There are various form of Celtic music that we see on this site. Does any of our more experienced members have any guidance on where new fiddlers should concentrate there efforts to progress. What are the easier tunes to learn on" ie.; jigs, reels, hornpipes etc. I try to diversify but do find some of these categories too boring or just too difficult to make much effort to learn at my stage of playing a fiddle.
Not too boring I hope - you’re telling us that our favourite tunes are boring??! That aside, there used to be, maybe still is, available a really nice book called How To Play Folk Fiddle by a chap called Geoff Bowen. It comes/came with a cassette of all the tunes therein (which may have to be purchased separately) and he starts simple and helps you to build techniques until you’re playing some real good stuff by the end of the book. He uses real tunes all the way through as well. No boring tunes or categories to put you off making an effort.
Try clicking the “Tunebook” tab at
https://thesession.org/members/ for some popular tunes. Find one that’s not too hard for you, and The Adventure Begins.
Remember, you have to be logged on to get the midi file. And be sure to listen to a good live or studio recording of the tune--or have a teacher play it for you--that’s really the only way to get it right.
It depends on what you like the best, and you’ll only know that by listening. Lots of suggestions here for what to listen to. “Celtic” is a broad term as well, and you can focus on Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, etc. Also lots of discussions on that. Finally, there is the question of whether you want to play any old tunes that you like, or tunes in sessions with other people (see
https://thesession.org/discussions/13056
for a start)
Hate to correct you Bill, but the music here is IRISH and not to be confused with Cornish, Breton, Welsh, Galician,…….. [our fellow and well respected Celts]
There is certainly more than a smattering of scottish influence on our music so I will allow them a look in 🙂
If you find the music boring or cant be arsed learning then maybe you should look to another form.
Most sessions around here will have a lot of jigs and reels but there is also a fair number of polkas, barn dances, mazurkas, waltzes, hornpipes, planxties, slow airs, single jigs, slip jigs, slides, highlands, schotisches, set dances, military two steps, ……. And you find that range of rhythmic choice boring? Bloody amazing!!
I’m afraid that if you don’t know what you want to learn, there’s little hope for you
Generally, folks start with waltzes and airs (the airs to songs work well for beginners). They then work their way up to simple jigs and polkas, then hornpipes, and then reels. Don’t be afraid to play more slowly than you might hear on a record or at a session. Better to learn the tunes right and slowly, than fast but sloppy. And this music was meant to be enjoyed, so don’t lose sight of that and turn it into work!
Oh, and start by not taking too seriously the snarky comments you often get on this site. 😉
And I forgot to mention “Dow’s List.” If you search the discussions, you will find he put together a handy list of the 50-60 tunes that most people expect their fellow session players to know--a good list of tunes to start with.
Again, llig pipes in with a rather brusk comment (that still has a ring of truth to it).
A lot of it depends on why you’re interested in playing the music. If you’re wanting to play it because you love it, then learn to play tunes that you love. If you don’t love the music, then there’s little hope for you.
If it is Irish music that you want to learn to play, it’s probably a good idea to call it Irish, not ‘celtic’. (Same with Scottish) If you’re interested in playing all different ‘celtic’ styles, then you have a long road ahead of you, not only learning what makes the styles different, but also learning how to play the different styles in a way that stays traditional.
In answer to what I think you were asking, I would say that a lot of players latch onto playing jigs early, because they’re generally simpler tunes (fewer notes, for one thing). Although, you may find after you’ve been playing them for a while that they’re more difficult to play WELL than reels. (At least on plectrum instruments - I can’t speak from experience for fiddle).
You may want to start out with jigs and reels, because they’re more prevalent. Ultimately, you’ll probably want to have some slip jigs, hornpipes, polkas, waltzes, and whatever else under your belt as well, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that when you’re first starting.
