[scots-l] Re: scots-l-digest V1 #456
Although published by Hardie Press (1997), it is distributed in the U.S. by Mel Bay. My copy is apparently the replica of the original version but with a Mel Bay logo on the lower lefthand corner of the cover. It's $15.95. I enjoy playing tunes from the book from time to time--some are well known but most are not (at least to me, but I am much more familiar with Cape Breton than Scottish music)--they have that early Scottish sound. Some may be more of historical interest (e.g., Nigel's observation that one is possibly the forebear of The Hills of Glenorchy). I am adding a few tunes to my repertoire. For example, I play 3 consecutive tunes together: Miss Isobel Clark's Favorite, Miss J. Roses's Reel, and Miss Jane Douglas's Favorite (pp. 20-21). The first is from John Clark, the last two from Robert Mackintosh. The last jig sounds familiar but I think it had another name. I may have heard the first one, too. It's nice to have a bunch of Scottish jigs in one place, though. Mike McGeary - Original Message - Date: Thu, 09 Jan 2003 08:50:02 + (GMT) From: Nigel Gatherer [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [scots-l] Re: A Fiddler's Book of Scottish Jigs Toby Rider wrote: I was digging through Ashley MacIssac's website and found a link to this book that was compiled by Charles Gore... One of the first tunes in the book is possibly the first instance of the tune known as The Hills of Glenorchy. Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [scots-l] A Fiddler's Book of Scottish Jigs
At 05:57 PM 1/9/03 +, 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! Thanks for the great answer on reels, John. Not at all what I expected. While we're talking about reels, and since there are a good smattering of fiddlers here, I will hazard another question: how fast are they usually played for dancers? One organization here in the States advertises the actual tempo of reels at 130-140 per half note/minim. Ignoring the fact that these settings are not on the standard metronome, is that lightening fast or what? Can our fiddlers really play reels that fast? Can people dance that fast?? 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? --Cynthia Cathcart http://www.cynthiacathcart.net/ Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [scots-l] A Fiddler's Book of Scottish Jigs
At 05:57 PM 1/9/03 +, 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
Re: [scots-l] A Fiddler's Book of Scottish Jigs
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 +, 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
Re: [scots-l] A Fiddler's Book of Scottish Jigs
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. Yes. The reels for step-dancing are a bit fast then for SCD. The biggest difference is in the strathspeys. For SCD they are *totally* different then for step-dancing, where to beat gets emphasized is different. The tempo is different, etc.. -- 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
[scots-l] reel speed
While we're talking about reels, and since there are a good smattering of fiddlers here, I will hazard another question: how fast are they usually played for dancers? One organization here in the States advertises the actual tempo of reels at 130-140 per half note/minim. Ignoring the fact that these settings are not on the standard metronome, is that lightening fast or what? Can our fiddlers really play reels that fast? Can people dance that fast?? IMHO that is too fast for reels (at least Scottish/Cape Breton reels). If dancers want reels that fast, play polkas! 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? If you like one slow, just label it slow reel and that way it will be okay! - Kate D. -- http://www.DunGreenMusic.com Halifax, Nova Scotia Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
[scots-l] Lancers, Quadrilles
However someone mentioned that the square sets are not an import from the Scottish Highlands, like the step dancing is. Rather the square sets were imported from either the States, England or other parts of Canada, and jigs fit the right meter for the dance. Supposedly they evolved from the Lancer's dance sets? We need help on the details from Kate Dunlay Yes, you're remembering correctly. It's a similar situation in Ireland, where quadrilles went native. It's fairly easy to look up directions for the Lancers and relate them to the Inverness set. One might be able to trace the others. I just had out of the library: Lovett, Benjamin B;Lovett, Benjamin B., Mrs; Good morning; after a sleep of twenty-five years old-fashioned dancing is being revived by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford Dearborn, Mich. : The Dearborn Publishing Company, 1926. There are 16 Quadrilles in there, plus the Lancers and a lot of other dances. Here's another fun place to look: Music Division, Library of Congress An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals Ca. 1490-1920. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/dihtml/dihome.html . I think Peacock (Scottish) is there and a few of the manuals have the strathspey and reel. - Kate D. -- http://www.DunGreenMusic.com Halifax, Nova Scotia Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [scots-l] A Fiddler's Book of Scottish Jigs
Cynthia Cathcart wrote: While we're talking about reels, and since there are a good smattering of fiddlers here, I will hazard another question: how fast are they usually played for dancers? One organization here in the States advertises the actual tempo of reels at 130-140 per half note/minim. Ignoring the fact that these settings are not on the standard metronome, is that lightening fast or what? Can our fiddlers really play reels that fast? Can people dance that fast?? 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? --Cynthia Cathcart Well, in the preface to Skinner's _Harp and Claymore_, the editor, Gavin Greig, M.A., wrote regarding Strathspeys and reels, The tempo of the former is 1/2 note = 94 and the latter 1/2 note = 126. This represents 20 seconds for the Strathspey, and 15 for the Reel. These are the rates given by Mr. Skinner, and coincide with those given by G.F Graham. Mr. John Glenn makes the Strathspey somewhat slower. For listening? My wife was practicing some Mozart at a tempo 1/2 note = 152, which is really fast. I was listening to a field recording of an American Celtic fiddler (on headphones in the next room), and his tempo exactly matched her metronome. It sounded very fast, but not really hurried or rushed. Bob Rogers South Carolina Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [scots-l] A Fiddler's Book of Scottish Jigs
Cynthia Cathcart wrote: While we're talking about reels, and since there are a good smattering of fiddlers here, I will hazard another question: how fast are they usually played for dancers? One organization here in the States advertises the actual tempo of reels at 130-140 per half note/minim. Ignoring the fact that these settings are not on the standard metronome, is that lightening fast or what? Can our fiddlers really play reels that fast? Can people dance that fast?? Official RSCDS tempo is 110-112, although I find in practice it can vary somewhat depending on the figures in the dance and the skill and stamina of the dancers! -Steve -- Steve Wyrick -- Concord, California Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
