So, somehow when I was starting out, I got the impression that single reels were lesser things, sort of pale, simplified shadows of the real deal, your standard double reel. Kind of looked down on them…
Now six years on, I find that most of the tunes I’m interested in these days are single reels. I’ll hear something I like and want to learn, and suddenly realize it’s single, and groan “not another.” But there are so many of then that are sweet little tunes.
And lately, it’s gotten so I even want to play tunes everyone else plays double as singles – Josie McDermott plays “The Fermoy Lasses” and “The Cup of Tea” single, and it seems like a welcome improvement to both of them.
Some people of Josie Mac’s generation had a habit of playing a lot of tunes single, I have a Patrick Kelly talking about that on tape (in the context of him hearing Johnny Doran play in Kilrush some time durign the 30s).
It works well on some tunes, some are too good to play single though.
I have only read a bit and I have heard of single and double jigs. I think I have only heard of reels refered to as “reels”, without saying single or double. Would there be a simple way to explain the difference?
Usually reels aren’t really referred to as ‘single’ ( I have seen it used on CD covers but have never ever come across it among players) but depending on whether the parts are repeated or not you’d say you play it ‘single’ or double. In jigs ‘single’ or ‘double’ has to do with the rhythmic structure.
Okay, thank you, I was wondering if that’s what you guys meant. I’m just going to put down here something I looked up. From what it says about single reels, there could be some rhythmic hints to help identify one but I concluded that I wouldn’t worry about it right now because it seemed too complicated and rather vague. However, you sound as though people don’t use the term this way, so I really won’t worry about it. Whew! Thanks again.
Reel Two groups of four notes each, adding up to an eight-note bar. Within each group there are two heavy-light pairs. Accordingly, I notate reels in 2/2 meter, not in 4/4. A 4/4 notation is a less accurate reflection of the traditional sense of rhythm in a reel – see my definition of “group” above. You will sometimes see notes referring to a reel being “singled” or “doubled.” This only refers to whether or not the eight-bar parts of the tune are repeated and not to the unique rhythm of “single reels” (see below).
SgReel Single reel. See also note above under “reel.” Single reels are easily mistaken for a polka or a reel, even by experienced musicians, or for a fast hornpipe or barn dance, but characterized better as a reel with a frequent substitution of a held note for a heavy-light pair, especially on strong beats. The term “single reel” depends more than other rhythms on performance context: if used for a single-reel dance such as Borlin Jenny (as collected from Bantry Bay), or identified by the player as a single reel, then we might as well consider a tune to be an example of a single reel. Single reels are usually notated in 2/4, like polkas, and my bar counts reflect that notation.
I’m not sure but I suppose this could just be this particular person’s way of distinguishing between some differences that are really there. I don’t know.
And come to think of it, this probably nicely explains why I’m playing so many more single these days – my listening has shifted from all those fly modern players to old-timers, and the old-timers simply play a lot more single reels. Or rather, to be more precise, Peter Horan plays a lot more single reels than Lunasa does.
Right there with you! And now that you point it out … that’s exactly what’s going on in our “Slave To The B/C Box” session where we seem to be structuring more and more 3-reel sets with a “played singly” one in the middle. It’s like it just seems to “go” better in more than a few cases. And being as we are all wrapped up in Paddy RIP and the other “classic” players anymore, that could well explain it.
Cynth, I’ve heard some players use that same description that you quoted for a “single reel,” but I’ve also heard plenty of people use the definition that Peter gave.
Jack Coen (originally from E. Galway) says that single reels were also called “polcai” in the old days, and the ones he taught us in a class I took with him definitely had a different rhythm than regular reels. Harry Bradley also taught a single reel in a class I took with him, and again it felt like a separate kind of tune, not just a reel played AB.
I’m pretty sure there’s a distinction between “reels played singly” and “single reels,” but I haven’t seen any definitive discussion of the subject.
Thanks, brad. The more you learn, the more you find out you need to learn. If I stumble across anything, I’ll post it here. But it would just be by accident if I did. For the moment I’m dealing with more basic things. But this is good to keep in the back of my mind.
Looking at my notes from Jack Coen’s class, the “single reel” he taught us was “Leather Away with the Wattle,” which feels very much like a polka when you hear it, but he insisted it was a single reel. It was played AABB, too!