Pete
I teach Irish fiddle. Over the years, most students have done well with the following tunes in the beginning:
Lilting Banshee (jig)
Seamus Cooley’s (jig)
After the Battle of Aughrim (march in 4/4)
Jimmy Ward’s Favorite (jig)
Mountain Road (reel)
Wind that Shakes the Barley (reel)
Hare’s Paw (reel)
Inisheer aka Inis Oir (air in 3/4)
From earlier postings, Bill’s not a fresh teenager preparing to join a pub session, and has different goals. The “boring” comment was a bit of a red rag to a bunch of bulls, however…
I know wich tunes I found easiest to pick up on the mandolin and banjo, but the same may not be true for the fiddle. However, here goes for a start:
The Road to Lisdoonvarna (single jig)
The lilting Banshee (jig)
The Dunmore Lasses (reel)
Also, go to the Comhaltas site here:
http://comhaltas.ie/shop/detail/foinn_seisiun_cd_volume_1/
and here:
http://comhaltas.ie/shop/detail/foinn_seisiun_cd_volume_2/
and listen to the tunes. Look up the ones that catch your fancy in the Tunes section here (or order the Comhaltas books.)
Have fun!
I think jigs are possibly easier than reels to start with as there are usually 6 notes per bar (sometimes fewer) rather than 8.
I haven’t been playing long and so far have a repertoire of 8 jigs, 5 reels, 3 hornpipes, 2 schottisches and a polka.
My instrument is guitar, usually tuned to DADGAD, but I’m not sure if the instrument has any bearing on which types of tunes are easier.
I don’t think that jigs are easier for that reason and I doubt whether I’ll attract much disagreement there. This thread is full of well-intentioned crap. Help me Michael.
The Celts lived as far east as Turkey. That’s why I ****** hate that term ( sigh ).
There were never any “Celts” anyway. There’s the irony. I must look “irony” up in the dictionary sometime.
I just have no truck with the “what is easier” thing. It all depends on your your familiarity with it all. Sow airs, for example seem the most straightforward place to start. But we know there has to be much much study to even get a glimpse of the beginnings of the genre. Jigs? Reels? I remember 20 years ago polkas were a doddle, but needle your way into them? Backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards. Love them, learn, love them all and learn.
Do hogs produce more ham when listening to sow airs?
I’ve heard so many people making pig’s ears of sow airs, Michael. 😉 Cheers anyway for yer blast of sanity in an otherwise insane thread. 🙁
You beat me to it there, Laitch! 😀
Well, Steve, some of us just ignored the downside about Bill being “bored” by the music and offered a few tunes to start on. (In my case, based on 20 years of teaching Irish fiddle.) Hardly crap.
Some tunes are easier on fiddle than on other instruments. I listed a few of those. What type of tune (jig, reel, air, etc.) they are doesn’t matter so much--it’s more about relative ease of string crossings and left-hand fingering. And straightforward, repetitive melodies that are easily remembered.
If you want to learn because you love the music, none of this matters. One of the first tunes I learned on fiddle was Delahanty’s (aka Wicklow) Hornpipe. With all the rolls and triplets in place. Hardly a “beginner’s” tune. So what. It’s still one of my favorite hornpipes. Bill’s attitude could use a bar of good chocolate as a pick-me-up, but so what?
Have you seen the book I suggested? I’m not a fiddle player but this book got rave reviews at the time of its publication and it’s a very useful book for more than just fiddlers. Its approach is intelligent and structured and it uses grand tunes and has a superb accompanying recording. We can’t all have inspirational teachers on our doorsteps (just look at my location on the rev’s map for example. Where are you, BTW?). There is a lot of very aimless advice in this thread, and aimless advice is worse than no advice.
In addition to jigs being 25% easier to learn than reels or hornpipes, they also sound better played slow. Slow reels sound boring.
However it would also be boring if you only ever played jigs.
Define “25% easier.” And I’ve heard some really excellent slow reel-playing.
Perhaps, I may have started some animosity re my boring comment, however I was not implying that all this music is boring. It is just that there are some tunes in all categories that have so much repetitive bars that I find them boring to play just as in other types of music. ie; strings of triplets and/ or 1/8th notes that span 2 octaves up and down in sequence.
As for getting professional instruction, unfortunately I live in a rural area of Canada that is not overrun with fiddle instructors and being of pure Scottish ancestory, I shan’t be willing to spend my pension on fuel to travel miles to find one.
