Tom Hanway - Posted - 04/30/2007: 04:44:24
quote:
Originally posted by mikeyes
It is not a matter of how fast you can play but how good your tone is. Gerry O'Connor can play at blinding speeds with good tone, but that is a matter of talent and a lot (at least 10,000 hours) of training and practice.
Besides, if you play at session speeds, you tend to lose all the good stuff such as ornamentation and taste. Check out the archives in www.banjosessions.com for an article on playing the Irish tenor banjo at speed.
You probably need more practice, God knows I do.
Mike Keyes
http://www.banjosessions.com
http://www.mikekeyes.com
Mike is spot-on. Practicing is a discipline and this music cannot be faked, and it should not be rushed (at any level).
Taste, tone, timing, tempo and *phrasing* are all key. My perspective is probably unique (in some ways) to this thread since I play Irish and Celtic tunes on the five-string -- my instrument of choice. Concerns like speed (tempo), swing (or groove) and ornamentation (left and right-hand) apply, just as they would apply to any instrument.
Gerry O'Connor has inspired and still inspires a lot of banjo players (me included), and judges at the Fleadh Cheoil (in Ireland) still see his influence at every level. However, there is a danger in copying him too closely at competitions here in Ireland, at the county, province and national levels (more on this below).
Many session players (regardless of instrument) may start off the first few notes of a tune more slowly, then quickly pick up and lock in on a tempo, usually within the first bar, and this is a matter of style. I think it is fairly common for starting tunes at sessions, a gentle way to get into the first tune. Speeding up in the middle of a tune is a different issue entirely. It's been my experience in various situations that how fast a tune is played may depend on whether it's for dancers, at a session, or, simply how warmed up people are -- what "gear" the session is in. Playing jigs and reels at dirge-like tempos is usually the mark of beginner sessions, but we’ve all been there, and each new tune has its own learning curve.
It's been my experience (playing at sessions in New York, Ireland, Scotland, Shetland, Wales, parts of England and Australia) that the three general types of ornamentation used in Irish and Celtic music -- (1)
melismatic (e.g., turns, "short" and "long rolls" on the fiddle, cranning on the pipes, grace notes), (2)
intervallic (note substitution - generally a higher note), and (3)
rhythmic (e.g., triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets or long rolls again) -- are combined in various ways so as to be inseparable, though they can be analyzed and broken down, and practiced as exercises. Players everywhere are creative with ornamentation, and it’s not written in stone.
It's generally easier (at least for me) to ornament tunes at slower tempos, and some tunes really lend themselves to personal variation (ornamentation). Any melody can be slowed down and played as an air, and ornamented endlessly. Slower hornpipes lend themselves to elaborate or flowery ornamentation that might clutter up a reel played at a faster tempo.
Some reels of today were yesterday's hornpipes -- "The Scholar" immediately comes to mind. It's easy to turn some hornpipes into reels, simply by speeding them up; likewise, it's fun to take certain reels (not all), even "bluegrass breakdowns" -- e.g., "Soldier's Joy" (a very old tune), "Blackberry Blossom", slow them down, add more bounce and effectively turn them into hornpipes. Eileen Ivers and John Whelan (box player) did this effectively with “Blackberry Blossom” --
Fresh Takes, Green Linnet. They also play "The Scholar" at a brisk tempo, still with lively ornamentation.
For those wondering how it might be possible to play Irish ornamentation on the five-string, I tend to ornament reels, relying more on triplets -- it works for Gerry O’Connor -- played with TIM forward rolls on one string; this is different from how I generally tackle hornpipes, where I tend to play across strings using no set roll patterns, still playing triplets but not necessarily relying on the forward roll pattern. Gerry also does some very exciting cross-picking which is a cinch for five-string fingerstyle players, who are familiar with forward and backward roll patterns across three (or more) strings.
I learned how to play tune variations, originally, by trying to keep up with the fiddle and from emulating techniques from other instruments, including but not limited to the tenor banjo. I learned from Sligo-style and Scottish fiddlers who loved to play hornpipes, people like Tony DeMarco, Johnny Cunningham (deceased), Eileen Ivers, Brian Conway, Andy McGann (deceased), Paddy Reynolds (deceased) -- all NYC session players -- who loved playing hornpipes involving lots of ornamentation. I just worked up a version of "The Plains of Boyle" – similar to James Morrison's recording. I love the C natural in measure 4 of the first part. He also plays an interesting variation in the third measure of the second part, different from generic abc settings found today.
For this tune and others, I have a few different ways of playing and varying it, from the bare bones to more ornamented settings, but I try not to stick to rigid settings, which kills playing in the moment.
All tunes can be played more sparingly or with more ornamentation, depending on context and style. Not all Celtic reels and hornpipes come from Ireland, though many top Irish players are quick to add non-Irish Celtic tunes to their session repertoire. The Scottish and Shetland traditions have some mighty tunes, some of which have found their way into Irish circles, particularly among fiddlers.
For Irish tunes, I like to start off sparingly and add variations as I go, sometimes borrowing ideas from the old fiddling masters, but not copying them per se. I learned a lot about ornamentation by listening to Sligo-style players.
Tony DeMarco and
Miles Krassen’s A Trip to Sligo: a Comprehensive Guide to the Art of Fiddling Sligo style, has been immensely helpful to me. It’s hard to find, currently out of print, but Tony’s working on it again and, btw, has a new CD coming out, on the
Smithsonian label no less! Tony has the longest-running Irish session in NYC, at Paddy Reilly's Music Bar (corner of 29th St. and 2nd Ave.).
