I’ve yet to find a tonguing pattern that I like for jigs and reels. So I was wondering if you experinced players could tell me your tonguing methods for jigs and your methods for reels? I know it will be kind of hard to do it in writing but I would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Jack Murphy
I typically only tongue at the beginning of a phrase and if a stacatto is appropriate. Otherwise, I use grace notes to emphasize spacing between notes.
dave
I don’t really like the idea of “tonguing patterns”, nor of “bowing patterns” in fiddle playing. The whole idea seems too rigid, and I think if you’re not careful, applying particular patterns to a tune, rather than letting the tune tell you what to do with it, can make your playing very predictable. At least that is my experience with fiddle players.
That said, because I attempt to teach whistle, however, I have been forced to think about such things. In jigs I discovered that I use a particular tonguing pattern a great deal, which is to tongue the second and third notes in a group of three, but not the first. This is very common - Mary Bergin, Potts & Moloney, and many others use it. It’s also very effective, if you get the right swing into it. Mixed up with more legato passages, of course. There’s a whole page about this at the Brother Steve site.
As for reels - I find I am very reluctant to analyze what I do, for fear of becoming mechanical. Apart from a few common figures that I tend to tongue in a certain way most of the time (off-beat rolls, “rocking pedals”, etc.) I prefer to go with the flow and find what suits the tune more or less unconsciously.
One good tip to experiment with is slurring across the beat - for example tonguing the “pick-up note” or notes of a phrase and then not tonguing the main beat that follows.
[ This Message was edited by: StevieJ on 2002-07-09 09:14 ]
Tonguing is like ornamentation. It becomes part of the individual self-expression of the player. I generally tongue repeated notes, usually tongue the first note (or first and fourth, at time) of every bar (or most bars, depending on the tune) in a 6/8 jig, sparsely on reels, a lot more on dotted-eighth hornpipes to get that bouncy, springy quality. But do I have a pattern? I don’t think so. These are tendencies. There are no rules. Each tune is different. Experiment, and find out what works best for you.
Tom Bingham
I’m with StevieJ - don’t like tounging “patterns.” I’m no expert, but I tend slur a lot and use cuts and short rolls to distinguish b/t notes. If three notes are repeated, I’ll tounge at least one of them. If it sounds muddy, usu. due to awkward fingering, I may tounge to clean it up. As a beginner I used to tounge everything before I listened to some recordings and realized that much of Celtic Trad is slurred.
Having played brass instruments (trumpet, french horn) in middle school, high school, and college, my approach to tongueing and ornamentation is non-traditional but maybe a little more straightforward (and some might even say boring – oh, well). In a jig, I tongue the first note of each set of three 8th notes. Notes of the same value I either tongue or articulate with a cut or tap. In a reel, I tongue the first note of each set of four 8th notes. Notes of the same value I handle like I would in a jig. In marches, I tongue most every note. In other pieces, I have a tendency to slur groups of 2 or more 8th notes and tongue all other notes, as a general approach. It depends on the feeling that I want express, though. For example, sometimes I play Down by the Sally Gardens in the manner I described, but other times I play it with almost no tongueing.
Thank you, thank you! Great question for people at my level with no teacher. Thoughtful and articulate answers that are respected as opinions. Makes me glad to see.
Cheers, NancyF
Tonguing in the right places sounds good, over done, or in the wwrong places, detracts. The best thing is to listen to yourself and decide. Listen to good players who aren’t going too fast for ideas, too. Try Laurence Nugent. Record yourself. Try tonguing and varying where/how much you tongue and decide how it sounds. Even if you find a good place to do it, don’t be too repetitious. It’s noticeable. Think about what the technique does to the phrasing of the tune.
Tony