If you are looking for books of tunes then
any of the O'Neill books are a good start. However there is no substitute
for listening . There are many ways to play a traditional tune, especially
in the Irish style. Scottish style is more formalised due to the influence
of competitions and classical music. Cape Breton style is closer to Scottish
than Irish and the ornaments as used in Irish style are not used . Cape
Breton fiddlers use vibrato which is avoided in Irish traditional music.
Some of the ornaments (especially for Uilleann pipes) cannot be written
down using conventional notation. The notes of an 'Irish Roll' are the
same as the 'Turn' in classical music. The effect of the roll however
is different, and sounds nothing like a turn. These ornaments can be
difficult to learn, but are essential to the sound and must be mastered.
The main ornaments are the ROLLS (various types) and the CRAN (piping)
as well as many GRACENOTE types. The effect of these is sometimes the
sound of notes being percussed by the previous note, which demands great
accuracy to achieve the effect. As stated above, these ornaments cannot
be musically notated using classical notation and must be learned from
other players. So what you see written is often only a rough guide as
to how it actually sounds and sometimes no guide at all! At first reading,the
tunes look simple enough, but acquiring the skill to execute them in
the traditional style is not so simple. You can replace a roll or cran
in several ways. For example an A roll can be replaced with the three
quaver notes A,B,A or A,A,A or whatever sounds good. Traditional Irish
music was handed down orally for centuries and the attempt to collect
and notate them is a fairly recent occurance(18th century). The Slow
Airs generally are not in any strict time , that being up to the performer's
discretion or mood at the time! |