The five-string has a few tricks of its own. I try to play that instrument and deal with it on its own terms. It's still new territory for five-string players, which makes it even more exciting (and challenging). There’s no point in trying to make it sound like a tenor banjo, and that is quite impossible anyway, though the temptation is great to play triplets in tenor-banjo fashion ... and why not? The five-string can also take tips from the fiddle, whistle, pipes, accordion and harp (including the Welsh Triple Harp) -- believe it or not!
Triplets are just one option and can be overused too. Judges at the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil here in Ireland maybe don't want to hear tenor banjoists playing endless-cascading triplets like a Gerry O'Connor --
it's been done (ever since Gerry himself won the seniors division). They probably do want to hear a tune played note-for-note, with personal variations -- so a 19-year-old champion tenor banjoist ("Pat") told me just last Saturday night -- who is gearing up for this year's All-Ireland seniors division, representing Munster on the tenor and mandolin. Pat plans to leave out a lot of the triplets, he told me, and add his own variations. He is already developing a
personal style. Gerry O'Connor is still his biggest inspiration, but he doesn't want to sound like an O'Connor, and he thinks he stands a better chance of winning if he doesn't sound too much like Gerry. It's serious pressure. All will be revealed.
Lastly, too much Sligo-style ornamentation can ruin the regional and/or original character of tunes, and this happened with one famous version of O'Neill's, where Sligo-style fiddle ornaments were inserted ubiquitously, practically as an academic exercise -- after the fact, compromising some otherwise faithful tune settings.
It's always a good idea to go back to the bare bones, even to transcribe tunes this way, also to go back to early recordings, also to listen to contemporary players and tune settings, and add one's personal touches and influences. It's a living tradition, where eveybody has a piece of it, and nobody has it all. Sorry for the length. Good strong coffee is a fine drink. =]
Cheers,
Tom
http://www.tomhanway.com/
Edited by - Tom Hanway on 04/30/2007 05:06:46
Tom Hanway - Posted - 05/03/2007: 21:56:12
quote:
Originally posted by imac50
If I can add a little to this....
I find that nowadays I am more inclined to add some ornamentation than I used to. When I first got into playing Celtic music, I had enough trouble just learning and playing the tunes so I left out anything that got in the way! Recently the band I'm in changed fiddlers and we are both in the position of learnig each others tunes. This time around I find I'm adding more of the triplets that she uses than I would have in the past. (Heaven knows what I've done to her fidding!) I thought I had got one set of reels off - until we played them on Saturday night. I reverted to playing the bare bones. These young fiddle players certainly can play! More practice required on my part. Still she hasn't mastered Whiskey Before Breakfast at my speed yet......... Essentially I'm saying adapt to the surroundings. Play the bare bones of the tune when you have to and add on the extras when you can. There is no right or wrong (for me anyway).
Iain
www.iainmaclachlan.com
Well said, Iain. You play for traditional dancers so you are very mindful of keeping to the bare bones when it is necessary and not confusing them (or your fingers). Ornamentation has to be felt, just as music has to be felt, and the context is important. For some tunes, the ornamentation
is the tune. Sometimes adding too much ornamentation -- e.g., triplets upon triplets -- can really overcomplicate a tune. Sometimes, especially when playing for dancers, for example a hornpipe setdance (40 bars), triplets fit precisely with the dancers' choreography.
Using garrish ornamentation to show off is noticed by seasoned, modest players, who probably know better. Knowing the types of ornamentation is tantamount to having a broader musical vocabulary. There's nothing wrong with having the knowledge and applying it wisely and tastefully.
Banjo players can get carried away with triplets, especially when the melody becomes incidental to the technique. I'm also wary of over-harmonizing tunes (back-up), using lots of jazz chords and chord substitutions, which might wind up making the music serve the changes. That's not how Irish traditional tunes are composed, and they don't necessarily need back-up, though there are strong, recognizable backing traditions, depending on context. Of course, hybrid or crossover styles are fun and may be musically challenging and sophisticated, though they may not sound like traditional music anymore.
Like Iain, whom I know as a player, I am an eclectic, not a purist, but I do like keeping traditional tunes down to earth and recognizable. For wilder stuff, I prefer it when folks compose their own tunes and leave the standards intact. Anybody can ruin -- by excessive ornamentation or note-changing -- an otherwise lovely and recognizable melody. We do it in bluegrass all the time (joke).
Seriously, try to get two bluegrass pickers to play a note-for-note version of a standard fiddle tune -- any tune. It's all over the place, and making it right requires going through the tune one note at a time. Everybody has their own versions of standards, and these vary from instrument to instrument. Monroe's "Jerusalem Ridge" (now played at Irish sessions as a slow reel) has completely different melodies on the mandolin (Bill Monroe) and fiddle (based on Kenny Baker).
Irish reels generally have at least one standard setting, sometimes more, sometimes there are regional and local settings in circulation, or we hear of well-known recordings that players refer back to and copy (note for note). Some tunes have branched out considerably: How does anyone play "Mason's Apron" (and how many parts)? It's common enough, but there are so many variations out there on the fiddle and the banjo these days. I know some banjo players here in the midlands of Ireland who simply refuse to play it at sessions. Others revel in it, especially contest players. No accounting for taste or direction. Still, these melodies can be agreed upon (more or less).
To be sure, ornamentation can make a tune, or it can detract from it, but it will not go away so long as players add their own
personal variations to tunes. That's where the real fun is. Simply parroting another's playing can become tedious and uniquely uncreative.
Cheers,
Tom
http://www.tomhanway.com/
Edited by - Tom Hanway on 05/03/2007 22:37:18