My quest here was to find opinions from experienced fiddlers on what type of Celtic tunes are easier to learn than others. I have made good progress on some barn dances and hornpipes but do find difficulties with jigs, reels strathspeys, etc
I also like traditional country western as well as big band pop music from the ‘40, ’50, ’60 eras but diversification adds incentive to my willingness to learn.
It might be clearer if I produce a Boston Box to illustrate these facts, with easy/difficult on one axis, and interesting/boring on another, but I don’t think this forum supports uploading graphics. For the time being then, here’s a summary;
jigs - easy, interesting
reels, hornpipes - difficult, boring
polkas, waltzes - easy, boring
airs - difficult, interesting (except for the easy, boring ones)
Bill also note the guitar is easier to play and more interesting than the fiddle, so if you want to make progress (and friends on this forum), switch your instrument asap!
FTAOD a Boston Box is a management consulting tool not a kind of concertina.
Bill, none of the types of tunes are harder to learn than other types. there are tunes within each category which are easier to learn/play than others in the same category. There are some very simple hornpipes, and some very intricate ones.
You are wrong to look at the sheet music and conclude thate some of the tunes are boring to play. The simpler tunes might have a lot more scope for variation and ornamentation than an intricate tune which already consists of lots of triplets and difficult arpeggios. This is why it is best to start from listening to the tunes. Get some recordings of a good fiddler (Seamus Creagh might be a nice place to start) - observe how none of the tunes he plays are boring. Try to figure how he brings those repetitive dots to life. Learn to love the music so much that you want to learn ALL the tunes!
All the best!
Bill, even if you live in Nunavut, Canada is chock full of fiddlers. I’d be surprised if you couldn’t find someone to help you out. Even if it’s just a lesson in town on your monthly trip to the post and grocery store.
Put the word out--I bet you’ll be surprised at how many local fiddlers come out of the wood work.
Mr Shaw you are a tonic to us older folks who already know what Mr Campbell’s looking for.
On this site if you do tell em how it is, many of the err experts will pipe in and add their salt and spoil the stew!
Simply put, you have to learn to crawl then walk before you can run or gallop or hop around, On the Fiddle that means you have to marry the Bow before you can take the fiddle out for a dance.
I was an older folk meself when I first exposed meself in public. I think that has something to do with it. I just think that someone asking for advice needs a bit more than lists of tunes to learn. Think about it. The chap was asking for guidance, not an arbitrary list of tunes that he’d have to go and look the dots up for (advice that would just put most people off). The book I mentioned has a very structured and intelligent approach. It contains a load of tunes but is far more than just a list of tunes. There are lots of pretty ropey tutor books around but this isn’t one of ’em. That’s all. Maybe tutor books are all crap, I don’t know. Just thought I’d mention it, that’s all.
Ah thank you Mr Steve! I think you probably never heard the expression ‘ tonic’ before.
It is a compliment. You nailed down the confusion and as far as I know thats all that needs doing.
Now about yon book. I have never seen it but I bet from the review it is indeed what a beginner needs, Like I was trying to say before, dance music is mostly in the Bow not the fiddle and until a person is well on with that there isn’t much they could do in dance music. But OC I will be corrected and sent back to the nursing home for saying anything at all about this delicate subject.
Bowing is a big part of the book. I am, of course, completely out of my depth as I wouldn’t know which end to pick up. 😉
“I think jigs are possibly easier than reels to start with as there are usually 6 notes per bar (sometimes fewer) rather than 8.”
“In addition to jigs being 25% easier to learn than reels or hornpipes, they also sound better played slow. Slow reels sound boring.”
"jigs - easy, interesting
reels, hornpipes - difficult, boring
polkas, waltzes - easy, boring
airs - difficult, interesting (except for the easy, boring ones)"
Mike F’Stand, you are as mad as a box of frogs! Your comments have really made my week. I note you hail from Crouch End.
Mally has the book and CD for a nippin’ £23. Phew.
Ottery - Not Crouch End, but Harringay Green Lanes, on the other side of the tracks. Not as posh but a better selection of lute shops.
Bill - perhaps you could post one or two examples of tunes you find (a) boring and (b) difficult, then the experienced fiddlers around here can better engage with your situation.
Farr - check out the Turkish saz on these tunes http://www.archive.org/details/hourquets
And a much better selection of kebab shops!