Now, I had Sean Ryan (the whistler) talking about simple reels a few years back. He said “this is a simple reel” and played a reel. He meant simple as having a different phrasing than a standard reel, but could not really explain how, he just knew they were simple reels.
I got sort of curious about what on earth Leather Away with the Wattle could be refering to. Maybe you know this, but the explanation of the title is sort of funny. Two tunes are given, (not here by me) and for all I know neither is the one you know.
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/LEA_LEG.htm
LEATHER AWAY WITH THE WATTLE (Buail Leat Leis An Bata). AKA – “Leather Away the Wattle-O.” AKA and see “The Grand Old Dame,” “The Halfdoor,” “I-tiddly-I-ti,” “Leather the Bottle-o,” “Lisdoonvarna Polka [2],” “The Little Lisdoonvana Polka,” “The London Bridge Polka,” “Rose Tree [2],” “(An) tSeanbhean uasal,” “The Water Street Polka.” Irish, Polka and Air (2/4 time, “lively”). D Major. Standard. AB (O’Neill): AABB (Tubridy). The Philadelphia-based band The Four Provinces Orchestra recorded the tune (under the title “Leather Away”) in 1924. Bayard (1981) suggests that the first part of this air was the derivation of the second part of the minstrel tune “Mary Run Away With the Coon.” The title “Leather Away with the Wattle” breaks down as: ‘leather away’ i.e. to go at something vigorously, and ‘wattle’ i.e. a stick, or ‘to have a vigorous go with the stick’. This phrase could apply to various things, but is also a euphemism for male masturbation. Source for notated version: Pádraig O’Keeffe (Sliabh Luachra) [Breathnach]. Breathnach (The Man & his Music), 1996; pg. 95. Levey Collection. O’Daly (The Poets and Poetry of Munster) 1849; pg. 192. O’Daly‑Meehan, 1885; pg. 232. O’Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903/1979; No. 413, pg. 72. Petrie‑Stanford (Complete Collection), 1903‑06; No. 1203. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Book Two), 1999; pg. 8.
Yeah, I’ve always heard that tune referred to as a polka and it sure sounds like one to my ears, but who knows, maybe in E. Galway it was considered a single reel?
Jack said the title referred to a schoolteacher or parent punishing a kid with a stick (the wattle) although we were mixed company in that class and perhaps he didn’t want to mention the other meaning (!).
I’m sure your teacher had a good reason for calling it a “single reel”. I wasn’t trying to put out evidence against that. He might even play it differently than what was on the website. It was more the title thing. And it does say that:
Huh. I’ve never heard of a “single reel” being anything other than a reel normally played single, ie AB rather than AABB.
But in Newfoundland, the tune type which is closest to the Irish polka – people insist they are different, but I can’t tell, and I’ve never heard anyone articulate it clearly – is called a “single”. Perhaps there’s a connection here?
I thought “Biddy Martin’s” and “Ger the Rigger” on Jackie Daly’s superb Sliabh Luachra solo album were described as single reels. Sort of polkas that don’t sound as if they should be polkas. Another tune I’ve seen called a single reel is “Jimmy Allen” from the Northumbrian tradition.
Rolling in the Ryegrass, The Foxhunters, Within a Mile of Dublin, would all be “single” reels according to my understanding. The Broken Pledge, Miss MacLeod’s, Dr. Gilbert’s (or The Dispute at the Crossroads) would be “double” reels. I don’t know if the terms “single” and “double” have wide parlance elsewhere in reference to reels, but those words are used hereabouts, especially by those who play at dance céilís. Double reels take up more time (taking into account a usual A-B structure), and we take that into consideration when picking out our reels for the dancers.
Okay, nano, bear with me. So are saying that you would play RRitRG, a single reel, with the structure AA:BB, but you would play it more slowly than a double reel like MM which would be played with the structure AA:BB but would be played more quickly?
Or are you saying that single=A:B and double=AA:BB. And the reason for the amount of time taken is due to the repetition or non-repetition of the parts?
My version of RRitRG has the regular repeat sign at the end of part A.
Oh no. Now I have found some other versions that look very strange.
players anymore, that could well explain it.
If I stumble across anything, I’ll post it here. But it would just be by accident if I did. For the moment I’m dealing with more basic things. But this is good to keep in the back of my mind.