late
and rush the next 3, leaving a small space at the end of the beat. The
first and 4th groups of arpeggios are done a bit straighter. The first
note is played late in part for accent, in part to keep the section
from rushing, and in part to get the articulation to click with the
grace note played by the backing Scottish smallpipe, played by Laura
MacKenzie. I shouldn't make a big deal about the lateness of the
B. It's slight enough that I had to listen to it several times to make
sure it was really there. The important point is the space at the end
of the beat.
If this sounds like what you heard, please email me back and tell me
you're in group A. If not, please listen again to the clip and see if
you can hear this timing subtlety now, now that you know what to look
for. If you do, please email me back and tell me you're in group B.
If this still sounds like complete gibberish, please email me back and
tell me you're in group C.
So group B is people who heard something in the timing the second time
that they didn't hear the first time, as a result of being told what to
look for. Group A didn't need the explanation to hear the timing, and
the explanation made no difference to what group C heard.
The clip is from the CD Piper's Crow, track 10
I'm not advocating this as an approved interpretation, just using it as
an example of what I'm talking about when I refer to rhythmic
subtleties. They are probably not the same sorts of subtleties that
AR was talking about in his post which started this discussion, but
once you are able to hear this sort of thing, you can do it in many
different contexts.
I also want to clarify that I wouldn't expect ear-learners to relate to
this way of approaching music; for them everything tends to be a bit
more intuitive, so they would think this whole thing to be a bit of a
waste of time. A person with a good ear can copy rhythmic subtleties
without actually thinking about what's going on. I wish I were so
talented!
Thanks!
Dick HensoldSt. Paul, MN
651/646-6581
Traditional Folk Music, Early Music, and Cambodian Music
Northumbrian smallpipes, recorder,
Medieval greatpipes,Swedish sackpipa, beyaw.
[1]www.dickhensold.com
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References
1. http://www.dickhensold.com/
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