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Today's Topics:
1. Re: worthiness of a tune for contra?
(Patricia Campbell via Musicians)
2. Re: worthiness of a tune for contra? (James Saxe via Musicians)
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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:17:31 -0400
From: Patricia Campbell via Musicians
<musicians@lists.sharedweight.net>
To: Dave Casserly <david.j.casserly@gmail.com>
Cc: musicians@lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Musicians] worthiness of a tune for contra?
Message-ID:
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?I had no trouble hearing the A & B parts of the jig - I've had a lot more
trouble with other tunes, but this one sounded pretty straight forward to
me. Where someone might have any issue is between the two B parts, but even
that was pretty clear to me.
Just my 2 cents - ?
Patricia
Patricia Campbell
203-364-4554
On Thu, Jul 30, 2015 at 1:45 PM, Dave Casserly via Musicians <
musicians@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> I guess I disagree with the majority here. I think there is absolutely
> nothing wrong with that jig, and it's perfectly well-phrased and suitable
> to contra dancing.
>
> I think there are a lot of well-phrased jigs out there that we can make
> sound like they're not by putting an amorphous beat behind them and perhaps
> tying some notes over that would normally be repeated. This is one such
> jig. I played through it myself this morning on whistle, and I don't even
> think it's a particular smooth jig when you just play it normally
> (repeating the first note in the first bar rather than tying it over,
> playing the pickup triplet to the B part so that it sounds more like a
> pickup, and playing it at 120bpm).
>
> I have no recommendations for how a band should use this jig other than
> how I think a band should play every jig-- start with four clear potatoes,
> use a strong beat (at least the first few times through), play so that it's
> phrased clearly and notes don't cross over the phrase.
>
> To the musicians who think this jig is not well-phrased, I encourage you
> to play it for yourselves at 120bpm. As long as you are clear on the
> phrasing, the dancers will be, too. I've heard plenty of bands play jigs
> with a lot less clear phrasing in the melody (such as the Roaring Barmaid
> or Myra's) for contra dances with no problems.
>
> -Dave
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 30, 2015 at 12:37 PM, Thomas Verdot via Musicians <
> musicians@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> As was mentioned by Susan, my first thought was that it was a slip jig.
>> It is a fine tune for listening but one that I would not use for a dance.
>> If you really like it well enough to play it for a dance you probably want
>> to have a stronger rhythm than the band in the video. I don't mean louder,
>> just less amorphous. That also doesn't mean dead on regular - it could
>> just be punctuated to maintain a sense of form.
>>
>> I think it is good to always keep in mind that we are there to serve the
>> dancers & at times some of our favorite tunes just don't quite meet the
>> purpose. I have sadly rejected several favorites.
>>
>> Regards, Tom
>>
>>
>> On 7/29/2015 9:48 PM, Emily Addison via Musicians wrote:
>>
>>> Hello fellow musicians!
>>>
>>> I've had the following two tunes suggested for our contra band. The
>>> reel at the end seems straight forward (with some doubling up) but the
>>> jig seems to have really weird phrasing (especially in the A) that would
>>> make it hard for dancers to follow.
>>>
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DkJQ9xNGuU
>>>
>>> I'm curious what you guys think!
>>>
>>> Emily in Ottawa
>>>
>>>
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>
>
>
> --
> David Casserly
> (cell) 781 258-2761
>
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>
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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2015 18:52:25 -0700
From: James Saxe via Musicians <musicians@lists.sharedweight.net>
To: musicians@lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Musicians] worthiness of a tune for contra?
Message-ID: <D36DAB2A-4F34-43BC-9D6D-08D3DB3B2E7D@gmail.com>
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After Emily Addison asked about the tunes in this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DkJQ9xNGuU
several people commented that they found the phrasing of
the jig (Jim Rumboldt's Tune) deceptive. I'm curious to
know what any of you--or other list members--think after
listening to it at 1.25x speed, as described in my previous
message (quoted below).
I did a little searching for other videos of the tune.
This one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx_E3qeZAfQ
is played at about 165 bpm. If it were played at a
normal contra tempo and with a clear four-beat intro, but
otherwise in the same style as in the video, I think it
would be fine for dancing. Yes, there are a couple places
where, if I started the video at a random point in the
tune, I could momentarily wonder whether a particular note
was a pick-up note or the true beat 1 of a new phrase.
But, to my ear, there are enough other places where the
phrasing is quite clear so that it's not a problem. I'd
be interested in reading other people's reactions.
I found another rendition starting about 3:15 in this
video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCnFlmrN1mk
with tempo in the high 140s. I can't make sense of
the phrasing in this one at all. It seems to me it's a
different, and genuinely crooked, variant of the tune.
Does anyone disagree.
After watching that last video, I tried searching for abc
notation or pdfs of sheet music or tablature to see whether
I'd find notation for different versions--straight vs.
crooked--of the tune. So far, however, I haven't turned
up any notation at all.
--Jim
> On Jul 30, 2015, at 1:58 AM, James Saxe <jim.saxe@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I'm a mere caller and pretty much a musical muggle, but
> here are some observations about the jig for what they're
> worth.
>
> First off, in the video the jig is played at about 93 or 94
> beats per minute (based on my stopwatch timing, which also
> appears to agree closely with the YouTube time counter).
> You might get a better idea of how it would sound as a dance
> tuen by playing it at 1.25x speed. (Click on the gear-shaped
> "Settings" button near the lower right of the YouTube video
> frame; then click on the Speed box (typically defaulting
> to "Normal"); then click "1.25" in the menu that pops up.
> YouTube should then play at 1.25x normal speed but with the
> audio pitch-shifted back down to normal pitch.)
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